Absolutely blown away by this book. I could think of nothing else inbetween reading and flew through it in less than 3 days. Charlie is the best friend we all need and Eve is the badass we all dream of being. The way their stories grew together was captivating and expertly written. I especially loved the feminism laced through the conversations between the women and at no point did it seem like they were discussing ideas that didn‰ЫЄt quite exist yet. Charlie, Eve, and Lili brought up frank inequalities that made their lives more difficult but did so in a way that fit the time period.

Spoilers
*** I was so happy to read a historical fiction book about WW1/WW2 that didn‰ЫЄt end beautifully tragic. Well, I suppose it did in a way but I so appreciated the care that went into the happy endings for Charlie and Eve. The author could have gone another way for either of them and the story would have still been beautiful, but I‰ЫЄm so happy I can sleep easier with the joy we were given on the epilogue.

Reread (again) in 2020 during Quarantine and I'm so glad I did the illustrated edition this time. I know it's ridiculous to say it was 'magical' but it really was so wonderful to see the book brought to life in a new way. I'm so glad the illustrator went his own direction with all of the characters and designs and didn't rely at all on the movie casting. Somethings I had forgotten were how long it took Hermione to become Harry and Ron's friend, and how accurate the 1st movie was to the book (except when Hermione got gipped by being left out of the Sorceror's Stone bit at the end). Moving on to Chamber of Secrets Illustrated!

Certainly an improvement on overall writing from book 1, but I couldn‰ЫЄt help feeling that there were 1 or 2 too many completely separate plots happening simultaneously. I kept waiting for the storylines to merge, and was a little frustrated that they simply led to a cliffhanger. I did love getting to know Vivia, but I once again felt that plot was the focus over character development. Still continuing the series.

Listened to on Audible.
Took me a bit to get used to the narrator (audiobook) and her strange use of accents. Why did Kestrel have an accent when she was the main character and Arin did not, other than I suppose she was part of the foreigners that conquered Arin's home.
I appreciated how different Kestrel was than your typical YA adventure heroine - not good at combat, not interested in changing the world... but still had the typical beauty.
I felt that Arin's dynamic changes were a bit abrupt around 2/3 of the way through.
Overall I enjoyed the story and will go on to read book 2. I was impressed by Rutkoski's prose at times and while I don't feel incredibly attached to any of the characters, I do think the author is a good storyteller, and doesn't fall into too many YA tropes.

Overall better story-telling. But I once again found myself caught up in the 'too-much'-ness of all the details. Erydisi's journal coming in over halfway through the novella seemed like an afterthought that wasn't built in to the story early enough. And while there were some questions answered related to the overall arc of the entire series, I felt like more questions were raised. How will Ryber come into play when it seems like she's not going to be a main character in Bloodwitch? How will Erydisi and the soldier potentially return? Is it going to be all of the sudden in book 5? I want to be much more invested in this series, but I'm just not.

Definitely my least favorite of the series, but still a classic and still a joy to read. Especially the illustrated version!

I really enjoyed this book! Each character was very well thought out and built, and I loved the slow reveals about their pasts. The entire book is a great exploration about how trauma informs our choices and our personalities, whether than trauma be an illness, a broken family, or violence. Highly recommend!

If possible, even more of a page turner than the first book!!! I normally can't stand multiple POVs but in this case Hank Green did an amazing job of giving each character their own true voice and let us watch their stories unfold both separately and together. I'm continuously impressed that Green doesn't shy away from dislikable traits in his characters, and finds a way to make us see them as human beings with flaws, not as evil people.
Not much else I can say without spoiling, but I highly recommend!!!! (MUST READ BOOK 1 FIRST!)

This book epitomizes the ‰Ычtoo much gene.‰ЫЄ I cannot keep track of the number of unanswered questions this series has presented. It‰ЫЄs totally fine to build and build a story and reveal elements over time, but each book has only presented more and more and more questions. The strength, dynamics, diversity, and well-written characters absolutely redeem this series. I love the strong women and I love how their stories weave in and out of each other‰ЫЄs. But I am getting really tired of finishing a book and going, huh?

Brilliantly written. Parts of the inner dialogue for both Arin and Kestrel were a bit angsty for me, but I appreciated how their lack of true communication built out the story for both of them. Ready to see where book 3 takes these characters!