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birbpal's review against another edition
DNF 33%
I wasn't liking the writing style. There was too much inner monloging and over explaining. For example, a character would do something and the FMC would think to herself "Oh, that character is doing this because blah blah blah." Basically, the author was holding our hand the entire time telling us this story instead of using context clues and letting people infer what she means.
I tried to look past it but I got too anoyed. Maybe I will try to read this book another time. š¤·āāļø
I wasn't liking the writing style. There was too much inner monloging and over explaining. For example, a character would do something and the FMC would think to herself "Oh, that character is doing this because blah blah blah." Basically, the author was holding our hand the entire time telling us this story instead of using context clues and letting people infer what she means.
I tried to look past it but I got too anoyed. Maybe I will try to read this book another time. š¤·āāļø
kittygirlsam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jaymilynn96's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Ok, I liked this book butā¦
1. I almost DNFād it. The beginning was so slow, and I mean SLOW. There was a lot of repetitive narrative and painfully long internal monologues from both Terek and Adelais that slowed things down even more. A lot of it couldāve been cut or condensed as I skipped through huge chunks of it at a time and didnāt miss a beat.
2. Terek isā¦ a lot. Donāt get me wrong, l love a grumpy, ātouch-her-and-dieā mmc, but he was doing the absolute most. His reactions were so unhinged at times that they were borderline unrealistic.
3. They meet when she is 8 and the story follows her until she is 27. Now, this sounds creepy, and it was when I read it, but I think the author did a good job of carving out Adelineās journey into adulthood. Because of this, I eventually got over that the story begins when she is only 8 and he 33, but I see why others may take issue with it.
1. I almost DNFād it. The beginning was so slow, and I mean SLOW. There was a lot of repetitive narrative and painfully long internal monologues from both Terek and Adelais that slowed things down even more. A lot of it couldāve been cut or condensed as I skipped through huge chunks of it at a time and didnāt miss a beat.
2. Terek isā¦ a lot. Donāt get me wrong, l love a grumpy, ātouch-her-and-dieā mmc, but he was doing the absolute most. His reactions were so unhinged at times that they were borderline unrealistic.
3. They meet when she is 8 and the story follows her until she is 27. Now, this sounds creepy, and it was when I read it, but I think the author did a good job of carving out Adelineās journey into adulthood. Because of this, I eventually got over that the story begins when she is only 8 and he 33, but I see why others may take issue with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
reaellis's review against another edition
i don't like that her love interest has known her since she was 8
trashconnoisseur's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars for a good alice in wonderland retelling
con:
- the story could've done with some editing, the time skip chapters were dragging on way too long
- love me a good miscommunication trope but i gotta agree with another review here that says Terek's lack of communication seems lazy
- was really rooting for Ace to get a better life but why do author's always have to make FLs dumb as bread so they can further the plot along? i fondly like to call it stock exchange iq because it really be going up and down
- Terek's character starts to feel about as appealing as a brickwall (a sexy wall, but a wall nontheless) and the only saving grace is getting his pov every now and then
con:
- the story could've done with some editing, the time skip chapters were dragging on way too long
- love me a good miscommunication trope but i gotta agree with another review here that says Terek's lack of communication seems lazy
- was really rooting for Ace to get a better life but why do author's always have to make FLs dumb as bread so they can further the plot along? i fondly like to call it stock exchange iq because it really be going up and down
- Terek's character starts to feel about as appealing as a brickwall (a sexy wall, but a wall nontheless) and the only saving grace is getting his pov every now and then
isi__1's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
2.0
Quick disclaimer: I do realise that my issues with this book are based on personal preferences / dislikes and are not inherently indicative of someone elseās reading experience. I simply like to voice my opinion, so that people who see themselves in this review, because they have similar taste, can better judge if they want to read the book or not. On the other hand, if anyone tends to like the aspects I mentioned as dislikes, they could very well be more inclined to pick this book up.
I was in the mood for a bit of a romance-heavier fantasy when I stumbled upon character art of this book on Instagram. After reading the synopsis, I was quite intrigued: An Alice in Wonderland retelling, where everyone tries to kill Alice. It sounded quite dark.
Additionally, the slow-burn romance was strongly advertised. If thereās one romance trope I absolutely despise, itās insta-love / fated love. *sigh* Honestly, Iām disappointed but not surprised. How many times have I picked up a fantasy romance book, based on the supposed slow-burn, just to find out that the author (or other readers) have a very different definition of what āslow-burnā means? For the record, my understanding is that the characters canāt just lie to each other, saying that they have no interest in the other person, but whenever weāre reading from either of their p.o.v.s, they constantly think about how much they want to bang. If two characters are very clearly in love with each other from a relatively early point on, but they just pretend not to be, thatās not slow-burn, imo. I donāt understand why everyone always seems to disagree with this definition.
Furthermore, I dislike fated love, because itās almost always connected with insta-love and, additionally, itās usually used as an excuse to not give the romantic pairing any real chemistry.
The male love interest first meets the female mc when sheās 8, while he has the appearance of someone in their early to mid thirties, but has lived a few decades longer than that, because thatās when he stopped aging.
At first, heās not lusting after her, but as soon as she hits late adolescence / early adulthood, heās suddenly infatuated. Thereās just something a little bit weird about someone seeing a child slowly grow up like this, but as soon as they hit their twenties, they suddenly become an object of lust. Sure, theyāre both consenting adults - after the introductory part of the book -, but I canāt help but be a little put off by this.
The prose was alright. Far from being the best Iāve ever read, but also not the worst.
Another pet-peeve of mine that irked me quite a bit in this book is unnecessary swearing. I like to use language befitting the situation in a way that underlines my emotions the most effectively. As a general concept I have no issue with extreme swearing if the situation demands it, obviously. I use swear words to underline extreme dislike or frustration and I feel like thatās the case with most adults. So, when an adult uses the word āfuck / fuckingā in every other sentence (talking about the male mc; the female mc doesnāt do that), I suddenly canāt help but feel like Iām reading about a pubescent teenager, because this is what a lot of 12 to 15 year olds do (Myself included, at the time. Iām definitely not exempt from this). They swear, just for the sake of it. They think it makes themselves look ācoolerā or ātougherā. Instead, it makes them look more immature, in my opinion. However, thatās completely fine. They ARE immature, for the most part. When someone physically in their thirties (mentally, far older) does this, it makes them sound like such a young teenager. With that picture in mind, reading sex scenes makes me extremely uncomfortable.
Overall, the book didnāt manage to pull me in. I wasnāt really interested in the charactersā well-being, because I didnāt like them very much (mostly because I did get a little annoyed at some of their actions and their lack of communication when it mattered most), thus being quite uninterested in most of the plot as well. If you're more of a plot-driven reader, this might not be as much of an issue, though.
I was in the mood for a bit of a romance-heavier fantasy when I stumbled upon character art of this book on Instagram. After reading the synopsis, I was quite intrigued: An Alice in Wonderland retelling, where everyone tries to kill Alice. It sounded quite dark.
Additionally, the slow-burn romance was strongly advertised. If thereās one romance trope I absolutely despise, itās insta-love / fated love. *sigh* Honestly, Iām disappointed but not surprised. How many times have I picked up a fantasy romance book, based on the supposed slow-burn, just to find out that the author (or other readers) have a very different definition of what āslow-burnā means? For the record, my understanding is that the characters canāt just lie to each other, saying that they have no interest in the other person, but whenever weāre reading from either of their p.o.v.s, they constantly think about how much they want to bang. If two characters are very clearly in love with each other from a relatively early point on, but they just pretend not to be, thatās not slow-burn, imo. I donāt understand why everyone always seems to disagree with this definition.
Furthermore, I dislike fated love, because itās almost always connected with insta-love and, additionally, itās usually used as an excuse to not give the romantic pairing any real chemistry.
The male love interest first meets the female mc when sheās 8, while he has the appearance of someone in their early to mid thirties, but has lived a few decades longer than that, because thatās when he stopped aging.
At first, heās not lusting after her, but as soon as she hits late adolescence / early adulthood, heās suddenly infatuated. Thereās just something a little bit weird about someone seeing a child slowly grow up like this, but as soon as they hit their twenties, they suddenly become an object of lust. Sure, theyāre both consenting adults - after the introductory part of the book -, but I canāt help but be a little put off by this.
The prose was alright. Far from being the best Iāve ever read, but also not the worst.
Another pet-peeve of mine that irked me quite a bit in this book is unnecessary swearing. I like to use language befitting the situation in a way that underlines my emotions the most effectively. As a general concept I have no issue with extreme swearing if the situation demands it, obviously. I use swear words to underline extreme dislike or frustration and I feel like thatās the case with most adults. So, when an adult uses the word āfuck / fuckingā in every other sentence (talking about the male mc; the female mc doesnāt do that), I suddenly canāt help but feel like Iām reading about a pubescent teenager, because this is what a lot of 12 to 15 year olds do (Myself included, at the time. Iām definitely not exempt from this). They swear, just for the sake of it. They think it makes themselves look ācoolerā or ātougherā. Instead, it makes them look more immature, in my opinion. However, thatās completely fine. They ARE immature, for the most part. When someone physically in their thirties (mentally, far older) does this, it makes them sound like such a young teenager. With that picture in mind, reading sex scenes makes me extremely uncomfortable.
Overall, the book didnāt manage to pull me in. I wasnāt really interested in the charactersā well-being, because I didnāt like them very much (mostly because I did get a little annoyed at some of their actions and their lack of communication when it mattered most), thus being quite uninterested in most of the plot as well. If you're more of a plot-driven reader, this might not be as much of an issue, though.
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
croissant_moon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
5.0
meganharperartist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
mel_reads1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Looking forward to reading the second book. Book 1 is a slow burn. It starts with the main character at a young age and we see the main events that lead to who she is as an adult some 20 years later. It helps explain her motivations and reactions later on in the story. Without that background, I'm not sure that I would have found the MC likeable. That did slow the pace of the book however I am hopeful that book 2 will pick things up.