The Merciless Ones

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I felt this book was a lot more polished than the Gilded Ones and a lot more intricate. I enjoyed the action scenes and since the stakes are higher – the heart pounding action started early on. In this story of hope and endurance, we follow a scientist and her team during their search for the elusive 'Giant Arctic Jellyfish'. This isn’t a standalone. The story is complex and very much carries on from the events that took place in The Gilded Ones. Deka and her friends face newer, more ruthless challenges, questioning their missions and the truth of what they’ve been told, when one reveal after another puts everything they think they know into question. Everything about this design - the colours, illustration, and text font - works perfectly to create a stunning cover. I am even tempted to get a physical copy of this book, so I have both gorgeous books on my shelf!

Find all 5 Daughters, then interact with the NPC in bed found in Streets of Wakes, so you can access and complete all 5 challenges.The Merciless Ones is the second thrilling installment of the epic fantasy series in which a young heroine fights against a world that would dare tame her.

The Gilded Ones is not all about social structures, of course, and Forna’s fans will be delighted with how the fantastical world expands and how the narrative is filled with battles and politics, but also love and friendship. There are heart-rending scenes—keep an eye out for the reappearance of Elfriede, Deka’s former best friend—but also episodes that are full of hope. And at the end, Deka moves even further into her power. See, I was planning on reading this in two or three goes to stretch it out, but once The Merciless Ones sunk its claws into me, it didn't let go and I had to read the whole book at once, naturally.

It's been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera, and discovered who she really is... But war is waging across the kingdom, and the real battle has only just begun. For there is a dark force growing in Otera - a merciless power that Deka and her army must stop. Yet hidden secrets threaten to destroy everything Deka has known. And with her own gifts changing, Deka must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera... or if she might be its greatest threat. In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world. Our heroine, Deka, and her friends are finding out that freeing the goddesses was just the first step in a long, long battle to save the kingdom of Otera. (I would hope that that wasn’t the biggest obstacle, seeing as how I thought that it was a relatively easy, but rushed ending for just one book, as some YA books are prone to do. Thankfully book one is just the first in a series!) Lastly, the romance. The romance in the first book wasn’t the BEST- it was kinda insta-lovey and overall just could’ve been better. But it was a lot better in this one- really sweet, tender, but still a bit uncertain. I’m really happy with what the author did with it and overall it’s just so cute! Deka’s love interest is also so much better in this instalment, so I was rooting for them as a couple a lot more. So, I did enjoy the romance as a subplot in this one and am excited to see where it goes! At lot of the humour and wit of The Gilded Ones, and the friendship bonds that Deka and her friends have, seems to be a little missing here. Instead, the focus switches over the (excessive) use of Arcane Objects and Divine Gifts, which never really made an appearance in Gilded.

But even though I’m frightened by it, I’m not daunted. Because I have my friends, all of them now powerful beyond imagining. When I falter, they’ll be there to support and guide me. When I stumble, they’ll be there to take the next step.To reveal the ramifications of this discovery would be a huge spoiler but it is safe to say that Forna is asking readers to think about feminism, and how feminism isn’t necessarily the answer to all of society’s problems. Forna leans more towards “womanism”, which she says is a more inclusive version of “quote unquote feminism”, because “it espouses a view that we are all in this together, women, men, non-binary people, trans people. We are all in this, and how do we move forward together? Yes, men 100% benefit from patriarchy but just as women are oppressed, so are men, so are non-binary people. If you want to take a look at these systems, you have to look at who sits in the middle.” The characters turned from fully rounded people into paper cutouts, devoid of personalities and very uneven. I jus

As for the romance part, I can't tell if there's less of it or around the same amount as before? Everyone is so busy fighting that there's hardly time for anything else, which is accurate, and it makes those few stolen moments much sweeter. Overall, I did like the book. But I would have enjoyed it more if some parts were more detailed and others left out completely. I also would have preferred it if Deka had more of the struggle and humanity I felt from her in the first book. I'll probably read the last book, but my eagerness has wilted a bit. It's been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera and discovered who she really is... but war is waging across the kingdom, and the real battle has only just begun. For there is a dark force growing in Otera—a merciless power that Deka and her army must stop.Don’t let my rating fool you. This YA fantasy series is a wild-ride, full of cross-country adventure, heart-stopping fight scenes, moral questing, and so much loyalty, love and friendship among the core characters that makes the stakes particularly high. Time trial trophy required to reach Afilaor, Sentinel Of The Emery boss fight under 30 minutes after you start the game. RECOMMEND IT FOR: If you want an impactful, brutal, - this is the one to get! If any series should be made for TV – it’s this one. Forna started working on the series at college when, in her dreams, she saw a girl in golden armour, walking into a battlefield while carrying two swords. She then spent some time doing “soft research”, looking into the history of pre-colonial Africa, as well as the myths she heard from her grandmother growing up, to create the fantastical world. But success for the author once described as the “Toni Morrison of YA fantasy” was not instant. Sadly, this really didn’t live up to its predecessor and falls into several of the traps and issues that second books in a trilogy suffer from: super powered MC, contrived plotting meant to force a turning point in the series, large info dumps for a super expanded world, slow pacing.