Leah Cypess

A young sorceress's entire life has been shaped to destroy the empire controlling her world. She could change history. But everything she thinks she knows is a lie. The sequel to the critically acclaimed Death Sworn will thrill fans of Leigh Bardugo and Robin LaFevers. At seventeen, Ileni lost her magical power and was exiled to the hidden caves of the assassins. She trained the assassins in magic—and fell in love with one of them. And she discovered her entire life had been built on a lie. After all of this, she wants to see the truth for herself. She infiltrates the Imperial Academy of Sorcery. She will see everything she despises about the corrupt empire—its thirst for power, merciless control, and careless violence. But she also finds something she never expected—friends, and a place to belong. Ileni no longer knows whose side she is on. Leah Cypess spins an intricate and beautiful conclusion to Death Sworn.

Death Marked

Kristen

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. That was the absolute worst ending to a series that I have ever read. There is still so much story to tell, so many loose ends to tie up... but I can't even be sure I'd read a sequel, if I'm being honest, because I am DONE with Ileni.

Ileni broke this series, and the worst part is I don't think that was the author's intention. I think the author was genuinely trying to make Ileni a relatable teenager... but teenagers can believe in something and stick to it. Ileni changed her mind every time she turned around. She made rules for others she refused to follow. She judged people for things she herself did. When faced with the truth, a horrible truth, she made the completely wrong choice because of ONE person's fate, despite saying at the beginning of the book that she refused to make a choice that impacted everyone because she loved one person. And then she goes and does it anyway! But it's okay, because it was a DIFFERENT person than she'd originally thought of when she said it, so that means she grew as a character, right? 

The problem is not that she had these flaws. The problem is that she never overcame these flaws in order to experience real growth. She is still just as flawed at the end of this book as she was at the beginning. Overcoming flaws is the most important way characters show growth.

Ileni experienced no growth in this story. Her actions were impulsive and her motives constantly changed. She couldn't make a decision. Half the time she wanted to go back to the assassins and accept their offer to help take down the Empire, the other half of the time she wanted to fight against the assassins, and that would've been fine for half the book, but she was like that up until the very last moment when she made an impulsive decision based on her emotions in that moment. She made so many impulsive decisions based on her emotions, which left me wondering why she even bothered to go on this "journey" to prove the Empire wrong or right to begin with. If she's going to ignore what she discovered because of her feelings, what was even the point?

And nothing was resolved. Everyone is, ultimately, going to keep doing their thing. 

The world-building was nonexistent. I thought, like many did, that her going out into the world would give us more insight to the world, but that didn't happen. 

And Karyn is the big bad? Or is that Sorin? Who was the freaking villain in this book!?! I can't even tell!

It was unorganized, poorly thought out, and the characters were poorly developed. Not a single character experienced any growth in this second book, except MAYBE one. Ileni started to grow in the first book, and she could have grown so much in this one, but her refusal to find a motive until she absolutely had to at the very last moment, guided only by her emotions, made any growth she may have experienced completely worthless. 

And the sad, sorry attempt at romance in this series could have been something awesome. But, just like everything else, it was handled exceptionally poorly and fell flat here. 

This book was not good. I cannot recommend this. It had so much potential, but it just couldn't quite reach it.

Death Marked

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