Tonje

I love Bowie

I guess you could technically say the cast of characters are diverse, although most of them seem to be queer in some way. So diverse from the “norm”? Yes. Diverse as in lots of different identities and sexualities? Not really 😅

Now I dislike Tella more than I disliked Scarlett in the first one 😂
Things I didn't like about this book:

1) The book is basically like this: “Tella, don't do it! It's a bad idea!” And then Tella decides it's a good idea to go ahead and do it anyway. I swear these two sisters are horrible at decision making. Like I get creating a challenge for the main character, but does it always have to be a challenge that came about because the main character was stupid?

2) I didn't believe for a second that Tella was interested in Jacks, and not just because I had already read Once Upon a Broken Heart and had the next two books in the Caraval series spoiled for myself. Jacks was cold, insensitive and bordering on abusive at times. You expect me to believe a girl who's endured abuse from her father would see this man and go “... maybe I like him?” ??? To quote Raven; I could not believe it.

3) Again with the overly descriptive writing. Because I already knew where the plot was going thanks to two sentences in Once Upon a Broken Heart spoiling it for me I had no patience sitting through paragraphs, sometimes even half a page of descriptions of a room or a characters outfit. Please get to the point

Overall I liked this book more than Caraval, although it suffers from the same kind of repetitive internal conflict/monologue and descriptions of people and places taking up entire pages. Also I think I got spoilers for what happens next in the Caraval series? Which is kind of a bummer since I still have to read 2 books and like 800 pages and now I know where the story (most likely) ends. I didn't even realise it was the same universe before Scarlett and Donatella were mentioned 😅 Oh well my bad

This is the second time I read a book by this author, the other time being in 2022 and ending in a 2 star rating because I found the main character insufferable, obsessed with her mother and selfish in the choices she made. The mc of this book suffers from a lot of the same symptoms. Selfish actions are being explained away or left as if me as a reader is supposed to think “oh yeah that makes perfect sense that you did that, it’s totally okay.” It doesn’t sit well with me. Also, didn’t like the ‘plot twist’ introduced waay out in the book. It felt like a cheap way to explain the skittish, non committed behaviour of the mc. We never get an explanation on the notes, how do they work? Who or what is sending them? If it was a family curse, or some sort of ‘gift’ bestowed upon her at birth or literally anything other than “it just happens” it would’ve made for a much more compelling story.

This is the second time I try reading a book by this author, and it’s the second time I’m drawn in by the premise of the story and gets left unsatisfied by it.