elijahs_bookshelf's reviews
88 reviews

I'm surprised at how well the lower stakes of this book worked for me. It allowed me to simply have fun with the characters, which is what I needed to grow closer to them (especially Lila--I didn't care for her in the first book, but she was my favorite part of this one!). I enjoy reading about all the main characters (Alucard is another standout of the book) and now care about them a TON, which sets me up incredibly well to be worried about the final book in the trilogy...

This book reminds me why Joe Abercrombie is one of my all-time favorite authors: incredible, brutal character work is at the forefront, but the growing worldbuilding and active plot of this book also service the story quite well. I can't wait to finish reading the Age of Madness series!

I'm very grateful to Stelliform Press for sending me an advance review copy of this book for free and for the opportunity to leave my review of Another Life.

This story felt very fresh and sophisticated. Despite the relatively low word count, it certainly isn't a "quick and easy" read -- it's chock full of questions and ideas that I'm sure I'll be thinking about for months if not years to come. It does a great job of tackling dark questions of redeemability through respectful optimism and empathy for others and most importantly for ourselves.

We need more stories like this one.

This is one of my favorite reads of the year, for sure. I love Addie and Henry so much, as well as how Luc, narratively. The delivery definitely executes upon the premise, and I often think about this book even months later. Anyone who wants to read a book that gives them things to think about (legacy, memory, purpose) or characters with brutally honest struggles who are able to make the best of their lives regardless will likely love this story.

The premise of the book is super interesting, and the main character is overall a well-realized fulfillment of the amnesia trope. Nothing about the actual execution of the plot was particularly interesting to me, though -- I can recommend this to completionist Sanderson fans, and I can understand why there would be people who *do* love this book, but unlike most of Sanderson's books, I don't think this is one that I'll be itching to reread any time soon.

The hype around this book and cozy fantasy in general is well deserved. It's not a story that I think about every day or has impacted me in a deep way, but while I was reading it, I was having a good time. Which, I think, is all this book wanted or needs to pull of, and it did that very well.

Perhaps I've merely outgrown the series, but I didn't love this one. There are certainly some interesting concepts to the book, but it overall failed to capture my interest or emotional investment in the characters and situation of the plot. It felt like the coauthor was more interested in exploring and expanding the series' lore as a method of finding something new to tell a story about in the world than they were in providing a book that stands on its own merit.

I read this as part of a school book club, which was the perfect setting for enjoying the story. Anyone who wants to discuss a book with their friends as a buddy read or book club will find that this book gives a lot to think about when it comes to questions of humanity, spirituality, and the future.

This was a very nice conclusion to the series! Dan Wells continues to be one of my favorite authors as he demonstrates a strong control over story structure and character arcs.