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Steelstriker was decent, but it wasn’t great. The end of the story felt rushed and wrapped up a bit too quickly, too neatly. I still really like the darkness of this duology and the world Lu built, but I think this story could have been grander and more complex. In that, this falls into a lot of common traps of Lu’s particular type of story.

The dystopian future remains interesting, but as we move from Mara into the Capital, we feel less of the complexity of this colonized world. In many ways, this mirrors the perspective of powerful white nations in our world. Important national symbols from countries taken in war serve as trophies, meaning stripped from them by ignorant invaders. There were many moments in Steelstriker where Red in particular could have expanded and grown and it would have enriched the story. Instead, Lu used minimal explanations and focused on her core plot and, as usual, her romantic subplot.

Please Marie Lu! Please, please, please. Write one book, one series with no romantic subplot. As soon as romance enters the picture, the characters’ motivations change, the shape of the world changes, and story flow falters. I promise – not every good story needs a love story. The romantic subplot fizzled – formulaically, Talin and Red are a couple but the chemistry is forced. Same as Warcross, same as Legend… as soon as Lu started to focus on Talin/Red, the sharp edges of the rest of the story dulled.

Constantine should be a formidable villain, but he is defeated far too easily. I wanted the dark manipulation of Wildcard‘s villains in this novel and we had that at first. Unfortunately, as the end of the novel neared, I was let down by Constantine’s reactions. Considering the character background and development, there should have been more preparedness for the ending, or at the very least, more explanation why things ended up going the way they did.

I think Lu wanted so badly to tie up this story with sparkles and a bow. Her dark writing is incredible, but she failed to completely break out of her usual storytelling mold and I am so disappointed. I loved Skyhunter and would still enthusiastically recommend is, but Steelstriker is a different story. I expected more. And I genuinely believe Lu could have delivered it based on some of her other books – but either by her own hesitation or her team’s insistence on not breaking a model that works, Steelstriker is too familiar and underwhelming. ( )

Steelstriker by Marie Lu is a great ending to a great duology. The entire series appeals to my not-so-inner goth girl, but the finale ups the ante in that regard. The first book was dark and full of danger, but this time around, we get a story full of trauma and PTSD which makes the story even darker. Plus, Ms. Lu takes the time to explore the idea of nature versus nurture, what motivates us, and how much our childhood influences our later actions.

In Steelstriker, Ms. Lu takes her characters to places I never expected, but I loved the unexpectedness of it all. While I can see it as a triggering story for some readers, personally, I thought it was fabulous and am eager to see what Ms. Lu writes next. ( )