Hey there guys! Happy Friday!
I hope you guys are getting ready for the weekend! I am, but for a weekend at work! ;) My off days were Wednesday and Thursday this week!
Today for Friday Reads I have one of the ARCs that I had intended originally for ARC August, but that I ended up reading earlier.
Since it's a retelling of sort of the myth of Persephone and Hades, it totally counts towards my 2015 Mythology Reading Challenge, that had been very much abandoned for these past months!
The Eternity Key by Bree Despain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When last year I read The Shadow Prince I was quite pleasantly surprised about the twist on Greek mythology that the author had worked on. Qith some obvious references and a few surprises about who was who, I was left really looking forward to read the sequel!
Then I got approved for the sequel by the publisher on Netgalley (thank you!) and then came the Egdmont debacle and we had doubts about book 3 happening... and I ended up pushing back reading this one. Finally decided to go back to this series and very happy that I did, although I'm glad I didn't read it too much in advance of release date (rather quite a while after!) because there's quite the cliffhanger in the end!
I felt that the book was a bit slow at first... after all the revelations at the end of the first book, to find the crew stuck trying to find the Key and having no clue of what they're doing and trying to figure it out... I guess I was expecting them to be a bit more organized or to have more of a plan, but in the end they're such a bunch of teenagers, Greek myths or not, and they don't have a lot of knowlegde easily gathered, laying around.
What left me scratching my head was how wishy washy the team feel was, I was expecting that after all that they went through, they'd rely more on each other but it seemed like although they had THE common interest, they had gone back to their own lives, pretending like the clock is not ticking and the Skylords are not likely to make an appearance at any point.
Maybe it was because it's been a while since I read the first book but I felt like the relationship between Haden and Daphne had taken a few steps back in the beginning of this one, and we spend a good part of the book with these two not just trying to continue with school work, trying to find the Key, but also figuring out (again?) what they feel about each other (in Daphne's case) and how to express said feelings (in Haden's case).
We meet some new characters in this book and some are clearly the enemy while others are a bit more in the grey area, if not undercover allies, but with such high stakes at play, I feel that Haden was being wary enough but also keeping secrets from each other was a problem the group shouldn't have at this stage of the fight, but secrets they kept.
The relationships in general were well developed and we didn't just limit our focus to Daphne and Haden, but also Daphne and the very hard relationship of trusting him again after all that she found out, and how her father makes every possible effort. We also see Tobin struggling with his wanting to find his sister and how knowing his mother's secrets has killed their relationship.
The last part of the book was the best part, since we had the musical opening night with the Key search in a very heist like plan, and the action doesn't stop because there's plenty of surprises, revelations about characters that we thought that weren't important, and quite a dire betrayal! I suspected the traitor a pair of times while reading, but I was NOT expecting THAT kind of betrayal!
A very cliffhangery ending that leaves us wondering how anything can be fixed and worked around and very excitedly (if a lil vexed) awaiting the next book! Well deserved 3.5 stars for this one.
View all my reviews
I hope you guys are getting ready for the weekend! I am, but for a weekend at work! ;) My off days were Wednesday and Thursday this week!
Today for Friday Reads I have one of the ARCs that I had intended originally for ARC August, but that I ended up reading earlier.
Since it's a retelling of sort of the myth of Persephone and Hades, it totally counts towards my 2015 Mythology Reading Challenge, that had been very much abandoned for these past months!
The Eternity Key by Bree DespainMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
When last year I read The Shadow Prince I was quite pleasantly surprised about the twist on Greek mythology that the author had worked on. Qith some obvious references and a few surprises about who was who, I was left really looking forward to read the sequel!
Then I got approved for the sequel by the publisher on Netgalley (thank you!) and then came the Egdmont debacle and we had doubts about book 3 happening... and I ended up pushing back reading this one. Finally decided to go back to this series and very happy that I did, although I'm glad I didn't read it too much in advance of release date (rather quite a while after!) because there's quite the cliffhanger in the end!
I felt that the book was a bit slow at first... after all the revelations at the end of the first book, to find the crew stuck trying to find the Key and having no clue of what they're doing and trying to figure it out... I guess I was expecting them to be a bit more organized or to have more of a plan, but in the end they're such a bunch of teenagers, Greek myths or not, and they don't have a lot of knowlegde easily gathered, laying around.
What left me scratching my head was how wishy washy the team feel was, I was expecting that after all that they went through, they'd rely more on each other but it seemed like although they had THE common interest, they had gone back to their own lives, pretending like the clock is not ticking and the Skylords are not likely to make an appearance at any point.
Maybe it was because it's been a while since I read the first book but I felt like the relationship between Haden and Daphne had taken a few steps back in the beginning of this one, and we spend a good part of the book with these two not just trying to continue with school work, trying to find the Key, but also figuring out (again?) what they feel about each other (in Daphne's case) and how to express said feelings (in Haden's case).
We meet some new characters in this book and some are clearly the enemy while others are a bit more in the grey area, if not undercover allies, but with such high stakes at play, I feel that Haden was being wary enough but also keeping secrets from each other was a problem the group shouldn't have at this stage of the fight, but secrets they kept.
The relationships in general were well developed and we didn't just limit our focus to Daphne and Haden, but also Daphne and the very hard relationship of trusting him again after all that she found out, and how her father makes every possible effort. We also see Tobin struggling with his wanting to find his sister and how knowing his mother's secrets has killed their relationship.
The last part of the book was the best part, since we had the musical opening night with the Key search in a very heist like plan, and the action doesn't stop because there's plenty of surprises, revelations about characters that we thought that weren't important, and quite a dire betrayal! I suspected the traitor a pair of times while reading, but I was NOT expecting THAT kind of betrayal!
A very cliffhangery ending that leaves us wondering how anything can be fixed and worked around and very excitedly (if a lil vexed) awaiting the next book! Well deserved 3.5 stars for this one.
View all my reviews
I loved Bree's previous trilogy, I thought her writing was really great and I enjoyed her pacing and her storytelling, but this series just slipped by me somehow. I don't appreciate the cliffhanger, but I appreciate her enough to give it a try, especially if you liked the first book so much.
ReplyDeleteMaybe wait for the final book in the trilogy to release so you can binge read them without worrying about cliffhangers!
DeleteI love Greek mythologies, but I'm sad this one started off slow. I hate when that happens! It's just so hard to keep going... I dislike wishy washy characters, just doesn't work for me... I'm glad the relationships and last part of the book were wonderful. Lovely review <3
ReplyDeleteRachel @ A Perfection Called Books
Thank you Rachel! The beginning was slow but not too slow thankfully!
DeleteI pushed this one aside for the same reasons! When Egmont went under, I was like, why bother reading a book whose series isn't going to be completed anyway? Same with Strange Skies (also Egmont), I figured there was no point. Those are the only two ARCs that I requested that I have not read, and are now published. It's so incredibly rare for me!
ReplyDeleteAnyway. I am so happy to see the four-star rating! I had my doubts about this one because I barely remember a thing from book one. I think I need to do a reread before I read this one! But they're so long -_-
Great review, Pili! Have a lovely weekend :)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
A re-read would be a good idea because in my case I think the book suffered a bit for not having it a bit more fresh in my memory!
DeleteSo the author found another publisher, or are they self publishing the third book? The Edgemont thing was devastating to so many authors, I am happy to see one who was able to carry on. I love the Persephone/Hades myth. I wish I had more time to read!
ReplyDeleteI think the book was picked up by the main branch of Egmont since Egmont US was the one that closed.
DeleteI like the whole Greek myth focus on this one along with the adventure they are having here. The slowness at the start sounds like it was worth it, with heaps of action and twists to look forward to in the later parts of the book and the cliffhanger! Great review Pili.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jeann! Yeah, the end was worth the slow beginning!
DeleteGorgeous review Pili. <3 I'm so glad you liked this sequel :D Not a series for me, but you are making me curious :) Glad the ending was the best part ;p That is always fun. Thank you for sharing. <3 Hope you had an amazing weekend :)
ReplyDeleteThank you sweetie! I am hoping the final book won't be as slow!
DeleteI don't mind the idea of the beginning of a book being too slow as long as it speeds up towards the end, which it sounds like this book does! Which makes me happy to hear that :) Glad the sequel was good!
ReplyDeleteYep, I don't mind a slightly slow beginning as long as it's not so slow it makes me lose interest!
DeleteI love books that twist in Greek Mythology and I have noticed that Persephone and Hades get retold quite often lately. Since I have not read the first book, I will give that a try but since cliffhangers drive me crazy I will see when the third book is due out and read them all then. Thanks for drawing this to my attention.
ReplyDeleteThis one has got quite an unique twist to the retelling, so I think it deserves to be given a try Karen!
Delete