RATING: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Published: February 07, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 507
“To stand in front of a person who is your whole world and be told you are not enough. You are not the choice. You are a shadow to the person who is your sun.”
SYNOPSIS:
When the Lightning Girl’s spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?
Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother’s web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.
As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare’s heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.
When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.
THOUGHTS:
I almost gave up with this quartet after the disappointing second book; however, I still hold on to the potentials of the story line development which is probably why I give this series another try. After the second book, a lot of negative reviews about this series surfaced, and some even say that the series went down the hill for them. But I beg to disagree. I believe that the second book is the filler of the whole series, the one book that you need to get through.
Plot wise, I think the third book is more developed and well thought of. It does not feel rash, like what happened on the second book, and the story takes time to unfold just so the readers could fully comprehend what was happening in the story. We get to understand the deeper politics of what is happening between Maven’s court and the thoughts of the people that pledged their allegiance to him. After reading this book, I feel like the second book is such a waste. The author could have expounded or introduced the political implication of Maven and Elara’s lies. There are more important stuff that the author could have included in the second book to make the third book stronger than it was but sadly the second book failed to deliver well.
I think what drags the second book is the pacing and Mare’s whinny attitude. After rereading the second book, I realized that the author intends to make Mare an annoying and a whinny character. The author has seen her flaws and even pointed out some of it with the help of the other characters but it does not really do any good with the appeal of the book and the main character for me. However, with this third book, I enjoyed seeing Mare’s character development. It is more of the mental strength rather than the physical, though of course Mare’s ability has also improved. For me, the author has done a good job of transitioning Mare’s character from the second to the third book. It feels natural given all the circumstances around her. My favorite part is when she opened herself up to the people that matters to her; she no longer pushes them away and let them share her grief and worries.
Even though I have praised this book more than I did the second, I also have some issues with it. And my first issue is the multiple POVs. I don’t have anything against multiple POVs but this does not sit well with me for this book. It’s because I would prefer to see the story in the eyes of another character than Cameron; her POV felt like annoying Mare 2.0 from Glass Sword. Why can’t it be Farley? There are a lot that we could have discovered about the Scarlet Guard and how deep their power is if we saw their side of the story in her eyes than Cameron. It’s already the third book and yet there is no deeper knowledge of what’s going on with the Scarlet Guard, who is in charge and how they really act out. Moreover, I don’t even think that Cameron’s brother’s rescue is of any importance in the story as a whole. That rescue could have been a side story and it would not affect the whole story if it was removed.
Another thing that I have an issue about is Evangeline and her family. I don’t like Evangeline’s POV because it ruined the image that the author has painted of her in my mind, though it makes her more likable, it does not really appeal to me that much. Also what her family did, the kingdom of the Rift, might be another part of the web that may or may not wrap up well enough when the story ends. I think the author is doing so much in the plot as a whole that I am afraid that she might not wrap up the whole series well enough; I will not be surprised if there are a lot of loose ends when the story comes to an end. Also, I feel like Evangeline and Elane’s love affair is forced just so the book could be categorized as a diverse book. We have two books and there is no clue of Evangeline and Elane’s romantic affair, and now they have a relationship? Uhm no.
And lastly, because I feel like I’ve been rumbling for too long, the ending. I still haven’t decided if I like it or not but I’m leaning more on the former rather than the latter. I can understand why the author has to do that but it does not mean that it is not painful.
Anyway, that is my thought for this book. I still recommend this series to everyone who would love a reminisce of the good old dystopian era. You just need to get through the second book and you’re good to go.
Till next time!
Maria❤
A Daughter of Parchment and Paper 