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syliu's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“I am only trying to understand. All my life I have worked hard, done well, given others everything they asked from me. And I get nowhere. I get nothing. Cyril DePaul has betrayed, failed … he has floundered through his life. You were famous, and wealthy, and you threw away everything for him.”
“Yes,” said Aristide, and though he was drunk, anger made his diction sharp as broken glass and dragged the sibilance across it into tatters. “Twice.”
I think I misunderstood what Amberlough is about. All the dazzling lights of the first volume were exposition for a much more serious story about atonement and the way our actions shape us. Reading the first book of the trilogy was like shining a spotlight upon the cast at their best moments; beautiful and cunning; with all their clever implements finely honed. They were a mystery, their pasts and motivations unclear, but they were endearing and I desperately wanted to follow them where they went next, into exile or incarceration. The rest of the series revolves around the first volume, unable to leave its orbit, but the first volume also seems inconsequential next to the exhausted tragedy of the later chapters.
It’s rare for a book/series (Amnesty in particular) to really make me sit and contemplate what it means to love someone and idealise them for years on end, and to reckon with the serrated edge of change and dashed expectations. How do we live while saddled with simultaneous yearning and regret for the past? Never have I felt the loss of a past life in tandem with a book’s characters as acutely as I did here. And throughout Armistice and Amnesty there was a keen sense of the long stretch of time that encompasses the human experience, far more heavy and somber than any present moment or highlight.
The very concept of Amberlough is fascinating: a person who starts with nothing in life, who uses their smarts to get everything they could ever want and never get caught nor humbled. Sacrificing it all for someone born wanting for nothing but who ended up losing everything. Two people so deeply embroiled in politics with no saving principles of their own, inclined to selfishness and laziness. It’s miraculous that any positive emotion could blossom between them, yet it seems perfect and inevitable that it does, once they are stripped of all the glamour and pride they shielded themselves with.
Vague and fanciful reflections aside, man I love Aristide’s theatrical antics, no matter how pathetic they are. And Cyril’s gallows humour made me crack up as often as I felt pangs of grief.
I also have to mention that Armistice and Amnesty pulled off commentary on our real patriarchal society by constructing a fictional matriarchy very subtly and successfully — a rare feat. Daoud was so clearly beaten by the oppressive socialisation of his culture, made meek and confined to a life of ambition-less servitude. Juxtapose that with the curt superiority of Pulan, Lilian, and two female presidential candidates…there’s a striking power dynamic.
I will certainly have to reread the first volume, and I’ll never be able to see it the same way knowing what comes after.
The instant before death would be worse than another thirty, forty, fifty years of guilt because in that instant an infinity of failures would unfurl before him: all the things he might have done and would now never do. All the opportunities to do better that he would turn away, in paying a symbolic price for past wrongdoing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Violence, and Torture
Minor: War, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
kokiriforest0617's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
em_harring's review
5.0
What a great ending to a trilogy I absolutely adore. It's bittersweet to say goodbye to characters that I f*cking love, but it's done so well. Highly recommend The Amberlough Dossier!
loganslovelylibrary's review
4.0
This series is unique and so beautiful in a very distinct way. As the third and last installment in the series, it tied up many loose ends in a satisfying way. The book definitely focuses more on the political drama rather than the high-stakes espionage, which wore me down a little in the middle of the book. But the last quarter of the book was really wonderful, and I couldn't put it down. Ari and Cyril's tumultuous relationship finally gets its closure, and that's more than worth the read.
4/5 stars. -1 for the pacing, but all the rest for the visionary writing and unique character development. So glad I stuck with this series.
4/5 stars. -1 for the pacing, but all the rest for the visionary writing and unique character development. So glad I stuck with this series.
ashkitty93's review
4.0
Oh my GOD that ending was perfection. Mary Robinette Kowal's narration remains flawless. And I still can't get over this world-building?? From the cars to the cigarettes (oh god too many cigarettes) to a singer on the radio to the slang, these books are filled with so many details that strike just the right tone of "Yes, this world exists." I can't wait to read more, Lara Elena Donnelly!
4 stars for [[Important Things Happening in the Time Jump]]
4 stars for [[Important Things Happening in the Time Jump]]
delecterble's review
4.0
This felt like a satisfying conclusion to the Amberlough Dossier. The audiobook, narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal made me enjoy it even more. There's so much depth to the story that I feel I would have (or had been) missed by just reading it myself. The attention paid to each character's voice, dialect, intonation - makes it easier to follow the story. I may do a re-"read" of the entire series to get the complete experience with the audiobooks.
orion_or_hyangwoo's review
5.0
Outstanding conclusion to an engaging trilogy. I love the world in these stories. And, though I was terrified of a dissatisfying ending, this was well-rounded. I put it down feeling how I feel after a really good meal -- like I would still eat more of it quite happily, even though I am profoundly content. I'm glad I bought the trilogy as I can honestly imagine re-reading it, which I don't say often.
joelminor's review
3.0
As much as I loved the first Amberlough book, and was o.k. with the second, this book just wasn't what I was hoping for. None of the characters felt especially likeable--I wasn't really rooting for them. Ari and Cyril's relationship was frustrating, as was Lilian's and Jinadh's. I appreciated that the book had a fairly unvarnished view of presenting most of the narrative through the viewpoint of two alcoholic main characters... that part was interesting, at least, as was having seen them (especially Ari) evolve to the point of being so alcohol dependent over the course of a few books. And I also always appreciate books where coming out stories are not easy. Both Ari's and Cyril's inner demons about their homosexuality were presented compellingly. And of course the matriarchal(ish) society of Amberlough is always fun. But overall, it was just hard to get into a book where I didn't really like the characters that much.
Also, I couldn't stand the map in the front of the book! The author mentioned so many places that weren't on the map, and I kept turning back to it to figure out where the places were, only to be disappointed. Share more of the map with us!
Also, I couldn't stand the map in the front of the book! The author mentioned so many places that weren't on the map, and I kept turning back to it to figure out where the places were, only to be disappointed. Share more of the map with us!
ronpayne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The final book in the Amberlough Dossier series following a predominately gay cast of characters through the rise and fall of a fascist state on an alternate world, in a country similar to 1930s Germany. While the middle volume seemed to suffer from serious second book syndrome, it turns out to have done a great job of setting things up for this last book, which does an amazing job of focusing on the characters and closing their story arcs in a satisfying way.
chirson's review
4.0
I read this book courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for a review.
I didn't think this would happen, but at its (presumed) end, the world of Amberlough has grown on me, at long last. The third volume was the first that I really emotionally connected with.
First things first: I didn't even read the cover copy before embarking on my reading here, and I think that served me well. This novel starts several (?) years after the previous volume ended, and the world it is set in is quite different; but the story it tells this time is only marginally interested in the politics (though it very much needs them to motivate the plot) or spying and action: instead, it is an intimate story of broken people and their desperate attempts at putting themselves together. I very much admire series that switch gears mid-way, and tell a different type of story, and I think it was a good choice for Donnelly - spying pyrotechnics and intrigue were the least convincing and successful part of her writing, to me, and interpersonal interactions and personal reflection is much more where it shines. This is a novel whose plot is just a pretense for intense insight into the characters' traumas and the world they no longer understand or fit; thus, it will surely appeal to some and miss other readers. Count me mostly appealed to.
My only misgivings concern whether the narrative does enough to persuade me that the characters deserve my investment in their success - I am not quite sure it succeeds there. I feel like there are thematic aspects of this story that never find resolution - the story goes in a direction and then stops short of what would seem a logical conclusion. Still, even that has certain value - while a part of me truly wants a different ending for characters, to satisfy my desire for justice and the "right" ending, I am even more interested in engaging with the values this ending presents, discussing it with other readers, hearing their thoughts.
It was my favourite part of the trilogy, and I never would have expected that from the description. I found its mood and grittiness mesmerising. I can't wait to see what other readers think.
I didn't think this would happen, but at its (presumed) end, the world of Amberlough has grown on me, at long last. The third volume was the first that I really emotionally connected with.
First things first: I didn't even read the cover copy before embarking on my reading here, and I think that served me well. This novel starts several (?) years after the previous volume ended, and the world it is set in is quite different; but the story it tells this time is only marginally interested in the politics (though it very much needs them to motivate the plot) or spying and action: instead, it is an intimate story of broken people and their desperate attempts at putting themselves together. I very much admire series that switch gears mid-way, and tell a different type of story, and I think it was a good choice for Donnelly - spying pyrotechnics and intrigue were the least convincing and successful part of her writing, to me, and interpersonal interactions and personal reflection is much more where it shines. This is a novel whose plot is just a pretense for intense insight into the characters' traumas and the world they no longer understand or fit; thus, it will surely appeal to some and miss other readers. Count me mostly appealed to.
My only misgivings concern whether the narrative does enough to persuade me that the characters deserve my investment in their success - I am not quite sure it succeeds there. I feel like there are thematic aspects of this story that never find resolution - the story goes in a direction and then stops short of what would seem a logical conclusion. Still, even that has certain value - while a part of me truly wants a different ending for characters, to satisfy my desire for justice and the "right" ending, I am even more interested in engaging with the values this ending presents, discussing it with other readers, hearing their thoughts.
It was my favourite part of the trilogy, and I never would have expected that from the description. I found its mood and grittiness mesmerising. I can't wait to see what other readers think.