outsidestar's reviews
82 reviews

• The Cardan-Nicasia-Locke relationship. After how much they've betrayed and played each other, how can they possibly still want to be around one another? I can't wrap my head around it. Like, why make Locke Master of Revels when he took Nicasia from you, then played her and played Jude too?

• The hate fucking scene. What the hell was that? As much as I ship them together, there was no build up. Epic love stories, or just any love story really, aren't supposed to come from giant red flags. That screamed toxic relationship to me from miles away.

• The Heather and Vivi situation. That was clearly going to go wrong, one way or another. I just feel like Heather is a filler, a tool to get Vivi out of Faerie and then there's no more use for her.

• When Jude is taken to the Undersea I felt absolute indifference about the betrayal. I should've been screaming because it's someone I actually liked in the first book, but instead I was just like oh, okay. Why? Because he practically doesn't show up in this whole book! If he had been more present, it would've made more of an impact. Not to mention that we don't know why (other that he disn't like to be bossed around by her) or what he got in return.

• Speaking of the Undersea. What was that like? I can't tell you because I wasn't told. It's this place under the sea with mermaids and who knows what else and we got to see nothing of it.

• Which leads me to: the world-building. I had this problem in the first book too. I don't feel like the world is real enough, I don't know what it looks like. All I know is that it must be tiny, because Jude seems to be able to get everywhere by foot.

• And not just the world, but the different courts too, I feel like they are underused and could have much more presence. The Court of Termites, for example, they are only used to get Jude moving, but nothing else. The Undersea is just a catalyst. Not to mention Cardan's mother, whose presence serves no purpose at all.

• And finally, the characters. Like I said in my review for The Cruel Prince, not many characters are straight on likeable, which isn't a bad thing, I love me some flawed characters. But they need to have redeeming qualities for me to be able to root for them. Right now the only characters I can say I fully like are the Bomb, the Roach and Cardan. You know that thing that happens right at the end? I'm taking Cardan's side on that, she had it coming. The problem is that most characters are just pawns of the story, they're there to fulfill whatever is needed from them and then disappear into the background. And what about Jude? I liked her better in this book, because she starts to worry about Oak and Cardan and puts others before herself, but I still cannot connect with that thirst for power of hers, I get where it comes from but still... no.

Let’s start with a love story.
Or maybe it’s another horror story. It seems like the difference is mostly in where the ending comes.

"It's terrible to be a girl trapped in a story. But you can be more than that. You can be the teller. You can shape the story." 

• The bullies: Valerian and Nicasia have zero depth to them. They are one-dimensional characters. I feel like I don’t know anything about them or why they act the way they do. The same would apply to Locke, though I did kinda like him in the beginning, but I don’t get him. No matter if a character is good or bad, likeable or not, you need to understand who they are and why they do things, otherwise you’re never going to feel anything other than indifference towards them. And then there’s Cardan, who pretty much changed personalities for the second half of the book. Although his motives were more or less explained, he still fell flat for me during the first half of the book. Then he became much more interesting, but he was an entirely different person. I like him better now, so I’m just going to roll with his new personality and act like the Cardan from the first half of the book didn’t happen.

• Taryn: I don’t get her. Maybe it’s me, because I don’t seem to get anyone, or just that no one’s motives were explained. I understood her character until you know what was revealed. Knowing how things work in Faerie, how could she choose him over her? She can’t really be in love with him after everything. Or maybe she’s just dumb.

• Jude: I understood and could get behind her for the most part. I get that, like Taryn, all she wants is to belong in Faerie and not feel vulnerable, I’ll even believe that one day she flipped the switch and became a rebel, but that sudden thirst for power? And how she, a mortal girl, can outwit every immortal Fae? That’s too much suspension of disbelief. But the real question is, how and when did the responsibility and weight of the world fall on Jude’s shoulders? How did she get involved in that and why does she even care? It's not something for her to worry about because she has nothing at stake. And when that something appears, it's someone I couldn't care less about.

“I am a jinni, Aladdin. Never think I am anything but heartless”

“Wishes have a way of twisting themselves, and there is nothing more dangerous than getting your heart's desire.”

“Even a thief may have honor, and even a jinni may have a heart.”

“He is the sun, and I am the moon. We must stay apart or the world will be thrown out of balance.”