Review: Archenemies

Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I AM SO FRUSTRATED RIGHT NOW.

Nova. Adrian.

GET IT TOGETHER MY DUDES.

I was legit expecting their respective secrets to be OUT by the end of book 1 and here I am, still having to deal with all this angst over secrets and feelings. Thank god for Ruby and Oscar. Also, okay, that couch scene and I WILL SAY NO MORE BECAUSE I AM NOT A SPOILER OKAY SORRY.

So. Wait. I think there's a plot, too. Lemme back it up.

The plot is a bit darker than the last one, and there are definitely a lot more ethical questions raised. I really appreciated all the angles that had to be considered with the introduction of Agent N and how Nova and Adrian are both kinda on the same page but in different corners. This whole series raises a lot of questions about society etc which I really enjoy exploring.

So not keen on how frustrating Nova is, though. She's constantly changing her mind but she never stops and actually thinks things through. Her attitude is very black and white and I'm just not seeing the growth from her that I'd like. Adrian is a little more woke, but he's too hormonal to actually care as much as he probably should.

Looks like I'm doing the whole, 'scattered thoughts' thing again for this review. Sorry guys.

I am a big fan of superheroes so I really enjoy whenever a new character with superpowers is introduced, especially since they're all kinda random. I still want more explosions and epic action scenes, though. I do feel like the superpowers aren't utilised nearly enough - the only one who actually seems to use his powers well is Adrian. (Side note: can we get more Turbo, please? Maybe even a spin-off?)

There are a lot of secrets and mysteries so I have lots of theories but two books in and it doesn't really feel like we're any closer to solving any of them. Book 3 is gonna have to be like 800+ pages just to account for all the BIG REVEALs. Magpie is super suss, and I'm pretty convinced she's actually Nova's sister who is secretly NOT DEAD but this is a random theory that has 0% solid foundation *shrugs*. I'm just over here making up my own secrets and theories to entertain me while Nova and Adrian continue to be the most obtuse superheroes on the planet. Honestly, how have neither of them stopped to put a few pieces together yet?

Once again it was a little bit slower to get into but it did become easier and more entertaining. It just kinda felt like there wasn't a real lot happening. I think it's actually more like, there's so many different parts that none are really, properly explored. It probably doesn't help that there's a thousand different characters.

Overall I probably liked the first one better, but this was still fun and gives me hope for some serious drama in the next (and hopefully final) book. Now we just have to wait for it.

View all my reviews