Steelstriker - Marie Lu | Book Review

Steelstriker (Book 2)

Marie Lu

Reviewed 12/7/2024

Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review (NO SPOILERS):

I enjoyed Steelstriker more than Skyhunter. This seems to be an unpopular opinion (other online reviews rate this book fairly low) but I thought it was very good! I quite enjoy political intrigue.

There is significantly less in terms of major action and the story doesn't follow an obvious path, but I didn't mind it much. I didn't like the building romance, but I just don't like reading romance.

I would have liked to see more of the Early Ones lore and General Caitoman, but overall the characters and relationships made this a very good sequel.

Scroll down for review with FULL SPOILERS

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Review (SPOILERS):

I absolutely loved Constantine's character and his tense relationship with Talin. He was very aware that she absolutely despised him, and was capable of killing him easily (and desperately wanted to). But she couldn't -- which left her struggling to find small ways to rebel from the inside, maintain her identity as the bond grew, and learn more about the rather sadistic Premier. He had some intriguing depth, expanded on with his fear of death and childhood flashbacks, almost hinting “you could feel sorry for him…” until you watch him torture Talin, and any hint of sympathy you may have considered towards these complex antagonists is immediately thrown out the window. 

The Chief Architect working with Caitoman was not a twist I expected, and I enjoyed how it raised the already building tension, culminating in the arena massacre, which demonstrated the lengths Constantine was willing to go to maintain his position and power. It was a little bit of a confusing escape, though, and I would have appreciated some more clarification on how Red rescued a falling Talin and managed to flee the arena. I personally would have liked more expansion on the Chief Architect & Caitoman’s relationship and plans; they were intriguing characters that would have benefitted from more “screen time”, so to speak.

I was somewhat surprised by Marie Lu’s decision to make Talin a Skyhunter too, and I expected slightly more reference to it considering how impactful the 6 months between the books must have been for Talin; but she only briefly acknowledges it in a conversation with Red, admitting that she previously did not understand the extent of what Red had gone through at the hands of the Federation..

Series Overall:

I really enjoyed this. In my opinion, the Skyhunter duology is better than the Young Elites and Legend series, which seem to be much more popular works of Marie Lu.