artsietango's Book Journey

It is with great sadness that I must give this book a low-star review.😔

I was really prepared to give this book between 4-5 stars - the first act, like in the first book, was a bit of a slow build to get the stakes established and the story underway, but still held many essential character reactions. Acts 2 and 3 were a whirlwind after I finally found time to come back to the book. Perfectly executed, tension the entire time, a rollercoaster ride of a book.

Here is why I am rating this otherwise powerhouse of a book 2 stars - the ending is not satisfying. Matteo dies, and unlike the other “near”deaths in the book, he does not survive. He straight up sacrifices himself and dies. There is so much emphasis on him being a part of Arthie’s crew, being in love with Arthie, and the hope of his future with Arthie in the future, that when he dies, it completely undercuts any satisfactory triumph we should feel for overthrowing the Ram and resurrecting Spindrift. It literally is not the same without him.

Because of this, it also feels like Arthie is never allowed to win. Arthie loses so much in these two books, that the last shred of hope she has is clinging to some sort of future with Matteo. And she just straight up can’t even had that. I get the appeal of a tragedy, but so much tragedy had already happened throughout these two books that it would have been okay for everyone to live and be together.

It’s just so wholly, colossally disappointing that the ending does not match the build up of the book at all, and because of this, I’m not even willing to explore the author’s other works because I don’t trust her to deliver the payoff that she has built the reader up to.