Reviews

Air & Earth by Tamora Pierce

carlyxdeexx's review against another edition

4.0

I don’t think any one of these books is any worse or better than the others. They are consistent, and I appreciate that not all of them are centered around violent conflict or natural disasters. I also think it’s pretty cool how Pierce frames Briar throughout the series—here is a boy who spent his young life thieving to survive, but ends up growing into an entirely new lifestyle in which he is much more comfortable with nurturing, kindness, and using his magic to help and heal others. I love his relationships with Tris, Daja, and Sandry—how comfortable he is among them. It’s great seeing masculinity portrayed this way in an older book.

Something that occurs pretty often in these is a word-for-word repetition of specific character descriptors from book to book. Duke Vedris is always described the same way, wearing authority like a cloak despite being unadorned. Rosethorn is always as thorny as her name. These don’t constantly repeat, but they appear at least once per book and are very memorable. It’s easy to pick up that you’ve heard it before. This isn’t necessarily an awful thing, especially in a book for younger readers (I’d say pre-teen to tween readers, maybe even younger). But it was distracting for me.

If I’m remembering correctly, The Circle Opens series gets more into the gang’s lives as teenagers, bringing us further into turbulent YA territory. But I might be wrong. It’s been a while. I’ll have to wait and see.

insanebluegenius's review

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

pridiansky's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted sad 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? Yes

5.0

octavia_cade's review against another edition

4.0

I read and reviewed the two books collected here separately, so basically this is just for my own records. The rating (three and a half stars, rounded up as is my wont) derives from the three stars given to Daja's Book and the four stars given to Briar's Book. These are the final two books in a series of four, and they are the best of them, I think - a judgement which is largely down to their two protagonists, who are the most interesting of the children featured in this series. I continue to enjoy the focus on craftwork, and both the books here place more emphasis on that, I think, than the first two.

I have a particular love for Briar, dedicated to plants as he is, but even so his book was, I thought, the best constructed of the four. A lot of that has to do with the focus of the book, and how little the central problem had to do with the magical abilities of the kids themselves. The kids tend to be ridiculously overpowered (the ease with which they solve each book's problem is the most unconvincing thing about them) but the focus in the last changes more to the abilities of the community in which the kids live, and how that community, working together, can address a plague. I just find that the more appealing story...

annarlindquist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75