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emz_chaotic_reading's review
1.0
I was kindly supplied with an advanced reader's copy of this book by the publisher NineStar Press however I really did not enjoy this book and I could not finish it. I had to put the book down fairly early in the reading process.
The thing that saddens me most about this book is the amount of potential the world and characters had, and the way it was wasted.
This brings me to my first issue with this book, it is the way it was written. The book did not read smoothly or make a great amount of sense especially when explaining action scenes, The writing moved extremely fast and while some might enjoy that more fast paced style of story telling, this was not for me. On top of this the author didn't spend much if any time on describing the world or characters, often spending only a sentence describing Rhys's muscular frame but nothing else and also neglecting to describe the magic system and lore of the story, ultimately leaving me with a sense of confusion and incompletion.
Another issue I have with this book is that the mentioned warnings at the beginning of the book are prevalent all the way through the book and so there is literally no way to avoid the triggers mentioned if you desire to read this book. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing (I've seen it done well in multiple books for example All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes by Holly Bourne) in this particular circumstance it was not approached in a way that would intrigue the reader or provide them with any useful information.
Finally I'd like to mention the fact that the description of this book is somewhat misleading and mentions nothing of the triggers in this book (TW's: rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest) or the fact that the relationship at the centre of the book is essentially grooming. Luka is several hundred years old while his lover Rhys was 17 when they first met. Rhys and Luka met through Luka saving Rhys's life then protecting him in his home, and I can't help but feel that there was probably an element of an abused power dynamic at some point. Because neither of these points were mentioned in the description I dived head first into the book with unrealistic expectations therefore leaving myself even more disappointed.
Overall I strongly disliked this book and would only advise you to read this if you are aware of the problems it carries and don't hold high hopes for it.
The thing that saddens me most about this book is the amount of potential the world and characters had, and the way it was wasted.
This brings me to my first issue with this book, it is the way it was written. The book did not read smoothly or make a great amount of sense especially when explaining action scenes, The writing moved extremely fast and while some might enjoy that more fast paced style of story telling, this was not for me. On top of this the author didn't spend much if any time on describing the world or characters, often spending only a sentence describing Rhys's muscular frame but nothing else and also neglecting to describe the magic system and lore of the story, ultimately leaving me with a sense of confusion and incompletion.
Another issue I have with this book is that the mentioned warnings at the beginning of the book are prevalent all the way through the book and so there is literally no way to avoid the triggers mentioned if you desire to read this book. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing (I've seen it done well in multiple books for example All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes by Holly Bourne) in this particular circumstance it was not approached in a way that would intrigue the reader or provide them with any useful information.
Finally I'd like to mention the fact that the description of this book is somewhat misleading and mentions nothing of the triggers in this book (TW's: rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest) or the fact that the relationship at the centre of the book is essentially grooming. Luka is several hundred years old while his lover Rhys was 17 when they first met. Rhys and Luka met through Luka saving Rhys's life then protecting him in his home, and I can't help but feel that there was probably an element of an abused power dynamic at some point. Because neither of these points were mentioned in the description I dived head first into the book with unrealistic expectations therefore leaving myself even more disappointed.
Overall I strongly disliked this book and would only advise you to read this if you are aware of the problems it carries and don't hold high hopes for it.
chikaneil_reads's review
1.0
Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC.
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I DNFed this book. So for now 1star.
- i tried my best to finish this book but i just can't.
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First off, storyline is confusing. I'm not in any means a beginner in reading but this book confused the heck out of me from the first chapter. I also think that some informations aren't propely explained but just being thrown at me and this book really gives a sequel book feelings. All the time i was wondering whether this book have a first book or not because there is alot of things not adding up here.
The pace is really fast and i'm okay with it but it makes the story a lot more confusing. I had to stop a numerous times to process my thoughts on new informations or any new development occured.
This book actually needs to have a lot of trigger warning. Cover and synopsis of the book gives a feeling that book gonna have two people on an adventure saving the world and igniting their love for eachother but it is not like that. Considering the trigger warning in this book i can say that it is quite dark but the action of their doings is more like a mentioned or reminder. But i think it will be more safe to put trigger warning in the synopsis.
All in all, i tried so hard to finish this but i just can't. I still have a lot of unanswered ques in the last chapter and hoping the next chapter would atleast answer on of them. Instead i got a lot confuser and still many question.
_________________________________________________________
I DNFed this book. So for now 1star.
- i tried my best to finish this book but i just can't.
___________________________________________________________
First off, storyline is confusing. I'm not in any means a beginner in reading but this book confused the heck out of me from the first chapter. I also think that some informations aren't propely explained but just being thrown at me and this book really gives a sequel book feelings. All the time i was wondering whether this book have a first book or not because there is alot of things not adding up here.
The pace is really fast and i'm okay with it but it makes the story a lot more confusing. I had to stop a numerous times to process my thoughts on new informations or any new development occured.
This book actually needs to have a lot of trigger warning. Cover and synopsis of the book gives a feeling that book gonna have two people on an adventure saving the world and igniting their love for eachother but it is not like that. Considering the trigger warning in this book i can say that it is quite dark but the action of their doings is more like a mentioned or reminder. But i think it will be more safe to put trigger warning in the synopsis.
All in all, i tried so hard to finish this but i just can't. I still have a lot of unanswered ques in the last chapter and hoping the next chapter would atleast answer on of them. Instead i got a lot confuser and still many question.
thessie's review
1.0
I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Even though I'm not a regular romance reader I gave Luka a shot, because of the blurb. I however was sorely disappointed.
Definitely heed the content warnings for this one, primarily the sexual assault and incest warnings. These warnings are given as happening off the page, however, they are regularly mentioned throughout the book, including regular taunts from the abuser to his victims.
I enjoyed the story of this book, in particular the character and mythology of Luka. The writing itself was very poetic, but sometimes distractingly so. At first, I felt like we would have gotten more out of seeing on the page what had happened to the Well of Hope, but the twist at the end made it worth it.
The idea of what the Well of Hope meant to the world didn't really feel very tangible. It's clearly a strong power source, and it's clear how it can be used to give and take hope from how Aethan intends to use it, but how its absence affected the world wasn't obvious.
The romance of Luka and Rhys's relationship was a strong point, although I'd have expected a little more uncertainty to their sexual relationship at least at first, considering Rhys has only so recently escaped his predator. There's also a scene where Rhys invades Luka's mind against his will that feels jarring after his own experience.
I'd like to mention the fact that the description of this book is somewhat misleading and mentions nothing of the triggers in this book (TW's: rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest) or the fact that the relationship at the center of the book is essentially grooming. Luka is several hundred years old while his lover Rhys was 17 when they first met. Rhys and Luka met through Luka saving Rhys's life than protecting him in his home, and I can't help but feel that there was probably an element of an abused power dynamic at some point. Because neither of these points was mentioned in the description I dived headfirst into the book with unrealistic expectations therefore leaving myself even more disappointed.
Even though I'm not a regular romance reader I gave Luka a shot, because of the blurb. I however was sorely disappointed.
Definitely heed the content warnings for this one, primarily the sexual assault and incest warnings. These warnings are given as happening off the page, however, they are regularly mentioned throughout the book, including regular taunts from the abuser to his victims.
I enjoyed the story of this book, in particular the character and mythology of Luka. The writing itself was very poetic, but sometimes distractingly so. At first, I felt like we would have gotten more out of seeing on the page what had happened to the Well of Hope, but the twist at the end made it worth it.
The idea of what the Well of Hope meant to the world didn't really feel very tangible. It's clearly a strong power source, and it's clear how it can be used to give and take hope from how Aethan intends to use it, but how its absence affected the world wasn't obvious.
The romance of Luka and Rhys's relationship was a strong point, although I'd have expected a little more uncertainty to their sexual relationship at least at first, considering Rhys has only so recently escaped his predator. There's also a scene where Rhys invades Luka's mind against his will that feels jarring after his own experience.
I'd like to mention the fact that the description of this book is somewhat misleading and mentions nothing of the triggers in this book (TW's: rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest) or the fact that the relationship at the center of the book is essentially grooming. Luka is several hundred years old while his lover Rhys was 17 when they first met. Rhys and Luka met through Luka saving Rhys's life than protecting him in his home, and I can't help but feel that there was probably an element of an abused power dynamic at some point. Because neither of these points was mentioned in the description I dived headfirst into the book with unrealistic expectations therefore leaving myself even more disappointed.
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