Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

101 reviews

barda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25


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luna_98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

wow. the drama, the tension, the war, the romance, the tragedy. i loved it. 

this was more fantasy-driven whereas DR was more romance which i felt struck the perfect balance for this duology. the writing is beautiful, the multiple pov’s tell a great story. 

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picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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katievallin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I've read a few books by Rebecca Ross, and I really like her writing style. This one was very enjoyable but sad.
I like that there was never any doubt about Roman and Iris finding each other again,
and I really like their relationship and chemistry. I wasn't planning on reading this book because I was annoyed and stressed about the cliffhanger at the end of the first one, but this was very well done and a good conclusion.

Some excellent quotes:

"Write me a story where there is no ending, Kitt. Write to me, and fill my empty spaces."

"He let his hands relax at his sides, realizing that he was safe here, that he needed to open those old scars so they could heal."

"It was not always a happy story, although it was an honest one."

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r3ader's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm not sure what to rate this book. On one hand the ending felt fitting, it was a good ending for this duology. 
On the other hand, this book did not live up to the first one. Especially the first half was veeery slow and not really interesting. 
I do love the showing of the war. It's not the main theme, but it's still there. And due to current events (#free🇵🇸), it feels even more real and just overall more emotional. 
The ending was intense and like I said, I liked it  it was by far the best part of this book. 
I would recommend this book only to those who REALLY want to know what Romans and Iris' fates are. If you are content with the ending of the 1st book and aren't that interested in the 2nd, you don't need to start this one tbh. 😅

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ziracrow's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This book has evocative description and exciting plot points, but I was honestly a bit disappointed in it overall. I loved Divine Rivals but for some reason, the sequel didn’t grip me as much.

This book had just as much plot and just as high of stakes, but the pacing felt a bit rushed to me. I didn’t feel like the characters had much time to breathe and because of that, I’m not sure we got to see the characters develop as much as we saw in the first book. I wanted to see more character interaction with the lovely side characters like Attie, Marisol, Keegan, and Tobias. But because there was so much action, we didn’t really get to see much interaction, which made it feel a bit removed. I wasn’t as invested in this book as I was with the first.

I also missed the epistolary bits of the first book; I wish this one had more of that. I understand that Iris and Roman didn’t have much time to be writing long love letters but that is central to their relationship, a point we are reminded of at the end. If they were to be separated for practically all of the book, I wanted to see more of their relationship through letters. It felt a bit like two different stories for most of the book, and I missed the passion and longing from the first book.

All in all, it was still an entertaining story
that I’m glad did not end in too much death
. It did feel a bit rushed, though, and I don’t think it compares to Divine Rivals. 

Read if you liked Divine Rivals, if you like wartime stories, or if you like action-packed low fantasy. 

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luna_lovelace's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The world-building was done well, immersing me in the story and making me curious to know more about Dacre's perspective. 

I was initially intrigued by the possibility of Dacre
having a good side, but as the story progressed, I realized that his actions were merely the result of a god's human-like emotions getting the better of him.

While I still love Roman and Iris, I must say that the romantic aspect of this book doesn't measure up to the first book in the series. 

However, the author did an excellent job of fleshing out the other characters, like Tobias and Attie. The book was filled with so many likable characters that I couldn't pick just one favorite!

The only criticism I have is
that I don't understand the reason behind Sarah and Forest's death, other than to give Iris more loss in her life.

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meganrina's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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lakinglaze's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was lovely. The story came all together in a massive crescendo and I enjoyed every moment of it. I’m going to miss Roman and Iris, but I’ll just keep mentally picturing them from the ending of this book and imagine all the wonderful events of the characters’ lives I’m sure followed this story. 💗

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