Saturday, May 2, 2015

The Wondrous and The Wicked by Page Morgan: Review

Synopsis:

For fans of Lauren Kate's Fallen series comes the exciting conclusion to the trilogy that includes The Beautiful and the Cursed and The Lovely and the Lost. The Waverly sisters must save themselves before all is lost.

Since the Waverlys arrived in Paris, the streets have grown more fearsome by the day. As Ingrid learns to master her lectrux gift, she must watch Axia's power grow strong enough to extend beyond her Underneath hive. By all indications, the fallen angel's Harvest is near-and the timing couldn't be worse.

Targeted by vengeful gargoyles, Gabby has been exiled to London for her own protection. Meanwhile, the gargoyle castes are in disarray, divided between those who want Luc to lead them and those who resent him and his fondness for humans. The Alliance is crumbling from the inside as well, its members turning against one another, and possibly against the Waverlys, too.

Axia has promised that the world will burn. And now, unable to trust the Alliance, separated from Luc, Gabby, and her twin, Grayson, Ingrid is left to face the demon uprising alone.

***

"Vengeance is a flame that stays lit, Gabby, even if it's only the bluest of embers. One breath of air is all it takes.

The Wondrous and The Wicked exceeds my expectations, but not in the way you think. Sure, it's quite enjoyable in general. But by "exceeds my expectations", I didn't actually have a lot of them in the first place. If you read my previous reviews about The Beautiful and The Cursed and The Lovely and The Lost, you will understand my implications.Still, there's no denying that it's pretty good.

Axia is much bolder in this book. Of course, it's the final battle after all. But Axia is not scary in the brief appearances she made throughout the previous two books. In this book, she is quite an atrocious villain. You can imagine her being wicked and beautiful and evil at the same time, which is quite paradoxical. She has made a good bad guy in this book, and she's threatening. However, she's still a sort-of mild villain. Cunning, but nowhere as menacing as some others. She did add some fuel to the tension building up throughout the book, so she's okay.

Throughout the trilogy, there's a side plot of the Alliance being not as good and noble as it seems. And there are multiple warring factions. The battles between them are much more intense. I don't know whether that's because I skimmed through both The Beautiful and The Cursed and The Lovely and The Lost, or other factors. Either way, I find myself hating on Vincent, more so than I do on Axia. Axia is the big bad, but Vincent is like a pesky fly that can kill you and annoy you to death at the same time. He was quite well-written, and he could be a potential problem. Unfortunately, it seems like Vincent is no more problematic than, well, a fly. He could be a wild card, but he was not portrayed that way. I was a little disappointed. I guess I was opting for all-hell-breaks-loose while reading this book. 

These are no big deals, and I thoroughly enjoy other parts of the book except one. That part contains spoilers of this book. So if you are sensitive, please don't highlight the following paragraph with your pointers and read it.

In one of the final scenes, when Axia was defeated by the net, I was shocked that she was just trapped. Sure, she was shivering from the electrocution that Ingrid inflicted on her, and she was bound by the net filled with angel blood. And then... nothing. The plot immediately jumped to the aftermath. Was she dead? Still alive? Punished by Irindi or whoever else from the heaven? Remained trapped in that net for the rest of her life? No answer is given. It is all up to your imagination. That was kind of anticlimactic, especially when Ingrid faints at the end of the battle. Come on, loose ends might be interesting, but this is really unnecessary. 

Okay, other than that plot hole, I think this is quite a satisfying conclusion, despite the fact that I don't really like the first two books that much. One thing is certain though. The gargoyles are amazing, and I want more stories of these mythical creatures.

Rating: 7.5/10

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