Suzi

This was the oldest fantasy book on my TBR (around 9 years!) so I'm glad I read it, unfortunately it wasn't a new fave for me BUT I do have this authors new series so I know I'll enjoy the writing in that.

I found the first 300 or so pages of this so compelling, it really gave me the same vibes as The Will of the Many (obviously written much earlier) due to the academy setting and the brotherhood amongst the boys.

Once they were outside of this, it started to lose my interest a bit. It just didn't have enough going on to keep the plot plotting so felt a bit flat and sloggy.

I don't think I'll be continuing in this series, as I've heard pretty much universally that the rest of the series hasn't been liked as much, but I will be trying his newer series.

I think I can agree with most other reviews with the following summary:

1 - I'm glad this is EVENTUALLY over.

2 - After how long this has been dragged out, the ending was not as satisfying as it should have been.

3 - Lionel's death was massively underwhelming.

4 - Book 8 should just basically not exist.

5 - The books and series overall is just too long (and again dragged out unnecessarily).

6 - I'm really disappointed how much the series went downhill after book 7.

I listened to books 8 and 9 on audio (I honestly don't think I would have finished them if I hadn't) and I have to say how amazing the narrators (Bridget and Jake Bordeaux) are. To have a different voice for all of the many POVs in these books was amazing, although Geraldine's was a bit much at times.

DNF @ 40%

After absolutely loving 'Wrong Place, Wrong Time', this was a massive disappointment.

40% in and I'm bored to tears and have absolutely no inclination to get back to it.

The story wasn't that interesting, the different POVs were confusing, especially with the change of third to second person between them. Also the main detective seemed like a total wet blanket with zero personality apart from making terrible decisions.

I'm not writing this author off but this one wasn't for me at all.

This was a great sequel to The Rise of the Ranger, and expanded on everything so well.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of Tauren and the Owls, as well as the other newly introduced characters.

The first half of this did feel a bit slower than the second half, but that second half was so intense and action packed it was worth it.

I listened to this one on audio, and I actually don't think that is the format for me with this series. The narrator was okay but was a little flat so I did feel a bit disconnected at times. So I think I'll just carry on with the series on Kindle.