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Loom Saga #3
The Rebels of Gold
A new rebellion rises from the still smoldering remnants of the five guilds of Loom to stand against Dragon tyranny. Meanwhile, on Nova, those same Dragons fight amongst themselves as age-old power struggles shift the political landscape in fateful and unexpected ways. Unlikely leaders vie for the opportunity to shape a new world order from the perfect clockwork designs of one temperamental engineer.
This final installment of USA Today bestselling author Elise Kova's Loom Saga, The Rebels of Gold will reveal the fate of Loom's brilliantly contrasting world and its beloved inhabitants.
This final installment of USA Today bestselling author Elise Kova's Loom Saga, The Rebels of Gold will reveal the fate of Loom's brilliantly contrasting world and its beloved inhabitants.
523 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2017
209 people are currently reading
4748 people want to read
About the author
Elise Kova
51 books16.5k followersJoin Elise's mailing list to never miss a giveaway, release, sale, and more: https://elisekova.com/subscribe/
ELISE KOVA is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys telling stories of fantasy worlds filled with magic and deep emotions. She lives in Florida and, when not writing, can be found playing video games, drawing, chatting with readers on social media, or daydreaming about her next story.
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ELISE KOVA is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys telling stories of fantasy worlds filled with magic and deep emotions. She lives in Florida and, when not writing, can be found playing video games, drawing, chatting with readers on social media, or daydreaming about her next story.
Say Hello!
INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 374 reviews
February 24, 2018
This batch of goodies weren't as good as the second books goodies and I got the same card I got from the first books goodies. But at least there are goodies =D
OMG! It was so good! I knew it would be!
I'm so happy with that ending!
I mean there were people that died from both sides. People I was happy to see die and not so happy but that's the way it goes.
I love, love, love, Arianna, Florence and Cvareh. There are more but those are the main ones. They are bad @ssed and just plain awesome! And the worlds are truly amazing and everything in them! I need these in graphic novels! OMG! Elise, contact your publisher!
I can't believe it is over! I really wish this was going to be a series but I'm perfectly happy with this trilogy. All three books were amaze balls. I would guess so since I have them all in hardback, kindle and two on Audible with the 3rd to follow soon =) I really loved this world and I'm going to miss it but I can re-read whenever I need to come back!
Happy Reading!
Mel ♥
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
AMAZON: REVIEW
OMG! It was so good! I knew it would be!
I'm so happy with that ending!
I mean there were people that died from both sides. People I was happy to see die and not so happy but that's the way it goes.
I love, love, love, Arianna, Florence and Cvareh. There are more but those are the main ones. They are bad @ssed and just plain awesome! And the worlds are truly amazing and everything in them! I need these in graphic novels! OMG! Elise, contact your publisher!
I can't believe it is over! I really wish this was going to be a series but I'm perfectly happy with this trilogy. All three books were amaze balls. I would guess so since I have them all in hardback, kindle and two on Audible with the 3rd to follow soon =) I really loved this world and I'm going to miss it but I can re-read whenever I need to come back!
With the moon watching, the Wraith and the Dragon stepped into the night together.
Happy Reading!
Mel ♥
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
AMAZON: REVIEW
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March 28, 2018Want to learn more about the world of Loom? Check out my website: http://elisekova.com/the-world-of-loom/
March 21, 2021
This might be my favorite book of the entire series. But truthfully, it is difficult to choose because I just adored this entire saga so much.
Characters, or more so my reactions to them throughout the book:
Ari: I love this girl she’s always trying to see the bigger picture and getting herself out of sticky situations.
Cverah: He's just doing the best he can. Poor guy lost his sister and had to assume a role he never wanted. Sidebar - The plan to announce that Finnyr defeated Petra, who the fuck in the Xin House actually believed that pathetic, disloyal Finnyr defeated a boss ass queen like Petra? Only fucking Morons. Also, I love that in times of turmoil and hardship Cverah thinks of two of the strongest people he’s ever known his big sis and the love of his life.
Florence: Is she really that well-known now?
Wow, I feel I must not have read her chapters in the previous book carefully enough lol
Yveun: If the damn dragon king listened to his wife he might’ve stood a chance but no he’s too prideful.
Coletta: Coletta is a fucking clever, cunning queen who plays her lesser husband like a fiddle. He was the muse, not the painter. She is the brains of the operation. I honestly wonder how they met/fell in love since her husband is so sex-driven and she has been shown to be utterly not.
Relationships:
Ari & Cverah
Dude he loves Ari so much it is so sweet. He is the best guy. Everyone needs to go out and find themselves a Cverah. It is so rare that the guy is the soft one in the relationship.
Ari & Florence
Glad they finally cleared up their relationship and put any unaddressed feelings to bed.
Yvuen & Coletta
He was the visible strength, while she was the invisible. She was not made for the limelight. They worked because they balanced each other out. But once that balance was thrown off they crashed and burned. I hated them both but I appreciated their dynamic. Their twisted marriage just worked somehow.
Verdict: One of my absolute favorite fantasy series, and, in my opinion, of of the most underrated. All the stars for you my love!
Characters, or more so my reactions to them throughout the book:
Ari: I love this girl she’s always trying to see the bigger picture and getting herself out of sticky situations.
Cverah: He's just doing the best he can. Poor guy lost his sister and had to assume a role he never wanted. Sidebar - The plan to announce that Finnyr defeated Petra, who the fuck in the Xin House actually believed that pathetic, disloyal Finnyr defeated a boss ass queen like Petra? Only fucking Morons. Also, I love that in times of turmoil and hardship Cverah thinks of two of the strongest people he’s ever known his big sis and the love of his life.
Florence: Is she really that well-known now?
Wow, I feel I must not have read her chapters in the previous book carefully enough lol
Yveun: If the damn dragon king listened to his wife he might’ve stood a chance but no he’s too prideful.
Coletta: Coletta is a fucking clever, cunning queen who plays her lesser husband like a fiddle. He was the muse, not the painter. She is the brains of the operation. I honestly wonder how they met/fell in love since her husband is so sex-driven and she has been shown to be utterly not.
Relationships:
Ari & Cverah
Dude he loves Ari so much it is so sweet. He is the best guy. Everyone needs to go out and find themselves a Cverah. It is so rare that the guy is the soft one in the relationship.
Ari & Florence
Glad they finally cleared up their relationship and put any unaddressed feelings to bed.
Yvuen & Coletta
He was the visible strength, while she was the invisible. She was not made for the limelight. They worked because they balanced each other out. But once that balance was thrown off they crashed and burned. I hated them both but I appreciated their dynamic. Their twisted marriage just worked somehow.
Verdict: One of my absolute favorite fantasy series, and, in my opinion, of of the most underrated. All the stars for you my love!
June 23, 2018
Can we get more books in this series with Ari and Cvareh pretty pretty plllleeeeeaaassee? With cherries and whipped cream on top?!
Spoilers:
Spoilers:
August 19, 2019
The Rebels of Gold is a great end to a great series.
March 29, 2018
This book ended up being a huge disappointment for me, and my hopes weren’t even that high to begin with.
The issues I have with this book (and what I remember of the other books as well) is that it needed more editing, on every level. From how the story progressed to the development of the characters, individual scenes, repeated ideas within paragraphs of each other, repeated words, and to an entire sentence lacking spaces. This book was a bit of a mess and read more like an early draft than a finished novel.
Without any particular order, the first thing that bothered me is the characters, specifically how they interacted with each other and their development. One of the better examples of my issue is with the new character we get in this book: Shannra. She’s introduced fairly early on, but we literally know nothing about her and we only ever see her in connection to Florence. When Flor isn’t with Shannra, Shannra doesn’t exist. She doesn’t add anything to the story on her own (nor does she have her own story) and she is literally only there as a prop for Flor and to be her girlfriend. I feel like if this had been written as a straight couple rather than a lesbian/queer couple, it would have been more noticeable the Shannra only existed to hold up Flor and be her cheerleader. While it’s nice to have two women being in love, Shannra wasn’t at all fleshed out and wouldn’t have been missed if she had been taken out of the story all together.
I also felt like the characters weren’t at all connected to each other. Yeah, I know Flor and Arianna specifically are moving apart, but even at the start of this book they acted like strangers with each other. It just didn’t feel like a natural progression for these characters who spent years together, but suddenly, after being apart for a few months, they don’t know each other at all anymore? Nor do they make any effort to get to know each other again? This just didn’t sit right with me. Also, Ari and Cvareh’s relationship doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. Every time they have a scene together, it’s stated that they have sex, Cvareh is in love with Ari, and that Ari is pulling away from Cvareh because she thinks they can’t be together. There just wasn’t any progression to their relationship throughout the entire novel and they honestly didn’t feel like they were a part of each other’s stories.
I also had a major issue with the sense of time not only in this book, but throughout the entire trilogy. Each scene happens rather quickly and seemingly immediately after each other (making it seem like everything is happening fairly quickly), but then once in a while the reader will be told weeks or months have passed since an event that happened 50 or less pages ago. The main action for this trilogy happens over the span of two years, yet it didn’t feel that way. I really wish a bit more of an effort was put into defining the timeline.
Another major issue is that a lot of the plot happens very conveniently (and I think this happens throughout the other two books as well). There’s very often this buildup of how difficult this one thing is and “oh gosh, how are they going to solve this problem in time?” stuff going on, but then everything is fixed SO quickly and conveniently.
Also, a minor spoiler, but it was present in the other books as well: The villains die so easily and quickly???? These villains are built up as these terrifyingly strong Dragons who no one is stronger than and no one can kill…but they all die so quickly and easily. It is so disappointing to have a character built up in such a way and then their death happens in a page and then doesn’t mean much afterward. To me, this is another indicator that the book needed another pass or two. This is not how good villains are written. And when I got to the end of the book I though “Finally a good fight scene,” but no. It was nothing special or any different than the other.
Overall, this book was a mess. It needed some serious rewrites in my opinion concerning certain plot points, the characters needed developed, even the copyediting/proofreading needed more work. And not to mention that, as it stands, I think the book could have been shorter. I just felt a little too long for me personally, especially since I had such a problem with all the build-ups and let-downs.
Also, I honestly think this entire series would have benefitted from the “traditional” way of publishing in that the author/publisher should have only released one book a year. The entire trilogy was released within the same year (due to, as I understand it, the author’s philosophy of not wanting her readers to wait years between the release of each book) and I think it really suffered as a result. More work needed to be done not only for the entire series, but this book in particular. Was this book still enjoyable despite its faults? To a degree, yes. Would I reread it? No.
I would also only recommend this book to those who have absolutely loved the previous books in the trilogy. And to anyone who is interested in reading these books, I would tell you to keep in mind that they are, unfortunately, not the most well-crafted. However, if that isn’t an issue for you, then you’ll probably enjoy them.
The issues I have with this book (and what I remember of the other books as well) is that it needed more editing, on every level. From how the story progressed to the development of the characters, individual scenes, repeated ideas within paragraphs of each other, repeated words, and to an entire sentence lacking spaces. This book was a bit of a mess and read more like an early draft than a finished novel.
Without any particular order, the first thing that bothered me is the characters, specifically how they interacted with each other and their development. One of the better examples of my issue is with the new character we get in this book: Shannra. She’s introduced fairly early on, but we literally know nothing about her and we only ever see her in connection to Florence. When Flor isn’t with Shannra, Shannra doesn’t exist. She doesn’t add anything to the story on her own (nor does she have her own story) and she is literally only there as a prop for Flor and to be her girlfriend. I feel like if this had been written as a straight couple rather than a lesbian/queer couple, it would have been more noticeable the Shannra only existed to hold up Flor and be her cheerleader. While it’s nice to have two women being in love, Shannra wasn’t at all fleshed out and wouldn’t have been missed if she had been taken out of the story all together.
I also felt like the characters weren’t at all connected to each other. Yeah, I know Flor and Arianna specifically are moving apart, but even at the start of this book they acted like strangers with each other. It just didn’t feel like a natural progression for these characters who spent years together, but suddenly, after being apart for a few months, they don’t know each other at all anymore? Nor do they make any effort to get to know each other again? This just didn’t sit right with me. Also, Ari and Cvareh’s relationship doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. Every time they have a scene together, it’s stated that they have sex, Cvareh is in love with Ari, and that Ari is pulling away from Cvareh because she thinks they can’t be together. There just wasn’t any progression to their relationship throughout the entire novel and they honestly didn’t feel like they were a part of each other’s stories.
I also had a major issue with the sense of time not only in this book, but throughout the entire trilogy. Each scene happens rather quickly and seemingly immediately after each other (making it seem like everything is happening fairly quickly), but then once in a while the reader will be told weeks or months have passed since an event that happened 50 or less pages ago. The main action for this trilogy happens over the span of two years, yet it didn’t feel that way. I really wish a bit more of an effort was put into defining the timeline.
Another major issue is that a lot of the plot happens very conveniently (and I think this happens throughout the other two books as well). There’s very often this buildup of how difficult this one thing is and “oh gosh, how are they going to solve this problem in time?” stuff going on, but then everything is fixed SO quickly and conveniently.
Also, a minor spoiler, but it was present in the other books as well: The villains die so easily and quickly???? These villains are built up as these terrifyingly strong Dragons who no one is stronger than and no one can kill…but they all die so quickly and easily. It is so disappointing to have a character built up in such a way and then their death happens in a page and then doesn’t mean much afterward. To me, this is another indicator that the book needed another pass or two. This is not how good villains are written. And when I got to the end of the book I though “Finally a good fight scene,” but no. It was nothing special or any different than the other.
Overall, this book was a mess. It needed some serious rewrites in my opinion concerning certain plot points, the characters needed developed, even the copyediting/proofreading needed more work. And not to mention that, as it stands, I think the book could have been shorter. I just felt a little too long for me personally, especially since I had such a problem with all the build-ups and let-downs.
Also, I honestly think this entire series would have benefitted from the “traditional” way of publishing in that the author/publisher should have only released one book a year. The entire trilogy was released within the same year (due to, as I understand it, the author’s philosophy of not wanting her readers to wait years between the release of each book) and I think it really suffered as a result. More work needed to be done not only for the entire series, but this book in particular. Was this book still enjoyable despite its faults? To a degree, yes. Would I reread it? No.
I would also only recommend this book to those who have absolutely loved the previous books in the trilogy. And to anyone who is interested in reading these books, I would tell you to keep in mind that they are, unfortunately, not the most well-crafted. However, if that isn’t an issue for you, then you’ll probably enjoy them.
Want to read
July 4, 20171.) The Alchemists of Loom ★★★★
2.) The Dragons of Nova ★★★★
2.) The Dragons of Nova ★★★★
September 5, 2019
4 Stars
Review:
I’m finding this review harder to write than the previous two because I liked all the same things! The dragons and their magic system were super interesting. The worlds (both Loom and Nova) were unique and so different from the type of society I live in and am used to reading about. The characters were intriguing. The plot continued along really well.
I also had the same dislike though, which was that I still didn’t love all the POVs. I just never really warmed up to Florence. I also found the book a bit slow at times.
But one thing I appreciated about this book in particular was how the author didn’t turn the brewing war/revolution/rebellion into just one giant battle scene that decided everything. Instead it was little things happening over time. Smaller attacks. Assassination attempts. Stealing resources. Shifting alliances. It felt very believable.
And since this was the final book, it gave us the ending. An ending that was kinda surprising, to me at least. An ending that gave just the right amount of closure without going overboard.
Overall, the dragons and the magic system and the world were interesting, the story was great, the whole series was unique, and I really liked it!
Recommended For:
Fans of Books 1 and 2 in Elise Kova's Loom Saga. Anyone who likes a different take on dragons, unique fantasy worlds, enemies-to-lovers romance, and stories of rebellion.
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
Review:
I’m finding this review harder to write than the previous two because I liked all the same things! The dragons and their magic system were super interesting. The worlds (both Loom and Nova) were unique and so different from the type of society I live in and am used to reading about. The characters were intriguing. The plot continued along really well.
I also had the same dislike though, which was that I still didn’t love all the POVs. I just never really warmed up to Florence. I also found the book a bit slow at times.
But one thing I appreciated about this book in particular was how the author didn’t turn the brewing war/revolution/rebellion into just one giant battle scene that decided everything. Instead it was little things happening over time. Smaller attacks. Assassination attempts. Stealing resources. Shifting alliances. It felt very believable.
And since this was the final book, it gave us the ending. An ending that was kinda surprising, to me at least. An ending that gave just the right amount of closure without going overboard.
Overall, the dragons and the magic system and the world were interesting, the story was great, the whole series was unique, and I really liked it!
Recommended For:
Fans of Books 1 and 2 in Elise Kova's Loom Saga. Anyone who likes a different take on dragons, unique fantasy worlds, enemies-to-lovers romance, and stories of rebellion.
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
May 17, 2024
De los 3 libros, creo que este es el mejor. Tanto es así que casi, casi, estuve dispuesta a ignorar el persistente problema de los personajes con potencial desaprovechado. casi.
Tras un mal aterrizaje, Arianna acaba siendo capturada por Louie, un tipo con el que antes hacía negocios… y quien desea la Philosopher’s Box. Él sabe que ella puede construirla, de hecho, y posee el incentivo perfecto con el cual obligarla a llegar a un acuerdo.
Afortunadamente, Arianna logra imponer sus propios términos; desafortunadamente, la traición es algo que existe…
De algún modo, Florence ha terminado siendo conocida como "la mujer que inspiró el primer Vicar Tribunal en años". Divertido.
De algún modo, Florence ha terminado a cargo de organizar una rebelión en toda regla. Complicado.
Eh, al menos tiene la seguridad de que su maestra la escuchará, prestará atención a sus opiniones y la ayudará sin dudarlo… ¿verdad?
La muerte de su Oji ha dejado a los miembros de House Xin enojados y ansiosos por vengarse porque no importa cuántos testigos digan que Petra murió en un duelo honorable, ellos simplemente saben que no fue así.
¿Y Cvareh? Cvareh se encuentra decidido a no permitir que su Casa se desmorone y caiga en el olvido; y si para conseguir ese objetivo deberá ignorar la profunda tristeza y la rabia que siente, apretar los dientes mientras espera la llegada del momento correcto para atacar y recibir al nuevo Oji —su hermano Finnyr— y evitar matarlo sangrientamente… lo hará.
Coletta Rok’Ryu siempre ha sido vista como recatada, frágil y delicada por todos en Nova… y eso está bien. Ella no es ninguna de esas cosas, por supuesto, pero tomará todas las ventajas que le ayuden a alcanzar sus metas. Y si, además, debe permitir que su rey se acueste con otra y continuar volviéndose inmune a distintos venenos para conseguirlas… bueno.
Tras un mal aterrizaje, Arianna acaba siendo capturada por Louie, un tipo con el que antes hacía negocios… y quien desea la Philosopher’s Box. Él sabe que ella puede construirla, de hecho, y posee el incentivo perfecto con el cual obligarla a llegar a un acuerdo.
Afortunadamente, Arianna logra imponer sus propios términos; desafortunadamente, la traición es algo que existe…
De algún modo, Florence ha terminado siendo conocida como "la mujer que inspiró el primer Vicar Tribunal en años". Divertido.
De algún modo, Florence ha terminado a cargo de organizar una rebelión en toda regla. Complicado.
Eh, al menos tiene la seguridad de que su maestra la escuchará, prestará atención a sus opiniones y la ayudará sin dudarlo… ¿verdad?
La muerte de su Oji ha dejado a los miembros de House Xin enojados y ansiosos por vengarse porque no importa cuántos testigos digan que Petra murió en un duelo honorable, ellos simplemente saben que no fue así.
¿Y Cvareh? Cvareh se encuentra decidido a no permitir que su Casa se desmorone y caiga en el olvido; y si para conseguir ese objetivo deberá ignorar la profunda tristeza y la rabia que siente, apretar los dientes mientras espera la llegada del momento correcto para atacar y recibir al nuevo Oji —su hermano Finnyr— y evitar matarlo sangrientamente… lo hará.
Coletta Rok’Ryu siempre ha sido vista como recatada, frágil y delicada por todos en Nova… y eso está bien. Ella no es ninguna de esas cosas, por supuesto, pero tomará todas las ventajas que le ayuden a alcanzar sus metas. Y si, además, debe permitir que su rey se acueste con otra y continuar volviéndose inmune a distintos venenos para conseguirlas… bueno.
December 20, 2017
4 for 3.75.
Review WIP
Dec 5, 2017 Updates:
Originally I was basically 100% going to go to the first signing on Dec 05, for it was within walking distance to where I live. Unfortunately, my finals week had always been the week after that event, with the fact that neither my swag nor my pre-ordered book arrived before the said event, it was impossible for me to enjoy the full duration of what the event was meant for. =/ For people who'd still gone, hope you had fun!
***
Nov 28, 2017 Updates:
Not that anyone is reading this, but the trading card swag was unlocked! Last time, Leona's card was up for grabs, so I un-greedily got an extra; my own card received from the previous swag was Cva's. If anyone has an extra Ari's or just for some reason doesn't want hers, throw it at me and I will readily embrace it (unless I got hers myself for this swag. We'll see.) If I have a 2nd Cva's, I'll happily trade it away (for Ari's,) if I got Flor's, I'll still be happy to trade it away. So yes, if it is still unclear, I'd really like Ari's card lmao. Thanks. <3
(... Just throwing it out there, if there's an anniversary edition, THEN maybe let it be Ari and Cva on the cover? lmao)
***
Sept 7, 2017 Updates:
Sighs... Whelp, can't say I didn't let my wish known. Not that I think the cover is ugly, I just really wanted Ari and Cva standing side by side!
***
What I initially wrote on Jul 15, 2017:
Can the book cover be THE power couple, as in featuring BOTH Arianna and Cvareh; and NOT, say Florence? Pretty please? I'm like actually sad that there's only one book left. Ari & Cva FTW. I can't get enough of them. I want them in the same picture (in Nick D. Grey's fabulous art style) so bad.
It's probably not going to happen; but hey, at least I shouted out my wish this early on? >:3
Review WIP
Dec 5, 2017 Updates:
Originally I was basically 100% going to go to the first signing on Dec 05, for it was within walking distance to where I live. Unfortunately, my finals week had always been the week after that event, with the fact that neither my swag nor my pre-ordered book arrived before the said event, it was impossible for me to enjoy the full duration of what the event was meant for. =/ For people who'd still gone, hope you had fun!
***
Nov 28, 2017 Updates:
Not that anyone is reading this, but the trading card swag was unlocked! Last time, Leona's card was up for grabs, so I un-greedily got an extra; my own card received from the previous swag was Cva's. If anyone has an extra Ari's or just for some reason doesn't want hers, throw it at me and I will readily embrace it (unless I got hers myself for this swag. We'll see.) If I have a 2nd Cva's, I'll happily trade it away (for Ari's,) if I got Flor's, I'll still be happy to trade it away. So yes, if it is still unclear, I'd really like Ari's card lmao. Thanks. <3
(... Just throwing it out there, if there's an anniversary edition, THEN maybe let it be Ari and Cva on the cover? lmao)
***
Sept 7, 2017 Updates:
Sighs... Whelp, can't say I didn't let my wish known. Not that I think the cover is ugly, I just really wanted Ari and Cva standing side by side!
***
What I initially wrote on Jul 15, 2017:
Can the book cover be THE power couple, as in featuring BOTH Arianna and Cvareh; and NOT, say Florence? Pretty please? I'm like actually sad that there's only one book left. Ari & Cva FTW. I can't get enough of them. I want them in the same picture (in Nick D. Grey's fabulous art style) so bad.
It's probably not going to happen; but hey, at least I shouted out my wish this early on? >:3
February 8, 2018
Satisfying ending to Elise Kova's steampunk trilogy. I enjoyed this book about the same amount as the previous two instalments. This series is constant in that way, which means that if you liked the first book, you're going to like all three of them, or the other way around. I stil 100% prefer Air Awakens series to this, even though Loom Saga is definitely written in a superior way in comparison to Kova's first series. It's just something about this world buidling and pacing and characters (even though I did like Arianna and Cvareh, and the world was definitely interesting) that makes me feel disconnected from it all. While Air Awakens series gave me several heart attacks. On the plus side, we finall got a major f/f ship in this final instalment!
All in all, an interesting mix of steampunk, fantasy and NA with bits and pieces of typical dystopian plotline.
All in all, an interesting mix of steampunk, fantasy and NA with bits and pieces of typical dystopian plotline.
June 25, 2018
Fuck this book. Motherfucker.
*dies*
i can't ... this book. i don't know how to feel about this. that ending?
September 4, 2019
I'm glad it ended the way it did. It was cute and the story got a good ending.
February 9, 2023
The Rebels of Gold was a great conclusion to the Loom Saga, a series that I think is vastly underrated.
I'm particularly sad to see this series end, and would love to see a spin-off series set on Loom or Nova. Elise Kova's fantasy world that she's built is so expansive, and has a lot to offer story-telling wise. One of my favorite things about this book was getting to know more about Loom, the ground-world, steampunk-esque society divided into five guilds.
I can't say what this book is about for fear of spoilers, but the plot picks up immediately after the explosive ending of The Dragons of Nova. All of our characters are dealing with the ramifications of the second book, and all-out war between Nova and Loom is inevitable. In The Rebels of Gold, we're shown the gritty details of rebellion, the strain it puts on both sides, and the internal conflicts that erupt due to infighting. It was all very fascinating.
While I appreciated Kova's realistic portrayal of conflict and rebellion in this book., I would've liked to have seen more action. We maybe get to see one or two battles tops. Not that I need to have action every second in my stories, but I expected a little more from this finale in that department. We're told that battles are happening or have happened, but we were rarely shown. That was frustrating.
Also, the amount of typos in this book is insane? Like I could pinpoint five different instances where I saw an obvious misuse of grammar or spelling. That's not necessarily a legitimate gripe, but I was still surprised.
However, there were some really great character moments in this book too. Kova really improved her development of some of the side characters in this book (I'd like a book about Cain, please and thank you), and there was a really sweet female/female romance in here that warmed my heart. And of course, there's Arianna and Cvareh...
I love these two. A LOT.
Cvareh grows so much in this book, and I'd like to say that I'm so proud of my son. And Ari? My Queen. She's my vengeful, snarky assassin girlfriend and I'd do anything for her. I loved seeing their relationship develop even more in this book, and the ending had me smiling like and idiot because these two.
But seriously, I value Ari and Cvareh's relationship a lot. They're equals, respect each other immensely, and never have to change who they are in order to be together. Sure, they both grow in different ways, but Cvareh never wears Ari down to become complicit or soft, and Ari doesn't demand that Cvareh change his temperament either. They both value their differences, and work at their relationship. It's healthy and so wonderful.
The villains in here are great too. Yveun is cool and all, but the real wizard behind the curtain in this tale of destruction and mayhem is Colletta. She scares the piss out of me. What a powerful, unconventional villain she is. Her arc in here is particularly great and nasty too.
I think one of the reasons The Dragons of Nova is my favorite book of the series is because of Nova. Dragon culture and politics is fascinating to me, and I would've liked to have seen a little more of it in this installment.
Honestly, the first half of this book, while entertaining, suffered from pacing issues. Like I said before, Kova chose to tell us about most of the action instead of showing us, and that made the build-up of the conflict meander a bit. But the second half really kicked it into gear. There's betrayals, twists, and some really awesome scenes in the finale that made my heart jump in my throat. That ENDING. It was great.
I think, out of all of the books in the Loom Saga, that The Rebels of Gold is my least favorite. I really liked it, and thought that it was a satisfying ending to this trilogy, but if Kova would've condensed the plot and made the pacing more consistent, I would've enjoyed the first half a lot more. As it stands though, I'm very satisfied with how this series ended, and the Loom Saga as a whole is so fantastic. I'm serious when I say that I need a spin off series.
If you haven't given these books a go, you absolutely need to. They're so underrated, and deserve a lot more love. I highly recommend them!
I'm particularly sad to see this series end, and would love to see a spin-off series set on Loom or Nova. Elise Kova's fantasy world that she's built is so expansive, and has a lot to offer story-telling wise. One of my favorite things about this book was getting to know more about Loom, the ground-world, steampunk-esque society divided into five guilds.
I can't say what this book is about for fear of spoilers, but the plot picks up immediately after the explosive ending of The Dragons of Nova. All of our characters are dealing with the ramifications of the second book, and all-out war between Nova and Loom is inevitable. In The Rebels of Gold, we're shown the gritty details of rebellion, the strain it puts on both sides, and the internal conflicts that erupt due to infighting. It was all very fascinating.
While I appreciated Kova's realistic portrayal of conflict and rebellion in this book., I would've liked to have seen more action. We maybe get to see one or two battles tops. Not that I need to have action every second in my stories, but I expected a little more from this finale in that department. We're told that battles are happening or have happened, but we were rarely shown. That was frustrating.
Also, the amount of typos in this book is insane? Like I could pinpoint five different instances where I saw an obvious misuse of grammar or spelling. That's not necessarily a legitimate gripe, but I was still surprised.
However, there were some really great character moments in this book too. Kova really improved her development of some of the side characters in this book (I'd like a book about Cain, please and thank you), and there was a really sweet female/female romance in here that warmed my heart. And of course, there's Arianna and Cvareh...
I love these two. A LOT.
Cvareh grows so much in this book, and I'd like to say that I'm so proud of my son. And Ari? My Queen. She's my vengeful, snarky assassin girlfriend and I'd do anything for her. I loved seeing their relationship develop even more in this book, and the ending had me smiling like and idiot because these two.
But seriously, I value Ari and Cvareh's relationship a lot. They're equals, respect each other immensely, and never have to change who they are in order to be together. Sure, they both grow in different ways, but Cvareh never wears Ari down to become complicit or soft, and Ari doesn't demand that Cvareh change his temperament either. They both value their differences, and work at their relationship. It's healthy and so wonderful.
The villains in here are great too. Yveun is cool and all, but the real wizard behind the curtain in this tale of destruction and mayhem is Colletta. She scares the piss out of me. What a powerful, unconventional villain she is. Her arc in here is particularly great and nasty too.
I think one of the reasons The Dragons of Nova is my favorite book of the series is because of Nova. Dragon culture and politics is fascinating to me, and I would've liked to have seen a little more of it in this installment.
Honestly, the first half of this book, while entertaining, suffered from pacing issues. Like I said before, Kova chose to tell us about most of the action instead of showing us, and that made the build-up of the conflict meander a bit. But the second half really kicked it into gear. There's betrayals, twists, and some really awesome scenes in the finale that made my heart jump in my throat. That ENDING. It was great.
I think, out of all of the books in the Loom Saga, that The Rebels of Gold is my least favorite. I really liked it, and thought that it was a satisfying ending to this trilogy, but if Kova would've condensed the plot and made the pacing more consistent, I would've enjoyed the first half a lot more. As it stands though, I'm very satisfied with how this series ended, and the Loom Saga as a whole is so fantastic. I'm serious when I say that I need a spin off series.
If you haven't given these books a go, you absolutely need to. They're so underrated, and deserve a lot more love. I highly recommend them!
August 29, 2018
This review MAY contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
This book is hard for me to review. I enjoyed reading this, but I was not as invested in the story as I was during the first two books of the series. I am not sure what put a damper on my fulfillment this time around. I really can't fathom it because the book was overall satisfying and I cannot pinpoint any specific thing that I necessarily disliked.
The world building in this book was equally as vivid as the previous two books. Kova really can paint the most beautiful and realistic picture with mere words. It is one of the things that really drew me into this series. The world is so imaginative. There are different layers to the world building. I love the caste system and the two different races. The idea of chimeras and how they are made is compelling and original. I really love the whole idea behind the premise of this world and this story.
The plot was engaging enough, but it felt mildly dull around the three-quarter mark. Things picked back up and the ending was solid.
I felt like this book focused too much on Florence. Her character growth was astronomical and I loved every moment of it, but I felt like Arianna and Cvareh didn't get enough character growth. This may the reason why I wasn't as thrilled with this book as I thought I would be. Cvareh had some character growth, though not as much as I would have liked. Arianna's character felt extremely dulled to me in this book where she was more vibrant in the previous books. This may have been by design and not by fault, but I would have liked to see more from Arianna in the end.
The romance wasn't as intense as it was in the previous book. It felt very mild. I did love Florence's character growth in terms of romance. It was wonderful. Arianna and Cvareh's romance wasn't as riveting.
Overall, this book had a wonderful plot, exciting world, and likable characters. I wouldn't say that I was disappointed because I enjoyed the story, but I just think that I was expecting more. I would very much recommend this series to fantasy lovers. This world is incredibly unique and worth reading about. Elise Kova is one of my favorite authors and I am eager to read more of her work.
More reviews on my blog: Novel Nerd Faction
This book is hard for me to review. I enjoyed reading this, but I was not as invested in the story as I was during the first two books of the series. I am not sure what put a damper on my fulfillment this time around. I really can't fathom it because the book was overall satisfying and I cannot pinpoint any specific thing that I necessarily disliked.
The world building in this book was equally as vivid as the previous two books. Kova really can paint the most beautiful and realistic picture with mere words. It is one of the things that really drew me into this series. The world is so imaginative. There are different layers to the world building. I love the caste system and the two different races. The idea of chimeras and how they are made is compelling and original. I really love the whole idea behind the premise of this world and this story.
The plot was engaging enough, but it felt mildly dull around the three-quarter mark. Things picked back up and the ending was solid.
I felt like this book focused too much on Florence. Her character growth was astronomical and I loved every moment of it, but I felt like Arianna and Cvareh didn't get enough character growth. This may the reason why I wasn't as thrilled with this book as I thought I would be. Cvareh had some character growth, though not as much as I would have liked. Arianna's character felt extremely dulled to me in this book where she was more vibrant in the previous books. This may have been by design and not by fault, but I would have liked to see more from Arianna in the end.
The romance wasn't as intense as it was in the previous book. It felt very mild. I did love Florence's character growth in terms of romance. It was wonderful. Arianna and Cvareh's romance wasn't as riveting.
Overall, this book had a wonderful plot, exciting world, and likable characters. I wouldn't say that I was disappointed because I enjoyed the story, but I just think that I was expecting more. I would very much recommend this series to fantasy lovers. This world is incredibly unique and worth reading about. Elise Kova is one of my favorite authors and I am eager to read more of her work.
More reviews on my blog: Novel Nerd Faction
January 28, 2019
Down on Loom the guilds may have been almost destroyed but those who remain haven't given up on their rebellion, in fact they're now even more determined to get their revenge. Ari and Florence are in the thick of things trying to create a new weapon that will be strong enough to defeat the dragons but they're battling a powerful enemy and they've already seen first hand the price of failure.
Meanwhile, back on Nova Cvareh is trying to hold his family together after the death of his sister, he never wanted to be their leader but now he doesn't have a choice. All he can really focus on is avenging his sister and bringing down the dragon king once and for all but that's going to mean working alongside what's left of the guild and most of the dragons are really unhappy about that. Working with Loom was never an option before but sometimes it really is a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Its always sad to read the last book in a series you've really enjoyed but I think Elise Kova did a great job of wrapping up the Loom Saga in The Rebels of Gold. She created such a wonderful and unique world here and I really have had fun exploring it and getting to know the characters. I've loved how diverse the series has been and that continues here adding in an f/f romance to all the wonderful things that have come before.
As usual the story is told from multiple points of view so we get to spend time with Ari, Cvareh and Florence which really works from a world building point of view. I have to admit I didn't like Florence as much in this book as I had in the previous two, she had a few moments to shine but for some reason I didn't feel as connected with her this time around. I did enjoy her romance but I think she just took a little too much of the page time and didn't leave quite enough room for Ari and Cvareh. As always I loved both of those two, I was sad we didn't get to see them spending more time together but the moments we did get were worth waiting for.
Overall I thought the Loom Saga was a really enjoyable series and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from Elise Kova in the future.
Meanwhile, back on Nova Cvareh is trying to hold his family together after the death of his sister, he never wanted to be their leader but now he doesn't have a choice. All he can really focus on is avenging his sister and bringing down the dragon king once and for all but that's going to mean working alongside what's left of the guild and most of the dragons are really unhappy about that. Working with Loom was never an option before but sometimes it really is a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Its always sad to read the last book in a series you've really enjoyed but I think Elise Kova did a great job of wrapping up the Loom Saga in The Rebels of Gold. She created such a wonderful and unique world here and I really have had fun exploring it and getting to know the characters. I've loved how diverse the series has been and that continues here adding in an f/f romance to all the wonderful things that have come before.
As usual the story is told from multiple points of view so we get to spend time with Ari, Cvareh and Florence which really works from a world building point of view. I have to admit I didn't like Florence as much in this book as I had in the previous two, she had a few moments to shine but for some reason I didn't feel as connected with her this time around. I did enjoy her romance but I think she just took a little too much of the page time and didn't leave quite enough room for Ari and Cvareh. As always I loved both of those two, I was sad we didn't get to see them spending more time together but the moments we did get were worth waiting for.
Overall I thought the Loom Saga was a really enjoyable series and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from Elise Kova in the future.
December 7, 2017
So...I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but I went in with really high expectations, because this is Elise Kova of course. Needless to say, I think a lot of them were met. However, this is the first time I'm giving one of her books four stars instead of five.
I love the characters. I love Arianna, even more than Vhalla. This ended in such a way though that I didn't feel completely satisfied. There was so much build up and it was very drawn out, but then it ended so quickly. There was a couple things in particular that irked me at the in regards to Ari and Cvareh, or more her treatment of him. I'm not into spoilers though, so I won't go into that.
Overall this was a really good series, but I think I felt a bit let down with how everything turned out with Arianna, and how her relationship with everyone progressed. Not to mention Florence. I understand why she had so many sections, but a lot of them didn't feel neccessary. I like her as a character, but her perspective wasn't nearly as interesting in comparison to the others.
Lastly, I want to end this on a good note. Things I really love in a high-fantasy outside of the romance were mostly there. Kova built a breathtaking magic system, her writing was flawless as always, and I've yet to find many authors that can build worlds so unique. For readers that aren't big on romance, this is probably a great fantasy read. It has lots of interesting compartments. For readers that were hoping for more in the romance department to go with the fantasy...you might feel similarly to me when it's all said and done.
I love the characters. I love Arianna, even more than Vhalla. This ended in such a way though that I didn't feel completely satisfied. There was so much build up and it was very drawn out, but then it ended so quickly. There was a couple things in particular that irked me at the in regards to Ari and Cvareh, or more her treatment of him. I'm not into spoilers though, so I won't go into that.
Overall this was a really good series, but I think I felt a bit let down with how everything turned out with Arianna, and how her relationship with everyone progressed. Not to mention Florence. I understand why she had so many sections, but a lot of them didn't feel neccessary. I like her as a character, but her perspective wasn't nearly as interesting in comparison to the others.
Lastly, I want to end this on a good note. Things I really love in a high-fantasy outside of the romance were mostly there. Kova built a breathtaking magic system, her writing was flawless as always, and I've yet to find many authors that can build worlds so unique. For readers that aren't big on romance, this is probably a great fantasy read. It has lots of interesting compartments. For readers that were hoping for more in the romance department to go with the fantasy...you might feel similarly to me when it's all said and done.
December 9, 2020
I couldn’t be happier with this series. I love Cvareh soooo much it hurts 😂 I didn’t care for Florence as much as I did in the first two books. She got a little overbearing in my opinion. Arianna is badass. That is all. I don’t know what I was expecting Cvareh and Ari’s ending to be but it wasn’t that. I’m SO happy they are FINALLY together though. Ari was killing me with how many times she held back from him and good lord! Is that hard to tell the poor guy you love him? 🙄😂 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 8, 2024
covers were beautiful but the story could have been better.
the world building and lore was a bit confusing to me
and overall everything felt a bit bland, despite the intriguing steampunkish setting
thats the second series I've read from Elisa Kova and I don't think I'm motivated to read anything else from her
the world building and lore was a bit confusing to me
and overall everything felt a bit bland, despite the intriguing steampunkish setting
thats the second series I've read from Elisa Kova and I don't think I'm motivated to read anything else from her
August 10, 2019
the second book was so strong and then this one just didnt hold my attention :( i thought Flo's storyline really fell flat for me especially the romance that took place completely off screen. give me the same level of angst that Cvareh + Arianna have. AGH.
February 5, 2018
This was a very nice ending. Some characters stand out more than other and I really like the politic plot.
June 22, 2025
Rebels of Gold is the train wreck ending to the Loom Saga. This book just feels like a lot of gaslighting from Arianna. From the start, she keeps acting as if she had a tough time and accomplished a lot on Nova, but I was there! You can't gaslight me! Helen is one hundred thousand percent right when she says Ari was on vacation there. (spoilers ahead)
And yet here we're treated to a never-ending barrage of this:
“How could Arianna think she needed to have the strength to vanquish their foe when she was already the lynchpin holding the entire fate of Loom in place? The woman who wanted nothing more than to sit locked away in a workshop had saved them time and again.”
Had she, though??
She's such an infuriating character at this point. Only there to make cryptic remarks and act like she's just so above everyone else, while at the same time being a centrist Mary Sue. She's the most genius to ever genius inventor and the strongest Chimera, but she has no stake in the fate of the world or her fellow Fenthri whatsoever and just wants to live alone in her little workshop.
The one thing she was supposed to accomplish on Nova is also promptly glossed over, and she withholds the information she has for NO REASON.
“Arianna folded her arms over her chest as a physical reminder to keep things close. She wasn’t ready to expose her whisper link with Cvareh yet. Not until she had to. Purely because it was an advantage, and those were best kept as secret as possible for as long as possible. There were no other concerns, Arianna assured herself. She’d see if Louie could do it first, and then step in as necessary.”
Ah yes, let's leave it up to the guy who doesn't care about anything other than profit. Arianna knows this, and very surprisingly (not), he betrays them later.
“Sort of, I suppose . . . Willard found me at seven, and we left due to differences in ideology when I was about ten.”
And what would those be? What ideology even? This book is so devoid of any meaningful commentary on any of its themes that it just can't help but fall flat as a revolution story. The ending is still somewhat satisfying, but the way there is not. It also never really unpacks the whole dragon organ harvesting thing, which is a bit uncomfortable in the previous books already but even more so in this one. It doesn't actually matter, though. All that matters is that Arianna can become even stronger and "gaslight gatekeep girlboss" her way through everything.
The one saving grace here is Florence's storyline. She's an actually likable character with her own moral compass and beliefs, and we see her sort of coming of age story throughout the trilogy. I love that she got her own sapphic romance subplot with a new side character, though I wish her relationship with Arianna had remained familial only. I also still enjoyed Coletta's scheming.
And yet here we're treated to a never-ending barrage of this:
“How could Arianna think she needed to have the strength to vanquish their foe when she was already the lynchpin holding the entire fate of Loom in place? The woman who wanted nothing more than to sit locked away in a workshop had saved them time and again.”
Had she, though??
She's such an infuriating character at this point. Only there to make cryptic remarks and act like she's just so above everyone else, while at the same time being a centrist Mary Sue. She's the most genius to ever genius inventor and the strongest Chimera, but she has no stake in the fate of the world or her fellow Fenthri whatsoever and just wants to live alone in her little workshop.
The one thing she was supposed to accomplish on Nova is also promptly glossed over, and she withholds the information she has for NO REASON.
“Arianna folded her arms over her chest as a physical reminder to keep things close. She wasn’t ready to expose her whisper link with Cvareh yet. Not until she had to. Purely because it was an advantage, and those were best kept as secret as possible for as long as possible. There were no other concerns, Arianna assured herself. She’d see if Louie could do it first, and then step in as necessary.”
Ah yes, let's leave it up to the guy who doesn't care about anything other than profit. Arianna knows this, and very surprisingly (not), he betrays them later.
“Sort of, I suppose . . . Willard found me at seven, and we left due to differences in ideology when I was about ten.”
And what would those be? What ideology even? This book is so devoid of any meaningful commentary on any of its themes that it just can't help but fall flat as a revolution story. The ending is still somewhat satisfying, but the way there is not. It also never really unpacks the whole dragon organ harvesting thing, which is a bit uncomfortable in the previous books already but even more so in this one. It doesn't actually matter, though. All that matters is that Arianna can become even stronger and "gaslight gatekeep girlboss" her way through everything.
The one saving grace here is Florence's storyline. She's an actually likable character with her own moral compass and beliefs, and we see her sort of coming of age story throughout the trilogy. I love that she got her own sapphic romance subplot with a new side character, though I wish her relationship with Arianna had remained familial only. I also still enjoyed Coletta's scheming.
October 30, 2021
2.5/5.0
Nope. After all is said and done, Arianna didn’t change a bit even in this last book of the trilogy. I actually ended up hating her! It was actually painful to watch Cvareh give her ever single thing she demanded from his very organs, to his life only to have her take what he offered and walk away again and again and again. RIght up until the very last page. She left and it was him who AGAIN gives up everything. HATED IT!!! It is only because the story is so well-crafted in other ways that this one didn’t rate any lower.
Nope. After all is said and done, Arianna didn’t change a bit even in this last book of the trilogy. I actually ended up hating her! It was actually painful to watch Cvareh give her ever single thing she demanded from his very organs, to his life only to have her take what he offered and walk away again and again and again. RIght up until the very last page. She left and it was him who AGAIN gives up everything. HATED IT!!! It is only because the story is so well-crafted in other ways that this one didn’t rate any lower.
Read
June 12, 2023punch me in the face I need to feel alive.
because I’m ded! 😵
explain to me again, why is this series over?
‘cause I’m sure as hell am not done with it.
because I’m ded! 😵
explain to me again, why is this series over?
‘cause I’m sure as hell am not done with it.
December 24, 2019
Out of all three books I would say this is my least favorite but it was still satisfying. I just personally didn't like how the story itself and how it progressed. It just felt, i don't know off. I think my biggest issue with this book is that yes we follow the three main characters of Ari, Cvareh, and Flo but in each book there were new POVs some that make big appearances throughout and some that fell to the way side, if any of that makes sense. I don't want to say to much for spoiler reasons.
The politics of the world and the world itself were the definite highlights for me. Learning about the culture on Nova and Loom was fascinating. Seeing how even though times are rough, if you really put your mind to something you can enact change. Bringing people together to have a common goal and not just see the world as black and white is really a nice outlook to have. The loom Saga portrayed that incredibly well.
I did enjoy the characters but none of them left lasting impressions on me like Leona and Petra and sadly those two were not present in this novel. Did I enjoy there stories and where they ended up yes, will I probably forget them later on most likely. I also feel like this book suffered from being to long with not a lot really going on.
All in all this series was enjoyable but it did have it's bumps in the road that prevented me from fully enjoying the full experience which is sad but not every book can strike gold.
The Alchemists of Loom-4/5
The Dragons of Nova-4/5
The Rebels of Gold-3/5
Loom Saga-11/15
The politics of the world and the world itself were the definite highlights for me. Learning about the culture on Nova and Loom was fascinating. Seeing how even though times are rough, if you really put your mind to something you can enact change. Bringing people together to have a common goal and not just see the world as black and white is really a nice outlook to have. The loom Saga portrayed that incredibly well.
I did enjoy the characters but none of them left lasting impressions on me like Leona and Petra and sadly those two were not present in this novel. Did I enjoy there stories and where they ended up yes, will I probably forget them later on most likely. I also feel like this book suffered from being to long with not a lot really going on.
All in all this series was enjoyable but it did have it's bumps in the road that prevented me from fully enjoying the full experience which is sad but not every book can strike gold.
The Alchemists of Loom-4/5
The Dragons of Nova-4/5
The Rebels of Gold-3/5
Loom Saga-11/15
March 3, 2022
3.5/5 stars.
I liled this ending tho i feel like there was so much plot in so little pages that we lost the nice character moments from the first two books. The bad guys were all taken out really easily compared to all of the struggles in the serie previously which seemed jarring.
I still love Arianna and Cvareh tho the communication between the two of them was nooot the best. Florence was wayy less enjoyable than in the first two books which made me sad..
All in all i did really enjoy this serie and its worth trying out even only for the really interesting and original world and concepts !! Id give this serie 4/5 stars overall.
I liled this ending tho i feel like there was so much plot in so little pages that we lost the nice character moments from the first two books. The bad guys were all taken out really easily compared to all of the struggles in the serie previously which seemed jarring.
I still love Arianna and Cvareh tho the communication between the two of them was nooot the best. Florence was wayy less enjoyable than in the first two books which made me sad..
All in all i did really enjoy this serie and its worth trying out even only for the really interesting and original world and concepts !! Id give this serie 4/5 stars overall.
January 22, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezVRq...
GA! :D
Florence is such a bad ass lady! I love how much we got to see her and how we got to continuously compare her and Florence with them being in the same place. I absolutely LOVED getting to see Florence with a romance! She took the plunge opening up to someone who could've betrayed her--but more impressively it was a move that Arianna would've advocated against. FLORENCE IS ALL GROWN UP! *tear with smile*
I loved how this book wrapped up. It was bloody but not pure gore. I loved getting to see the guilds attempt to come together. Everything just came together!
Super in love with how Arianna and Cvareh ended. It was perfect!
GA! :D
Florence is such a bad ass lady! I love how much we got to see her and how we got to continuously compare her and Florence with them being in the same place. I absolutely LOVED getting to see Florence with a romance! She took the plunge opening up to someone who could've betrayed her--but more impressively it was a move that Arianna would've advocated against. FLORENCE IS ALL GROWN UP! *tear with smile*
I loved how this book wrapped up. It was bloody but not pure gore. I loved getting to see the guilds attempt to come together. Everything just came together!
Super in love with how Arianna and Cvareh ended. It was perfect!
January 25, 2018
*Source* Library
*Genre* Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
The Rebels of Gold is the third and final installment in the Loom Saga by author Elise Kova. The author alternate's her story through four main characters; Arianna, Florence, Cvareh, and Coletta. I am pretty sure the cover is supposed to reflect Florence as we have already had Ari, and Cvareh in the previous two installments. I have a whole lot of mixed feelings about this story and the way it finally wraps up. The most interesting part of this story is the role that Florence wraps herself in and pushes the envelope into being the brightest star in this story.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...
*Genre* Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
The Rebels of Gold is the third and final installment in the Loom Saga by author Elise Kova. The author alternate's her story through four main characters; Arianna, Florence, Cvareh, and Coletta. I am pretty sure the cover is supposed to reflect Florence as we have already had Ari, and Cvareh in the previous two installments. I have a whole lot of mixed feelings about this story and the way it finally wraps up. The most interesting part of this story is the role that Florence wraps herself in and pushes the envelope into being the brightest star in this story.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...
June 2, 2023
Ugh this book is so GOOD .The character development is crazy.
January 24, 2018
I have pushed off writing this review for a couple of days, I really don't want to do this. In fact, I don't really like thinking back on this book and my reading experience. But since my goal is to review every book that I read this year on Goodreads I have to do this... So here we go.
Had you asked me a year ago if I would ever give an Elise Kova book less than 5 stars I would have said a very firm no. Then I read The Dragons of Nova and I gave that book 4 stars because of some issues that I had with it (check my review if you want to know more). I felt sad back then but 4 stars was still pretty good and at that point I really still thought that I would never give an Elise Kova book lower than 4 stars. And then The Rebels of Gold happened...
Overall, I like the book. I gave it 3 stars after all which means that I did like it. But I didn't love it, not even close to it. If I have to give some things that I do love: the places where the story is taking place, the culture, the history. See that I'm only mentioning things that are a setting or create a mood or background information? Well, that is because the characters and part of the plot were just... meah.
So what was my issue with the characters? The author lets other characters mention a ton of times how changed they are... I mean it, a ton of times. And besides my annoyance with this endless repetition I also have to say that it is true, the characters have changed. And I don't think that they have changed for the better. I loved Ari and Flor and really liked Cvareh but they felt like totally different characters in this one. Flor, curious sweet Flor, was some cold hearted thing. Ari turned into this harsh woman who is secretly very in love and sappy and you get to see this and it made her harsh side feel very fake. Cvareh was annoying, just annoying. I felt such a connection with the characters in the first book but in this second one I have lost that. And not just because the characters have changed but the relationships between them too. I loved the relationship between Flor and Ari in the first book, a bit less in the second book but in this one I dislike it. And don't even get me started on Ari and Cvareh because I dislike that one even more! I feel so disappointed with the characters and the relationships. The one character that I really liked and who was a nice addition to the book was Coletta. I really liked her chapters and always felt excited to see her again.
Now for plot, first of all it moved really slow. If you have read my review for The Dragons of Nova you know that I thought the switching of the POV every chapter really did no favour to the pace of the novel. In this one it is just as bad. Some chapters are really dull, they don't add a thing while the chapter before and after said chapter is packed with action and interesting developments. I never felt excited to pick the book up again because I knew I probably had to push through some uninteresting chapters to get to the good stuff. And talking about the good stuff, I thought that the final battle with Yveun was a bit too easy. I never felt tense, I never felt like the lives of the good guys were really on the line. Elise Kova surprised me with some deaths in the first and second book but not in this one. In a war, how can all the characters on the good side come out unharmed and alive?
In the end this book left me with a lot of frustrated feelings. I wanted to like this... No not just like, love. I wanted to love this series as much as I love the Air Awakens series but it honestly never even came close. I'm happy to see that a lot of Elise Kova's fans enjoyed this series but it left me with a sour taste and a lot of frustrated feelings. I still consider Elise Kova one of my favourite authors but I don't think I will pick up a book by her and think straight away that it has to be a 5 star rating. This series has proven that such expectations aren't always met.
Had you asked me a year ago if I would ever give an Elise Kova book less than 5 stars I would have said a very firm no. Then I read The Dragons of Nova and I gave that book 4 stars because of some issues that I had with it (check my review if you want to know more). I felt sad back then but 4 stars was still pretty good and at that point I really still thought that I would never give an Elise Kova book lower than 4 stars. And then The Rebels of Gold happened...
Overall, I like the book. I gave it 3 stars after all which means that I did like it. But I didn't love it, not even close to it. If I have to give some things that I do love: the places where the story is taking place, the culture, the history. See that I'm only mentioning things that are a setting or create a mood or background information? Well, that is because the characters and part of the plot were just... meah.
So what was my issue with the characters? The author lets other characters mention a ton of times how changed they are... I mean it, a ton of times. And besides my annoyance with this endless repetition I also have to say that it is true, the characters have changed. And I don't think that they have changed for the better. I loved Ari and Flor and really liked Cvareh but they felt like totally different characters in this one. Flor, curious sweet Flor, was some cold hearted thing. Ari turned into this harsh woman who is secretly very in love and sappy and you get to see this and it made her harsh side feel very fake. Cvareh was annoying, just annoying. I felt such a connection with the characters in the first book but in this second one I have lost that. And not just because the characters have changed but the relationships between them too. I loved the relationship between Flor and Ari in the first book, a bit less in the second book but in this one I dislike it. And don't even get me started on Ari and Cvareh because I dislike that one even more! I feel so disappointed with the characters and the relationships. The one character that I really liked and who was a nice addition to the book was Coletta. I really liked her chapters and always felt excited to see her again.
Now for plot, first of all it moved really slow. If you have read my review for The Dragons of Nova you know that I thought the switching of the POV every chapter really did no favour to the pace of the novel. In this one it is just as bad. Some chapters are really dull, they don't add a thing while the chapter before and after said chapter is packed with action and interesting developments. I never felt excited to pick the book up again because I knew I probably had to push through some uninteresting chapters to get to the good stuff. And talking about the good stuff, I thought that the final battle with Yveun was a bit too easy. I never felt tense, I never felt like the lives of the good guys were really on the line. Elise Kova surprised me with some deaths in the first and second book but not in this one. In a war, how can all the characters on the good side come out unharmed and alive?
In the end this book left me with a lot of frustrated feelings. I wanted to like this... No not just like, love. I wanted to love this series as much as I love the Air Awakens series but it honestly never even came close. I'm happy to see that a lot of Elise Kova's fans enjoyed this series but it left me with a sour taste and a lot of frustrated feelings. I still consider Elise Kova one of my favourite authors but I don't think I will pick up a book by her and think straight away that it has to be a 5 star rating. This series has proven that such expectations aren't always met.
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