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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I'm only here for Kent Berringer, even though he's a rich spoiled edgelord who most likely would be a Trump supporter omg yet despite that is the only one who actually has semblance of character development bc Tucker is so irritatingly stupid and self-righteous (even for a 14 yo get real) and Tori is so tiresome with her gaslight gatekeep girlboss. The story is kinda ok and the book isn't bad as a sequel but DJM keeps rehashing his most known tropes and plot twists (fake deaths, resuscitations, flip flopping attitudes in his characters etc.) Like I'm a long time DJM reader and I like his storytelling and Pendragon means so much to me that I excuse a lot of questionable stuff he does but being honest the book has a lot of problems (typos and continuity issues like changing Captain Granger's name out of the blue??) Mainly nothing major is revealed and when it is it's just crumbs. There's also a lot of problematic and insensitive writing here and there e.g. Kent being racist for funsies. Though Kent and the Paiute Elder's exchange was funny somewhat bc at least DJM had the presence of mind to make the Paiute Elder a sarcastic king. Still, it bothers me that DJ MacHale couldn't be bothered to give the Elder a name or have one of the kids ask him. Also, I was so caught up in the exchange between Kent and the Paiute elder that I failed to see how brainless the elder's conclusion about the evil that's befall them and who's behind it is, I'm sorry! Like I've said in my notes, sometimes there's no escaping a white man has written this bc how can a Native person find it hard to believe humans would destroy each other when they've experienced first hand the colonizers wrath and hatred? But still, I'm invested in this trilogy and I wanna know what's the deal with the Retros, how they got their name, and how did SYLO came to be so I'll definitely read book 3, where everything will be info dumped to hell.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and War
Minor: Murder
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