Oh boy, did I get mad after reading this. COME ON LEMONY SNICKET! Why would you just leave the series on THIS? All the build up, all the suspense that the previous books had is just.. gone. This series ends on a cliffhanger (which is one of my biggest pet peeves) and NOTHING was even solved! It was basically “Here's a mystery. There's no answer because I was too lazy to finish it!”. All I can say is, don't read this book. It's isn't worth your time if you read the previous 11.
“I don't want to say good-bye,” I whisper to no one in particular.Grandpa Ike pats a rough hand on my back. “You'll never have to say good-bye,” he says. “Not so long as you remember.”
i first read this book in 2018, when i was just 12 years old. now, 6 years later, it still holds up incredibly well - i actually think it may be even better now that i'm older and better able to process the themes of family, loss, and grief in this book.
i haven't read middle grade since middle school, but this book constantly had me forget it was written for a young audience, not in the same way so many young adult books feel so juvenile. for such a short book, i'm shocked by how emotional i got near the end. ali standish does such a great job of writing complex young characters, without making it seem patronizing or unrealistic. will definitely check out more of her works. overall, i'm so happy i loved this just as much as i did back then - i feel so much for ethan and coralee.
Great book! The pacing wasn't too slow, and there was never a point where it felt boring. However, I honestly felt that the “romance” wasn't that necessary, and felt forced. Still a nice read though! 4 stars.
3.5 ⭐️
My feelings on this book are conflicted.
There were SO MANY things that I loved about it. The side characters - Izzi and Helene were my favorites in the entire book, and I really wished at times that they were more present than they ended up being. I also loved a lot of the action stuff from the second half, with the Trials being (mostly) really compelling and interesting to watch, and I also really enjoyed the dynamic with all the characters in Laia's POV - It was really engaging, and I really liked what we were able to see of them!
And yet, there was a lot that I disliked - The slow first half, the frustrating miscommunication in Elias' POV, and the GODAWFUL love square. Seriously - why did this have to be in the book?? It was so painfully obvious who would end up together, and just felt like a waste of time - Not to mention how both characters that didn't end up in a relationship got the absolute worst outcomes afterwards. The way Elias and Helene's dynamic turned out made me so, so frustrated!! Did we really need to have Helene banished to being the “not-love-interest” girl who gets written out of the spotlight??
(I also just think that Laia and Elias would've worked a lot better as a platonic relationship, not a romance
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