Summary (from Goodreads):
Emily and her friends think they'll find the help they need
in Cielis, but something isn't right. Streets that were once busy are deserted,
and the townspeople who are left live in crippling fear. Emily is escorted to
the Academy where she's expected to compete for a spot on the Guardian Council,
the most powerful Stonekeepers. But as the number of competitors gets smaller
and smaller, a terrible secret is slowly uncovered--a secret that, if left
buried, means certain destruction of everything Emily fights for.
Review:
I know this is sort of becoming a theme for me with this
series, but each book just gets better and better! Again, I found myself
drooling over the artwork. I checked out the whole series from the library, but
am now contemplating purchasing them all, and possibly purchasing a second copy
of this one (so I can literally tare pages out and frame them to put on the
wall of my living room. I like the art so much, I want to see it every day…
I loved the plot in this installment too! Things definitely
took a Hunger Games/dystopia type turn, and I just loved every second of it.
Other stonekeepers had to fight each other to stay alive, as part of a creepy
test put on by the council. There’s kidnapping, prison breaks, haunting and
desolate cities, more stonekeeper history, underground catacombs, and lots of
amazing new characters! One of the new characters is a wyvern (a creature I’ve
only ever read about in The Girl Who
Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making)! While no other
wyvern can be as cool as one that is combined with a library, this one was
quite adorable.
Emily is becoming stronger with her new abilities, and she’s
definitely building her confidence levels. Her crew seems to slowly be
accumulating new friends and hopeful rebels. Yet, at the same time, the ever-powerful
Elf King is also growing in power (particularly now after a certain plot arc
comes to pass).
I feel a little
bad for Emily’s mother and brother who always seem to get the short end of the
stick. Their main purpose tends to be being captured and being used as a
motivator for other characters to use Emily. This is sad because her brother is
pretty cool, as far as little brothers go. And the mom, who is usually the
logical thinker in a lot of cases, is also kind of awesome for agreeing to stay
and help her daughter do what needs to be done.
I have fallen in love with this series. I’m slightly
postponing reading book five because then I’ll be stuck waiting for the next
installment for months (thought I might have heard a rumor about it being at
BEA this year…). I give this one a 10/10. And I really can’t recommend these
graphic novels enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment