Ratings:
Star Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
If This Book Was a Movie Rating: PG-13
Review:
WHAT THE ACTUAL #$&@! WAS THIS
*screams incoherently in absolute frustration and disgust*
Let’s start off on the right foot (there’s not much rightness to start out with but like ok).
I liked the first two books in this trilogy. I really did. Sure, they had a few questionable decisions, mixed with boringness and a dash of “that’s so unrealistic,” but overall, those two books were FINE. Stupid, but overall fine.
Like the unsuspecting reader that I am, I assumed the last book would also be fine.
Well. I was wrong.
Horrifically, terribly wrong.
*cue rant*
FIRST OF ALL, THAT ROMANCE.
That “sweet” romance rapidly devolved into one of the most problematic romances I have ever had the displeasure of reading. So, I heavily dislike reading about mentor-mentee relationships unless all three of these conditions are met:
both are legal adults
both are MATURE adults
emotions/feelings are not acted on/minimally acted on until the mentee is no longer under the tutelage of the mentor
The first two books met these conditions (the first one barely did, but ok).
But this book. THIS BOOK BLEW THE LAST TWO REQUIREMENTS TO SMITHEREENS.
While both Ceony and Emery are legal adults, they NEVER act like it.
I will go deeper into Ceony momentarily, but Ceony was the dumbest, most stupid person and soooo not ready for a relationship. Emery was giving me sugar daddy vibes. Not equal-partner-in-love vibes. Sugar daddy vibes.
ANYWAYS and the third requirement was that we refrain from acting on le feelings until we are not a student-teacher anymore.
That just didn’t happen. On any level.
Maybe in some cases, this requirement can be bent and still be fine, but this book just was not it. The romance just ended up being stupid.
Case in point: (sort of a spoiler)
Near the middle of the book, Emery makes Ceony promise to not go running after serial killers (why the heck was that a promise that needed to be made??). She agrees, but only if he agrees to not run after serial killers too (what is wrong with these people).
Basically, they both promise.
AND THEN THEY BOTH BREAK THAT PROMISE WHEN THEY SECRETLY SNEAK OUT TO GO FIGHT THE SERIAL KILLER AND END UP LITERALLY RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER.
*gags*
what is this relationship.
But let me further explain the stupidity of Ceony because I get a weird pleasure from that.
Ceony, our intrepid heroine, is so hEaDstROng that she, as an flippin’ APPRENTICE, constantly faces magical serial killers that have killed hundreds of people and tries to do BATTLE with said serial killers. Why? Because sHe MuSt prOTecT heR FAmiLY.
Mind you, her family is completely safe and protected in a massively guarded wizard fort by the end of the first book, but NO. CEONY NEEDS TO GO DEFEAT SERIAL KILLERS FOR THEM.
because that’s what healthy families do y’all didn’t ya know.
After all those character disasters, the plot was nonexistent and dead boring.
And remember Ceony’s needless battle against the magical serial killer?
THIS IDIOT ACTUALLY WINS BC ITS A YA NOVEL.
What was I expecting? Realism?
Heck no.
anyways this book was such a dumpster fire. if you got this far in my review, thank you for reading my rant. ily sm <3
Friend me on Goodreads (yes, you, I wanna be your friend): https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/136268749-isabelle
Recommendations That Are Better Than This Book:
Apprentice of Magic (and its series) by KM Shea
Comments