Reviews

Of Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst

ameserole's review

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3.0

Not bad.. but I liked the first book a lot more.

Of Ice and Shadows was a nice sequel for me to listen to. It was honestly more of background noise than anything but I really did try to focus on it. In it, we still have the same princesses that we fell in love with in the first book: Mare and Denna. Yet, there was something missing in this book.

Not going to lie, nothing really happened in this. At least for me because things didn't start to get interesting until the very end of the book. Each princess just felt different to me in this one. It's like they were on some big or grand adventure.. but nothing really happened? Yes, magic needed to be tamed and they needed to be together till the very end. 'Cause ya know.. they love each other and shit.

..but I just wasn't invested this time around. I tried but they these two felt so boring. I honestly wished that the ending could've redeem them or the entire book but it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe next time folks.

samsara's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I was pleasantly surprised by how much more I enjoyed this book vs the first one in the series. The conflict between kingdoms and character development was great! I was sad to hear there isn't a third book out yet because I enjoyed the story so much. 

abfark's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

kmyllek's review

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adventurous tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

sephirothfan's review

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3.0

I have to preface this by saying that it‘s been a while since I‘ve read the first book, so I only have a vague recollection of how everyone acted there but I still don’t remember Mare being this whiny?

Honestly, the book isn’t that bad but it‘s also not that good. Some of the writing is just lazy/weird and then there’s dialogues that are so awkwardly written they throw you out of the loop (e.g. when Mare say „Here‘s how I can help.“ when they’re planning to take Kartasha back).

Denna is kind of a Mary Sue and no one ever really struggles with anything. Sure, there are some problems but they’re all solved pretty quickly, so you don’t really feel for the characters because you know there’s gonna be some magical solution to whatever they’re facing within two pages and most of them ate gonna make it out alive and unharmed.

Still, it‘s a light read and at least it‘s gay.

bertie1903's review

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4.0

I’m not good at articulating thoughts but hurrrhhh
The ending was so good

skyla_shae's review

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

lesbrary's review

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4.0

After falling in love with Of Fire and Stars, I was eager to pick up the sequel. Luckily, I thought it was even stronger than the first one, developing the characters, fleshing out the world, introducing two equally interesting plots, and keeping the core of Denna and Mare's relationship.

My full review is up at the Lesbrary.

socorro44's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

cassie_grace's review

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4.0

Not quite as great as the first book, but still enjoyable.