Thoughts of a nerdy feminist

I did go into this book with high expectations.  'The Sparrow' was a wonderful book.  I admit to being a little put off by the title of this one, but I tried not to hold that against it.  It still felt more preachy to me than its predecessor.  A part of this is because nearly every single character from earth is from the priesthood.  In 'The Sparrow' there was more of a combination, some atheists, even.  I felt like religion was being shoved down my throat when I didn't feel that way in 'The Sparrow.'

I felt that some of the events in 'The Sparrow' were retconned right away.  I felt that some of Emilio's emotional healing he'd experienced at the end of the previous book was erased at the beginning of this one.  And a character death was erased, and I couldn't help but think of Annie Wilkes yelling about a similar attempt to undo a death, "He didn't get out of the cockadoodie car!"

What I loved about this book was Supaari.  That character was given such amazing depth and humanity.  I loved him.  And, unfortunately, I was not happy with his resolution.  I was not happy with the way a few things went with Emilio, either.  And there was a particular scene I kept hoping for between two characters, that I felt was very important, that it NEEDED to happen in order for this to be a good story.  It did not happen.

This author is every bit as brutal as George R.R. Martin, except with foreshadowing so you're stuck knowing you can't even HOPE a character you like won't die.  So, I'm left feeling disappointed and drained.