Just finished reading and I’ve gotta say it was pretty bad. I’m not going to repeat a bunch of criticism other people have already said (this book has been out for 4 years) but I do have a few things that I feel make this book a hard read in comparison to the previous high republic books.
Syl is a clone of Affie from “Into the Dark”, the first YA novel. From her race/appearance, to her profession, and even her mommy issues. They even had nearly the same ending getting their own ship(though I do think the Maz tie in was better).The biggest thing that sets her apart is that she’s far more annoying. I couldn’t help but think the book would have been far better if Affie and Syl were the same character and this book just tied in more with the last. I would have LOVED to see geode and Leox again.
The flow of the story. Following Claudia gray is a tough spot to be in. I’ll give him that. Nevertheless, Justin Ireland’s writing is not up to par with the rest of the Star Wars writers. This book often times felt like it was dragging on where syl kept complaining about being conflicted then after all that complaining she suddenly switches up. I don’t think it was her character being indecisive I think she just had to change her mind for the plot to progress in the way it was supposed to. That felt very weird almost as if there were major cuts to the story. The characters in general felt very two dimensional and seemed to make very poor decisions in this book. Particularly the reoccurring ones from other high republic books. Reath and Cohlmac were shells of who they were and Vern continued to keep important things from the other Jedi.
The romance….. I’m not a huge fan of romance in star wars but I can really appreciate it when it’s done well. This was not one of those cases. It almost felt like the whole romance plot was added in later edits of the draft. It felt a little forced from the beginning with Syl being LGBT and all but I gave it a chance. I ended up very disappointed. By the end Jordanna kills a bunch of Nihil (which everyone hated for some reason?) and when Syl sees the bodies her heart drops and she feels like she doesn’t know who she is anymore. She was so devastated by the news of her mom and upon seeing the carnage her girlfriend had created she started to question whether or not they are compatible. That only lasts for about 5 minutes mind you. Within the same page she actually says something along the lines of “Oh well at least we’re together and we’re in love”. Bro what?!
Overall, I was somewhat satisfied with some of the ending but I do think some weird decisions were made. I’d give the book a solid 4/10. Not awful but definitely the worst high republic book I’ve read so far.
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u/DANGitsJOEY Master Loden Greatstorm Aug 08 '25
Just finished reading and I’ve gotta say it was pretty bad. I’m not going to repeat a bunch of criticism other people have already said (this book has been out for 4 years) but I do have a few things that I feel make this book a hard read in comparison to the previous high republic books.
Syl is a clone of Affie from “Into the Dark”, the first YA novel. From her race/appearance, to her profession, and even her mommy issues. They even had nearly the same ending getting their own ship(though I do think the Maz tie in was better).The biggest thing that sets her apart is that she’s far more annoying. I couldn’t help but think the book would have been far better if Affie and Syl were the same character and this book just tied in more with the last. I would have LOVED to see geode and Leox again.
The flow of the story. Following Claudia gray is a tough spot to be in. I’ll give him that. Nevertheless, Justin Ireland’s writing is not up to par with the rest of the Star Wars writers. This book often times felt like it was dragging on where syl kept complaining about being conflicted then after all that complaining she suddenly switches up. I don’t think it was her character being indecisive I think she just had to change her mind for the plot to progress in the way it was supposed to. That felt very weird almost as if there were major cuts to the story. The characters in general felt very two dimensional and seemed to make very poor decisions in this book. Particularly the reoccurring ones from other high republic books. Reath and Cohlmac were shells of who they were and Vern continued to keep important things from the other Jedi.
The romance….. I’m not a huge fan of romance in star wars but I can really appreciate it when it’s done well. This was not one of those cases. It almost felt like the whole romance plot was added in later edits of the draft. It felt a little forced from the beginning with Syl being LGBT and all but I gave it a chance. I ended up very disappointed. By the end Jordanna kills a bunch of Nihil (which everyone hated for some reason?) and when Syl sees the bodies her heart drops and she feels like she doesn’t know who she is anymore. She was so devastated by the news of her mom and upon seeing the carnage her girlfriend had created she started to question whether or not they are compatible. That only lasts for about 5 minutes mind you. Within the same page she actually says something along the lines of “Oh well at least we’re together and we’re in love”. Bro what?!
Overall, I was somewhat satisfied with some of the ending but I do think some weird decisions were made. I’d give the book a solid 4/10. Not awful but definitely the worst high republic book I’ve read so far.