(no subject)
Aug. 26th, 2011 03:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsI am kind of just laughing about the Amazon reviews of The Demon's Surrender that complaining about not getting a Ryves brother POV, because man, I was ALL ABOUT Sin's POV in the final book. Sin is awesome! Also I think it's cool that Sin has very justifiably different concerns from all of the previous narrators, and trusts completely different people, so whatever, Amazon reviewers.
It's always hard to write about the third book in a trilogy without spoilers (especially when you read it almost two months ago, I AM SO BEHIND on booklogging), so just to recap: the series takes place in a world where evil magicians control demons who can possess people, and follows a pair of brothers with a DARK SECRET that is spoilery for the first book, a brother-sister pair with a few other secrets and goals that are spoilery for the second book, and an ambitious dancer at the magical market, who is Sin and the POV character for the third book and continues to do many things that are spoilery. They are excellent on dark worldbuilding, interesting character motivation, and family-centric storytelling, and although I am not a fan of all the narrative/plot choices they overall make for extremely enjoyable reads.
First of all, it was nice to have a central romance for the books that I actually enjoyed! I'm always fascinated by lying liars who lie (together) and the work that is necessary to build trust between people who are in general really disinclined towards trustworthiness. Sin and Alan's negotiation of their shared habit of compulsive scheming and persona-building was a lot of fun to read, so well-played, Sarah Rees Brennan. Although I would have been extremely okay with Sin/Mae, too. Sin basically just has chemistry with everyone I guess? GOOD JOB, SIN. I still do not really understand personally what anyone would see in Nick, which means that I am much happier seeing Nick/Mae from an outside perspective. And I approve of Mae's boundaries and the eventual resolution, although the one thing about the POV choice is that it did make it a bit (hilariously) awkward when Sin was sort of accidentally lurking around doorways watching entire dramatic resolutions occur in which she was not involved . . .
Meanwhile, I could see Jamie/Seb coming with a sort of sinking feeling in my chest and so I was braced for it, although I still don't approve of it - after the second book I was so optimistic that for once it wouldn't happen, that you could have a redemption arc for a bully and a stalker that did not involve said bully and stalker being rewarded with the affection of the person they were terrible to. Ah well.
I was also kind of sad that from the very beginning it was clearly being set up that Mae was going to end up with the Goblin Market. This may be unfair, because I do think the book did a good job setting up and showing the complexity of the situation and the different skill-sets of each girl, but - well, basically, I feel a bit like Sin's development, to show fairly why things shook out the way they did at the end without taking away from Sin's competence, was a bit overtaken by other events and had less page space devoted to it than it needed. Which, I mean, is fair, given that the other events have held dramatic plot importance all throughout the series and Sin's development is very much a this-book-in-particular concern, and most people are probably more interested in the former than the latter. But I wanted more of the latter. This is probably not a very coherent paragraph.
But I loved Sin and her siblings, and that Jamie's hand was not magically fixed and neither was Alan's limp, and that all the characters remained complex and motivated by their own specific concerns, so in the end: a win!
As usual I also liked the short stories posted on Sarah Rees Brennan's LJ showcasing various different minor-character POVs perhaps even better than the main story. My favorite was The Coward With A Kiss, all about Mark, THE MINOREST CHARACTER OF ALL. I love it!
It's always hard to write about the third book in a trilogy without spoilers (especially when you read it almost two months ago, I AM SO BEHIND on booklogging), so just to recap: the series takes place in a world where evil magicians control demons who can possess people, and follows a pair of brothers with a DARK SECRET that is spoilery for the first book, a brother-sister pair with a few other secrets and goals that are spoilery for the second book, and an ambitious dancer at the magical market, who is Sin and the POV character for the third book and continues to do many things that are spoilery. They are excellent on dark worldbuilding, interesting character motivation, and family-centric storytelling, and although I am not a fan of all the narrative/plot choices they overall make for extremely enjoyable reads.
First of all, it was nice to have a central romance for the books that I actually enjoyed! I'm always fascinated by lying liars who lie (together) and the work that is necessary to build trust between people who are in general really disinclined towards trustworthiness. Sin and Alan's negotiation of their shared habit of compulsive scheming and persona-building was a lot of fun to read, so well-played, Sarah Rees Brennan. Although I would have been extremely okay with Sin/Mae, too. Sin basically just has chemistry with everyone I guess? GOOD JOB, SIN. I still do not really understand personally what anyone would see in Nick, which means that I am much happier seeing Nick/Mae from an outside perspective. And I approve of Mae's boundaries and the eventual resolution, although the one thing about the POV choice is that it did make it a bit (hilariously) awkward when Sin was sort of accidentally lurking around doorways watching entire dramatic resolutions occur in which she was not involved . . .
Meanwhile, I could see Jamie/Seb coming with a sort of sinking feeling in my chest and so I was braced for it, although I still don't approve of it - after the second book I was so optimistic that for once it wouldn't happen, that you could have a redemption arc for a bully and a stalker that did not involve said bully and stalker being rewarded with the affection of the person they were terrible to. Ah well.
I was also kind of sad that from the very beginning it was clearly being set up that Mae was going to end up with the Goblin Market. This may be unfair, because I do think the book did a good job setting up and showing the complexity of the situation and the different skill-sets of each girl, but - well, basically, I feel a bit like Sin's development, to show fairly why things shook out the way they did at the end without taking away from Sin's competence, was a bit overtaken by other events and had less page space devoted to it than it needed. Which, I mean, is fair, given that the other events have held dramatic plot importance all throughout the series and Sin's development is very much a this-book-in-particular concern, and most people are probably more interested in the former than the latter. But I wanted more of the latter. This is probably not a very coherent paragraph.
But I loved Sin and her siblings, and that Jamie's hand was not magically fixed and neither was Alan's limp, and that all the characters remained complex and motivated by their own specific concerns, so in the end: a win!
As usual I also liked the short stories posted on Sarah Rees Brennan's LJ showcasing various different minor-character POVs perhaps even better than the main story. My favorite was The Coward With A Kiss, all about Mark, THE MINOREST CHARACTER OF ALL. I love it!
