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I'm reading this book and it's just so full of horrible characters being horrible. Casually destroying lives.
And then, occasionally, a moment of empowerment.
Then back to showcasing the worst side of humans in all settings.

This is so incredibly frustrating.
I'm listening to the audiobook.
And the whole time they've gone back to sacred valley it's been annoying.
But Linden meeting the Way clan again, had me calling him an idiot 100 ways to Sunday.
He's so STUPID.
The whole way he handled it.
Of COURSE they wouldn't believe him.
He wasn't smart in his approach. And the breakdown and betrayal is just so frustrating and pointless.

I've thought at every book in this trilogy, that intro of having the characters in a wholly different situation set in the future, is a truly useless and damaging portion of the book.

Why puncture the tension and possibility of the current plot by leaping forward to a point which shows the characters clearly survived the current danger hale and whole. Like for goodness sake. Your plot was enough. Don't leap forward.

....
It's already got disappointing bits. Tigris being Snow's cousin? Bit of a convenient name drop from the later books, with no set up in the original trilogy.

What is this laughable scene from the district 12 reaping??

And what's with the characters in the book singing so often? Did the author get drunk on the acclaim for the Hanging Tree?

...I hope it gets more grounded.

This novel, and series, gradually feels more boring and common YA. It's not terribly written, and yet I could find myself easily zoning out knowing I was missing no important information as I skimmed down paragraphs.
There are far too many road trip driving sequences, as well as injuries with unrealistic and unreliable pain/incapacitation levels.
I'm semi invested in the grand ending of this whole series.

Listening to the audiobook, and the narrator is perfect for this main character and story. Really conveys the attitude and youth of this girl. There's a lot to like about this book in terms of it being YA, but it's also very much limited to that genre. The depth is not enough to become a novel that translates to a wider audience. And the small world plot holes irked me. But overall they're creating a good story.

Ongoing commentary with spoilers

FFS
Jack's communication with the minotaur he rescued is very "me Tarzan, you Jane". With all the inaccuracies and unlikeliness of such a quick and relatable connection. Despite language barriers, and cultural barriers. *sigh of disappointment*

Ongoing commentary w spoilers

Rich bf tries to distance himself from the spectacle. Will he be an ally later?If so a very weak one.
Jester mephisto (I'm listening to an audiobook, so the spelling may be wrong) makes a clear connection with Lily, and has fighting skills. Predicting Jack is going to have to kill him or someone will have to to protect Lily. Lily had better tell Jack about him and all other fighters.

Ongoing commentary with spoilers.

Mate. Lily. MATE. Get your act together. Okay so, Lily is mingling with the spectators in order to get more information on the challenges. They're badly written caricatures of "wealthy, careless, arrogant" royals watching a bloodbath. But when one drunk prince starts to vaguely describe the future challenges, Lily is "thankful" when a bell chimes and the conversation ends.
FFS.

Ongoing review with spoilers.

And he's introduced Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield to this mess? No. Please don't ruin my favourite past series with your latest sloppy writing. :( If they kill Mother in this series, since M. Reilly doesn't put any emotional weight into his deaths anymore, that would be such a useless, awful, throw-away end to a beloved character.

Aaaand Lily's rich bf was involved. (Not) A shocker!

I'm 23% done with this book and in story, but 85% done with my patience.
Was Matthew Reilly once a good author? Who knows? This book is erasing the goodwill I once held toward his stories.

And another mystery, why does this book have an average rating of 4 stars? ?????

Terrible characterisation. Poorly conveyed action scenes. Re-used scenarios. Hyperbole overdrive. Predictable as all hell. Just bad bad bad.

Ongoing review with spoilers.

WHY is Jack spending so much time standing still and internally monologuing so that he keeps running last. The author's way of describing these scenes is patchy, what's anyone else doing? Who knows?
THAT STUPID DESCRIPTION - Jack's dangling off the side of the ramp! Then! He's not!

Hyperboles. This is like reading a highschooler's story. "Most formidable evahhhh" Sooooo unexpectedOMG

Ongoing review with spoilers

The Pit challenge. You don't know what's ahead in the challenge because you didn't ask when you had the chance. Stupid.
You take an overweight, unfit, non-combat ready friend as your shackled partner instead of the young, fit option (Alby). Stupid.

The mention of the large female partner with the man with wrap-around glasses - Mother? and Schofeild?? A reference maybe?

Ongoing review with spoilers

FAAAAARRRR OUT. They have a long break in between battles, and Jack finds out who got him involved in this death battle. But does he ask about what challenges are up next? Strategies used>? Things ALL THE OTHER CONTESTANTS ARE AWARE OF? no. Because M. Reilly has become a a shitty writer.
Jack wastes his time.
The dialogue is cardboard. "this is how a teenager talks"
:( :( :(

Ongoing review with spoilers

Prediction: Lily's rich boyfriend may have family ties to this competition.
Prediction: Jack's bird will die

Note: Jack should win a challenge and secure the safe release of his "support team". It'd be nice if he secured everyones.

Note: from earlier - the depiction of Ancient Greek afterlife was incorrect?? Fields of Asphodel, Isles of Elysium, Tartarus. Judged areas to the afterlife.

Ongoing review with spoilers

Matthew Reilly used to incorporate information really timely and neatly into his writing. Specs on weapons, politic machinations, local and global history.
This novel includes "info dumps" which are laborious blocks of forced information.
He's lost his ability to write realistically different and empathetic characters. Everyone seems stereotypical.

Ongoing review with spoilers

Notes:
Pit fight
- That was a Really awkward description of a fight. Very hard to visualise.
- The Black and White symbolism is awfully obvious. Those two hunters were underwhelming.
- Geez that one minotaur felt sacrificial, you could sense he was going to be the 'last one' due to injury or death.
- Arrow in the boot. ugh. an obvious weapon - a Chekhov's gun.
- Pretty predictable.

Ongoing review - spoilers and predictions.

I love inventive action and high paced stories. So I'm hanging in there, but boy, this novel isn't the best. Thoughts:
- Large creature in the water.. hello again Temple, Area 7, Scarecrow.
-Catfish? I want to google image search that breed, because a 'catfish' doesn't immediately strike fear into me. And the author doesn't give information about attack rates or teeth etc.

Ongoing review, will contain Spoilers.

So...With this series M. Reilly really has been leaning into the ridiculous, and it doesn't always work. Some thoughts so far.
- The descriptor "High-Tech resin". That sounds...like nothing
- The obvious sacrificial character to paint the consequences for everyone. :/
- Already used scenarios e.g. hot liquid from ceiling, microchip bomb implants, CONTEST of champions :/ :/

So... this ongoing review will contain spoilers.
First up, I'm listening to the audiobook, and the man voicing it is great. He seems like a regular for the Matthew Reilly books.

But as for the book, it's been a downward trend since Seven Deadly Sins for M Reilly, and this book keeps that spiral twirling down the sink. The stories were once action and info packed.
Now, they're a bit...well, silly. And tired

I'm new to this series and didn't realise it was a prequel. It's pretty great! Some bits are bit oversexualised for the children characters, which unfortunately is a staple in a lot of manga. That aside it's a twisted plot about brainwashed child soldiers and I'm interested to keep reading

Inventive and imaginative! It's still YA but the descriptions of the characters and the settings work well and are realistic. The world works in quirky ways which is fantastic and not explained by the main character but experienced by her, and that's great. Yes some characters have over powered abilities - but so do other not central characters, so it's not like "she's special and different" which is Old.

So, this was going surprisingly well (there's been a whole run of unoriginal YA books lately) although at this point I was bored enough to put it down and write a review.
The novel's themes reminded me of "The Supernaturalists" by Eoin Colfer, with a hint of those young James Bond spy novels.
The main character has mainly been innovative in her reactions to the plot obstacles. Some plot points are too convenient.

:( Disappointed. It was full of cliches and the same thread plots that have been popular lately. I won't be reading the sequels, because there's been nothing new in the plot.

One thing for it, although it was horribly similar to both "Red Queen" by
Victoria Aveyard, and "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas - it wasn't as terribl written. Still, so many plot points, character archetypes and descriptions were the same

I really appreciated the introduction of this book, which revealed the author had researched and had a strong understanding of economics, gathering people as technology changes over time and the power we have when we pool our resources and determination. It added a whole deeper layer to this novel. The cartoon was cute, although still idealistic, despite exploring some real life scenarios.

Um. 2 and a half stars. It wasn't awful. This was written by a YouTube star. It may be perfect for his demographic audience? But the themes were very um, shallow. The main character is ostracised for no apparent reason, to make her an "every girl" perhaps? And spoilers - the 180 degree change in attitude by the bully at the end isn't at all...plausible, with the set up. So.... at least it went for wholesome?

I like it, it's very light reading, the issues involved. The art reminded me of Scott pilgrim. ✌️