Affinity for War (The Petralist) by Frank Morin

Affinity for War (The Petralist) Reviews

• 
  Ursula Visser

  Connor, Verena, Hamish and Jean venture into more adventures in which many old adversaries and friends return.
  When they reunite with their family, you know it cannot last.
  
  Conner still has a lot to learn, and he eagerly dives into it finding out he can do things that surprise even Kilian. Kilian now needs to share information he'd rather not.
  
  Then the war starts. Dougal is a fearsome adversary, but what happens next leaves them all speechless.
  There is a more powerfull force to reckon with.
  
  Love, friendship, learning, surprises, pain, fear, deaths and so much more... this story is a rollercoaster! And then there is Shona, who hasn't given up on Connor yet, but is he ready to go with her and leave Verena?
  
  I love the maps that come with the book, because you can follow the story even better, get a grip of the hugeness of the lands and the beautiful names.
  
  I am really looking forward to the next book!
• 
  Denae Christine

  DNF at 40%
  
  I could not get through it. I came back to this book again and again and again, trying and hoping it would get better. I absolutely loved the first three books! Why does this one drag so much?
  
  This book read like a polished 2nd draft. Like, the story felt hastily thrown together, and then someone went through and removed the typos. Um. What about story cohesion and refining the pacing?
  
  There's supposed to be a war going on. You'd think the characters would be in a hurry. They're supposedly trying to stop an invasion, but they stop to chat and explore and train and sort of mosy their way toward the two armies. Where's the tension, the urgency? What did all of that first 200 pages actually MATTER to their goals and plans? They tour, travel, experiment, and it wasn't made clear how it was important. Maybe the characters don't really care about the war or just don't know how to stop it. But then, as a reader, I want to see them trying to figure it out! Not wandering around and talking to people (on both sides) saying, "Yeah, we're here to stop the war." Really? How???
  
  Then, 17% into the book, Martys was snoring, Ilse was waiting and resting, and there was a sense of just lounging. Hmm. This doesn't feel like they are trying to stop a war.
  
  34% in, Connor is in a "comfortable chair in the third-floor library" and "catching up on events" with a visiting friend. Still not stopping the war. And the friends haven't felt like they learned much, either.
  
  Someone named died. People were sad for a day/page. Then they went back to normal and joking and eating and NOT STOPPING THE WAR. I thought this would kick the urgency up a notch. It didn't.
  
  One problem this story had that the other three also had was that there are WAY too many characters. They all have names, affinities, allegiances, personalities, ranks, and accents. Having a dozen (or two, since this is a book 4) characters to remember is fine. This book has to have over 30. I can't keep them all straight or which side they fight on. Besides, each nation calls petralists by different names, and that just increases the number of things readers are supposed to keep track of (not even to mention all the new powered flyers).
  
  I almost set this book down several times but kept telling myself, "It'll get better. You loved the first three." Nope. I'm not wasting any more time. This book is too big (688 pages) for me to force myself to read it, and I have too much to do and too much to read.
  
  Good quote: "That time she had tried to kill him hadn't been personal, and they had gotten over it." This was funny the first two times. I think it was included, about different people, 3 or 4 times already in the first 40% of the book. It wasn't funny anymore.
  
  I was extra frustrated because I was reading this book, not listening to it. So, I wasted even more time and couldn't even multi-task. I have extra high standards for books I have to sit and read rather than just listen to. This book didn't come close.
• 
  Jordan

  So I didn't remember as much about this series as I thought I did and it took me a while to get back into the swing of things. Still it was great to see some new stones, some new skills, a big reveal at the end a lot of good stuff in this book.
  
  I felt Connor kinda under-performed in this one and did a lot of foolish things when I feel he should have known better. Still on the plus side the builder seemed to get some good highlights in this one.
• 
  M

  Enjoying the series. Great fun read again.