Hi there guys!
Happy Saturday! Having the weekend off is quite amazing and a nice change, so I'm going to the cinema with a friend and spending some time reading and relaxing, and continue plotting apartment decoration!
I'm starting this week's Saturday Pages with the review of the sequel of the very first Alyssa Recommends book!! I'm gonna be counting this one as part of my 105 Challenge since this is a 2015 release and that's one of my categories in the challenge!
Empire of Night by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Last year I read Sea of Shadows as my first ever Alyssa Recommends book and it was a fantastic start. I loved the world building, the magic, the main characters and the way the plot was progressing as an overall series ARC and the plot driving the book. So I was extremely intrigued and awaiting eagerly the sequel.
It was a happy coincidence that the edition I happened to preorder in my Kindle not the US one and ended up downloading on April 1st instead of having to wait till April 7th!
Despite having read the first book a year ago and not having the clearest memory of everything that happened, I never felt lost or confused, and we quickly get up to date with what's going on now after the events of book 1. Ashyn and Moria are at the Emperor's palace as guests, and both are uneasy because they feel they ought to be doing something more after what they witness and being Keeper and Seeker.
Empire of Night is a fantastic sequel. We get character growth for both Moira and Ashyn, we learn more about Ronan and Tyrus and even Gavriel and the Emperor. When we're not having quiet moments of character development and dealing with court politics and intrigues, we finally start moving into the action to the moderate happines of Moira, that was chaffing at the inaction.
There's so much plotting and crafting in this book and despite having the sisters together for a good portion of it, since they're dealing in their different ways with the aftermath of what happened in book 1 and their grief and guilt about it, they are emotionally stranged somewhat. Then once they start being on the move again, they find themselves working together and dealing with the dangers as a team once again.
The mission they find themselves in ends up quite disastrously and the sisters end up once again separated, Moria kidnapped, Tyrus with Ashyn and Ronan and a big mess underway for them all. Treachery, political intrigues (again) and lies all over the place makes any rescue plans or direct action complicated, so there's a lot of hiding and spying and escaping.
There was very subtle romance in the first book and in this one things are less subtle but still didn't take over the book either. The romance not only was adorable even with some heartbreak in there but also was a fantastic way to get to know and develop our characters even more. Moria and Tyrus make a fantastic team as friends and as a couple and I love how their relationship developed.
I love the nuances of the culture and world building, how there's more to everything that we think at first, and then once the book it's almost over... we encounter not one but TWO cliffhangers, of very different sort with each one of the sisters' POV! Both equally intriguing and maddening and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one, when does the next book comes out?!?!
View all my reviews
Happy Saturday! Having the weekend off is quite amazing and a nice change, so I'm going to the cinema with a friend and spending some time reading and relaxing, and continue plotting apartment decoration!
I'm starting this week's Saturday Pages with the review of the sequel of the very first Alyssa Recommends book!! I'm gonna be counting this one as part of my 105 Challenge since this is a 2015 release and that's one of my categories in the challenge!
Empire of Night by Kelley ArmstrongMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Last year I read Sea of Shadows as my first ever Alyssa Recommends book and it was a fantastic start. I loved the world building, the magic, the main characters and the way the plot was progressing as an overall series ARC and the plot driving the book. So I was extremely intrigued and awaiting eagerly the sequel.
It was a happy coincidence that the edition I happened to preorder in my Kindle not the US one and ended up downloading on April 1st instead of having to wait till April 7th!
Despite having read the first book a year ago and not having the clearest memory of everything that happened, I never felt lost or confused, and we quickly get up to date with what's going on now after the events of book 1. Ashyn and Moria are at the Emperor's palace as guests, and both are uneasy because they feel they ought to be doing something more after what they witness and being Keeper and Seeker.
Empire of Night is a fantastic sequel. We get character growth for both Moira and Ashyn, we learn more about Ronan and Tyrus and even Gavriel and the Emperor. When we're not having quiet moments of character development and dealing with court politics and intrigues, we finally start moving into the action to the moderate happines of Moira, that was chaffing at the inaction.
There's so much plotting and crafting in this book and despite having the sisters together for a good portion of it, since they're dealing in their different ways with the aftermath of what happened in book 1 and their grief and guilt about it, they are emotionally stranged somewhat. Then once they start being on the move again, they find themselves working together and dealing with the dangers as a team once again.
The mission they find themselves in ends up quite disastrously and the sisters end up once again separated, Moria kidnapped, Tyrus with Ashyn and Ronan and a big mess underway for them all. Treachery, political intrigues (again) and lies all over the place makes any rescue plans or direct action complicated, so there's a lot of hiding and spying and escaping.
There was very subtle romance in the first book and in this one things are less subtle but still didn't take over the book either. The romance not only was adorable even with some heartbreak in there but also was a fantastic way to get to know and develop our characters even more. Moria and Tyrus make a fantastic team as friends and as a couple and I love how their relationship developed.
I love the nuances of the culture and world building, how there's more to everything that we think at first, and then once the book it's almost over... we encounter not one but TWO cliffhangers, of very different sort with each one of the sisters' POV! Both equally intriguing and maddening and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one, when does the next book comes out?!?!
View all my reviews
Great review Pili :D I'm glad you enjoyed this sequel. <3 I haven't read book one yet.. but planning on reading them both sometime soon :) But ahh. TWO cliffhangers? HOW MEAN. But glad you liked the rest of the book ;) Thank you for sharing. <3
ReplyDeleteI'd probably recommend you read all the books once the third book comes out because very MEAN cliffhangers, one for each one of the girls!!
DeleteThank you sweetie!!
Glad to see that you enjoyed this book, Pili! I really need to read some Kelley Armstrong. What series do you recommend I start first?
ReplyDeleteFaye at The Social Potato
I must confess that the two books in this series so far are the only Kelley Armstrong books I've read, but I can highly recommend them, Faye!
DeleteWOAH. I didn't realize the foreign edition was different! The covers, I mean. I like this one! Though I think I like the USA covers more :D Anyway. I kind of had the same worry - I didn't remember a lot of events and names from Sea of Shadows. BUT, it was okay! Armstrong did a great job of reacquainting readers. I'm so glad you enjoyed this book so much, Pili!
ReplyDeleteFabulous review :)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
I think I like the US covers more too, but these are cheaper and released early, so I'm not gonna complain! ;)
DeleteAND THANK YOUUU for recommending the first book, I'm loving this series!!
I haven't read a lot of Kelley Armstrong books (I forgot the name of the one I read, but it took place on Vancouver Island). All I know is that she's very prolific and very popular!
ReplyDeleteJen at YA Romantics
I hadn't read anything by her until I read the first book in this series, but I feel like I need to read more of her books!
DeleteI still need to read Sea of Shadows! I've had it forever! I definitely need to up it on my list since you and Alyssa both enjoyed it! This sounds like a great sequel and I'm glad it didn't disappoint! Two cliffhangers though? That is torture! :)
ReplyDeleteI'd say you should Jess, this is a fantastic series! And yeah, each of the sisters gets her own cliffhanger, can you believe it??
DeleteI am not familiar at all with this author, or these titles..The storyline sounds interesting. Thanks for the heads up. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a very cool fantasy series Linda, I think you'd like it!!
DeleteI've been meaning to pick up Sea of Shadows. Maybe I should hold off though, because my heart can't take 2 cliffhangers, haha.
ReplyDeleteMandy's Books and Beauty
You might want to hold off until the third book comes out next year, because they series IS very much worth reading but baaaad cliffies in this one!
Delete