*** Warning: This review contains spoilers!! ***
I really enjoyed this installment! Sophie and the gang are now working with the Black Swan, so it's a pretty satisfying beginning. The first half of the book focused on Prentice, then the spotlight turned to Exillium, but there was a flow to the events, and there was a clear story arc involving the gnomes that tied it all together for the conclusion. There were lots of surprising revelations, plus a couple major events at the very end, one very poignant, the other a twist to set up the next book.
Ultimately, my rating is short of 5 stars because of some developments that seemed just too easy, or too simplistic. For example, Exillium's harsh practices were long-standing, yet Sophie was able to effect a full 180-degree change simply by telling two Councillors the truth? Did the Councillors really not know? Was there literally no oversight at Exillium?! Also, the whole idea that the Black Swan, and Della, would let 7 kids walk into Ravagog with only Alvar as a guide was a bit much, too. The Black Swan went out of their way to be secretive, but suddenly they needed Alvar's ogre knowledge, and they brought him on board, welcomed him to their hideout, assigned him a very important task without asking him to swear fealty first, and completely disregarded how Alvar used to argue with Alden against the Black Swan! Tam and Linh were equally unvetted, but at least they had nothing to lose, and good reason to help the gnomes.
No comments:
Post a Comment