Overreliance on metaphor to express Juliette’s jaw-dropping surprise wears thin: “My mouth is sitting on my kneecaps. Fast-paced action scenes convey imminent danger vividly, but there’s little sense of a broader world here. The ending falls flat as the plot devolves into comic-book territory. But Adam belongs to a resistance movement he helps Juliette escape to their stronghold, where she finds that she’s not the only one with superhuman abilities. Unfortunately, he’s a soldier under orders from Warner, a power-hungry 19-year-old. Adam, it turns out, is immune to her deadly touch. After months of isolation, her captors suddenly give her a cellmate-Adam, a drop-dead gorgeous guy. Juliette’s journal holds her tortured thoughts in an attempt to repress memories of the horrific act that landed her in a cell. Juliette was torn from her home and thrown into an asylum by The Reestablishment, a militaristic regime in control since an environmental catastrophe left society in ruins.
A big finish manages to tidy up almost all ends but still leaves space for more to come.Ī wild ride both fantastical and grounded in nuance.Ī dystopic thriller joins the crowded shelves but doesn't distinguish itself. The multiethnic cast that includes queer characters and relationships showcases a White-passing biracial character grappling with identity and another character’s trans-coded journey. Battles in particular shine, not just for their action, but for the questions they pose about the direction of warfare in an arms race. Sprinklings of recaps and lots of action help to prevent the massively intricate world from becoming overwhelming. And all over the world, a mysterious blight suddenly appears, destroying everything in its path. Meanwhile, deeply embedded Nina spies on Fjerda, working to undermine the rumors surrounding Nikolai’s parentage, uncover Fjerda’s military plans, manipulate their royals toward a more peaceful path, and secretly sway the population’s view of Grisha.
Zoya, Nikolai’s loyal general, is handed a series of nigh-impossible assignments, including some having to do with the Darkling. King Nikolai faces imminent threats from Fjerda, rumors of his bastardy that threaten to dethrone him, complicated trade relations with both Zemeni and Kerch, and an engagement to Princess Ehri of Shu Han-despite her sister, Queen Makhi, having schemed to kill both of them. In a juggling act between viewpoint characters, readers follow far-ranging intrigues inside countries, between countries, and between individuals. Following King of Scars (2019), the world’s a powder keg of political hostilities and existential threats.
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