Reviews

The Key by Mats Strandberg, Sara Bergmark Elfgren

watersapphire's review against another edition

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4.0

Labs nobeigums. Pirmā daļa šķita nedaudz neveikla un neoriģināla, savukārt otrā pārāk gara un nedaudz nevajadzīga, tad trešā bija tikusi vaļā no tā visa, un pēkšņi 700+ lpp nelikās par daudz.

Lai gan triloģija ir par raganām, maģiju un pasaules galu, tā nemaz neaizmirst to, ka dzīvē ir arī citas problēmas, un lieliski parāda dažādus jauniešus dažādās dzīves situācijās. Tēli šajās grāmatās ir tiešām lieliski un ticami, jebkuri viņu pieņemtie lēmumi saprotami arī tad, ja tie bija ne tie labākie. Tēlu, attiecību un reālās dzīves pieskaņas dēļ vien bija vērts izlasīt. Turklāt visas ikdienišķās problēmas ļoti labi savienojās kopā ar maģiskajām.

Beigas, manuprāt, bija lieliskas, tieši manā gaumē. Daudz neparadzemākas un oriģinālākas par pirmo grāmatu, ļotu jūtama atšķirība kvalitātē.

Kopumā šī triloģiija ir ļoti piemērota vieglai izklaidei, lasās ātri un, lai gan sākums liekas nedaudz neveikls, beigās sižets tomēr ir diezgan labi izstrādāts.

maria_lundin's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

joja1la's review against another edition

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4.0

spårade lite på slutet

magicineverybook's review against another edition

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5.0

This was such an excellent ending to a really well-done story!! I've been so absorbed in this world that all of my free time has gone to reading these books in the past week. The story is long, and sometimes slow in build-up, but the characters and their relationships are so well done. I highly recommend this series!!

mothwing's review against another edition

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4.0

Back in Engelsfors, the remaining Circle witches are still busy trying to stop the apocalypse. Can they trust the strange forces trying to protect them? What about the Council, can they be trusted after all when they offer help? It is engaging enough for me to keep reading so as to finish it in two sittings and is still as character-driven as the first two instalments.

This is a worthy conclusion to the trilogy with some gripes. We see the remaining witches in the circle grow up and into their powers, make tough decisions, struggle. Over the trilogy, I've grown very fond of them and I thought this was a good outcome for all of them.

The new characters never really grew on me, there were far too many of them, consequently I wasn't terribly upset or scared for them when they were in danger, which made some scenes have less impact than they normally would have.

The book's timeline, though perfectly linear for most parts, is a bit erratic and given to sudden jumps that didn't always feel necessary to me.
SpoilerThey made sense in the Ida chapters, which I felt was an excellent way of summarising events quickly and efficiently without losing anything. Especially that leap the characters took at the end - I see the point, they get to see what happens to the other witches fast, but other than that, I don't really see the merit of having them vanish for so long. Also, I didn't think anybody really talks about what would happen to their school finals now that they're back - I can see the merit of having one initiation rite replaced with another in this way, but I still would have liked a resolution of what happens to their school lives. I also felt it was unnecessarily cruel to put their parents through that again.


And another thing is how ineffective all usual authority figures are in this world. I did found that a little scary, given the premise of the book's ending. They certainly are really nobody to depend upon, are they? Those we see, that is - the parents often have their own troubles and are absent, the teachers are usually incompetent or demon-possessed and don't address bullying at all, the police force of Engelsfors, represented by Nicke, isn't effective,
Spoileras we see when Linnéa is almost killed, and neither is the justice system, if it takes teenage magic to convict those who did it.
not to mention the Council - I can hardly believe that any organisation who uses methods that cruel and who is largely absent from their member's lives normally would stick around that long. Their body count is rely too high.
SpoilerThat said, even though the adults wouldn't have magic, the thought that many of the teenage inhabitants would end up having magic is hardly better and would lead to a very grim future that the heroines don't deserve after saving the world.
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All in all this series still kept me up at night reading, which is very rare for me, and eager to see how the characters story ends.

sesshio's review against another edition

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5.0

So I will totally have a book hangover now after reading this.

malinhager's review against another edition

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4.0

Great! Not as good as book 2, a little bit of a wrapped together ending and a little inconclusive but otherwise a good and exciting read!

tomiitooo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

merri's review against another edition

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3.0

This series seems to be a solid 3 stars from me which might be more on the two and half side of three. If you like YA fantasy stuff you want to read this series but it wasn't really /that/ amazing. The Chosen ones (apart from maybe Rebecka and Elias, more Rebecka) were good characters, well written and you go to know them in depth. Anyone who wasn't A Protagonist (tm) was left out a bit. You could always tell who's the bad guy which isn't a good trait to be too see through. Like, I hated Sigrid and Walter from the word go and see how right I was. Struggles the Chosen ones went through, not only magical but normal teenage struggles as well were plausible. In this book the magic was too much and too weird, even for a book set in a magical world. The ending reminded me of the late series Replica where in the end the main girl, Amy, just showed the world she's a superhuman and became, well, a superhero. This was a bit the same, and I kinda lost my interest at the point where Evelina appeared to be a witch. I knew all along Rickard would be, but Evelina and ESPECIALLY Gustaf were pushing that boundary too far.
My favourite character throughout was Linnea and her and Elias' meeting again part broke my heart, as in a positive sense did her getting back together with Vanessa. I was happy it didn't go too well, but that this book had a good ending for a non-straight couple. I also wish all good to Felix whose love was brutally taken away from him and Anna-Karin who probably grew the most as a person during this series.

Now that I think of it it actually wasn't that bad. Many of the characters were good, you found it hard to put a book down and a lot of the magic stuff was interesting. In this book shit just got too far with the new "Circle" and Walter shit. Go away, Walter.

bookclover's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0