Eclipse the Skies

⭐️ ⭐️

Eclipse the Skies (Ignite the Stars, Book 2) by Maura Milan

The equivalent to a quality of life update. This is how the first book should've been written.

To be clear, Eclipse the Skies is better by mere fractions of a very narrow margin. Its improvements are what I would consider as “quality of life” improvements (usually seen in video games, these are changes made for a more streamlined and less frustrating experience without affecting the overall body of work). In this case:
- The story is more focused.
- The theme has a more consistent tone.
- The characters are more fleshed out.
- And the author cut down on the mif’s (although I wish it had been phased out completely, but hey, it’s a start 👍).

(Now true, these are all things that would normally consider a book to be an actual improvement. But in the context of a series, when we're talking about things that should've been done from the beginning, they become "quality of life" improvements. Fight me 👊.)

By far, the most annoying aspect of the book is the consistent boasting of Ia’s reputation. You’ll never go more than few pages without being reminded of her status as the Blood Wolf of the Skies, or the Sovereign of Dark Space. 😩 OMG, I get it already. Stop building up your main character and have her actually do something. When are we going to see this character be the badass that you claim her to be?

And going back to my review of Ignite the Stars, there’s still glaring problem that these characters just don’t make sense as teenagers. Both their dialogue and actions paint the picture of a more mature cast. More weathered. More jaded, if you would. You get use to it and everything’s good, then someone or something reminds you of their age, and the immersion is broken, and it just goes back to being absurd.

So, while the good outnumber the bad, why the 2 stars? Because the many small improvements are still overshadowed by the few enormous flaws.
And quite frankly, I’m just not enjoying the overall story. It’s generic, boring, predictable, nonsensical at times, and was a chore to get through. All in all, it’s just not for me 🤷‍♂️.

Albeit a negative review, I do want to give credit to the author for the improvements in her writing. Ignite the Stars was all over the place with countless problems. But this turned it on its head with a much more focused story, consistent tone, and nuanced characters. And I encourage her to continue writing and improving ✍️.