Well, currently, I’m halfway through the book and I need to rant, as it is a quite a let down from the previous one. ACSDAL was pretty good four-stars read for me, not the best retelling I read, but decent and representation was a welcome addition. This book, however, no such luck, I’m making myself suffer through it, as I cling to a futile hope of this book getting better.
UPDATE (?). Well, my hope was indeed misplaced, it didn’t get better. I may still try to read the third book, maybe it will somehow fix this disaster.
Overall rating: ★★½
Romance: ★
There is one, but thee is none, zero chemistry between main characters whatsoever.
Plot: ★
Firstly, you have to say bye to logic to get through this book, secondly, well, there is nothing more to add, as I’m not sure whether the plot is boring and illogical, or just stupid and illogical.
Writing: ★★★★
Probably the only strong point in this whole book. The writing is good, easy to follow and not overly complicated, also not flowery, the last one is the one I tend to prefer, but, regardless, I enjoyed reading the book language-wise.
Characters: ★
Oh, boy. Characters are a train-wreck, for some personalities took a drastic turn for the worst without any apparent reason or logic. They all annoyed the hell out of me.
I dislike how this book has completely undone all of the character’s progress in one swift swoop and how white and black everything has become.
Tags: the Beauty and the Beast retelling, magic, set in a world parallel to ours
Spoilers ensue.
ATTENTION. SPOILERS.
Grey. Probably the most irritating character in this whole book. First of all, running was away was idiotic, maybe, it wasn’t so much so in the beginning, but after the first few chapters, it was stupid. Running, when faced with the Royal Guards, also idiotic. Going to Syhl Shallow, well, that was just a pinnacle of idiotism.
His personality had such a dramatic shift, it’s just frustrating.
And coming back to my first point, he acts stupid and also, hypocritical, so let’s make a list:
⁃ hiding the truth from Rhen at the very beginning - these two could have tried to figure something out or he could be a hero and die for the greater cause (I’m not sure, my recollection of ACSDAL is a bit fuzzy, but didn’t Rhen try to die to protect his people?);
⁃ hiding the truth from Rhen, when he was caught - Grey knew all the horrors the prince went through, of course, he is afraid of magic, so why not come clean;
⁃ not saying truth to save Tycho - he was not doing it to protect Rhen or kingdom, Grey was protecting himself, so it’s hypocritical to not extend the same courtesy to Rhen;
⁃ running away after revealing he has magic - he has already damaged Rhen’s chances for keeping his country together, is there a need to aggravate it further, especially since Grey was quite a selfless person in the first book and also sworn to Rhen;
⁃ going to the enemy’s country - yup, that is just stupid, no words, for a person, who claimed that he is no threat, Grey surely acts as such;
⁃ blabbing everything out to the enemy princess, not just stupid, but treasonous. He has known this Lia Mara for like what, a week, but all secrets keeping the country together are just spilling out of him.
Also, he settles into his princely role pretty quick. No threat to Rhen? Hard to believe.
The citizens helping Grey makes no sense at all, as I remember, people were not fond of magic, and Lia Mara is not particularly a hero of the girl’s tale as well as she did nothing.
I enjoyed that Grey was sometimes defending Rhen’s actions, though it didn’t last for long. Also, he almost didn’t mention Harper at all. He had a lot of recollections and thoughts on Rhen, which makes this book even more difficult to read, as this whole mess could have been avoided if he just told the truth.
Lia Mara. I don’t dislike her quite as much as other reviewers, but I feel that it may change. She is smart, sometimes, strangely so, she figured out that Grey is the heir way too quickly and if you think about it, him being the heir couldn’t be the only viable option from Lia Mara’s POV, but disregarding this, I could have somewhat believed her figuring it out. But like with most of her actions, the smart ones are followed by utter stupidity. Like sneaking into Grey’s room and revealing his secret right ahead, not the smartest move considering to what length he went to protect it, or revealing herself to Harper and others, also, a dangerous move, or going to the city with Grey and Tycho. Some of her deductions are brilliant and would be believable if she wouldn’t do some stupid thing the next moment.
Also, she is such a hypocrite, as her mother and sister are great rulers because they are cruel, but, at the same time, Rhen is a monster for being so. No logic whatsoever. Let’s be real, her mother slaughtered a bunch of his people without a sliver of mercy, of course, he will be suspicious and wary of your family. And, regardless, she thinks him a monster for killing her guard, but the guard attacked first (also, stupid move). She even blames Rhen for the architecture of his castle, as it distances him from the people. WTF?!
Oh, yes, now she is super strong as well. It hurts to read.
Rhen. His villainous deeds during the book are not exactly surprising and are somewhat understandable. It is a pity that he is so overcome with fear, but there are good reasons for it. I could understand the motives behind his actions, though what he did was horrible, but there wasn’t much of a choice. I don’t support his choices or committed cruelties, but once again he is a ruler and the position obliges, thus:
⁃ Distrust of Karis Luran is reasonable and the right thing to do, if it was a book about Rhen, we would have applauded his cunning, but as it’s about Lia Mara and Grey, it’s awful and cruel and devious.
⁃ He suffered horribly, because of Lilith and, although his fear is misplaced (at the beginning), after what he went through, what happened to his family, it is hard to blame him for being driven by it.
⁃ Flogging Tycho was awful, but Grey could have stopped it if he wanted, and it’s clear that Rhen did what he must, despite his feelings, and it’s not like Grey didn’t think himself about killing Tycho to keep his secret and they were already friends, while Rhen has met Tycho a day or two ago and he still has a kingdom to worry about. Also, it is so out of character.
Oh, and why, in the world, has he made a deal with Lilith, it is just absolutely illogical? I hope there’s something we are not aware of, that will justify this mess.
Harper. She is barely in this book, considering we have her in the summary, it’s misleading. Also, she is not a fierce girl she was before. She is not fierce enough to stand up to Rhen, as she would in the first book, and be the force of justice. But she is also not fully on Rhen’s side through everything. Does she want to be fierce and just? Stand up to Rhen. Does she want to support him? Don’t help his enemies run away!
Where is the fierce and incredible character I met in the first book?
Jacob. Leaving his sister with a person, who, in his opinion, makes questionable and cruel choices, is not great, even if Rhen would never hurt her. Revealing the truth that would endanger your sister and her boyfriend, not great either. And he absolutely hated having to stay in Emberfall, but then he is glad to help Grey, makes no sense. And, once again, why everyone is so stupid and unquestionably goes to the enemy’s kingdom?
Noah. The only reasonable person in this circus.
Tycho. Surprisingly loyal.
Scarver. Hard to say, but I do like him, as of now. Also, his relationship with Tycho are extremely entertaining, I would rather read a book about their travels.
Karis Luran/Lilith. Because there are two cartoonish villains, who are villains for the sake of being villains.
And the three most logical characters are Noah, Rhen and scarver (who will, probably, get the first position, as the story progresses).
Oh, btw, I thought, this was a duology and I’m pretty sure it would be better as such.
There were so many opportunities, like Lia Mara scheming and trying to forge a peace treaty with Emberfall, while Grey would be trying to convince Rhen that he is not a threat and help him restore the kingdom, in the end, Lia Mara could become queen, thus, she and Grey could move to her country, or they could just fake their deaths and disappear to our world. Or we could have Lia Mara going home with Grey, who is a double agent bent on undermining Syhl Shallow.
There were so many other options, but no, there have to be an overdone “siblings vying for the throne” trope. And even that could have been played differently, let all of them be villains, let Grey want the throne, not because of the noble cause, but because he wants it. Maybe it is the only way to be with Lia Mara or maybe he thinks that he is better, because he can use magic. And Rhen clinging to it, as it is his birthright and he was raised to be king. That would have been a delicious and unexpected read.
I hope the third book won’t end as I predict, but there is a high chance that Rhen will become a fully-fledged antagonist, and all the characters, including Harper, will unite against him with the book ending with:
a) Rhen being dead, Harper being queen;
b) Rhen being dead, Harper going home, Lia Mara and Grey ruling kingdoms together;
c) Rhen being disgraced, defeated, but they will decide to give him a second chance, so he is going to return to our world along with Harper.
If someone managed to read till the end I would recommend reading a far more superior book “The Queen and the Cure”, which is the second book to “The Sword and the Bird” (also, a Beauty and the Beast retelling).
SPOILER.
A brother with a claim to the throne, newly discovered magic in the land where people are wary of it, who has a great relationship with his brother and supports him, while forging his path in life.