WardenRed reviewed Fallen by Ada Hoffmann
None
3 stars
Is victory a lie?
I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy this book anywhere near as much as I loved The Outside. The vibes were great. The plot... I got totally lost on it.
At first, I was fascinated by the premise: life in the Chaos Zone after Yasira's bold action in the first book's finale? How the people there are saved, as in they're alive and they get to keep on surviving, but the gods and the angels continue to be the real danger, one that is much scarier than any of the Outside horrors? The struggle to keep up a peaceful resistance slowly morphing into the understanding that an open, forceful rebellion is the only way forward? I'm digging those themes. The way they were executed over the course of the book, though... I don't know, it's like all the plot threads were too slow-moving and too …
Is victory a lie?
I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy this book anywhere near as much as I loved The Outside. The vibes were great. The plot... I got totally lost on it.
At first, I was fascinated by the premise: life in the Chaos Zone after Yasira's bold action in the first book's finale? How the people there are saved, as in they're alive and they get to keep on surviving, but the gods and the angels continue to be the real danger, one that is much scarier than any of the Outside horrors? The struggle to keep up a peaceful resistance slowly morphing into the understanding that an open, forceful rebellion is the only way forward? I'm digging those themes. The way they were executed over the course of the book, though... I don't know, it's like all the plot threads were too slow-moving and too convoluted.
I did enjoy the parts that were focused closely on the characters, though. It was awesome to get to know Tiv. In the first book, she was just this important piece in Yasira's story (and for the most part, she was a missing piece, really). Here, we get some great POV chapters from her, and she proves to be this really good, kind person, who has ample room for others in her heart even as she keeps going through one crisis of faith into another. While I was reading the first book, I sometimes thought that Yasira maybe idealized her a little, but no, Tiv is that good, and she's also awesome.
By contrast, Akavi (the, um, fallen angel on the quest for vengeance) continues to be terrible, in a way that's fascinating to follow. I liked reading the chapters that delve into his/her thought process, as well as following the impact Akavi had on Elu, who loves him so much and hates what they're both doing. There was also Enga's arc that was rather fascinating at times, when it came to the emotions and the relationships between the three angels. In general, I liked all the character-driven parts, both in the angels' and the humans' storylines. But when it came to actual action and physics and plot points, I got bored every time. A lot of it was just so tedious.
I don't know yet if I'm going to pick up the last book of the trilogy or not. On one hand, I would love to hang out more with these characters. On the other hand, I'm so lost on the plot, I don't even know.
I guess I'll end with an obligatory mention of how wonderfully queernorm the setting remains and how sensitive the portrayal of mental illness is here. Those are big draws for me, always. But apparently not big enough to fully make up for the messy, awkward plotting.
