Fallen

Things are noticeably moving to a head in this tenth book in the series, with some of the ongoing plot threads tied up. On the downside, there's less of the world-building than usual, the pieces already being set up and not much new added. There are no significant new characters in this one, either, although a few older characters that we haven't seen for some time make a welcome return. Still, with the body count quite high in this one, the cast is shrinking rather than expanding as the end of the series approaches.

Arguably, nothing much really happens in the first part of the book until things suddenly go off the rails and Alex is on the run. Again. What follows includes some really quite brutal scenes, some of which involve Alex being a rather darker and less sympathetic character than before. Sure, it's always been there in earlier books, and the situation he's in is dire, but this one seems to be pushing at the boundaries more than it did before. Which makes, at least for me, a less enjoyable read, even if the specific events are justifiable in context. There's a dramatic climax, sure, but even that seems to be pushing towards a darker story - and not just because of what the villains are doing.

CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-8
W-8
P-7
I-9
L-9
E-10
TOTAL-8.43/10

Just friggin wow. This is a Year later. Anne outed thanks to STUPID CALDERA!! But thanks to her Alex is back in business CAWPILECharactersAlex—Bonding with the Fateweaver. Can't play both sides. Embraces his “dark” side. Totally ruthless. Absolutely destroys Onyx, Pyre. Who are all gangster thugs for some reason. Really fell off.. Alex being controlled by Crystal. Can he stop using the fateweaver enough to be able to let anne heal him. Alex “cut” off a part of himself as well the decisive and accept consequences Shireen's “lie” Rachel has to be redeemed. No Rachel has to “turn”Cinder and Alex very similarOnyx—regressing. Not forward thinking only revengeAnne—Dark Anne in control again, but now Alex can't get to regular Anne. Anne should've known that wasn't Verus. Totally out of character for him. Totally destroys Sal SarqueRichard—he totally is a diviner!! But he has a Jinn.. he can shutdown Jinn with his dreamstone. His black magic is a JinnRachel—Super unstable, Alex drives more crazy with Meredith. She disintegrates his dreamstone. Has an Unstable Jinn AtmosphereAlex's desperation leaps of the page, but his shift in mentality, calm cool collected almost eerie after wardWritingA few nitpicks, Alex realizing something and we don't learn it till later. Phrases like I knew Richards magic. End chapter. A shorter book by about 50 pagesPlotAlex running from Council has to get stronger. Takes the Fateweaver. Joins with it in ELSEWHERE. Free's Anne from Richards control, but Anne is still dark Anne.—Forced Merge in the future I think. InvestmentChap 12 scary cool.LogicThe Growth of Alex was expected and yet totally unexpected. His ruthlessness has always been there, but subdued a little bit. Not any more.EnjoymentMiscIts that “easy?” you're powers are basically built for each other. But the more he uses it the more he TransformsLoss of Arachne. Council comes for her. The DRAGON freaking rescues her. Anne's family treat her like a servant.Caldera treats his life like a game now. Poor CalderaAlex's Final refusal of Richard Arachne's Letter.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 08/21/22