The Never-Ending Bookshelf

Well. I loved the first books in the series but this one just didn't hit the spot.

I still loved the characters individually but most of the interactions got bland very quickly. Akiva and Karou were the worst offenders for me. Up until this book their story was worth caring about. But in this one they just seemed to be repeating the same thing over and over and over. At some point you just expect them to get on with it already.

Mik and Zuzana were fabulous. I loved their interactions and how they worked together. They are the shining star of this book for me. Liraz and Ziri were cute but it seemed a little contrived for Liraz to make such a leap so quickly.

The Stelians were mostly annoying to me rather than powerful and selfless. The whole series was a lead up to the Stelians and Akiva and yet when it happened I felt nothing for him or them. They seemed too cold to be the caretakers of the world.

I think a major problem for me here was that they shoved so much into one book. The first two were well paced and contained enough plot to keep you interested without distracting you. This had the continuation of Akiva and Karou, the continuation of Mik and Zuzana, the whole of Liraz and Ziri, Eliza, the Stelians, the climax to Jael, all the historical catch-up, Scarab and Carnassian (though thankfully that was short), Grandma, Loramendi, etc. It seemed to be too much.

Even with all that the ending to me was unsatisfying. I was more interested, toward the end, about the next war to come than I even was about the current war that was happening. The story that wasn’t told (the only part that wasn’t shoved into this book) was the creation of the godstars and that was what I wanted most.