Review: Those Below

Those Below
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

For centuries humanity has served Those Above, god-like Eternals who rule from their cloud-capped mountain-city. 

They built a civilization of unimagined beauty and unchecked viciousness.

They thought themselves invincible.

They were wrong. 

The story that began in Those Above comes to an explosive conclusion in this unforgettable battle for the hearts and minds of the human race.

I really, really loved the first book, I thought it was original, and rich and intricate and had some fantastic characters and now we finally have the conclusion! I completely love the world of the book, it and it's history was richly described and had lots of intricacies to it. Not to mention that the world is that little bit different from other fantasy worlds! I loved diving back in to the world of the book again and seeing what was going to happen next after the ending of Those Above. It should probably be mentioned that you really need to have read Those Above before you read this! I'll try very hard not to spoil! 

Those Below throws us back in to the world of the book, but we're on the lower area of the Roost, the bird imagery/significance is back , hour of the Eagle, and so on, which fit nicely with the book and the setting, even though, as previously stated, birds kind of creep me out! The descriptions of the world and the settings are vivid and can paint some wonderful images in your mind as you read, I found it interesting to see how people moved between the rungs of the Roost as well! 

We catch up with all the characters from the last book, although Thistle has had a little name change, shall we say! Eudokia I actually really liked, I believe my exact words where "she's kind of a bitch but she's also intelligent and badass", she's definitely intelligent...cunning, whatever word you want to use and I liked catching up with her again in this book. The ending though, with her standing there "bearing witness to what she had caused" and the final few lines..I can't even. I just think she's a great character, regardless of what she has done. I was so wary of Calla in the last book, but I found her just as intriguing in this book! Like I said, Thistle had a name change and he was another character I wasn't too sure about in the first book so it was...interesting and kind of painful seeing him in this book! Bas is another of the characters I loved, I love his narrative and I STILL want to know more about him! Either way the characters continued to be excellently written, and I'd say more about them, like a lot more, but I'm trying REALLY hard not to spoil! So let's leave it at that! 

There's always something going on in these two books, and the plot is very complex. I mentioned when reviewing the first book that you need to concentrate and pay attention and not half ass it when you read this book to keep up with everything going on. As soon as I picked up the book again, I hadn't time to re-read the first book, so it took me a couple chapters to come to grips with everything again, I remembered most things but there where some things that I'd forgotten about and was like ...DOH. 

I couldn't put the first book down, this one however...I actually had to put down and read a cheesy romance book or two because this book is filled with darkness and at points it's just plain...bleak and depressing. Don't get me wrong, it's well written and everything, it's just....so many parts where painful to read, the author really doesn't pull his punches, but it makes it hard for you to read the book because at points, I'd have to take a break and I really didn't want to pick it up again, but I was determined to finish it because I'd enjoyed the first book so much! I wasn't really expecting this level of dark and depressing for the book, nor the amount of painful scenes to read. 

That's all I can really say without reaching in to spoilers! Don't get me wrong, the books are very good, it's just this one is kind of really, really grim!