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| Book Cover. Ebook. |
This review can also appears on my Goodreads profile.
Rating: 4.3 stars out of 5!
An advance reading copy was provided by the publisher through Netgalley.
The story of Leto Distra and Grace of Albion is the one, that I have to say I liked most in the whole Ascension series, and not just because of the characters- because Jean-Pierre and Fiona win that trophy- but because of the whole, overall picture that was so nicely and entertainingly presented.
The best part about this book was that it was the most well-developed, well-written and consisted characters you could actually connect and sympathize to. The writing improved vastly compared to the prior books, and I have to say that I adored it.
For so long, my complaint has been about the use of a somewhat same story-line that shadowed every book— with such slight tweaks here and there, that the concept soon got ancient— and the lousy writing that would emerge without warning in particular scenes. This novel, surprises us with a roundabout look at the breh-hedden and the story which I really, really liked. Also, no one blamed Endelle for anything like the other protagonists had the tendency of doing in the previous books- and since she's my most favorite character in the whole series, I was immensely gratified.
The thing that I felt could be improved was, repetition. Like I said, the plot was more miscellaneous than any of the other books in the series, but the intimate scenes between the main leads has proved to be nigh the same in every book. Not 'what' they do or 'how' they do it, but the writing style, their dialogues, the situation, it's almost as if a broken record playing over and over again.
I wish the author would remedy that and come up with new ideas to sustain the carnal and emotional relationships between the protagonists because more often than not, I found myself drifting away from the story and just skipping those parts soon after the main leads got past the newness and well, on the price of being crude, have had sex with each other at least once.
You realize the odds of how excruciating it must've have turned, when in a book of 431 pages- a lot of which were laden with these scenes- I've had to skip portions just because I grew weary of them. I'd suggest a refreshment in the language and writing used, although it must be said, that the author came a long way from the initial point where she'd started with Ascension, which if you think about it, is actually quite great.
I also thought that instead of retracing the same steps, instead of having the leads finally come together wholly- near the end- only after they've been hit with something huge and life-threatening, the author could find something new to delight us with.
And can I just say, how anxiously I await for Endelle's novel?
A small tid-bit: For a hardcore PNR ficiton and UF fan, it's easy to categorize and sort through moments that are so convenient and easy in sequence that they, in their complex simplicity, can be utterly ridiculous. Like it sometimes happens in the movies, you know.. the hero to kill the villain even while he's bleeding like the bloody Thames and already limp with a fracture. Ha, don't put any real effort here, just sit there and flex.
So I guess what I've been trying to state is that despite all the negatives, the author has fashioned the story into something a reader can truly relish and thus this novel has yet, proved to be the absolute best in the series(and I've been noticing a consistent improvement in the writing style and plot development from book four, which has lead to this remarkable progress here and now) and has actually prompted me to hold on and sit tight for the next ride. Also, it goes without saying, that I am going to read Endelle's book, so there's that to anticipate.
