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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
Wow, this installment was amazing. Another fast, enthralling read, I loved the world-building again in these stories, and now of the Radiant culture. The continuing dynamics between the main characters as well as their relationships with the Radiants, like Engus and Riddle and Quen are particularly intriguing. I just love following the characters through every thought, emotion and path.
There are also a couple times toward the ending, I must admit, that I was in tears at what was happening to the characters. The ending was such a huge twist and a great set up for the next book that I'm really dying to read more! This is such a great series and deserves way more attention than it gets. Kudos and well-done to the author again!
There are also a couple times toward the ending, I must admit, that I was in tears at what was happening to the characters. The ending was such a huge twist and a great set up for the next book that I'm really dying to read more! This is such a great series and deserves way more attention than it gets. Kudos and well-done to the author again!
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Why Rebecca? Why?
I can't form the words. Thom continues to be the ultimate baby girl, but I don't think I can forgive Crunden for Kitty. SHE'S SUFFERED ENOUGH.
I'm a little scared to read the finale, if they don't get their happy endings I don't think I could take it.
I can't form the words. Thom continues to be the ultimate baby girl, but I don't think I can forgive Crunden for Kitty. SHE'S SUFFERED ENOUGH.
I'm a little scared to read the finale, if they don't get their happy endings I don't think I could take it.
Trigger Warnings
This book contains:
• Revenge (including psychological torture, physical torture, bloodshed and murder/killing).
Characters
Unlike the first three books, this book mostly follows Kitty, but also has moments of following Thom or Nate allowing us to gain perspectives from all three of them during their time in the Outlands.
Storyline
Kitty, Nate and Thom are building a life for themselves in the Outlands despite Quen constantly attacking them and the others from the Kingdom wanting to return to fight for freedom. As tensions reach breaking point, Riddle and Kitty develop a special bond that has Nate questioning the future of his relationship with Kitty.
Overall Thoughts
Coming straight off the back of A Promise of Return, the pace and drama of this just wasn’t the same. It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that I wasn’t constantly wishing I could stop what I was doing and keep reading.
There were certainly stretches of the book where I felt that way. But to set up for those parts, others needed to be a bit slower, more relationship focused and less adrenaline pumping.
The main reason for scoring this one a little lower was that we’ve gone from following just one character then whole way through, to occasionally swapping perspectives. Being book 4 and the first time this is happening it thew me off a little which also threw me out of my reading zone.
If you go in expecting to suddenly change perspectives a couple times you may not experience that “thrown” feeling quite so much. But I wasn’t expecting it, so it did throw me.
Otherwise, the culmination of all the build up at the end surprised me, drew me in but also left me wondering what was left to cover in the fifth and last book of the series.
This book contains:
• Revenge (including psychological torture, physical torture, bloodshed and murder/killing).
Characters
Unlike the first three books, this book mostly follows Kitty, but also has moments of following Thom or Nate allowing us to gain perspectives from all three of them during their time in the Outlands.
Storyline
Kitty, Nate and Thom are building a life for themselves in the Outlands despite Quen constantly attacking them and the others from the Kingdom wanting to return to fight for freedom. As tensions reach breaking point, Riddle and Kitty develop a special bond that has Nate questioning the future of his relationship with Kitty.
Overall Thoughts
Coming straight off the back of A Promise of Return, the pace and drama of this just wasn’t the same. It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that I wasn’t constantly wishing I could stop what I was doing and keep reading.
There were certainly stretches of the book where I felt that way. But to set up for those parts, others needed to be a bit slower, more relationship focused and less adrenaline pumping.
The main reason for scoring this one a little lower was that we’ve gone from following just one character then whole way through, to occasionally swapping perspectives. Being book 4 and the first time this is happening it thew me off a little which also threw me out of my reading zone.
If you go in expecting to suddenly change perspectives a couple times you may not experience that “thrown” feeling quite so much. But I wasn’t expecting it, so it did throw me.
Otherwise, the culmination of all the build up at the end surprised me, drew me in but also left me wondering what was left to cover in the fifth and last book of the series.
–>I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.<–
After a flashback to Blaise to fill in some backstory on him, we are back to the three main characters, Kitty, Nate, and Thom navigating their new lives in the Outlands. The group tensions that the third book ended with are still there, threatening to tear the community apart...
We really hit the breaks and slow down the main story on this one. As the group argues and debates, argues mostly, on what to do about going back to the Kingdom or staying out of it for good. The drama this causes takes up a lot of the story, and the constant back and forth fighting and making up wore me down quite a bit. I like the characters, I really do. But this stuff irritates me to no end, they really just need to get over things sometimes. This one takes a long time to get rolling because of this, and finally, when they are attacked we get to some fun bits again.
The group is still living in constant worry about the Radiant outcasts attacking them. They hunt them everywhere they go and they do battle with Quen quite a bit throughout the story, who makes for a good and menacing villain.
And of course, with this taking place in the Outlands, we get a lot of lore in between the constant group bickering. I enjoy the Outlands and the descriptions of scenery always so it is still an enjoyable entry despite the drama. Outside of the characters and their relationships, this one is mostly about filling in everything about the Outlands and we learn even more about the Radiant's culture.
Since the story is slowed down so much, we get to see a lot more about all the many side characters. Riddle especially gets a lot of character work and is a great character. All the characters find themselves changing and their relationships are tested and changed too. As this is told from Kitty's perspective, we follow her as she trains as a warrior and deals with the two brothers' frustrating bond.
There is also a lot of action, just spaced out a bit. The battles with the Outcasts as I mentioned earlier are bloody and intense. The main group fights a lot too, and not just in arguments, a lot of fistfights break out in this one.
This book mostly felt like a huge set up for the inevitable returning to the kingdom and rebellion that we've been waiting for since they hopped the wall in the first place. The characters are well developed and established at this point so often I just found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak and for things to happen.
Seeing how they lived in the Outlands in great detail was well done and the action that eventually came was awesome. The characters fight simply way too much, but I do enjoy seeing how far they've all come from book one. Everything that has happened from the beginning plays a part in how this one ends and sets the stage for a huge showdown in the final upcoming book.
After a flashback to Blaise to fill in some backstory on him, we are back to the three main characters, Kitty, Nate, and Thom navigating their new lives in the Outlands. The group tensions that the third book ended with are still there, threatening to tear the community apart...
We really hit the breaks and slow down the main story on this one. As the group argues and debates, argues mostly, on what to do about going back to the Kingdom or staying out of it for good. The drama this causes takes up a lot of the story, and the constant back and forth fighting and making up wore me down quite a bit. I like the characters, I really do. But this stuff irritates me to no end, they really just need to get over things sometimes. This one takes a long time to get rolling because of this, and finally, when they are attacked we get to some fun bits again.
The group is still living in constant worry about the Radiant outcasts attacking them. They hunt them everywhere they go and they do battle with Quen quite a bit throughout the story, who makes for a good and menacing villain.
And of course, with this taking place in the Outlands, we get a lot of lore in between the constant group bickering. I enjoy the Outlands and the descriptions of scenery always so it is still an enjoyable entry despite the drama. Outside of the characters and their relationships, this one is mostly about filling in everything about the Outlands and we learn even more about the Radiant's culture.
Since the story is slowed down so much, we get to see a lot more about all the many side characters. Riddle especially gets a lot of character work and is a great character. All the characters find themselves changing and their relationships are tested and changed too. As this is told from Kitty's perspective, we follow her as she trains as a warrior and deals with the two brothers' frustrating bond.
There is also a lot of action, just spaced out a bit. The battles with the Outcasts as I mentioned earlier are bloody and intense. The main group fights a lot too, and not just in arguments, a lot of fistfights break out in this one.
This book mostly felt like a huge set up for the inevitable returning to the kingdom and rebellion that we've been waiting for since they hopped the wall in the first place. The characters are well developed and established at this point so often I just found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak and for things to happen.
Seeing how they lived in the Outlands in great detail was well done and the action that eventually came was awesome. The characters fight simply way too much, but I do enjoy seeing how far they've all come from book one. Everything that has happened from the beginning plays a part in how this one ends and sets the stage for a huge showdown in the final upcoming book.
I got an ARC of this book.
I love this series, but this felt like I was waiting the whole time for the plot to start. This is a great example of why I tend to avoid fantasy. So many fantasy novels have huge sections that are just traveling or talking around a fire. That was this book.
There were things that happened, but in the end I had to force myself to read. The epilogue felt like it had more action than the rest of the book. Considering how much I loved the first three books, I feel like this is a me issue and not the book. I don't know. I am sad.
I am still going to read book five without a doubt. Going to give it a few days before I start though, see if I can fix myself. I refuse to believe that this series is not amazing the whole way through!
I love this series, but this felt like I was waiting the whole time for the plot to start. This is a great example of why I tend to avoid fantasy. So many fantasy novels have huge sections that are just traveling or talking around a fire. That was this book.
There were things that happened, but in the end I had to force myself to read. The epilogue felt like it had more action than the rest of the book. Considering how much I loved the first three books, I feel like this is a me issue and not the book. I don't know. I am sad.
I am still going to read book five without a doubt. Going to give it a few days before I start though, see if I can fix myself. I refuse to believe that this series is not amazing the whole way through!
I loved the development of Thom and Kitty’s friendship in this book. Such a beautiful portrayal of genuine love and friendship. I did find myself becoming slightly annoyed with Nate throughout the book, which I disliked because he’s one of my favorite characters. Last book here I come!
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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FR REVIEW :
DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Rebecca Crunden for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Dance Of Lies is the 4th book in The Outlands Pentalogy. This series gets better with each book and I am all here for it. Each book focuses on a main character’s POV taking us through their tumultuous lives as they fight against the oppression and tyranny of the heavily authoritarian Kingdom. A year of living in the Outlands hasn’t resolved the issues building between Nate, Thom, Kitty, and the rest of the group. Their found family of people of the Kingdom and Radiants have found a routine to their lives, living day to day the best way possible. Not everyone is happy to flee from the Kingdom and wants to fight back against the government. But Nate and Kitty do not wish to return to horrors waiting for them. The internal dissent and tensions rise ever frequently and finally comes to a head; splitting the group into two sides. We see the group splintering and weakening and also see the underlying terror and love that comes off in ways that are not only unhealthy but toxic and controlling for others. Can they live peacefully in the Outlands or will they surrender to the pressure to rescue others oppressed by the Kingdom? Is there such a thing as peace, that can be found for the foreseeable future in the Outlands where the threat of Outcasts is at an all-time high?
This series is definitely my kind of series and it makes me mad that not many people have read it or are not talking about it enough. We need to hype this series up and I want to see this on many book lists. It’s not going to surprise any of you when I say I have given the series 5 stars. It was so good and I love how seamlessly the story progresses and I didn’t feel disconnected from any of the characters or the story despite the different POVs. I believe Rebecca has done a fantastic job of bringing together flawed, realistic people to show us the world is not in fact black and white. The world is filled with grey and I am a sucker for grey. The layers and nuances are what make a person whole. If it wasn’t for the internal conflicts, doubts, insecurities, mistakes, and fears it wouldn’t be the story it is.
Overall, this is a brilliant adult series that handles a diverse group of characters with different races, cultures, religious beliefs, sexual identities in a well-rounded manner. This book encompasses people from around the world and brings all of them together in a great way. I loved it so much and am equally thrilled and sad to get to the final story. If you haven’t read this fantastic series, go pick it up. It’s a wonderful series that going to take you through an emotional roller coaster, make you fall in love with the perfectly imperfect band of characters and a world that’s realistic in its design. I highly recommend this series for those of you who love reading adult dystopian fantasy/sci-fi stories that are heavily character-driven. It’s fast, thrilling, and a rich world-building that will blow your mind. Pick this book now and read it!!
SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL : YOUTUBE
FOLLOW ME ON : TWITTER INSTAGRAM
FR REVIEW :
DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Rebecca Crunden for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Dance Of Lies is the 4th book in The Outlands Pentalogy. This series gets better with each book and I am all here for it. Each book focuses on a main character’s POV taking us through their tumultuous lives as they fight against the oppression and tyranny of the heavily authoritarian Kingdom. A year of living in the Outlands hasn’t resolved the issues building between Nate, Thom, Kitty, and the rest of the group. Their found family of people of the Kingdom and Radiants have found a routine to their lives, living day to day the best way possible. Not everyone is happy to flee from the Kingdom and wants to fight back against the government. But Nate and Kitty do not wish to return to horrors waiting for them. The internal dissent and tensions rise ever frequently and finally comes to a head; splitting the group into two sides. We see the group splintering and weakening and also see the underlying terror and love that comes off in ways that are not only unhealthy but toxic and controlling for others. Can they live peacefully in the Outlands or will they surrender to the pressure to rescue others oppressed by the Kingdom? Is there such a thing as peace, that can be found for the foreseeable future in the Outlands where the threat of Outcasts is at an all-time high?
This series is definitely my kind of series and it makes me mad that not many people have read it or are not talking about it enough. We need to hype this series up and I want to see this on many book lists. It’s not going to surprise any of you when I say I have given the series 5 stars. It was so good and I love how seamlessly the story progresses and I didn’t feel disconnected from any of the characters or the story despite the different POVs. I believe Rebecca has done a fantastic job of bringing together flawed, realistic people to show us the world is not in fact black and white. The world is filled with grey and I am a sucker for grey. The layers and nuances are what make a person whole. If it wasn’t for the internal conflicts, doubts, insecurities, mistakes, and fears it wouldn’t be the story it is.
Overall, this is a brilliant adult series that handles a diverse group of characters with different races, cultures, religious beliefs, sexual identities in a well-rounded manner. This book encompasses people from around the world and brings all of them together in a great way. I loved it so much and am equally thrilled and sad to get to the final story. If you haven’t read this fantastic series, go pick it up. It’s a wonderful series that going to take you through an emotional roller coaster, make you fall in love with the perfectly imperfect band of characters and a world that’s realistic in its design. I highly recommend this series for those of you who love reading adult dystopian fantasy/sci-fi stories that are heavily character-driven. It’s fast, thrilling, and a rich world-building that will blow your mind. Pick this book now and read it!!
A Dance of Lies is the fourth book in The Outlands pentalogy. This book begins about a year after Thom, Kitty, and Nate are reunited and have been living in the Outlands, away from the Kingdom. In the Outlands, there are no rules, kings, or prisons and the characters can finally taste freedom. Yet, they are haunted by the scars the Kingdom left on them and are dealing with the horror that is following them in the Outlands.
I found this book to be heavily character-driven. We see how complicated the relationships between the characters have become, especially with each of them dealing with their own trauma. Thom, Nate, Kitty, Charlie—their lives were falling apart in many ways and they were themselves falling apart emotionally. This book was mostly told through Kitty’s perspective. I feel that because of everything she had been through, there was loneliness inside her even though she was with the ones she loved. I really enjoyed her development throughout this book.
I liked seeing the main characters getting closer to other characters like Tove, Riddle, and Engus. I especially loved getting to know Riddle. It was also nice to see a different and new kind of bond forming between Kitty and Thom.
The involvement of the Radiants was more in this book and I found them very interesting. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of them in the next book.
There was comparatively less action in this book than the previous ones. It felt more like a build-up for bigger things to come. I enjoyed that and it was a nice break from the previous book which was quite intense. However, the ending completely threw me off and made me love this book even more.
The Outlands is an unputdownable series that keeps on getting more and more thrilling. I love that the author is keeping the books short so as to not make any part of them monotonous. I haven’t been this invested in a series in a long time. I can’t wait to see how it kinds and what happens to the characters.
Trigger warning – violent situations
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I found this book to be heavily character-driven. We see how complicated the relationships between the characters have become, especially with each of them dealing with their own trauma. Thom, Nate, Kitty, Charlie—their lives were falling apart in many ways and they were themselves falling apart emotionally. This book was mostly told through Kitty’s perspective. I feel that because of everything she had been through, there was loneliness inside her even though she was with the ones she loved. I really enjoyed her development throughout this book.
I liked seeing the main characters getting closer to other characters like Tove, Riddle, and Engus. I especially loved getting to know Riddle. It was also nice to see a different and new kind of bond forming between Kitty and Thom.
The involvement of the Radiants was more in this book and I found them very interesting. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of them in the next book.
There was comparatively less action in this book than the previous ones. It felt more like a build-up for bigger things to come. I enjoyed that and it was a nice break from the previous book which was quite intense. However, the ending completely threw me off and made me love this book even more.
The Outlands is an unputdownable series that keeps on getting more and more thrilling. I love that the author is keeping the books short so as to not make any part of them monotonous. I haven’t been this invested in a series in a long time. I can’t wait to see how it kinds and what happens to the characters.
Trigger warning – violent situations
Follow my blog and bookstagram for book reviews and more!
https://travellingthroughwords.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tavleen_words/