The electrifying conclusion to the Dividing Eden series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Testing trilogy, Joelle Charbonneau.
The Trials of Virtuous Succession have ended. Prince Andreus is king—and Princess Carys is dead.
But even as he’s haunted by what he did to win the throne, Andreus discovers that his dream of ruling only brings new problems. The people love his twin even more in death than they did when she was alive. The Elders treat him as a figurehead. And worst of all, the winds of Eden are faltering.
But despite what everyone believes, Carys is alive. Exiled to the wilderness, Carys struggles to control the powers that have broken free inside her. And as she grows stronger, so does her conviction that she must return to the Palace of Winds, face her twin and root out the treachery that began long before the first Trials started.
The Kingdom of Eden is growing darker with each passing day. Brother and sister, former foes, must decide whether some betrayals cut too deep to be forgiven—and whether one will wear the crown or both will lose everything.
I am a storyteller at heart. I have performed in a variety of operas, musical theatre and children's theatre productions across the Chicagoland area.
While I'm happy to perform for an audience, I am equally delighted to teach private voice lessons and use my experience from the stage to create compelling characters on the page. I am the author of the Rebecca Robbins mystery series (Minotaur Books), The Paige Marshall Glee Club mysteries (Berkley) and The Testing YA triology (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but overall I think I got what I wanted. Both books put together from a single story with a pretty straightforward goal and a limited amount of plot twists therefore at some points I felt like they could’ve been combined to form one book, but the story being separated added the mystery as to where Carys went so in the end I agree with these books being a duology. The beginning of this book felt dragged out a little, and each chapter alternates in perspective between the twins so about three chapters in each perspective could have been clubbed.
For those of you who don’t remember, at the ending of the last book Andreus leaves Carys for dead and goes back to the city to sit on the throne as he believes his twin to be dead. Carys, who now seems to be able to control and hear voices coming from the wind, survives with the help of Errik whose identity isn’t all that clear.
Now, Carys is in the forest, dead to the citizens of the Garden City who now mourn her, along with Larkin (her childhood friend), Errik, and Lord Garret who tagged along even though no one really wanted him to. Andreus has taken the throne and has resumed his position as the king, with a group of Elders who seem to have their own agenda. The only person he trusts is Max, a boy who suffers from breathing illness and whose family believes him to be cursed. Now that Imogen is dead, he finds himself questioning whether his sister truly betrayed him. The former queen now remains in her chamber, is believed to have lost her sanity along with her eldest son and husband.
The winds have slowed in the Garden City and the power stores are running low. The Xhelozi are coming out from the mountains and the throne is in danger because of the lack of stability. I wish there was more focus or atleast a more detailed description of the Xhelozi, there was barely any reasoning surrounding their presence and why they were fighting them - a lot of it could have been more elaborate which would have made it play a greater part in the story.
There were some very good chapters once the plot really began to flow and I enjoyed the ending of the book. I loved Carys’s personality throughout the books, she has always protected her brother since childhood not giving second thought to the fact that he probably wouldn’t have done the same for her, and she is a queen with those stilettos. I would have liked another certain interaction at the ending of the book but I was satisfied with the ending.I loved seeing everyone’s secret plans and betrayals come to light and the, overall I give this book 4 stars.
I started reading Eden Conquered on 12/5/2018 and finished it on 2/7/2019. (Please ignore the date in this case because it has nothing to do with the book being good or bad. I experience the worst reading slump ever.) This book is another great read! Definitely a duology for those readers who don’t like romance in their YA fantasy. I do like to read slow burning romance so the little bit that this book offers is too little for me. Both Princess Carys and Prince Andreus are among people who swore to protect them, yet some couldn’t be trusted. There are traitors among them and they are to find out who. I like following their strategies to act normal while investigating the traitors as they each try to survive on their own.
This book follows where Dividing Eden (book 1) left off. Dividing Eden left off at the part where the final task in the physical competition between Princess Carys and Prince Andreus ends. The one left standing will take control of the throne. Growing up, the twin siblings are very tight. They keep each other’s secrets and they defend each other. Everything changed when the competition takes place. Due to the sensitivity for her life, Princess Carys is leading life under the radar. Book two is also told in two points of views, told in the third person: Carys and Andreus, both seventeen years old. Princess Carys is hunting for those that betrayed the late King and she could be in company with the enemy. Those traveling with her are Lord Garrett, Lord Errik, and her commoner best friend Larkin. Lord Errik is the late seer Imogen’s cousin where his uncle considered himself as the rightful heir to the Throne of Light. Lord Garrett has his own claim to the throne as well and he knows Carys’ secret. Prince Andreus is in a jam of his own. He is trying to find out who is out to assassinate him while doing his best to handle his new role.
Dividing Eden is very well written and a fast paced read. I like Princess Carys’ weapon of choice, stilettos and her gift with the wind is pretty cool. The enemy’s strategic plans are interesting to follow, especially how it formulates over a span of time. I like when the siblings decide to work together to bring down the traitors and discuss of their strategies. I like how Prince Andreus gets down on his hands and knees to do the work just because he enjoys it rather than let his royalty position stops him from being too important to do the manual labor. The ending as clear as the story leads up, and I like the twist when it doesn’t end that way.
Pro: fast paced, twins-siblings, who to trust, friendship, traitors, strategies discussions, book covers
Con: rare romance, not a lot of humor
I rate it 4 stars!
***Disclaimer: Many thanks to the author Joelle Charbonneau, publisher HarperTeen, and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
¿Por qué leí la secuela de un libro al que le puse dos estrellas? Todavía me lo sigo preguntando porque, efectivamente, Eden Conquered fue tan aburrido como su predecesor y sufrió de los mismos problemas en la trama y el estilo de escritura. Es que, joder, cuando estás leyendo un libro y sientes que te saltaste páginas (aunque no lo hayas hecho) porque no te enteras de nada… bueno, es grave.
Aquí todo empieza con Andreus como un rey marioneta que realmente no tiene poder sobre nada y con el consejo entero creyendo que Carys murió al final de las pruebas. Sin embargo, ella no está muerta y, por el contrario, está reunida con dos aliados que la ayudan a entender los poderes del viento que están despertando en ella. Además, ambos hermanos se van a dar cuenta de que hay una gran conspiración alrededor del trono y que alguien muy cercano a ellos puede ser la mano maligna que lo está manipulando todo.
Y ya está. Same old, same old. No leí ningún giro interesante y, de hecho, como lo mencionaba antes, en este libro se sienten incluso más los vacíos argumentales. Toda esta historia de los poderes de Carys parece sacada de debajo de una roca y sin fundamento alguno. ¿Los miembros del consejo de ancianos? Es imposible distinguir a unos de otros porque no tienen ningún tipo de personalidad distintiva. ¿El romance? Fatal. Una roca tiene más química con el suelo que Carys con su supuesto enamorado. ¿Las pruebas? De nuevo se sienten como un juego de niños y no como algo que vaya a cambiar el destino de un reino. ¿Las criaturas de la oscuridad? Simplemente existen, nunca entendemos de dónde salen y por qué quieren atacar Garden City. ¿Y el final? Blando, predecible e insoportablemente abierto.
En fin… todo mal. Cero ganas de leer a esta autora de nuevo, desafortunadamente.
The second and final installment of 'Dividing Eden' duology. I absolutely adored the first book that it became one of my favourite books of all time, unfortunately the second book was a bit disappointing but I liked it, just not as much as the first.
The story is told in third person and alternates between the royal twins Princess Carys and King Andreus. So, as much as I love seeing closeness and understanding between siblings I also love seeing rivalry between them but in 'Eden Conquered' that wasn’t the case, there was almost no rivalry between Andreus and Carys.
What I liked: Most importantly the plot twists, of course. Carys became so much stronger than she was in the previous book. Andreus became a whole person in this book, it was a bit unrealistic that he changed so much in this book but it was good to see that. Both siblings' characterazition developement was interesting in a good way. Larkin: Carys' best friend, who's a commoner. She gave up on her whole future just to be on her friend's side on. She was loyal and devoted to her princess. Carys wanting to learn how to control her powers and striving to know more about her powers' background.
What I disliked: Lord Garret teamed up with Carys in the end of book 1, however his scenes weren't as much, and he just vanished in the majority of the book and came back again in the last parts out of nowhere. An unanswered ending, maybe some people won't find the ending as cliffhanger but I did. The plot became a little too complicated from time to time.
What was missing or what I wished to see: The blooming relationship between Lord Errik and princess Carys, I would've loved to know where their relationship heads, their romance was very brief. The parts where the monsters appeared were too little, the author should've included them more. A full conclusion on each character. Basically I wanted to see a happily ever after.
This is the second book in the Dividing Eden duology. And I really enjoyed it, and I what made this great was the character development and arcs. The characters that were clueless in book one finally understand the game that was being played with them. I enjoyed all of the characters and the small romance that was there was great. I love the authors writing style for this book and I was hooked from the beginning. And the pacing of the story helped hook me in as well as making the plot more intense for the ending. This was also one of the only books where I thought there should be another, or maybe have a novella for what happened after. Overall, I really enjoyed getting to reread this again and it had me feeling the same way the first time.
4/5 Date Reviewed: 11 August 2018 This Review was first posted on It’s All Anthony. For more reviews, check out the blog here.
Dividing Eden was that book that had a lot of mixed reviews and it was clear that it was also the type of book that you were going to like it or hate it. There was no in-between thoughts. There was something that seemed interesting to me and I knew I had to read it. However, I had to read with caution as I never really enjoyed stories that were heavily based on politics. Since the story also dealt with fantasy, I thought it would be a good balance to give the story a shot. In the end, I loved it. This is exactly how it went for Eden Conquered.
I knew that if I liked the Dividen Eden, I would like its sequel as well, but I was still wary of the politics on it. Once again, the politics really didn’t bother me as I focused more on the characters and what was going on. It was another interesting read for me, and a fun one as well.
I do have to admit that when I began the novel, I couldn’t remember everything. Even with information found in reviews and summaries, I found that the story also offered some summary as well. I find it incredibly helpful when authors decide to do that because we all know we can’t remember every detail with the big amount of different books we read. As I continued through the story, I started to remember a few important details and I started to get way into the book again.
As previously mentioned, the character to look out for is Carys and she stayed true to her character with her development in the second book. She has progressed so much and definitely knows how to make an entrance that can stir everything up. I wanted Carys to be crowned queen due to her development and some surprising twists. Carys was by far the most interesting character in the story.
The only difference between the two novels is the fact that the first book is more political and manipulation through events. The second book deals more of a mystery and trying to defeat enemies. Even through the differences, the overall story flowed smoothly and felt like it never changed. It felt like the exactly same overall story.
The ending, once again, was mixed in with a few twists that really know how to make an exciting ending, even with a conclusion. I tried predicting the ending throughout the entire story as I was sure how it was going to end. Instead, I was completely thrown off. Sometimes, that is exactly what makes a good ending. I am sad this is only a duology, but I do know that there is no need for a third book. The series is just fine the way it is at two books.
Estuvo bien, tampoco para quitarse el sombrero ,tuvo momentos simples y pienso que hubiera podido ser un poco más. Me gustó sobre todo la parte de escoger a la familia por lazos de sangre o por amor...
Cuando leí el primer libro quedé un poco decepcionada, ya que se podría haber sacado mucho más de la historia, pues nada que ver con el segundo.
Este ha conseguido culminar la biología de una forma excepcional. Todo lo que le había faltado al primero, en este aparece y además consigue superarlo con creces.
Debo decir que me ha encantado, me ha mantenido en vilo hasta el final, con una protagonista que me ha flipado des del principio y que he amado de principio a fin. Sin duda se ha convertido en una de mis personajes femeninos favoritos, ella Carys, princesa y sucesora al trono. Sus poderes surgen a la luz y veremos de todo lo que es capaz para recuperar su identidad y salvar su reino
Andreus tiene una evolución brutal en este libro, he pasado de odiarlo a amarlo, no tanto como a su hermana pero casi. La traición aún sigue hilando en su reinado pero pronto se dará cuenta de sus errores y tratará de enmendarlos.
Recomiendo la biología porque este segundo libro ha logrado situarse en uno de mis libros favoritos de fantasía.
I was super excited about this sequel, as I found myself a fan of Dividing Eden last year. This one fell a bit short for me, but I was still glad I read it. Let's break it down, shall we?
What I Liked:
Carys is awesome, and I kind of wanted to read all the chapters from her POV. Andreus just irked me- and I am well aware that he was supposed to- and Carys and her adventures and her friends were definitely exciting to read about.
There were definitely twists I didn't see coming. I liked that there was still so many things to discover about the characters, about the royal families, and even about Carys and Andreus's personalities.
I liked when Carys & Company were on the run. Not even sure why, but fleeing and hiding just appeals to me, and I liked that she had to basically play dead.
What I Didn't:
Andreus, why you so boring, my dude? Seriously, this guy wonders why he's only got a few loyal subjects, and I may have a few ideas. You tried to off your sister and you're about as exciting as paint drying, so... But he did get one of my favorite characters on his side, so I guess there's that.
Speaking of Andreus, I could not keep all the random "Elders" straight in his POV chapters. And normally I'd just ignore them, but they were important to the outcome of the story. But once you've met one random, undeveloped old guy, you've met them all... or something?
The romance did not work for me. I think in book one, I saw the romance going a certain way. In book two, it went in another, and the character it focused on, well, I didn't really feel anything for him. Basically, I felt the love interest was too underdeveloped for me to much care about him.
The pacing was kind of inconsistent. It started off on the slower end, but by the end twenty different things were happening and I was kind of confused.
Bottom Line:
While I am glad to have some conclusion to the series, it just wasn't as strong as the first book in plot or character development.
Reino conquistado, ha sido un libro lleno de traiciones, acción, magia, amistad, amor y que a pesar de los errores, traiciones o engaños los lazos de familia pueden ser más poderosos que todo eso.
PD: ¿Que tienen los autores en contra de los finales cerrados? ¿y los epílogos? en serio. Yo. Necesito. Finales. Bien. Cerrados
"When the night is darkest, I promise to be a light to help you find your way."
Carys, alone and betrayed by the person she trusted most. Andreus, alone and dealing with the guilt of what he had done. And enemies of them both are conspiring to claim Eden as their own. But there can only be one ruler.
This was an okay sequel, but after some time, all these twists felt forced and didn't really move the plot. I did enjoy Carys and Andreus' characters, and the role that they each played. Honestly, this should have been a High Fantasy/Adult book so it could go more in depth with everything happening.
"When the night is darkest, I promise to be a light to help you find your way."
The first book in this series had my head spinning, not knowing who to trust and I really enjoyed that part of it. So going into this conclusion, I couldn’t wait to see how everything wrapped up. I did get the answers I wanted and also many plot twists and action, which made this installment fly by. This was a quick and fun series. It did lack a bit in world building, but the drama and politics made up for it. The ending left me wanting more, but at the same time, it was a satisfying end. Dividing Eden was an overall clean series (see review for book one for content warnings).
Reino conquistado, segunda y última parte de la bilogía "Reino dividido" de Joelle Charbonneau. Esta continuación es un poco más lenta que su anterior parte, aunque sus personajes mantienen un buen ritmo durante la trama. Carys cada vez es más poderosa y no se deja amedrentar por nada ni nadie, y Andreus va teniendo más dotes de liderazgo de un verdadero rey. Es cierto que la trama interesante no culmina hasta casi al final de la novela, pero aún así me ha gustado mucho leerla y disfrutarla al máximo. El desenlace te deja de piedra con cada nueva revelación y plot twist, por lo que el lector siente que ha merecido la pena la espera hasta el final.
“Most would think that foolish. After all, he was King!” (p. 211).
And that’s it, that’s the whole book.
No one: Andreus: I am King! I am KING! I AM KING!
Look, it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t amazing. There could have been so much more done with it. I wanted to love even just one of the characters, and it just kind of fell flat. I didn’t love Carys, I didn’t love Andreus, I didn’t even love to hate the bad guys. I can’t even really picture the evil mountain creatures because they weren’t really actually described, beyond their “rusty screams”.
A quick little duology if you are still really, really new to court-intrigue who-can-you-trust YA fantasy.
*Source* Edelweiss/Publisher *Genre* Young Adult / Fantasy *Rating* 3.5-4
*Thoughts*
Eden Conquered is final installment of author Joelle Charbonneau's Dividing Eden duology. Like the first installment, this story alternates between royal siblings Princess Carys and King Andreus. Betrayed by everyone they believed to be allies, the siblings continue to fight to determine who will reign over the kingdom. But now, one sibling has changed the game. 6 days after the end of the Trial of Succession, Princess Carys is very much alive and on the run with Lord Errik, Lord Garret, and her best friend Larken. Carys is on the hunt for answers and her destiny.
Qué gran decepción. Es un final precipitado e ilógico. Se supone que los giros son para que te quedes en shock pero no funcionó en este caso. Creo que no funcionaron porque hay demasiadas cosas inconclusas y sentí que la autora quiso meter todo lo "interesante" en los últimos tres capítulos.
Esta segunda y última parte de Reino dividido me ha resultado mucho mejor que la primera: me ha atrapado y me ha sorprendido en gran medida, con un desarrollo y una acción que te impiden alejarte de la novela hasta que la has devorado.
Reino conquistado ha sido un muy buen final para la bilogía Reino dividido, en la que he adorado a Carys y he disfrutado del mundo creado por la autora y todos esos giros argumentales que nos dejan perplejos.
Las pruebas de la sucesión virtuosa han terminado. El príncipe Andreus es rey, y la princesa Carys está muerta. Pero incluso mientras está obsesionado por lo que hizo para ganar el trono, Andreus descubre que su sueño de gobernar solo trae nuevos problemas. La gente ama a su gemela aún más en la muerte que cuando estaba viva. Los ancianos lo tratan como una figura decorativa más que como un rey. Y lo peor de todo, los vientos que acarician y protegen Eden se están apagando. Sin embargo, a pesar de lo que todos creen, Carys está viva. Exiliada lejos de su hogar y de lo único que queda de su familia, Carys lucha por controlar y comprender los poderes que se han liberado dentro de ella. Y a medida que se fortalece, también lo hace su convicción de que debe regresar al Palacio de los Vientos, enfrentarse a su gemelo y erradicar la traición que comenzó mucho antes de que comenzaran las primeras pruebas. El Reino de Eden se está oscureciendo cada día que pasa. Hermano y hermana, antiguos enemigos, ahora deben decidir si algunas traiciones son demasiado profundas para ser perdonadas
Después de que su anterior libro, el inicio de esta bilogía, Reino Dividido, se convirtiera en una de mis mejores lecturas del año pasado, era normal que esperara este libro como agua de mayo, deseando conocer de qué manera terminaba una historia que me conquistó completamente nada más leerla. Estas novelas de fantasía me llevaron hacia una ambientación interesante donde los personajes cobraron mucha fuerza, haciendo que todo estuviera bien conectado y jugado bajo mi punto de vista. Desgraciadamente, Reino Conquistado ha sido de esos libros y de esas continuaciones que, desde el primer momento, he estado analizando con lupa, arrastrando los sentimientos y buenas vibraciones que me dejó el libro anterior, desembocando en una historia que, como final, se me ha quedado algo floja y no ha conseguido estar a la altura de ese magnífico inicio.
Contado en todo momento en tercera persona a través de nuestros dos personajes, Andreus y Carys, la historia de este segundo libro comienza poco después de los últimos acontecimientos de Reino Dividido, los dos gemelos separados después de participar en las pruebas que otorgaban a uno de ellos la corona de Eden, siendo Andreus el vencedor y Carys la exiliada que debe esconderse para no ser atrapada y terminar de cuajo con su propósito ahora que ha comenzado a tener poderes mágicos inimaginables. Bajo esta premisa, el libro comienza bastante bien, unos capítulos que, desde el primer minuto, ya nos deja escenas de acción, una rapidez en la trama muy temprana con la que la autora consigue enganchar a la persona que está leyendo, sin problemas, a las páginas de este libro. Además, el ir intercalando cada capítulo entre un personaje y otro no solo nos hace movernos entre perspectivas sino que, gracias a ello, nos vamos a enfrascar en dos momentos diferentes: el de Carys, teniendo que saber qué es exactamente ella y qué significa tener esos poderes, huyendo y escondiéndose a ojos de los demás, y el de Andreus, ahora rey, viendo como él mismo tiene que empezar a solucionar problemas que podría cambiar el transcurso de la historia de su reino para siempre. Ambas subtramas han dejado momentos diferentes pero que, en conjunto, han combinado bastante bien. Con Carys tenemos las escenas de más peligro, de ir de un lado para otro, de correr e intentar luchar contra aquellos que intentan apresarla, siendo con ella donde vamos a tener las partes de la lectura más dinámicas y entretenidas, más movidas, siempre con algo de acción que ofrecer a la vez que se va descubriendo y abriendo una zona oculta y oscura que teníamos en el primer libro y que, aquí, empieza a mostrarse para dar, además, ese toque interesante por el que quieres saber más y más. Con Andreus, por el contrario, nos metemos en una subtrama de misterio y de intriga palaciega que, como digo, ha sentado bastante bien. Un descanso a todo lo que la trama de Carys representa, Andreus nos va a mover por unos pasillos donde la traición, misiones secretas, el espionaje y la protección del reino y de encontrar a un único culpable se van a convertir en el centro de todo lo que está por venir. La incógnita y las ganas de conocer la persona que se esconde detrás de todas las conspiraciones que se van a vivir es lo que consigue que la historia y arco argumental de Andreus sea constante, emocionante, interesante, enganche bien con la trama de su hermana, siendo un complemento más suave y relajado en comparación a toda la aventura con la que se va a vivir con Carys. Una lectura que siempre está al pie del cañón, poco más de la mitad hasta el final va a contener los capítulos más explosivos del libro, donde la colisión de todos los elementos que se han ido desarrollando hasta ese momento generará unos capítulos finales de infarto donde la lucha, la verdad y los giros inesperados en los acontecimientos al desvelarse el secreto de muchas cosas van a dar un toque más exhausto a todo. La acción es pura dinamita, la sangre volará y se derramará por todas partes, el peligro acechará en cualquier esquina y nunca sabes de qué manera podría acabar la cosa, quién podría morir o sobrevivir. Para mí, sin dudarlo, han sido los momentos necesarios para este libro, capítulos en los que no podrás parar de leer ni un segundo, poniéndole como pega un final que, sin embargo, deja las puertas abiertas a la imaginación al ponerle un punto no cerrado.
A pesar de que parece que el libro es impresionante, ¿qué es lo que ha pasado para que diga que no ha estado a la altura? Pues que he sentido que no había exactamente un argumento central y potente que sujetara cada escena para darle esa lógica que necesitaba el libro como segunda parte y conclusión. Pasaban muchas cosas, sí, pero no había un rumbo fijo, como que todo sucedía por inercia sin desarrollar gran cosa entre escena de acción y escena de acción, siendo solo eso y un par de cosas más las que teníamos pero sin tener, como digo, un argumento con peso. Todo me resultaba vacío, sin demasiado propósito. Y esto ha repercutido en que muchos elementos de la ambientación se me hayan quedado flojos finalmente. Al hacer la reseña del primer libro comenté que, entre las cosas que me habían fallado, estaba justamente parte de la ambientación, sobre todo a lo relacionado con una guerra que tienen con reinos vecinos, el tema de los Xhelozis y, sobre todo, esta magia que nace en Carys. Si bien es cierto que el tema de la magia más o menos se toca de manera más profunda, lo demás vuelve a dejarse de lado. Las interacciones y las misiones de los diferentes personajes secundarios carecen de sentido al no tener nada que ver dentro de todo esto. Esos monstruos se quedan reflejados como seres de oscuridad que devoran, sin saber de dónde proceden, por qué existen, desde cuando. Los reinos vecinos están muy olvidados, sin saber nada de ellos. Ni nombres, ni reyes o reinas, sin cultura o vida, sin historia propia que poder conocer, apareciendo de la nada ya por el final tampoco sin saber qué quieren exactamente y por qué están así con Eden de cabezotas. Todo termina muy deprisa, no haya oportunidad de crear un segundo libro bien desarrollado y repleto de detalles y ha sido lo que más me ha decepcionado de esta conclusión.
Así pues, y en resumen, Reino Conquistado ha cumplido con todos los pronósticos que tenía en mente de no convertirse en un final de bilogía a la altura. Aprueba en ritmo, que es de infarto, dinámico y entretenido, con un toque misterioso que le va genial a la lectura pero, sin embargo, la falta de una base más potente y mejor desarrollada hace que muchos de los personajes y de los sucesos cojeen al no tener nada que les de el sentido a su camino.
Segunda parte de “Reino dividido”, esta trilogía de fantasía que tiene como protagonistas a dos hermanos que luchan por ocupar el trono del Reino de Eden. Al ser una continuación, no quiero contar mucho para no hacer spoiler, pero lo que sí les adelanto es que en este libro hay más conspiraciones, traiciones, nuevas alianzas, y un gran interés de parte de los protagonistas por saber qué pasó con su padre y su hermano Micah, cuyas muertes, desencadenaron los sucesos del primer libro y la competencia.
El personaje de Carys me había encantado en la primera parte, y en esta segunda entrega vuelve mucho más decidida a no dejarse pasar por encima, y a tomar aquello que le corresponde. El elemento mágico que, el final del primer libro dejó vislumbrar, también se desarrolla mucho más acá, y me gusto mucho esa conexión entre la magia, la naturaleza y el poder. Esta trilogía me está gustando mucho, siempre me termino leyendo estos libros bastante rápido, porque tienen un buen ritmo y una forma de narrar muy amena.
Me sigo quedando por el momento con la primera parte, porque en este libro hay mucho viaje y menos acción. Ahora bien, el final me encantó, tuvo toda esa acción qué me faltó durante el desarrollo y volvió a sorprender en sus capítulos finales, con giros inesperados que, claramente dejan con ganas de leer la conclusión de esta trilogía. La recomiendo mucho si les gustan los libros con entramado político, traiciones, desconfianza y competencia familiar por ocupar el máximo puesto de poder.
Al igual que me pasara con su primera parte, las primera mitad del libro se me hizo súper lenta y en este caso también algo pesada porque me estaba pareciendo súper repetitiva. Después se anima bastante, a raíz de un hecho que sucede. El hecho en sí, me gustó, era lo que estaba esperando desde que empecé pero la manera de hacerlo de la autora fue demasiado de repente... El final me ha gustado. Toda la acción se condensa en las últimas páginas y no dejan de suceder cosas. Me ha dejado muy buen sabor de boca como terminan casi todos los personajes. Me quedo con la primera parte, si he de elegir eso sí.
i’m going to be perfectly honest and say i can’t remember much of this book because it’s been almost a month since i finished it ;-;
it was definitely in the same vein as the first book; very strange, not insanely well written, not an incredibly coherent storyline. also the author changed the color of the mmc’s eyes from the first to the second book, which was frustrating (even tho they were changed to brown which i like better anyway lol) and also a bad job by her editor.
(again, my standards are throne of glass, an ember in the ashes, and divine rivals… so do with this review what you will <3)
BUT i did enjoy reading it!! there were definitely some crazy twists that i did NOT see coming which made it interesting! also the ending caught me so off guard bc what was that info dump??? i feel like we got some serious lore dropped in the last 6 pages that we DEFINITELY could have another whole book written about. i’m lowkey sad it’s only a duology, but would i actually want to read another one? idk.
overall i do recommend if you want a fun quick read!!
Eden Conquered is the sequel to Dividing Eden and the final book in the duology. Similarly to the first book, the book is told through the viewpoints of the two royal twins - Andreus and Carys.
While I feel that overall, the writing of this book was stronger than the previous book, a big problem I had with this book was the pacing. It started out well enough, but about 1/3 of the way into the book, the book just starts doing twist after twist, that honestly don't make a ton of sense. Also, there were a number of grammatical errors, which may be as a result of this being an ARC. Hopefully these will be corrected for the final release. There also seemed to be a few scenes that were hastily thrown in and threw off the pacing of the chapter.
=/ Unfortunately, I was kind of disappointed with this, and I'd skip unless you REALLY need to know how the story ends.
Hace ya tiempo que leí el primero, y aunque no recordaba demasiados detalles, sí es cierto que me dejó un tanto fría y un poquito decepcionada, aun así, me dije que ya que era una bilogía, le daría una oportunidad al final, que podría salvarlo del todo o condenarlo. Y, sorprendentemente, esta segunda parte me ha gustado más que la primera: tiene mucha más acción, los personajes se comportan con más coherencia y engancha bastante. Se me ha hecho muy ameno y estaba deseando saber cómo terminaría; aun así, tengo que mantener que no entiendo de dónde sale tanto hype con estos libros. En resumen, esta segunda parte mejora mucho, pero no deja de ser una historia entretenida que podría haber dado para mucho más.
I don’t know how I didn’t realize the same person who authored The Testing (which I really didn’t like) authored these, and I still managed to buy them. Just yikes. I’ve read a lot of good writing and unfortunately, this just ain’t it y’all. It KILLED me to finish this book. The first one was slightly better but barely. The only actual good piece of writing in this series is the Into The Garden novella. Other than that, this is all choppy- to the point there were a few times I had to go back and reread because I thought my book was missing pages. There is barely any character development, and it’s a constant game that the author plays of “I know this secret thing that you’re going to find out soon” and it’s just straight up annoying. EVERY TINY LITTLE DETAIL can’t be a secret, and then the secrets turn out to be super disappointing! It’s a hot mess.
My most major annoyance was also that she tells you that the twins are super close, (and this is integral to the entire plot of the story) but there’s absolutely no evidence of that whatsoever except for on Cary’s side, kind of. She is pretty annoying just in general, and Dreus is the worst character I’ve ever read and not even in a good way. Everything is just so middle of the road. There’s no exceptionally good qualities in any of them, or exceptionally evil ones. Everyone and everything is just BLAH and boring and irritating. Literally the only reason I finished this book was because I paid for it. So, so disappointed. There was so much potential in the storyline but it fell WAY beyond short.