The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2)
Summary:
Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire. Three separate armies attack. As the siege tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Review:
This is a sequel that did not work particularly well for me. In “The Final Empire” I loved Vin, she was feisty and strong, kicked ass, and took names. But in this book, Vin became contradictory and frustrating. At first, she acted like Elend was needy while she equally had imposter syndrome, and then she was upset when he stepped up to take care of himself. The book had some pacing issues as well, there were both slow parts and then parts that if felt a lot happened in a very short period of time. This meant it took me a few starts to continue with the series.
All that being said, I really enjoyed the world-building and really wanted to know what was going to happen next. As such, I stuck through it and will definitely finish the series to see what happened. The end of the book was very similar to the first book in that the last third pulls all the different plot lines together and creates kind of sucks you back in. I’d recommend the series overall, but be prepared to muscle through a few moments.
Warning: Contains repeated violence
Rating: 3 stars!
Who should read it? Fantasy fans, but you’ll be totally lost without reading the first in the series.
Want to read the whole series?
The Eleventh Metal (Mistborn #0.5)
Secret History (Mistborn #3.5)
The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4)
Allomancer Jack and the Pits of Eltania (Mistborn #4.5)
Shadow of Self (Mistborn #5)
The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn #6)
The Lost Metal (Mistborn #7)