I got to read this one before its official release date.
My expectations were already low, but I'm still disappointed.
After the first book only started to get somewhat interesting at around the 75% mark, I thought I was prepared for what this sequel would be like. Unfortunately, Rites of the Starling was somehow even more boring, and thats despite introducing another female protagonist.
Just like in the first book, Odessa is simply... there. She exists, but she doesnt really do anything. She has no impact, and no presence that makes her feel like an actual driving force in the story. Shes just carried along by the plot.
Caspia is definitely more active than Odessa, which at least gave this book some movement. But even then, I couldnt fully get behind her either. Like Odessa, she ends up practically at the feet of a man who either lied to her or deliberately kept major things from her. And Im sorry, but thats just not my idea of a strong female main character. I kept waiting for either of them to truly stand up, take control, or make me root for them, and it just never happened.
One of the few stronger aspects of this book was the worldbuilding, even if it takes its sweet time to unfold. The only part that genuinely held my interest was the different perception of the crux/swift, and how they are viewed so differently depending on the continent: peaceful on one side, cruel on the other. That contrast had actual potential and was pretty much the only consistently interesting element in the entire book.
But once again, just like in book one, the monsters show up, wave at the camera, and then disappear again. Theyre supposed to feel threatening, mysterious, or significant, but instead they just feel like props the story occasionally drags in to remind you that this is technically fantasy.
And dont even get me started on the constant visions. They were so repetitive and honestly just irritating after a while. Instead of building suspense naturally or letting the story unfold in a compelling way, the book keeps relying on vague, dramatic flashes to force intrigue. Show, dont tell seems to be a completely foreign concept here.
The two storylines - Odessas and Caspias - are connected, and I assume the reveal was meant to land as some kind of twist. The problem is: its way too obvious. I saw it coming from a mile away, so when it was finally revealed, it had absolutely no impact. Theyre both white girls with curly red hair and weird eyes. Couldn't be more obvious.
If your twist is the one thing readers are expected to piece together early on, then at least the execution has to be strong enough to still make it satisfying. This wasnt.
The ending did get a little more emotional. But it was too little, too late. By that point, I had already spent the majority of the book feeling bored, detached, and mildly annoyed.
Overall, this was an unbelievably dull read. Not frustrating in a dramatic way, not bad in an entertaining way, just painfully boring.
This is where Im ending the series, and after this, I have no interest in picking up anything else by this author.
Rating: 2/5
Spice: 3/5
