Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsMixed Feelings, but Overall a Great Book
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 27, 2015
The world has fallen apart and destruction is all that remains. Everyone is in hiding, but Violet can’t remember anything about what happened to cripple the world. Actually, she can’t remember much of anything. She finds herself at the mercy of the reptiscillas, who all seem to hate her for being a guardian – whatever that means. Through it all, she has to find a way to figure out her role in the fight to save the world.
To be completely honest, my feelings on this book are mixed. I’m just getting off the high of the amazing last two thirds of the book, but I really struggled with the start of this book. It’s really frustrating to go into the book with the main character knowing nothing. I think stories with the amnesia aspect can be really great, but when I have read through two whole books and know a whole lot about the character and her experiences, it gets kind of frustrating to have her be so ignorant. So many times I wanted to scream at her to fill in the blanks to her memory, but of course that wouldn’t work.
Once you get past Part 1, it gets a lot better. I’m so glad Rachel Morgan decided to give Ryn his own time to shine (Part 2 was in his point of view). Things really started picking up later into the book and I couldn’t put it down, but I really had to force myself to get through the first of it. I even had to put it down and pick up another book before I felt I could continue with this one.
Getting past that first part, the book is definitely worth it. There was a really satisfying conclusion to the book and it didn’t seem cheesy, or like it was too easy for what happened to actually have happened. Sorry if this is a bit confusing, I’m trying to be vague.
I still really love Violet as a character, even though she can’t remember anything. She is still true to herself and she may not remember why she is the way she is, but she doesn’t drastically change, which I really like. I’m really glad Rachel Morgan decided to handle Violet’s case of amnesia this way. She really did an excellent job writing Violet without her memory. I think it was just my personal preference that made it more painful to read Violet without her memory.
Ryn is such an amazing character and I love him so much! Going into this book series, I really hated him at first, which is what you are supposed to do, but I really enjoyed seeing him grow and change throughout this series. He is just so good for Violet as well. I am so glad that Rachel Morgan didn’t make him push Violet too hard when she didn’t remember him. It’s a terrible position that he was in, but Rachel Morgan did an excellent job with writing the new dynamic to Ryn and Violet’s relationship.
This book series is really worth the read. I really loved it. Sadly, each book had a piece that bothered me, so they couldn’t rank as high as my absolute favorites, but it came pretty close. I’m excited that this world will be continued on in the next book series arch about Calla. I just might have to finish decompressing from this one before I start the next.