Terra Nova ~ Shane Arbuthnott (The Molly Stout Adventures #2)

★★★★★

I received this ARC from Orca Book Publishers via LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.

I have never cried reading a book so much; it has all the feels. I absolutely love it.

It's always worse before you start. So start.

The Writing and Worldbuilding

The writing had some of the pacing issues the first one had where it tended to run a little slow in the beginning, but, like Dominion, once it picked up, it was steady and intriguing throughout all the way to the end.

Shane is great at writing believable, wonderful character arcs and themes. He doesn't shove them into your face, he just gently prods you with them. I absolutely loved the themes in this: blame, shame, fear, anger, weariness, and above all, responsibility were major themes. Those are some of my favorite themes in any book, so it was truly great to read them in this. Besides that, it has themes of revolution, of equal rights and social liberty. This book is so relevant to today's society.

"Identifying who began something like this is like picking out the stone that began an avalanche. It began somewhere, true enough [...] but once it well and truly begins, we are all just stones moving together. One stone rolling down a mountain changes nothing unless others move with it."

The world expanded a lot and I really enjoyed learning more about and understanding the unique magic system and alternate history timeline Arbuthnott created. It was masterfully crafted and the visuals were fantastic.

The Characters

"You forget this from time to time, Molly, but you are not alone. I am here. Your family is here. [...] Not every responsibility is yours."

Molly: Molly struggles with her conscience, her desire to do what's right, and her fear that her efforts are only hurting people and spirits. She learns a lesson that was very personal to me, a lesson I've been struggling with all my life: that it is okay to take a break, that it is not quitting; that you are not responsible for the decisions of others, only your own actions are yours to judge, and that being a little selfish is not a bad thing, but being self-centered is. She is melancholy and depressed for a lot of the book, understandably so, but she learns to use her emotions to drive her to do what she knows she needs to do, instead of trying to fight them, trying to ignore her own sadness. Molly is most definitely one of my favorite characters of all time.

"So the good things you've accomplished, those you had help with. But the danger. The blame. Those belong to you alone?"

Da (man, I don't think he even has a name): Molly's father grows so much in this book. In Dominion, he was a bit of a stereotype, though still really interesting; but the book didn't really focus on him and so he didn't really have much room to show who he really was and to grow into a better person. Terra Nova gave him all the room, and he definitely used it. He became one of my favorite characters, a deeply complex man trying to protect his children but knowing that they might not need him anymore. Ultimately, he was selfless and strong.

"I did not survive this long by being fragile, and I have found other ways to get what I need."

Arkwright: As usual, Arkwright was super creepy, but he wasn't an Obvious Villain™. Rather, he was also deeply complex and flawed and frankly, frightening in his intensity and drive. His ideology was so interesting and I found him to be a very compelling villain.

Rory: As usual, Rory was a riot and I absolutely adore him. He was so funny and great, but he also grew a lot and I found a lot of depth in him. His sibling bond with Molly was palpable and even had understandable reasons. I love him.

Kiernan: He wasn't as fleshed out as the rest of the family, but he was still very consistent and well written. I cared about his character a lot.

"It is selfish, true, but there is nothing wrong with selfish thoughts. Sometimes they provide good counsel. But those thoughts must be tempered with more generous ones, lest we [...] forget that the world is filled with beings of equal significance to ourselves."

Theresa: She was a new addition, but she was fantastic, and I really liked her. She is smart, and motherly even, acting as a great mother figure and friend to Molly when she needed it most.

Ariel: She played less of an important role in this, but she did provide a lot of comfort and sage advice to Molly.

Brighid: She was expanded a lot more in this, and if there is another book (which I suspect there won't be, because everything was wrapped up rather nicely), I would like to have her character explored more.

Conclusion

I love Shane Arbuthnott's writing. I cried so much reading this, and I felt the story so deeply in my soul. This series has quickly become one of my all-time favorites, and I sincerely want him to write many more books, either in this world, or otherwise. I will read anything this man writes.