I did enjoy the setting, plot, conflicts, and characters in this. Those elements really got me hooked to the book and made listening to it very enjoyable.

But, I hated the romance elements. Honestly I thought Fable and West had no chemistry at all. Like Fable has a huge crush on West throughout the book but I never bought her feelings for him and other than his looks didn't understand why she liked him so much. I also thought their interactions had basically zero chemistry and felt really forced. Fable had a lot more actual chemistry with Willa who would have been such a better love interest for her. Yet another book where the cishet romance is boring and falt and the possible queer romance that authors refuse to acknowledge would have been 10 times better and more interesting.

It wasn't a bad book and I will probably listen to the sequel one day. I'm not dying to read it but this was a solid short read that I did enjoy though!

Content Warnings

tak_everlasting's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

Content Warnings

marareading's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The end makes up for the middle. The beginning starts off very interesting as we find out Fable was abandoned on an island after a shipwreck with her parents in which her mother died. Her father, Saint, was the captian. She has been trying to fight her way off this island of theives for years so she can find her way back to him and confront him.

The premise is amazing. As I mentioned the middle was very slow for me. The end made up for it a bit. It was slightly predictable in some of the plot.

Content Warnings