Grimizna kraljica

“Many things led to this day, for all of us. A forgotten son, a vengeful mother, a brother with a long shadow, a strange mutation. Together, they've written a tragedy.”

This is actually my second time reading it, the first time was a few years ago, at the peak of its hype. I truly disliked it then, I gave it a 1★ and I promised myself I will never go near this series again.

Anyhow, after seeing some rave reviews, recently, I decided to give it another try, thinking, maybe, I had just read it at a bad time. My view on it has changed, a bit but not a lot. I haven't fallen in love with it, I just don't despise it with the fire of a thousand suns as the first time around.

The characters and their troubles felt too familiar. I've read a handful of dystopian novels by now (though this read more like a fantasy) and this did not stand out to me.

Mare, the main character was the typical special snowflake. On top of that, she was also much too trusting and naive despite having lived in a rough environment. Most of the characters behaved and acted quite unnaturally so it was difficult, many times, to suspend my disbelief and get immersed in the story. The love triangle was very unconvincing, both the love interests being immediately taken by our heroine. The world building and the plot lacked nuance. The author tried to add some by including certain betrayals, but I saw them coming so for me the attempt failed. Additionally, quite a few things did not make any sense thought the book. Overall, a paint by numbers kind of YA. Nothing too offensive or awful, just kind of bland for me.

I listened to it in audiobook form and perhaps this was the reason for my improved reading experience. The narrator did a pretty good job, enough to keep me engaged and get to the end without feeling stupid for giving it another shot.

It ended on a major cliffhanger yet I don't want to pick of the next book to find out what happens, especially because even hardcore fans of the series say it's a downgrade from the first one.