GUYS LOL. I'm not used to being trusted with a secret, I didn't realize how hard it was for some of you guys to keep it secret. Arty told me about this months ago and I wanted to say something SO BAD. Especially when I was getting the cover updates.

Anyways now that you all know this who wants to do a reread with me! We can take it one book at a time and we don't have to start right away. I just want people to talk to about it. I think I'm probably the most excited about the first book, even though the other two are really good, because the character story, you know the one. I'm ready for it to tear my heart out. THAT SAID THOUGH, the big fight scene in book three? Hell yeah give it to me. I'm just excited, the TDS books were my first from Arty way back when and I know for some of you too and I just remember they were such a fun adventure and unexpectedly hitting me right in the feelings and I have a lot of fond memories. I wish I could remember who it was but I remember a couple of you nerds getting into like a multi paragraph debate about one of Kwin's theories LOL. And when some of you started finding easter eggs and everything. It was a good time!

You can ask my wife, I screamed a little lol. I was expecting SoaH to be completed, not an entire revamp of the series with new covers, and that it's already done. And then I come here and I see Kwin in the banner and I'm just feeling so damn excited. This is exactly what TDS needed imo. The characters needed to be on the cover. And my favorite is on TWO of them. Look at her! I forgot just how much I love this girl. I ordered the paperbacks just fyi so I might be a little late but I figured if I'm going back in I'm going to do it properly. So don't text me spoilers or I will kill you rofl.

But dude now you mention it. I know the scene in the library near the end is going to hurt so good all over again. I can't wait to see what the new version is like. I know the blog said it was everything short of a total rewrite so I'm curious HOW big the changes will be. If it's anything like the change in the covers then we're going to have a really good time.

This caught me completely by surprise too. Considering FF 2 just recently came out and FF 3 is about to, I wasn't sure what it was about. Arty has been a lot busier than I thought lol. I look forward to jumping back to the series, though. it was a lot of fun when I read it last. I won't be able to start until I get the paperbacks, the covers are so pretty I had to get physical copies. I'll catch up when I can.

I can't get over the covers, they're unreal. I love seeing Kwin, my precious demon child. And seeing her on the banner here! But also Elvia, hello? They're all so pretty, my mind is blown.

Ok everything past here is spoilers.

I've read up to the part where Alastor and Kwin spar before the tournament of blades and omg. It doesn't feel like a ton has changed, and it's been a while since I read the originals but this feels a lot more polished. There's a lot of extra description, and the "reveal" of Arc and Wing doing their combined creation is changed completely and I like it a lot better because it doesn't change the pov. But also, you guys omg. The new battle between Kwin and Alastor. Kwin got some upgrades in this edit. The way she travels around is new with the whole smoke thing, and now she's summoning blades from thin air with smoke and launching them like missiles? It makes the fight with Alastor so much more interesting. It feels like the action scenes and important dialogue scenes got the most attention, maybe you'll see what I mean. But the fight scene was the first one where I'm like ok, there were some bigger changes made in here. I'm coming up to more action and things are about to get rolling so I'm really excited.

I love the new Kwin so much. She did get a bit of a glowup. Her fight with Alastor was better than before. But speaking of, this reminded me that we never got to see the finals in the first book. I'm not crazy right? The whole fight with Oriphone is new? I don't remember it at all and it's really good. It was cute how she and Alastor are just good naturedly taunting each other the whole fight and I love her weapons! The chains that work like a hydra are sick.

Speaking of though, I'm at the festival of lights, and I feel like there are more hints about what's going on with Kwin, because there's this part where Kai says that everything is so colorful and beautiful or something, and she says quietly that it all looks gray to her. I don't think that was there before? But I've seen more hints of the depression she's dealing with and I'm reminded of the library scene and I don't know if I'm emotionally ready for it lol.

I FINISHED BOOK 1 so I'm gonna talk about it be warned lol. After reading GW and FF I forgot how short these were even though I think these new one are longer. But i have some THOUGHTS.

1) The way the nightmares worked and get defeated is different here and I think it works a lot better now, the explanation and everything, all that research paid off lol
2) Suddenly Arc and Wing with the emotional backstory huh?? And it actually makes complete sense and explains why the ngihtmare is a wolf?? I wasn't expecting to get a little emotional when reading about these two dorks
3) Holy shit the library scene with Kai and Kwin hits so much harder now. It's definitely all the important scenes that got the most love and this one was worth it. She gives this beautiful long speech about her depression and how even after her attempt all she wanted was to be seen and understood, and she just felt backed into a corner because even when she did the most extreme thing she could think of, she wasn't being listened to. And the confrontation that leads into Kai just giving her the talk she needs, and even she knows that because omg near the end of the book where she's like "I know i argued but I wanted you to convince me because I wanted someone to tell me everything would be ok" like LSKDJFH. This is what I was hoping for with a rework, like big changes like this. I wanna know what you guys think.
4) I liked the addition of the talk with Kawakami at the end where he explained his side of things where he's like yeah, I was a newly single dad, my wife just died, I was having trouble with the bills, my daughter is a literal genius who got accepted into university at 9, did I have to change jobs, did I have to move, how would she manage all her personal stuff as a kid, what are the legalities there, and oh yeah she's also saying she's really depressed. I like that a lot because it showed everything HE was going through and why he didn't have enough time and space for everything that was going on, but how in the end he realized he did fuck up and should have had different priorities. He did too much talking and not enough listening and he got it.
5) Adding this one after posting because I forgot lol. It was a little thing but Alastor said something about how Kwin's mind works faster than other people's and that's how she moves so fast it looks like she's teleporting, I hope we see more of that? Or get more of an explanation. I can't remember, I feel like maybe we knew this already but him saying that also felt new, idk. I want to know more about how her brain works.

We're off to a strong start my dudes. I don't know if there's any other moment in the series that matches the emotional hit of Kwin's arc of the first book but after seeing how big the edits were I'm fuckin STOKED to get into the next one but I'll wait for other people to catch up lol.

I finished tonight, once I hit a certain point I couldn't stop lol. All your points are good, #2 caught me off guard but it also is the perfect change. And yeah so 3 and 4... the conversation with Kawakami is great. Because they're both right and both wrong in this. On one hand you have this girl who is begging to be listened to and willing to do the unthinkable just to have that, and then you have her dad who's barely staying afloat and doing everything he can while knowing it's not enough. To me this was the big reminder that Kwin IS just a kid. She might be a genius but she's 10. She wasn't seeing the bigger picture, all she knew was that she was suffering and feeling like her dad wasn't listening to her. Which IS true. But he was trying so hard for her in his own way and she didn't see what kind of situation it was.

That is to say the library scene absolutely got me tearing up lol. That's the one I was waiting for and it got me just like I thought. When she's barely holding it together and talking about how she gave her dad so many chances because she's hurting and just desparately wanted him to see her, and at the end of that with Kai saying they weren't there when she needed them but they're there now, goddddd. That's a conversation that really benefited from the edit. The edit feels like it was filling in some gaps from the originals which is good, because there were gaps to fill.

I finished yesterday sorry I'm late. I'm with Jade, it felt so short! But I have my thoughts lol. The first one that sticks out funnily enough is Hercules casually dropping the huge twist to book 3. I think it was in another thread here but I was just very consciously thinking about it, but I forgot how blatant it was. And it's hilarious that NO ONE pays attention to it because they think he's just rambling like usual.

Ok so. I like the "new" A plot a lot better. Arc and Wing went from being comic relief to being two innocent kids who were just trying to do something sweet and messed up, their story was honestly so sweet, I didn't expect to come into this reread and find myself randomly crying about a dog? But ok lol. The lucid nightmare thing was a cool addition and made it more specific. So yeah! Then the B plot which tbh is most of what I think of whenever I think about this book. I don't know if I can say anything that wasn't already said. I think now that I'm older I sympathize a lot more with her dad, but I agree the scene where we get to see his side really helps too. Now that I'm finished it feels a lot more solid than it did before. But that library scene, gosh. Kwin's explanation of her depression is so much better.

Lindsay wrote:To me this was the big reminder that Kwin IS just a kid. She might be a genius but she's 10. She wasn't seeing the bigger picture, all she knew was that she was suffering and feeling like her dad wasn't listening to her. Which IS true. But he was trying so hard for her in his own way and she didn't see what kind of situation it was.

This was exactly the feeling I got right here! She's so introspective and smart in an academic way, but she's just hurting so much and feels so betrayed. All she sees is that she was depressed, her mom died and everything got worse, and when she finally decided to be brave and tell her dad, he didn't give her what she needed. And she kept trying to be brave, but it just got worse. She told Kai she hoped he'd never find out because she didn't want to be the depressed girl, and she went all this time feeling like she had no control, so she took it wherever she could get it. In this case it was literally deciding to die if it meant she could do it on her terms rather than go back to living where she couldn't.

Anyways I've had this feeling about other books too where it's like, I know there's a lot of other stuff going on but this one scene is the one that caught me. Her speech is so powerful and honestly it showed how much she trusted Kai already that she would open up like that, because opening up in the past just hurt her. Then at the end she says she wanted him to argue or however she said it, she was so full of hope that someone would tell her they were there and that it'd be ok, and Kai came through!

Oh actually that reminds me though, there were a couple times where Alastor was pulling some weird hours and going off and doing stuff irl that he never talked about, I feel like he was probably either trying to do something for Kwin or helping her dad or something. Even in book one she didn't open up to him the same way she did Kai and I think he knew he'd hit a brick wall if he tried to do what Kai did so he was trying other things, but I'm not sure.

Let me know if you started book two, don't leave me behind lol

You guys are fast. I'm finished with the first one now.

A lot of what I could say was said already so I'll just add that I think this was a really well-done relaunch. Almost everything about the core story was the same, and it's been a long time since I read the first one but this felt much more solid. There's more foreshadowing for Kwin, Arc, and Wing alike in their stories, and I remember enough to see that all the key scenes got extra attention, and for both stories, which is nice. Arc and Wing's reason for what they did and how it manifested was a great change. Then there's everything about Kwin's story and her dad, too. We got to see more of how hard he was trying, which was great.

The first time I read the series I remember thinking that it's a love letter to friendship and the power it has to pull us through dark times, and I get that even more with the new version. I do think this edited version evens things out between the two stories, if that makes sense. TDS was a book that showed off Arty's character writing skills, but the other story was lacking a little by comparison. So I think this did a good job of making them both work. The secondary story got strengthened too, but now it doesn't feel like the book was written around that with the main plot being given less consideration.

Rebekah wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 31, 2024 2:22 am

The first time I read the series I remember thinking that it's a love letter to friendship and the power it has to pull us through dark times, and I get that even more with the new version.

I think this is definitely true. Knowing what I/we know i think I'm biased lol but I see Kwin's whole arc being perfect for the time it was originally published. And honestly (even though only some people will get this) I think it was a good thing her arc didn't include anyone like bateras at all, it gave the story so much more room to focus on her and rebuilding her relationship with her dad who was also a genuinely kind guy.

I did start book two btw. I've got two things so far. The first is Carpenter, I forgot how much I liked him. The second thing though, I got to the part where they're all inspecting the bodies in the tombs of the other world, and even though it isn't explicitly stated, (BIG SPOILERS HERE) we know that the dead man they pull the map from is Kai's dad. I don't think he ever has this realization unless something changes later, but having read book three and knowing how his dad dies, Kai literally sees his dad's dead body and he has no idea. I just think, if he ever has that realization and puts two and two together, he's probably going to have nightmares, because that's dark. I want to say we only put that together after Kai's mom explains how his dad died, it's never stated there either, but with all the context clues it has to be him. What do we think about that? It's 100% him right?

One final thing, I'm noticing a lot more changes to the story of book 2. It's still the same story but a lot more has been changed and rewritten and I'm really digging it.

Lindsay wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 03, 2024 5:13 pm

Rebekah wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 31, 2024 2:22 am

The first time I read the series I remember thinking that it's a love letter to friendship and the power it has to pull us through dark times, and I get that even more with the new version.

And honestly (even though only some people will get this) I think it was a good thing her arc didn't include anyone like bateras at all

Dude LOL can you imagine though! I agree though. I think her story was great the way it was. It comes down to two people who love each other where one isn't feeling heard and the other doesn't know how to help and the depression turns it into something awful. It's better that way than having some other outside force you know?

About the guy though, I don't know if it's 100% on it being Kai's dad....? I think it's almost definitely him but I want to see the conversation with Kai and his mom in book 3. It's kind of funny though, I remember some of you going back after reading book three to find foreshadowing, and on one hand you have "hercules is a secret prodigy isn't this hilarious" and on the other hand you have "Kai takes a map from his dead father's corpse without ever knowing it's him" LOL. There are some things about these books that are a lot darker than they first seem and I say that with the whole character arc of the first book being about Kwin's suicide attempt.

I'm close to done with book 2 though. You're right this book feels a LOT different, still the same story but it was reorganized and cleaned up really good. I like that the mirror characters have better names and there's also a good explanation for why. I'm almost at the final battle and omg. When they're on the balcony and Abigail is basically giving her victory speech. Devnon seems like a guy who really does care about his world, he just has a warped way of wanting to manage it. But Abigail is just like "I don't give a shit about the world, I just want you guys to suffer." And.... I can't even fault her for being mad?? Not her actions, but her feelings. They exist in a weird hellish place against their will, they can't leave, they just appeared out of nowhere with someone else's memories, and everything just sucks. I really liked this: "You are the reason I exist here in this world, a person of my own made with another's memories, confined to an existence in a world doomed to die. I live and suffer here because of you."

I'm so mad I can't finish tonight lol I'm so close to the end but I have STUFF to do. Tomorrow!

Of the two, book two definitely had more changes. I think it was probably the one that needed it most. The rebellion ramps up more sensibly now, it helps that we saw murmurings of it before the finale. Maybe this is a more controversial take but I like that Devnon didn't die. What happened to him fit a lot better, and I really liked his conversation with Elvia and then David. I don't think anyone would argue that his concerns were flat out wrong, just that he wasn't responding to them in the right way. I think making Devnon more of a sympathetic "villain" and pushing the more villainous traits to his daughter actually worked really well. I wasn't expecting it but now that I'm done, it works better. Even then too, like Jade said, Abigail's anger comes from a place that makes sense too.

But it was satisfying to see Kwin finally get one up on her. Abigail almost had them all killed and Kwin hurt more than once, but in that moment I think Kwin knew she was so much more powerful than Abigail that it wasn't even a contest anymore.

I'm starting the third book. One thing I'll say is I didn't remember that the third book was shortest. I swear I remembered them getting longer with each book.

Ok guys sorry if anyone's still reading I jumped way ahead, I finished book 3 so if you aren't done then SPOILERS ok.

But DAMN, there was so much I loved about this. I know it's the shortest book but it really felt the shortest. I'll say this, the emotional beats don't hit quite as hard as book one but fuck if it didn't get me anyway. All the kids having to say goodbye to the world, their last night, the party and then the EPILOGUE. I almost wondered if the edit would change the ending but nope. And now I understand why Lindsay was hoping so much for SoaH LOL.

The edit was damn good here too, not as many changes as book two in most places but., the trials being split up so each character got their own chapter was good, I feel like they're all longer, and holy shit. Kai's got SO much darker. It was the same theme but fuuuck his mom was so much meaner. Kwin's was just *chef's kiss* beautiful, this is the only time we see things from her perspective in the whole series and I love the way it works. She's so analytical and smart , and this poor child and the way everything about her environment terrifies her but she's trying to keep calm so she isn't called crazy. Lindsay's was perfect as ever, I loved seeing that when it comes down to it she's also incredibly powerful, and I still think this ends up with Kai actually being the weakest of the whole group because goddamn Lindsay blew up the entire city with the power of Thor.

I was kind of surprised the fight with Semyaza wasn't changed toooooo much at least not that I remember, but if it ain't broke. It feels a little longer so maybe I'm not remembering something but it's smooth. Kwin's whole "you are now fighting for your life" is fucking hype. I don't know if this was the edit or because I knew how it ended but I feel like we saw more hints from Kai's mom that she knows about the Sanctum, and she knows that Kai knows, but isn't sure she can't say it outright. I do think also she 99.9% confirmed that the body Kai saw was his dad's though, she mentions that Devnon specifically said that he would burn them and then bury them along the shore as a warning and that's exactly where they found the body. Kai didn't know yet but I sure did, when he's trying to comfort his mom and says oh it's not hopeless, look at all the places we went, we even went to the other side of the world, and her reaction is like... you can see her PTSD skyrocket there, she isn't 100% sure her son is in the Sanctum but in the moment she confirms it it's the same moment she learns he almost died the same way her husband did. BUT THEN her having that moment where she realizes that for the first time in what, 15 years, she can finally go back to the Sanctum, it's so pure. And then of course Kwin's just ~iconic~ "I fall asleep and I see miracles" line. She's such a fucking good character. The others really got more attention in the edit and it evened them all out but without a doubt she is still my favorite.

I don't know if it's nostalgia or how much better the rewrite is or even the covers but goddamn man. I felt like I was in my early 20s again reading these for the first time. I'm in the target audience even less than I was before but it's still really fun. This was a great time. But also I need SoaH now LOL.

I finished. You were too fast lol. I'm sure I'll have more to say later but honestly you're right, this took me back. Book 2 was a lot of fun, Abigail was so much more intimidating and scary than she used to be, and also I feel like I know where the name came from. Book 3, dude... there's a lot to say, but I just love my girl Kwin. She's so fucking good. I don't think the fight with Semyaza changed a whole lot but the lead up to it was better than I remember, it made more sense. Kwin loves this world so much and she feels like it helped save her life, this newcomer shows up abusing her power but also not willing to work together, and Kwin is just like... I've been here through every crisis putting in the work, you just show up and expect us to bow down or something? But she keeps trying to work with her anyway, and then Semyaza kicks Alastor out of the Sanctum forever and that was just the last straw. She's had a few emotional moments in the series but this is the first one where she really snaps and loses her shit and it felt justified. I think what Kwin values most in a person is seeing how hard they try, do they walk the walk. She couldn't give less of a fuck who Semyaza is, the only thing that was important was results, and Semyaza just kept failing. So Kwin was like aight, you've been in my way this whole time, and now I'm going to remove you from it and keep going.

Then at the end where she confesses to Kai how important he is to her and how she realized she was coming back for her friends and not for the world... she's still my fave, probably out of all the books and series. I've had some others that come close but now with the rewrite, she's still definitely #1.

Actually hold up I almost forgot the most important part. Her trial chapter is maybe my favorite out of all chapters, apart from maybe the library scene in book 1. You are right it's the first and only time we see into her mind and it's GREAT. Part of it is hyper logical and her brain works so fast and it's almost like a computer but then there's the part of her that's just a little kid who's scared and trying to be normal because she's so scared by what happened to her. Getting to see everything from Kwin's mind was so good. I read it like three times through lol. That's my GIRL.

Anyways yeah maybe more later but I had to say I was done and scream about Kwin. Her glowup also makes me more excited for SoaH because I want to see what her future self does with all her new shadow powers.

I'm a slow reader, I just finished the first book so I skipped a lot of your posts. I couldn't remember if I read these before, if I did it was only the first one but I barely remembered it. I wasn't expecting how hard the book was going to hit me. I put together who Kwin was already but not why it happened, and when she and Kai talked I had to call it a night after that. I think it was 2018 or so when I had a major depressive breakdown. Stuff was going on with my mom, my brother who I'm close with was with her and I was with my dad and I had health issues and everything just felt like it was falling apart. It got bad. Reading this chapter was really hard. So I'm glad I saw the content warning up front. I can tell this part was written by someone with experience. Her explanation was so good. I can't write quotes because it's too long but one thing was when she said she liked the idea of life but felt it didn't belong to her anymore, the loneliness, and how it made her have the realization that the world just moves on and doesn't care. No one stops to ask if she's ok. The escapism too. For me it was movies and TV shows, anything that I didn't have to focus on my own life. For her it was the dream. It was hard to read. I didn't expect a book that looks like it's for middle or high schoolers to go so hard. When it finally revealed her secret it didn't hold back. I liked it but I had to stop for the night there.

I did finish though. I'm glad it ended the way it did. I wish I had read this during that time then. It doesn't hold back but I think that's a good thing especially because of the happy ending. I liked that it didn't tiptoe around the topic of suicide because it was taboo. I can see why you guys liked this so much. I'm going to get the other two soon and read on.