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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I was really excited to read this book so it's a bit disappointing I didn't really enjoy the story.
When I first put this book on my TBR, I heard it was going to be academic rivals to lovers and I feel scammed. I literally have no clue what Sylvia sees in Lorelei because Lorelei is consistently so rude towards her, it was so frustrating to listen to (Lorelei has her reasons why she's like that, but I never got why Sylvia liked her). I was really hoping for a good romance, but this story did not deliver. This should have been a duology because Lorelei/Sylvia NEEDED a slow burn to make it seem believable, or at least a bit of the story in Sylvia's POV. Sure, from the very beginning, Lorelei complains about Sylvia while also comparing Sylvia to moonlight and calling her an angel, it just seems like the romance was dialed to 100 without any buildup of tension on both ends. Their romance was never fully developed. The real romance happens towards the end of the book, but it felt so rushed that it just felt out-of-character for both Lorelei and Sylvia. It would have been nice if they attempted to be friends first IMO.
The writing itself was great, I think it did an amazing job capturing the dark, gothic, and whimsical vibes of the surroundings, but the story and plot fell flat for me. The story felt too slow in the beginning. The murder mystery didn’t feel important. The worldbuilding and characters (minus Lorelei and Sylvia) felt one dimensional, nothing called out to me personally. The fantasy was interesting and cool, not really compelling, but I did like most of it. The politics were not done well at all. I never fully understood what was happening politically because it sounded all over the place. I tried to fall back onto the characters, but other than Lorelei, Sylvia, and maybe Ludwig, none of them are memorable. We never truly get to know these characters other than the times Lorelei is trying to find the murder suspect and towards the end where everything goes to shit (my favorite part).
And the ending was such a letdown. I thought it would interesting considering I actually started liking the story around 70%, but nope. Rushed and disappointing.
A little pet peeve of mine since I listened to the audiobook: Lorelei's and Adelheid's names sound a bit too similar that sometimes I had to go back because I didn't catch which name I heard.
When I first put this book on my TBR, I heard it was going to be academic rivals to lovers and I feel scammed. I literally have no clue what Sylvia sees in Lorelei because Lorelei is consistently so rude towards her, it was so frustrating to listen to (Lorelei has her reasons why she's like that, but I never got why Sylvia liked her). I was really hoping for a good romance, but this story did not deliver. This should have been a duology because Lorelei/Sylvia NEEDED a slow burn to make it seem believable, or at least a bit of the story in Sylvia's POV. Sure, from the very beginning, Lorelei complains about Sylvia while also comparing Sylvia to moonlight and calling her an angel, it just seems like the romance was dialed to 100 without any buildup of tension on both ends. Their romance was never fully developed. The real romance happens towards the end of the book, but it felt so rushed that it just felt out-of-character for both Lorelei and Sylvia. It would have been nice if they attempted to be friends first IMO.
The writing itself was great, I think it did an amazing job capturing the dark, gothic, and whimsical vibes of the surroundings, but the story and plot fell flat for me. The story felt too slow in the beginning. The murder mystery didn’t feel important. The worldbuilding and characters (minus Lorelei and Sylvia) felt one dimensional, nothing called out to me personally. The fantasy was interesting and cool, not really compelling, but I did like most of it. The politics were not done well at all. I never fully understood what was happening politically because it sounded all over the place. I tried to fall back onto the characters, but other than Lorelei, Sylvia, and maybe Ludwig, none of them are memorable. We never truly get to know these characters other than the times Lorelei is trying to find the murder suspect and towards the end where everything goes to shit (my favorite part).
And the ending was such a letdown. I thought it would interesting considering I actually started liking the story around 70%, but nope. Rushed and disappointing.
A little pet peeve of mine since I listened to the audiobook: Lorelei's and Adelheid's names sound a bit too similar that sometimes I had to go back because I didn't catch which name I heard.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Estuvo okay aunque se me hizo muy pesado y lento
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loved the romance, hated the politics.
At absolute best, this book is incredibly confusing and a little boring. At worst, this book is telling the reader that imperialism is okay and putting down an entire class of people is fine so long as you can girlboss your way into a position of power.
Why bother creating a main character from a class of people who are Jewish-coded, point out all the ways they are treated like monsters by every other person in the book, point out how bad the king of this empire is at ruling fairly, and then have the main character become the right hand man for the king and never mention her people again? It really does feel like the message of the story is "you can make your own life slightly better if you stop fighting for the equal rights of your own people and become subservient to the man who puts them down."
Also, the villians of this book are just two women who are trying to use violent means to free their own kingdoms from the rule of an imperalist. They're evil, not because they want freedom, but because they use violence?
The only saving grace for this book is the romance, and even that is affected by the shitty politics. If you ignore that, it's a very good sapphic romance. It was the only thing that kept me reading to the end.
Probably won't be picking up another Allison Saft book, which is sad cause they are all very pretty.
At absolute best, this book is incredibly confusing and a little boring. At worst, this book is telling the reader that imperialism is okay and putting down an entire class of people is fine so long as you can girlboss your way into a position of power.
Why bother creating a main character from a class of people who are Jewish-coded, point out all the ways they are treated like monsters by every other person in the book, point out how bad the king of this empire is at ruling fairly, and then have the main character become the right hand man for the king and never mention her people again? It really does feel like the message of the story is "you can make your own life slightly better if you stop fighting for the equal rights of your own people and become subservient to the man who puts them down."
Also, the villians of this book are just two women who are trying to use violent means to free their own kingdoms from the rule of an imperalist. They're evil, not because they want freedom, but because they use violence?
The only saving grace for this book is the romance, and even that is affected by the shitty politics. If you ignore that, it's a very good sapphic romance. It was the only thing that kept me reading to the end.
Probably won't be picking up another Allison Saft book, which is sad cause they are all very pretty.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
good set up, love the chemistry and dynamic. had a good time reading, meh ending. felt like the build up needed more time.
