Reviews

Beneath the Twisted Trees by Bradley P. Beaulieu

dragontomes2000's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

Beneath the Twisted Trees is the fourth installment in the Shattered Sands series and continues the story of Ceda's quest for vengeance. I would say I am still having a great time with this series, but there is something keeping me from loving it. I definitely am sticking with the characters being part of the reason. As this is a multi POV story there are a lot of plots going on. All separate with a shared goal. In Beneath the Twisted Trees, the POVs increase by quite a bit and now the story doesn't feel like Ceda's anymore. Which is not necessarily a bad thing but her POV gets overshadowed by everyone else. I have said multiple times that Ramahd, Ihsan, and Davud have had the most compelling arcs. However in Beneath the Twisted Trees the story arcs were so compelling for like everyone. There were a couple I felt didn't have the same energy but for the most part this was a very strong continuation in that regard.

There were quite a bit of cliffhangers at the end of this installment which has me itching to get into the next book very very soon. With only two books left, I am intrigued to see where Bradley P. Beaulieu is going to take this story in its final moments.

ryanem7's review

5.0

Another great read and addition to the epic that is the shattered sand series. This book sees both the nations of Mirea and Malasan vying to take control of the weakened nation of Sharakai and procure the riches of the Amber Jewel for themselves.

I enjoyed reading mostly from Davuds and Cedas POV with both on their own unique journeys culminating in the deaths of not only the King Besir and the freeing of the asirm but also seeing Anila finally rejecting Davuds help rather for a path of death and vengeance of her own.

I enjoyed Bramas inner conflict with Rumayesh as well as seeing him with the Mirean fleet, granting a fresh new perspective of a nation we haven’t seen too much depth of previously. Similarly, Emres storyline beginning with the job of forging alliances with eastern tribes, and later to come to an agreement with the invading Malasani King, offered a set of eyes within their camp and nation.

Although this would be as well my only qualm with the book, as often it seemed that the final epic battle of Malasan attempting to destroy the desert city, was mainly seen from a distance, and only on occasions such as Davud and Rhamads capture by the Enclave, would we see the main battle from within the city itself. And often only briefly.

Altogether though I still thoroughly enjoyed the writing style, coupled with a complex set of characters such as King Ishan, Rhamad, Ceda, Sumya and Haddad just to name a few. Who all had their own personal goals and often inner conflicts that added to the depth and complexity of the ever evolving story.

I am extremely excited to see what the next two final books in the series have in store for the characters I have come to love. As well as seeing how Sharakai will now be run following the Lesser Kings taking over. And especially in regards to finding out what plans the desert Gods set into motion ever since the night of siding with the kings of Sharakai, and why 400 years later they have now begun to mingle again in the affairs of mortals.

Solid 4.5/5 read.

niyel's review

4.0

So many things happened in this book bruh

ritikaj1's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

karireads's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.0

annie_lawrence's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

gregg's review against another edition

3.0

I didn't read the previous book to refresh my memory of the story and that is something I usually do. I don't remember to much from the previous books but the more I read the story I did remember the bit and pieces that brought stands to points in the current story. Plots within plots and the power struggles continue. Ceda is still the best character in the series I think. The magic system seems to be getting more depth to it some sense for me as well. So many characters and things happening it's gets hard to know who is doing what sometimes. In this book though everything seems to be coming together. I wonder how much more of this story will be told before we get to the finish.

tea_reads's review

5.0

Review to come...

sageleafpark's review

adventurous dark tense 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

4.0

spacejessss's review

4.0

I received this as an ARC from the publisher/author, after raving about the first half of the series. SO MUCH HAPPENS and yet there’s so much left??? I really love this series and love seeing how Çeda has grown as a character and a leader. Im excited by the foreshadowing for her future.

Also Anila has somehow become one of my new favorites??? She is so badass.