Alexandra Quick returns to Charmbridge Academy for eighth grade, angry and in denial. Unwilling to accept the events of the previous year, she is determined to fix what went wrong, no matter what the cost. When her obsession leads her to a fateful choice, it is not only her own life that hangs in the balance, for she will uncover the secret of the Deathly Regiment!
Who says fan fiction has to be bad fiction? I love seeing how the writing gets progressively better with each installment and how the story touches on many more mature elements as time goes on. Alexandra also seems to be growing up a little, which is nice. Altogether a pretty good book, and hands down the most mature fanfic effort I've come across. HPMOR and other rationalist stories would've been in the running but I tend to regard them more as experimental fiction than anything else, while the Alexandra Quick series seems like it could almost be up for publication one day, disregarding copyright laws.
It's YA Harry Potter fanfic, but it's a hell of a lot better than you might assume from that description. The Alexandra Quick books are almost Harry Potter from another dimension - what if Harry Potter was an American girl, his stories were just as vivid but better written, and his author wasn't a terf?
Can't believe I finished this in only six days. You learn a lot more in this book about the corruption of the confederation, and I think Alexandra is starting to turn into a more well-rounded adult. I do hope she is able to make certain changes that I won't mention in this review because it would be really devastating if they fell through. Anyway, onto the next book!
Great overall plot and quality of narration; also stay for the great pacing. Similarly to the previous books, the world feels related to HP, but is distinctly unique.
Characters are likeable if a bit flat: They have one primary defining attribute which they occasionally break out of for variety. (e.g. Anna continues to mostly worry, except when she breaks out of that and has a moment of bravery to contrast. Other than that she doesn't have much personality, despite being the best friend and actually having a plot branch about her & her father).
The story could benefit from better planning by the author: Frequently the tools for solving a problem are randomly placed in front of Alexandra directly when they are needed. Here, it would be nicer if they could be introduced much ahead of time and allow the reader to think of solutions for the problem. (Example: need a "conveyance"? The next detention introduces it)
After Maximilian's death, I was very unwilling to continue this series. Picking this series back up was probably the best decision I made. Anyone who mourned Max's death in the last book probably felt redeemed in this one. Alexandra's denial and hurt, and all her actions were portrayed very well. It was truly a worthwhile read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Alex spends a lot of time trying to undo stuff. But the ending makes sense.
And the secret of the Deathly regiment gets revealed towards the very end. It's shocking.
This book is well written, well thought out and engaging I was on the edge of my seat reading it. My Kindle almost ran out it's battery. It's a dark book but it is fun.
This is my favorite of the books so far. I'm not quite sure what to say that's not a spoiler, but my favorite part is the hard decisions that the characters have to make.
Re-read: Again there was a slog in the middle of this one; I don't know why, still good though.
Read #1: Ok this one was a little harder to get through than the first two (it took me months). I found it really frustrating how good Alex is. This girl's morals are absolutely insane. She is so quick to forgive people who betray her and treat her like garbage and she is so unmoving in her views on the value of life I was genuinely shocked. That being said, it was pretty annoying seeing Alex being essentially used and walked all over for the majority of this book. Yes, she doesn't take shit in most conversations, but when it actually matters? Very difficult to get through those parts.