Reviews

King of Mist by Jordan Rivet

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teri_b's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

I eventually listened to the continuation of this series on audiobook and enjoyed the story as it developed a little bit further and Dara moves out of her parents home now for good.

It was easy to listen to and entertaining.

necessitteem's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

smuttea_matcha's review

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3.0

As much as I enjoy Dara and Siv, I'm finding the series to be dragged out. If I knew this series ended in book 3, I'd continue, but it goes on for 5 books and I'm not sure if I'm that invested in this world. It was nice to see the cogs moving in both Dara and Siv's brains as they tried to figure out the schemes and plots, but the varying perspectives was frustrating because Dara or Siv wasn't informing the other as often. Dara protecting her family was frustrating, but I get it. I also enjoyed the relationship between Dara and the Fire Warden and seeing Dara's overall maturity.

mulang's review

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5.0

didn't let down, loved it!

pandothiel's review against another edition

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3.0

I didn't like King of Mist quite as much as Duel of Fire... and I was rather less forgiving about its flaws than I was for its predecessor.

I quite enjoy the read and found myself entertained, and forgive this one for being the "middle book" that is generally not enjoyed. But I feel like what I enjoyed about Duel of Fire disappeared in this one. Dara as a dedicated duelist, the birth of the romance with Siv, the overall atmosphere and light-heartedness. Of course, it made sense to lose them and move on; the characters lost more than a King, they lost their life as they knew it, and had to create a new one.
The pacing was still off, and soooo slow. It's like one or two things worthy of attention happened during 70/75% of the novel

Spoiler

(the discovery of the cavern by Berg, and the near attack during the festival)

, and then bang. The climax, and the ending.
Don't get me wrong, Jordan Rivet is amazing at writing conflict and climax during the last part of the novel. Boy is it filled with events, mystery, stakes, and did it keep me on my toes. Amazing. And it's quite clever as it's the part that keeps me reading on and start the next one, hoping that the next book will start off as amazingly as this one ended... but it didn't happen for this one, and I'm not sure it will for the next one.

I had during this novel the same problem as with Duel of Fire: the overall predictability of the plot. Tull's decision, the Rollendars' plans, Rafe Ruminor's... fair enough, I hadn't guessed the Ring of Fire. And what happened to Berg? Unless he was one of the missing duelists (I guess I must have stopped focusing when we got to the part about them cause... I don't remember Siv and Dara talking about missing duelists?) he disappeared during the mission right at the beginning, appeared here and there for training, but he was nowhere to be found during the Feast and climax. The guy has Siv's protection at heart and doesn't even help organising his protection? What happened to him?

Dara and Siv's relationship followed the exact same construction as the previous novel: they get closer and closer, with parallels being drawned between Duel of Fire and King of Mist

Spoiler

(the First Dance / Their first kiss for example)

and suddenly, a fight. Which is as annoying as in Duel of Fire. A fight where a single conversation should and did solve the conflict. Except this time, it didn't feel right. Siv had every right to be mad at Dara

Spoiler

(I mean her father did kill his, and did try to kill him, and she didn't tell him anything. Makes you wonder if she wants to save him so badly... I get that she wants to protect her family, but she could've been honest with him and asked him to find a solution about it like casting her father away/preventing him from using his powers, etc. Siv loves her and would've worked with her to find a solution. But of course she kept silent)

, and he was with good reason. Their fight was heartbreaking and each of their interaction afterward painful because you want them to work on it and get over it. And that's the problem. Dara just had to touch his face and tell him "I'm so, so sorry" and that's it. Forgiven. As if nothing happened. I wish he would've told her something like "I understand" and left her there with the promise of trying to forgive her, and then realise during the climax how much she meant to him, and how much he means to her. I wish they could've escaped together and he would've told her to give him time but he was going to get over it. This way their relationship would've truly been affected by her silences, they would've come out of it changed, they would've learned and grown from it. But instead of an opportunity for character development, we fell right back into what where we were. And I'm disappointed.

Despite those criticisms, I still enjoyed my read. Not the best book and not as exciting as Duel of Fire, but still nice.