Hi! My name is Anna, "You'd really like me if you got to know me. I've known me for years and I love me."
Word count: about 110 000
Why 3,5 stars? Well... I'll try to explain it the best I can. But generally:
a) I still love our main characters; can't get enough of them.
b) there were two parallel story-lines, and both drew me in - which is quite a feat. We follow our main duo (Hadrian + Royce = kick-ass) and Arista (a witch princess of Melengar that went on quite an adventure, totally on her own).
c) Some really nice excitement.
d)Plot thickens
e) On a bright side I didn't see all of the betrayal coming. Moral of the story is - trust no one. That was nice. Good people will do a lot of bad things if the incentive is right. That's why it was surprisingly disheartening - but in a good way.
BUT
f) Parts of this book were utterly predictable.
The last 20% (?) I think. There came a point when Hadrian and Royce (our two main characters) were facing a challange/mission. And I knew, I just knew how things would unfold.
(show spoiler)
I hoped to be wrong, I really did, but nope. This literary device is called "a plot twist that's been used so much you see it coming from miles away, just like a Christmas coca-cola truck".
Same went for the second plot-line. Did I even for a minute think
(show spoiler)If things would just go ahead, that would be thrilling. But nope, not today.
g) Not enough of Hadrian and Royce being kick-ass. I want more fights, more plotting and scheming, more challenges, more of their getting to the bottom of things... just MOAR. They were too passive, too easily strung along.
In the end I had fun. Just a solid, satisfying read.
It's time for the next part