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leweylibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
Listen first and foremost I had a great time reading this. I really enjoyed most aspects of Manuel and Catalina's relationship and its various stages of development, and the setting was a lot of fun. I especially love that so much of it came from the author's father who was raised in the jungles of Bolivia.
I think this being a sequel helps--you didn't have to learn as much world building when it's adding to the world you already know some things about. I liked that this one wasn't centered as much around one big bad, it was just as much about the journey through the jungle.
There were some moments where things happened more suddenly than I think made sense, but only one time took me significantly out of the story. So I'm not mad at it.
Some will probably be annoyed with the tidy ending, but ya know what I like a happy ending okay 😂 I was absolutely shook and so upset whenManuel got turned into a monster and she realized one of the monsters was Rumi so I'm glad that didn't stick lol. I do kinda wish we had more explanation as to why the flower didn't affect her. Like I know it's because of her being a seer and her relationship to the moon goddess, but it felt very sudden.
I will say it's crazy how much more I came to like Catalina over the course of the story overall and how much more I like her than Ximara lol.
Overall, if there's a third book that gets written, I'll definitely read it.
I think this being a sequel helps--you didn't have to learn as much world building when it's adding to the world you already know some things about. I liked that this one wasn't centered as much around one big bad, it was just as much about the journey through the jungle.
There were some moments where things happened more suddenly than I think made sense, but only one time took me significantly out of the story. So I'm not mad at it.
Some will probably be annoyed with the tidy ending, but ya know what I like a happy ending okay 😂 I was absolutely shook and so upset when
I will say it's crazy how much more I came to like Catalina over the course of the story overall and how much more I like her than Ximara lol.
Overall, if there's a third book that gets written, I'll definitely read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Body horror, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War and Torture
Minor: Grief
crey18's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.75
This was my 3rd book by Ibañez this year - I will now read ANYTHING she creates. I love a book that begins with a map and once I started reading, I realized just how striking the world Ibañez created was. The descriptions of the jungle are lush and emphasize the wonder and awe Catalina has as she experiences danger and a growing respect for the environment around her. The physical, emotional, and spiritual journeys Catalina go on were ones I joyfully wanted to accompany her on. By page 160 or so, I had to keep reading until the end - there just was no stopping. I have to say... I'm learning from Ibañez there are no "safe characters" someone who you think will make it through the book always dies in the last quarter of the book. I relished the way two characters from Woven in Moonlight returned, especially Rumi! and wasn't expecting that. Highly recommend this one and I'm hoping there will be a 3rd installment, although I don't know who it would follow... maybe a dual POV?
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore
jennfs10's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
I wasn’t sure if I’d like this as much as Woven in Moonlight but I really enjoyed it. The jungle setting was lush and dangerous. Catalina’s character arc was well done. The burgeoning romance between Catalina and Manuel was a slow burn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Murder
clairemadness's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
2.0
Companion novel, but not necessarily sequel to Woven in Moonlight. The story takes place almost immediately after the events of the first book, this time from Catalina's perspective, deep in the jungle beyond La Ciudad where she is rescued by her former general/bodyguard/many years crush, Manuel. Together they work to survive the many natural and magical dangers of the jungle to find a way to convince the warriors of the jungle, the Illari, to help Catalina return to her "rightful" place on the throne.
Spoiler to hide my thoughts on the romance below, no huge plot spoilers:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Genocide
leahsbooks's review
slow-paced
1.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ARC. I am providing my honest opinion voluntarily.
The cover is gorgeous. But the cover of Woven in Moonlight was also beautiful, and never has the old adage of "don't judge a book by it's cover" been more true.
I was hoping that this book would handle the issues of indigenous portrayal and colonialism better than the first book, but alas, it was ... WORSE?
While Ximena was at least a character that had some redeeming qualities, Catalina is stubborn, closed-minded, and convinced that she is completely right about everything. All. The. Time. And even as she is banished to the jungle, rather than trying to learn about the princess who has become queen, she decides that all of the Llascans are clearly monsters and can't possibly have any positive qualities, and realizes that the only viable option is to demand her birthright to the throne of Inkasisa. Even though a) her people don't even know that she is the condesa,, b) she has no allies, and c) she hasn't even bothered to see the situation clearly at all.
So she continues on her self-centered path, resulting in the first half of the book being extraordinarily boring, and incredibly unremarkable, other than Catalina consistently describing indigenous tribespeople and their religious beliefs/practices as "monstrous." I was shocked at the sheer amount of dehumanizing language and the colonial savior trope that was present throughout the story. There was so little action in the first half of the story that it was basically Catalina and Manuel just walking around in the jungle, with Catalina having herself a pity party.
I struggled to understand why there were always random Spanish words and phrases thrown into the story when they were speaking in Spanish all the time. There wasn't really any need to insert Spanish phrases to reinforce the Spanish-ness of the story, since the Spanish colonial influence was all throughout the story, especially in how they viewed the indigenous tribes as monstrous and in need of an Illustrian ruler (read: Colonial ruler) to lead them. The emphasis on finding the city in the jungle made of gold and going to any length to find it and make the people inhabiting that city do Catalina's bidding just smacked of conquistadors and left a bad taste in my mouth. And literally every time that I thought Catalina would have an epiphany and show some personal growth? Nope! Just kidding - she'd get soooo close and then continue to stick with her Spanish-speaking white savior mission.
The ending was such a letdown. I was hoping that all of this boring fluff was going to build up to something ... anything ... but instead ... it just kind of petered out with a total letdown that didn't seem to flow with the rest of the story.
The cover is gorgeous. But the cover of Woven in Moonlight was also beautiful, and never has the old adage of "don't judge a book by it's cover" been more true.
I was hoping that this book would handle the issues of indigenous portrayal and colonialism better than the first book, but alas, it was ... WORSE?
While Ximena was at least a character that had some redeeming qualities, Catalina is stubborn, closed-minded, and convinced that she is completely right about everything. All. The. Time. And even as she is banished to the jungle, rather than trying to learn about the princess who has become queen, she decides that all of the Llascans are clearly monsters and can't possibly have any positive qualities, and realizes that the only viable option is to demand her birthright to the throne of Inkasisa. Even though a) her people don't even know that she is the condesa,, b) she has no allies, and c) she hasn't even bothered to see the situation clearly at all.
So she continues on her self-centered path, resulting in the first half of the book being extraordinarily boring, and incredibly unremarkable, other than Catalina consistently describing indigenous tribespeople and their religious beliefs/practices as "monstrous." I was shocked at the sheer amount of dehumanizing language and the colonial savior trope that was present throughout the story. There was so little action in the first half of the story that it was basically Catalina and Manuel just walking around in the jungle, with Catalina having herself a pity party.
I struggled to understand why there were always random Spanish words and phrases thrown into the story when they were speaking in Spanish all the time. There wasn't really any need to insert Spanish phrases to reinforce the Spanish-ness of the story, since the Spanish colonial influence was all throughout the story, especially in how they viewed the indigenous tribes as monstrous and in need of an Illustrian ruler (read: Colonial ruler) to lead them. The emphasis on finding the city in the jungle made of gold and going to any length to find it and make the people inhabiting that city do Catalina's bidding just smacked of conquistadors and left a bad taste in my mouth. And literally every time that I thought Catalina would have an epiphany and show some personal growth? Nope! Just kidding - she'd get soooo close and then continue to stick with her Spanish-speaking white savior mission.
The ending was such a letdown. I was hoping that all of this boring fluff was going to build up to something ... anything ... but instead ... it just kind of petered out with a total letdown that didn't seem to flow with the rest of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Gore
CONTENT WARNING: negative portrayal of indigenous population, colonialism viewed in a positive light
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