.JPG)
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Spellcaster #2
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: Mar 4, 2014
Nadia, Mateo, and Verlaine have saved Captive's Sound from the dark Sorceress Elizabeth...or so they thought. Despite their best efforts, a crack opened and a new, greater evil seeped through. With Mateo as her Steadfast, Nadia's magic is magnified and she is more powerful than ever. But there is still so much she doesn't know about the craft, leaving her open and vulnerable to a darker magic...which has begun to call Nadia's name.
I got this unsolicited, and I was a bit anxious going into it. I wasn't the biggest fan of Spellcaster, but I hadn't hated it, so I honestly didn't know how I'd feel about Steadfast (even if the cover was pretty!) Thankfully, I actually loved this one, though maybe not as much as I could've or wanted to.
The biggest problem I had with this story was the POV issue. We saw the story through the point of view of almost every single character that had some kind of role in the story. Sometimes they'd have a whole chapter, sometimes only five paragraphs, and it got really annoying really quickly. Not only was it confusing, but it took away part of the mystery and allure Steadfast could've had and I'm pretty sure I had the same problem with Spellcaster.
I'm not saying there weren't any twists--because God knows there were a ton, but there just weren't any sudden moments of doubt for our characters, any hesitation in trusting the characters. For example, Asa, a character who's quickly introduced and quickly revealed to be more than human, was always not-evil. Yeah, he worked for the "One Beneath" but it was evident that he would fall in love with a certain character, and predictable that he would sacrifice something for her. And we were told that he hated Elizabeth too, so we never doubted his motives.
But the read was still pretty awesome because even though the mystery was taken away, Elizabeth's point of view bits were absolutely sinister and made it pretty clear she was psycho and completely devoted to the devil. She was crazy and a perfect antagonist who sent shivers down my spine and was so deluded but so powerful--a pretty scary combination if I do say so myself.
Verlaine's situation was emphasized and it was absolutely heartbreaking to see how terrible and horrible it would be to be unloved, when, by all accounts, she should be. It made me love her and she started turning into a more major character than just the sidekick, something I definitely enjoyed seeing!
Steadfast was a pretty fantastic sequel, and better than the first one in my opinion, though I definitely had a few issues with it. It was a decent read though, and if you loved Spellcaster, you're guaranteed to love this one!
The biggest problem I had with this story was the POV issue. We saw the story through the point of view of almost every single character that had some kind of role in the story. Sometimes they'd have a whole chapter, sometimes only five paragraphs, and it got really annoying really quickly. Not only was it confusing, but it took away part of the mystery and allure Steadfast could've had and I'm pretty sure I had the same problem with Spellcaster.
I'm not saying there weren't any twists--because God knows there were a ton, but there just weren't any sudden moments of doubt for our characters, any hesitation in trusting the characters. For example, Asa, a character who's quickly introduced and quickly revealed to be more than human, was always not-evil. Yeah, he worked for the "One Beneath" but it was evident that he would fall in love with a certain character, and predictable that he would sacrifice something for her. And we were told that he hated Elizabeth too, so we never doubted his motives.
But the read was still pretty awesome because even though the mystery was taken away, Elizabeth's point of view bits were absolutely sinister and made it pretty clear she was psycho and completely devoted to the devil. She was crazy and a perfect antagonist who sent shivers down my spine and was so deluded but so powerful--a pretty scary combination if I do say so myself.
Verlaine's situation was emphasized and it was absolutely heartbreaking to see how terrible and horrible it would be to be unloved, when, by all accounts, she should be. It made me love her and she started turning into a more major character than just the sidekick, something I definitely enjoyed seeing!
Steadfast was a pretty fantastic sequel, and better than the first one in my opinion, though I definitely had a few issues with it. It was a decent read though, and if you loved Spellcaster, you're guaranteed to love this one!
The only Cluadia Gray book I've ever read is that weird Evernight (I don't remember if that's the title) but I can't even remember it. I would totally have an issue with the point of view switches though, like if you get everyone's opinion and perspective, it gets confusing and it must be hard to develop all of those characters correctly. Looks like I may skip this one, but fantastic review, Nikki! <33
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