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rants_n_reads's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
halthemonarch's review
3.0
I want to like this book series so badly. On paper, it’s perfect! A young adult action book with magic, vulgarity, intrigue, mystery, and a ton of queers (both main protagonists and side characters), but there’s something about the writing style that grates on me. The concept of blending of magic and science together has so much potential, but the execution leaves much to be desired. Like, we never got to really see *why* magic was so important to these witches, how it could be used practically in every day life, or how it might feel like an extension of the witch themselves— The (ominous) Council is right around the corner, poised to take anyone’s magic at the slightest provocation, but I never understood why magic was so penultimate to the Salem Coven. Strength invites challenge, and it seemed to me as though the existence of the witches led to the eventual existence of the hunters and each group cancels the other out. It felt excessive and flamboyant like The Rest Of Us Just Live Here’s secondary story line with Satchel, Dylan, and the Elven Prince; especially those scenes with Morgan and Hannah “hold back from doing more” (like there’s the same pressure with girls??? Like anyone can think of boning at a time like this???)
Sterling writes in a very linear way, reminiscent of Haddix (Among the Barons), Charbonneau (The Testing), and Dashner (the Maze Runner). Books like these might be others’ cup of tea, but aaaaaaa, I don’t even know how to describe how I feel about it. We follow Hannah the Elemental witch after the events of These Witches Won’t Burn. Her dad is dead, she’s got PTSD, her best friend knows about her magic, and there is a hunter conspiracy afoot. Along with her girlfriend Morgan and her best friend Gemma, Hannah stumbles her way through a plan half-cooked by The (ominous) Council to neutralize the hunters. Sarah, a new npc, loses her magic protecting Hannah, and Archer, the detective from the last book, does the same. The blood witch from New York from the last book becomes a reluctant ally and an eventual friend to Hannah. The hunters are inexcusably cruel, giving me mafia family vibes but crawling with teenagers and headed by two indiscriminately abusive adults. About three or four chapters before I said,“it’s Keating, I bet”, surprise-surprise, there’s a mole in the coven and it’s Council Elder Keating.
It was frustrating to read because the things I wished were front and center were just afterthoughts, and all the plots I had in the afterthoughts category were mainline. I wanted to read about the Salem witch coven and their connection to magic, about their solstices and rituals and coven meetings, more about their rules besides [DON’T TELL REGS]—a stellar “muggle” substitute by the way
Sterling writes in a very linear way, reminiscent of Haddix (Among the Barons), Charbonneau (The Testing), and Dashner (the Maze Runner). Books like these might be others’ cup of tea, but aaaaaaa, I don’t even know how to describe how I feel about it. We follow Hannah the Elemental witch after the events of These Witches Won’t Burn. Her dad is dead, she’s got PTSD, her best friend knows about her magic, and there is a hunter conspiracy afoot. Along with her girlfriend Morgan and her best friend Gemma, Hannah stumbles her way through a plan half-cooked by The (ominous) Council to neutralize the hunters. Sarah, a new npc, loses her magic protecting Hannah, and Archer, the detective from the last book, does the same. The blood witch from New York from the last book becomes a reluctant ally and an eventual friend to Hannah. The hunters are inexcusably cruel, giving me mafia family vibes but crawling with teenagers and headed by two indiscriminately abusive adults. About three or four chapters before I said,“it’s Keating, I bet”, surprise-surprise, there’s a mole in the coven and it’s Council Elder Keating.
It was frustrating to read because the things I wished were front and center were just afterthoughts, and all the plots I had in the afterthoughts category were mainline. I wanted to read about the Salem witch coven and their connection to magic, about their solstices and rituals and coven meetings, more about their rules besides [DON’T TELL REGS]—a stellar “muggle” substitute by the way
rebeccasreadingrambles's review
4.0
A really great follow up and conclusion to These Witches Don't Burn!
_
Finished this one in a day, I didn't want to put it down - I almost felt that something might happen without me because it was pretty fast paced. This book is a great continuation of the story, but I found it to be quite different than the first book. This doesn't have the "mystery" element and is FULL of action. Thinking back on it, I'm kind of shocked by how much happened in the space of this book IN ADDITION to all the amazing descriptions, the inside look into Hannah's emotions, and ROMANCE HECK YEAH.
_
The author does an amazing job of describing trauma and loss and that is very heavy in this book, but makes it that much better. Hannah has gone through so much and doesn't just spring back and easily use her hurt and anger to be more powerful. She is crushed, she is hurting, she is grieving and she is having severe PTSD. That is real and written so well by the author that I could really feel it myself; it really put your inside the story and made everything that happens that much more powerful. And not only Hannah but many of the other characters have such strong feelings and they are all presented so well.
_
As usual, amazing amazing rep in this one which made me so happy, especially to read it right before Pride month. The characters are so amazing and I love the romance and the witches and ah I could gush about them all. So many "side" characters shown brightly in this book which I love.
_
My biggest complaint is that I wish Veronica was in this story more. I didn't always love her in the first book (she really irked me at times) but she is also such an interesting character and a big part of Hannah's life that I was surprised that she was barely mentioned. Yes she went to college, but it just seemed out of character for her to just "want to get away and pretend nothing bad is happening" when she was so involved in the coven and everything that happened in the first book.
_
Overall I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this series to all readers and even non-YA or fantasy readers.
_
Thank you to the publisher for a netgalley copy of this book; all my thoughts are my own.
_
Finished this one in a day, I didn't want to put it down - I almost felt that something might happen without me because it was pretty fast paced. This book is a great continuation of the story, but I found it to be quite different than the first book. This doesn't have the "mystery" element and is FULL of action. Thinking back on it, I'm kind of shocked by how much happened in the space of this book IN ADDITION to all the amazing descriptions, the inside look into Hannah's emotions, and ROMANCE HECK YEAH.
_
The author does an amazing job of describing trauma and loss and that is very heavy in this book, but makes it that much better. Hannah has gone through so much and doesn't just spring back and easily use her hurt and anger to be more powerful. She is crushed, she is hurting, she is grieving and she is having severe PTSD. That is real and written so well by the author that I could really feel it myself; it really put your inside the story and made everything that happens that much more powerful. And not only Hannah but many of the other characters have such strong feelings and they are all presented so well.
_
As usual, amazing amazing rep in this one which made me so happy, especially to read it right before Pride month. The characters are so amazing and I love the romance and the witches and ah I could gush about them all. So many "side" characters shown brightly in this book which I love.
_
My biggest complaint is that I wish Veronica was in this story more. I didn't always love her in the first book (she really irked me at times) but she is also such an interesting character and a big part of Hannah's life that I was surprised that she was barely mentioned. Yes she went to college, but it just seemed out of character for her to just "want to get away and pretend nothing bad is happening" when she was so involved in the coven and everything that happened in the first book.
_
Overall I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this series to all readers and even non-YA or fantasy readers.
_
Thank you to the publisher for a netgalley copy of this book; all my thoughts are my own.
gwyyy's review
4.0
I did enjoy the first book more than this one but I still think this was a solid conclusion. This book's full of action, but what drew me to the sequel were the themes Sterling explores. How can we fight against hatred? Do people really ever change and fix their mistakes? What will we do for our beliefs, to force change? How do we heal and process our trauma? And, if we had a second chance, what would we do with it?
madspank's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jimm_mix's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
vtlism's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Better than the first book! Very cinematic this time, with higher stakes yet fewer deaths.
wiwinia's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
samsbookcase's review against another edition
5.0
This book added some more interesting things to Hannah's story and it still has great representation in this book. I'm still loving the f/f relationship in this book but also getting to hear and learn a lot more about other lgbtq+ characters that have been more in the background during the first book. I LOVED reading so much more about Cal as well as many of the other covenmates from Hannah. Hands down one of my absolute favourite characters is Ryan Archer and I went through a rollercoaster of emotions during this book.
I was incredibly happy to see Isabel has adressed a lot of Hannah's trauma, as well as Veronica's, and how they deal with it. OR don't deal with it. To see that having effect on daily life as well as how it infects the wielding of magic. I was very curious to see how that would be brought in the sequel especially after all that they have gone through in the first book.
I am still absolutely in LOVE with the different clans of witches. Learning more about each clan, about how they wield their magic was all I could have asked for. I genuinely don't think I could ever get enough of reading about that and I (not so) secretly hope we might get some more stories to read about set in the TWDB universe.
I was incredibly happy to see Isabel has adressed a lot of Hannah's trauma, as well as Veronica's, and how they deal with it. OR don't deal with it. To see that having effect on daily life as well as how it infects the wielding of magic. I was very curious to see how that would be brought in the sequel especially after all that they have gone through in the first book.
I am still absolutely in LOVE with the different clans of witches. Learning more about each clan, about how they wield their magic was all I could have asked for. I genuinely don't think I could ever get enough of reading about that and I (not so) secretly hope we might get some more stories to read about set in the TWDB universe.
alipattern's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0