Synopsis:
Ninian is a young boy surviving on the streets after losing his family. Using his rage to navigate a world of gangs, he struggles to maintain his morality in seemingly impossible situations. Help comes from an unexpected source and entwines his life with that of a strange boy with crimson eyes. Finding the capacity to care about another changes everything.
My Thoughts: ARC copy
I definitely liked this book better than the first book in the series, The Hidden King. The story was tighter and the development of the relationships between the characters seemed less rushed and more natural. While there were again scenes missing that felt like missed opportunities, it was less of a problem in this book than the first.
Pros:
The protagonists in this book continue to be well-developed and likable. You want Ninian, the scrappy but tragic underdog to survive the streets and his life in his gang. You feel for both Aed and Ninian and the loss and abuse they have both suffered as children. Supporting characters in this book are also better developed and more naturally incorporated than the first book. Mael Maedoc, the misunderstood gentle giant shop-keeper, brings a grounding presence to an otherwise chaotic cast of gang members and street folk. His intervention in the lives of Ninian and Aed embeds fairly seamlessly in the narrative as the plot device that brings them together. The villains are also better developed and incorporated in the narrative. We understand the motivations of the gang leader and members. They are given more opportunity to interact and speak with the protagonist and play an active role in the development of events. The introduction of Morcant, who plays a role in The Hidden King as well, is also fairly logical.
The world-building of the Maze seems slightly less detailed than the descriptions offered in The Hidden King, but is still pretty strong. The poverty of the city and the different areas incorporated in the Maze are easy to imagine and provide a solid background for the events of the story. Radcliff provides enough descriptions to give the story a sense of place and mood, but not so much that it becomes a major aspect of the narrative.
Cons:
Much like the first book, there seems to be missing scenes. The end of the novel jumps forward in time and glosses over some scenes about the development of Ninian’s life that would be nice to experience as a reader. There is also a missed opportunity in developing the gang. The reader gets a sense of the hierarchy and the rules of being a member, but we see very little about the gang itself considering what a huge impact it has on Ninian’s life. Developing some of the relationships there and seeing a bit more of Ninian’s navigation of that lifestyle that was forced upon him would have added a bit of depth and substance that is missing.
Overall, this is another enjoyable YA read. There is a strange division of events between this book and The Hidden King. Some rearrangement and development of certain aspects, like life in the gang, would have made it feel a bit more natural. I would also much rather have read this book first to give more impact to the events in Book 1. Again, this book is probably a 3.5 burs, but I did enjoy the read, so it gets a 4 out of 5.
Want to give it a try? Find it on Amazon here!
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