Always Late To The Party discussion

This is where you can talk freely about the book without worrying about spoiling it for someone.

I'm almost done the book and I am absolutely enthralled with this one! I know I shouldn't have trusted a character named "The Darkling" but he and Alina would have been so good together! I love the idea of the anti-hero/villain ending up with the protagonist. It's just such a fun dynamic.

can you tell me more about it? I might get the book, is it a stand-alone?

^¬^ Her Master ^¬^ wrote: "can you tell me more about it? I might get the book, is it a stand-alone?"

It's part of a trilogy but all the book are out and in paperback if you don't want to pay hardcover prices.

I'm really enjoying the concept of people having special powers but its actually based in science. For example, people can create fire by manipulating the elements around them. I also love the Russian influence in the series.

This is my first time reading this series and I'm quite excited by it. I heard great things about it and her "Six of Crows" duology but I have not gotten around to either... Until now!

Usually the first book of an author's first series is the weakest so I'm not surprised if it is. That said, its an incredibly strong first piece. I'm really impressed with her writing style. It's simple and punchy but a pleasure to read.

It's pretty unique to approach magic as a form of science so I'm interested to see how that progresses. I'm also interested to see how Alina's relationship with the other grisha develops if it does at all.

I think that Alina could have been the Darkling's redemption. She could have taken him off this self-destructive path and showed him that there is another way. I'm not sure if I can see her following a dark path, but I could definitely see her becoming a more ambiguous character through the Darkling.

I think Mal is the standard male-sidekick/love interest character. He's been her childhood friend since forever and they have never been apart. It feels pretty run of the mill in that regard. I would have liked to see them go their separate paths and develop away from each other. Then in the last book they see each other one last time and realise how happy the other is doing their own think. Mal can finally rest easy knowing that Alina is in a place where she is accepted and Alina can be happy knowing that Mal is getting to succeed at what he does best: tracking.

I, too, would have found it more compelling if she had parted ways with Mal. I was not a big fan of them together, as I've said before, and I didn't find him very interesting as a character. I would have liked to see Alina form a stronger bond with the Darkling before the betrayal of his plans was revealed. She feels foolish now, yes, but it could have been much worse had she really fallen for him.

With regards to the stag necklace, I'm not sure I really like the end result that it can serve as an amplifier for both the Darkling and Alina as well. Because a Grisha can only ever have one amplifier in its life, and the Darkling is revealed to be so many centuries old--do I believe he's never had an amplifier before? Or is that rule a lie? And if he hasn't ever had one, and now he has one but it's Alina's too, isn't it weird that they both share the same one?