Grace

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I really wanted to love this book, to me it had every element to be an amazing story starting from what was built in Book 1 and following with the quest/mission/goal with which this book started... but to me it was about 300 pages too long:

1. Similar to how I felt about Book 2 in Crowns of Nyaxia, it lacked depth and purpose on the first half, neither character had any development at all except for Resheye, and she was gone by past half of the book.
2. The magic system that I loved in the first book stopped making sense here, suddenly no rules applied anymore, no boundaries for neither character... The stakes were very high but the resolution was way too easy.
3. But what pained me the most was how repetitive it got: I find it more natural to have breaks between Wars, but these guys don't ever have a chance for a break, then the constant battle and sudden conflict makes me feel as if they are more an excuse for a story than a story itself...
4. Also some dialogues were very repetitive, I lost count on how many times I read "But he/she felt a magic so familiar they didn't need to see to know who it was", and every chapter Max's scent was described, the mismatched eyes and tan skin description several times when Max was thinking about Tisaanah, Nura's silver braid and cold gaze... I like a great world-building but filling pages with the same descriptions over and over isn't enjoyable.

So overall I kept reading because of Aefe's story, which was jaw-dropping and well developed, and the final plot twist was everything! But I feel like that story will be left Unfinished because the next book is 100 pages longer than this one and I really don't feel like diving in a small-paced end of trilogy.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Carissa's writing, I find it -in many ways- similar to Brandon Sanderson's style, perhaps in his starting point. I do see potential since one of my favorite books ever was written by her and she's gotten better in her prose. In my opinion she just needs to plan her storytelling a bit more and get creative with the dialogues, add breaks from wars and also get creative with what happens during that break, what do the characters learn so it doesn't become a boring break but it also doesn't become an endless battle, balance stakes and resolutions, and keep with the parallel POVs, I really enjoyed the point when you think Aefe, Max and Tisanaah will meet but it turns out they do not share the same timeframe. And then you find out it was Reshaye's backstory all along... it was so beautifully presented.

I know it is hard to get a great second book in a trilogy, and I don't have anything against long books (I am about to start the Stormlight Archives), I just think it's essential to not repeat mistakes (all of the above also happened with Crowns of Nyaxia book 2) or make it a novella or a standalone instead, that's fine too, some stories don't need to be as long, but all of them need to have an ending at some point.

I loved this so much!! It confirmed some of my theories during "The Well of Ascension" and "The Hero of Ages", and solved some questions I had, especially in the end of HoA.

I think this is the glue that pieces the original trilogy together (I haven't started the second yet), and yet it gives an entirely new perspective on how things happened while the focus was on the remaining crew.

A total masterpiece that gave more enjoyment to Mistborn!

Loved this book!!! I relate so much with Kat, how she doesn't fit in the High society and actually wants to do good with her privileged position.

I must say it does feel like a fae version of Cinderella, since it has some iconic details like:

• Her stepmother own Kat's possessions after her father's passing and mistreating her
• Kat having glass slippers (inherited from her mom) and then one casually left behind during a raid
• Her glamours during the same raid of the lost slipper washing off at midnight
• And I believe in the japanese legend similar to Cinderella it is stated that her prince kicks her stepmother and stepsisters out of Cinderella's properties and then brings her in her own home as a surprise wedding present.

Still I feel that is a subplot of the book and those details are subtly complementing the story rather than developing around them, which is nice.

I liked how the story develops, and you keep wondering about what truly happened in Kat's past that inspired her to become the Ivy Mask, since she keeps changing the truth but doesn't reveal it even in her thoughts, keeping the reader engaged and wanting to find out alongside Rahk.

I would have liked a more intense character development for Kat, I know breaking down your own walls and accepting to be loved is not easy, but throughout the book she keeps essentially the same: untrusting, fearful of what Rahk might do to her if he found out the truth (her being a woman, then her being Lady Vandermore, and then her being the Ivy Mask... for all three feels like the same story repeating itself) and seems like she doesn't learn anything from it other than the fact that she loves Rahk and doesn't bear to hurt him with each truth. Once she has no secrets left suddenly all of that personality fades and seems like a confident, strong, worthy woman... maybe I missed that process in the reading?

All in all, it is something I WISH it had, but not something that faults the book because it works beautifully and I enjoyed it so much! It's got heist, mystery, deception, love, romance (yeah girls, we all melt with that scene in which Rahks slowly kisses Kat, and drive crazy with the carriage scene), self-doubt, and how even the fearless warrior has his own weaknesses. It is a new favorite of mine and would definitely re read as a cozy fantasy.

I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages.

My, oh my, this book is definitely THE end of all trilogies. It made justice to the story, in both writing and plot. The character development is amazing, and I am pleasantly surprised with how some of the themes were handled, such as depression, self-doubt, coming of age (and the mourning of who one once was), questioning your faith/religions in general (especially after a loss), sacrifice, love... it holds complex aspects of life in such a relatable manner that you can't help to care for all the characters for different reasons.

The masterpiece is the way it unfolds everything, bits and pieces, nuggets left in the past two books... it was just all beautifully executed. I haven't read a more fantastic way to end a trilogy (or any series, even duologies) than this.

This storyline starts Round a year after the events in "The Final Empire", and as expected it turns more political and strategic, given the aftermath of the first book I was actually thinking it would be slower but I did not see this coming at all! Yes it carries "not so fun" topics such as politics, leadership and post-war hardships but it also explores other topics as deep as it can get, such as friendship (very important detail from Kelsier's last words to Vin in book 1), rightness, faith, love, and the character development was exquisite! I think every major character evolved one way or another and that was a nice touch to get to know them better, their true selves, their motivations and their fears.

This book is also full of foreshadowing and plot twists, the ending is mind blowing, so much so that I can totally relate with how Sazed ends up feeling regarding his faith. It does have sins, though, as the second book in most -if not all- trilogies but Brandon managed them so well that it didn't end up being neither boring nor heavy at any point, he does know how to keep a reader engaged through character development.

I can't wait to start the third book ASAP!

This storyline starts Round a year after the events in "The Final Empire", and as expected it turns more political and strategic, given the aftermath of the first book I was actually thinking it would be slower but I did not see this coming at all! Yes it carries "not so fun" topics such as politics, leadership and post-war hardships but it also explores other topics as deep as it can get, such as friendship (very important detail from Kelsier's last words to Vin in book 1), rightness, faith, love, and the character development was exquisite! I think every major character evolved one way or another and that was a nice touch to get to know them better, their true selves, their motivations and their fears.

This book is also full of foreshadowing and plot twists, the ending is mind blowing, so much so that I can totally relate with how Sazed ends up feeling regarding his faith. It does have sins, though, as the second book in most -if not all- trilogies but Brandon managed them so well that it didn't end up being neither boring nor heavy at any point, he does know how to keep a reader engaged through character development.

I can't wait to start the third book ASAP!

Me gustó mucho, la historia, el mundo, la magia... no es lo más original pero yo lo disfruté.

Pienso que un mapa ayudaría para entender mejor la geografía del mundo, y el final me dejó un tanto insatisfecha ya que no cerró siquiera en un "cliff hanger", me quedó la sensación de que estaba incompleto más que otra cosa.

Por esos detalles es que lo evalúo en 4/5, pero en general no me pareció ni aburrido, ni plano, ni infantil como en otros comentarios mencionan.

Leí este libro en español, y la escritura me pareció adecuada pero puede ser que por eso mismo mi experiencia haya sido diferente a la del grueso de otros reviews, además leí mientras escuchaba la playlist en Spotify y de verdad que me encantó, nunca había hecho eso (suelo leer en pleno silencio o con el sonido de la tv con lo que estén viendo mis niños) pero me cambió la experiencia.

Un libro muy bonito para empatizar y mejorar las reacciones como papás. Además les explica a los niños que mamá y papá no siempre saben lo que hacen y tambien tienen malos momentos, platica por ejemplo lo que pasa cuando mamá se desespera muy pronto, o la ve de malas, sin justificar la acción, y también plantea cómo el niño percibe a la mamá.

Una frase que me quedó muy grabada es cuando mamá se molesta y el niño "ve con temor cómo se convierte en algo como un monstruo", y es cierto que cuando estamos con poca paciencia si observamos veremos cómo su mirada cambia y seguro mil cosas pasan por su cabeza... ¿qué impresión quiero dejar a mis hijos? Me ha dado mucho qué pensar en cuanto a mi autorregulación porque ellos aprenden con el ejemplo.