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Echoes After Death
552 pages, Paperback
Published May 13, 2025
2 people want to read
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December 29, 2025
I beta read the prologue! So I went in with expectations.
Fairly high expectations because the prologue is pretty darn good.
My thoughts on the book are this. You have to read to the end to appreciate it. You have to finish it. Because it genuinely has a good arc. I feel like the characters were given realistic believable positions. I feel like they all panned out in very satisfying ways.
The characters all had strong development, except maybe Seth and Jack a little bit? Jack was really really awesome by the end and in the beginning but throughout the middle(maybe due to the fact that he ditched Horizon for a little while for associating with the folks he labeled as enemies. I feel like we lost touch with the romance arc. Really from about chapter 5 till chapter 9 or 10 it felt like that. Just remember this book is only 12 chapters long, that was the class requirement for KWN.
The other character that felt really disconnected was the villain. By the end all the motives and problems were fully established, but I wish there could have been a way to rope her in more earlier in the plot. Same with Seth and Jack and a pair of traitors later in the book, I feel like their strands kinda got lost in the mix, or just weren't there. Which is fine, I do feel like it would have picked the story up a lot throughout the middle ground to have those arcs as a focus maybe?
And here we move onto my next thing. The middle did sag. The middle was mostly establishing Horizon as a leader, this gave me the Horizon I wanted at the end, her leadership very much felt earned and I really respected and loved her for it. But I felt like it was getting long throughout there, not much change. Moving around, organizing. It explored the cogs and wheels of leadership that most novels don't explore. The assignment and more small matters that plague the day. Throughout this period though, the novel was rich in character development. I grew a love for the Skruit Defects and was very very pleased with all the character development. But for a lot of other readers the slow in the pace could irritate their small-attention-span-minds... although if you're picking up a 600 page book you probably have some expectation. Well either way. The pacing in the beginning was fast, and the stuff in the middle was slow and the end evened out really well.
Tolstoy names! Okie I use this weird little title because she mimicked Tolstoy, probably without even knowing in using a crazy amount of title per character. Which was ok in my book. I'm reading Tolstoy so I have my mind at the ready to detect name switches, but there were definitely times that were fuzzy as to who we were addressing.
The only other thing, and this is what constituted my beard/shave thing. Was the beginning. And part of this was specifically what was going with Aitah(the villain). Anywho. As I said earlier, this was very fast paced and the only part of the novel I really felt was somewhat hard to wrap my head around. There was a lot of death really fast... like twenty or more close family and friends in three chapters or so. I felt like due to how fast the pacing was there wasnt time to really explore Horizons POV on all this. She had a few panic attacks, her clinging to the people who are still around aka Jack *sappy romantic face* and a bit of grieving. then we had a time skip of about three years and all of that kinda dropped. It was still there, but the arc surrounding that could have been stronger.
HOWEVER. I REALLY LIKE HOW THE VENGANCE ARC PLAYED OUT IN THE END EVEN IF IT FELT LOST IN THE MIDDLE. WHEN SHE FACED OFF WITH THE SKRUIT TRIBE AT THE END WE SAW HER NOT FREAKING OUT ABOUT EVERY DEATH WE SAW HER NOT CONSUMED WITH ANGER OR VENGANCE WE SAW HER SYMPATHIZING WITH THEM BUT NOT HESITATING TO SAVE THE LIVES OF HER COMRADES EVEN IF THAT MEANT SHE HAD TO KILL SOMEONE.
Just to say. The end was worth it all.
Also... I just need to fan-guy for un momento.... YURAII IS SO AWESOME! Honestly if there is one book character I want to hang out with? Its Yuraii. Suitably deep, almost always smiling and has a sharp witted remark to follow, very extroverted and ready to help the people around her, doesn't hyper-fixate on grief and pain but rather tends to receive it as a plot twist in her own story and let it build her up, no end of teasing, but she also was presented well as a side character. AND THE CINNAMON ROLL DIDNT BURN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Where was Yuraii when I needed her?! FOR PETES SAKE!
If you are picking this up. Finish it for me. Or for the Author.... but if neither of us? DO IT FOR YURAII.
Fairly high expectations because the prologue is pretty darn good.
My thoughts on the book are this. You have to read to the end to appreciate it. You have to finish it. Because it genuinely has a good arc. I feel like the characters were given realistic believable positions. I feel like they all panned out in very satisfying ways.
The characters all had strong development, except maybe Seth and Jack a little bit? Jack was really really awesome by the end and in the beginning but throughout the middle(maybe due to the fact that he ditched Horizon for a little while for associating with the folks he labeled as enemies. I feel like we lost touch with the romance arc. Really from about chapter 5 till chapter 9 or 10 it felt like that. Just remember this book is only 12 chapters long, that was the class requirement for KWN.
The other character that felt really disconnected was the villain. By the end all the motives and problems were fully established, but I wish there could have been a way to rope her in more earlier in the plot. Same with Seth and Jack and a pair of traitors later in the book, I feel like their strands kinda got lost in the mix, or just weren't there. Which is fine, I do feel like it would have picked the story up a lot throughout the middle ground to have those arcs as a focus maybe?
And here we move onto my next thing. The middle did sag. The middle was mostly establishing Horizon as a leader, this gave me the Horizon I wanted at the end, her leadership very much felt earned and I really respected and loved her for it. But I felt like it was getting long throughout there, not much change. Moving around, organizing. It explored the cogs and wheels of leadership that most novels don't explore. The assignment and more small matters that plague the day. Throughout this period though, the novel was rich in character development. I grew a love for the Skruit Defects and was very very pleased with all the character development. But for a lot of other readers the slow in the pace could irritate their small-attention-span-minds... although if you're picking up a 600 page book you probably have some expectation. Well either way. The pacing in the beginning was fast, and the stuff in the middle was slow and the end evened out really well.
Tolstoy names! Okie I use this weird little title because she mimicked Tolstoy, probably without even knowing in using a crazy amount of title per character. Which was ok in my book. I'm reading Tolstoy so I have my mind at the ready to detect name switches, but there were definitely times that were fuzzy as to who we were addressing.
The only other thing, and this is what constituted my beard/shave thing. Was the beginning. And part of this was specifically what was going with Aitah(the villain). Anywho. As I said earlier, this was very fast paced and the only part of the novel I really felt was somewhat hard to wrap my head around. There was a lot of death really fast... like twenty or more close family and friends in three chapters or so. I felt like due to how fast the pacing was there wasnt time to really explore Horizons POV on all this. She had a few panic attacks, her clinging to the people who are still around aka Jack *sappy romantic face* and a bit of grieving. then we had a time skip of about three years and all of that kinda dropped. It was still there, but the arc surrounding that could have been stronger.
HOWEVER. I REALLY LIKE HOW THE VENGANCE ARC PLAYED OUT IN THE END EVEN IF IT FELT LOST IN THE MIDDLE. WHEN SHE FACED OFF WITH THE SKRUIT TRIBE AT THE END WE SAW HER NOT FREAKING OUT ABOUT EVERY DEATH WE SAW HER NOT CONSUMED WITH ANGER OR VENGANCE WE SAW HER SYMPATHIZING WITH THEM BUT NOT HESITATING TO SAVE THE LIVES OF HER COMRADES EVEN IF THAT MEANT SHE HAD TO KILL SOMEONE.
Just to say. The end was worth it all.
Also... I just need to fan-guy for un momento.... YURAII IS SO AWESOME! Honestly if there is one book character I want to hang out with? Its Yuraii. Suitably deep, almost always smiling and has a sharp witted remark to follow, very extroverted and ready to help the people around her, doesn't hyper-fixate on grief and pain but rather tends to receive it as a plot twist in her own story and let it build her up, no end of teasing, but she also was presented well as a side character. AND THE CINNAMON ROLL DIDNT BURN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Where was Yuraii when I needed her?! FOR PETES SAKE!
If you are picking this up. Finish it for me. Or for the Author.... but if neither of us? DO IT FOR YURAII.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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