So I finished book three of Blades of Light and Shadow 3 and here are my thoughts (This post got delayed bc it got long and I put it in my Google Docs with the intent to edit and complete it, and here we are like two weeks later).
I know a lot of people assumed the worst from the beginning, but I generally thought it was pretty good. It was no book 1, but I think I liked it better than book 2. Weirdly enough, I don't think this book did as much for the lore as book 2. It's strange because we definitely got a lot of information in this book. Maybe it's because it didn't feel like it was heavily changing anything as much as book 2. Nevertheless, I always like the expansion of the universe, and I think Blades as a whole does this better than a lot of Choices books.
The next thing is some reactions in the book struck me as kinda weird. And I specifically mean the Nifara scene where she was offering them power. Like I would've thought by then, their bond was pretty strong. I was kinda shocked that any of them doubted Aerin. Similarly, I was reaaally shocked that they doubted Tyril. Or maybe the reason for the doubt was the shocking thing to me. Like I'd get it if they thought the offer was that all of them stay safe and their friend was doing something misguided, but seizing power? Really?
I also want to talk about some of the decisions themselves. I think this part may just be subjective (I know the whole post is, but this particular part might be just me). It's something not only present in Blades but generally present in Choices as a whole. And I get it bc the whole point of an interactive story is to give the player the power to shape the story, but I think that there are some choices that the mc should not make. One of those choices was the decision to stay or go back. Like whyy would they thrust that on the mc. I know people don't like it when found families separate, but in this case I really thought everyone could go their own way. I wouldn’t mind choosing for those who were undecided, but it felt wrong choosing to go back when Mal really wanted to stay. But choosing to stay would also feel unfair because Mal is the only person who strongly wanted to stay. Also, I don’t know if mc’s choice on Mal’s mother or Bakshi affects their decisions, but I really didn’t think it was my place to make that choice. For the Ash Empress, I personally think it should have been Valax’s decision or a group vote.
I was particularly thankful for the scene where they let us choose to say we didn't want to be making choices. I really like that since book 2, they've been feeding crumbs about how their whole situation has been weighing them down.
Also, I did not care for Ittar. I’m so sorry guys, but we hardly even knew them and most of the time, they were being an opp. I didn’t feel bad when they died. I did feel bad after because Bakshi had grown on me and zir reaction actually hit me in the gut. Midys also kinda hit me with her reaction because, at that point in the story, she was already looking pitiful, so to know she lost her best friend sucked.
Finally, I’m glad Nifara got what was coming to her. I did not like her one bit. I didn’t even like the one line that insinuated she was at peace with her death. If it were up to me she would’ve got the Ozai treatment. They should’ve stripped her of her power since she loves it so much and maybe tossed her into hell. I’m sure her prisoners would’ve liked to have a chat with her.
Anyway, from here I don't really know what Choices books I'll cover next. I think I'll reread Immortal Desires and give my thoughts since it's book 3 is being released.
annaxmalina
discoholicmusic
ellievsbear
2087
prguitarman
jbbartram-illu
pixelskylines