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kylieqrada's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
"Betrayal has a funny way of turning your world upside down. As familiar as I had already been with it by that point, it still amazed me how far I could stretch that moment of denial. The thought of what had been - of what could yet be - persisted. Perhaps it is not the same for most people. Perhaps, when you love less, it is easier not to let the emptiness become a cavern from which you can no longer see the sun."
I hugged this book when I finished it. I also wanted to throw it across the room. K.S. Villoso has me in a chokehold. That's all I got for ya.
I hugged this book when I finished it. I also wanted to throw it across the room. K.S. Villoso has me in a chokehold. That's all I got for ya.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship
reckless_counsel's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
i think tali has never done anything wrong in her life
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual assault, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Colonisation, Stalking, and Child death
there are several instances of attempted sexual assault on the main character (who narrated the book in 1st person)bookworm_leilani's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: War and Violence
nickoliver's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had a bit of a hard time getting into this story. I found it weirdly confusing at first, with the history of the world being a bit too convoluted for me. If you asked me to summarise how the politics looked like, I wouldn't have a clue. It might be just a me-problem, since a lot was actually described quite in depth - maybe I'm just too stupid -, but I could never remember who had a problem with whom and especially why they had a problem with each other.
The pace was rather slow for the first 100 pages, and I always had an easy time to put the book down. It wasn't that it was boring at all - I did quite enjoy myself every time I did pick the novel up -, but I never found it so thrilling and absorbing that I desperately needed to know what happened next. Though I do have to say that the plot kept me on my toes a lot - there were a lot of plot lines I didn't see coming.
The characters were certainly interesting. Again, I was a bit confused at times because a lot of characters were mentioned by name but never really showed up themselves - like, for example, all the warlords in Jin-Sayeng. Talyien, the main character, was both really strong and quick on her feet but also too trustful sometimes. The way she kept wanting to save her husband despite learning some really despicable thing about him - and already knowing quite a few bad things about him - made me frustrated a lot. I often wanted her to put certain men in their places and she never did - which, to be fair, did make sense sometimes, but it didn't make it any less infuriating to see her be treated the way she was. In any way, her character didn't always make it easy to want to keep reading.
The rest of the cast was interesting. Some characters, like Loh Bahn, ended up acting differently than expected. Villoso didn't just paint characters as one-dimensional and then kept them like that, some of them did keep you guessing. Even some of the ones who weren't even portrayed as bad were hard to trust, since there a sense of betrayal was weaving its way throughout the entire story. My favourite one was Khine; he added a bit of lightheartedness that was otherwise lacking.
To my surprise, the story was a lot darker than I expected. To be fair, I did for some reason think this was a YA novel and not about a 26-year-old woman, so maybe that had to do with it. But there was a lot of violence, and also sexual assault (though "just" threatened and not actually on page), that I didn't know was in there. That certainly made me agitated a lot, because I wasn't quite sure how far Villoso would take it.
The ending was a bit frustrating to read, and there were still some plot points I didn't quite understand. But I will continue with the series at some point!
The pace was rather slow for the first 100 pages, and I always had an easy time to put the book down. It wasn't that it was boring at all - I did quite enjoy myself every time I did pick the novel up -, but I never found it so thrilling and absorbing that I desperately needed to know what happened next. Though I do have to say that the plot kept me on my toes a lot - there were a lot of plot lines I didn't see coming.
The characters were certainly interesting. Again, I was a bit confused at times because a lot of characters were mentioned by name but never really showed up themselves - like, for example, all the warlords in Jin-Sayeng. Talyien, the main character, was both really strong and quick on her feet but also too trustful sometimes. The way she kept wanting to save her husband despite learning some really despicable thing about him - and already knowing quite a few bad things about him - made me frustrated a lot. I often wanted her to put certain men in their places and she never did - which, to be fair, did make sense sometimes, but it didn't make it any less infuriating to see her be treated the way she was. In any way, her character didn't always make it easy to want to keep reading.
The rest of the cast was interesting. Some characters, like Loh Bahn, ended up acting differently than expected. Villoso didn't just paint characters as one-dimensional and then kept them like that, some of them did keep you guessing. Even some of the ones who weren't even portrayed as bad were hard to trust, since there a sense of betrayal was weaving its way throughout the entire story. My favourite one was Khine; he added a bit of lightheartedness that was otherwise lacking.
To my surprise, the story was a lot darker than I expected. To be fair, I did for some reason think this was a YA novel and not about a 26-year-old woman, so maybe that had to do with it. But there was a lot of violence, and also sexual assault (though "just" threatened and not actually on page), that I didn't know was in there. That certainly made me agitated a lot, because I wasn't quite sure how far Villoso would take it.
The ending was a bit frustrating to read, and there were still some plot points I didn't quite understand. But I will continue with the series at some point!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Animal death, Stalking, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content
queergoth_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
This was such a good read. I didn't know anything about it before going in, I'd just had it recommended to me a few times.
It was full of complex characters, a fully developed world (with lots of politics and a lot of great descriptions of food that left me very hungry.
While it's high fantasy with lots of politics I didn't find it too dense or complex. I'm super excited to read the next books!
It was full of complex characters, a fully developed world (with lots of politics and a lot of great descriptions of food that left me very hungry.
While it's high fantasy with lots of politics I didn't find it too dense or complex. I'm super excited to read the next books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, War, Sexual violence, and Misogyny
chalkletters's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro got off to a fairly strong start: Tali’s first person perspective was engaging, I was intrigued to discover what had actually happened between her and her husband Rai, and I liked how she kept trying to get to know her guards and maids on a personal level. For me, things got even more exciting when she bumped into Khine, who introduced himself unrepentantly as a con man. I love a fantasy heist, and involving the queen in even a small con definitely ticked all sorts of boxes.
The world K S Villoso created felt very real, in part because Tali reacted like a human to periods of hunger or adverse weather. In books, these things are often mentioned, but you very rarely see someone actually acting stupid because they haven’t had a meal or day, or becoming more weak and susceptible to pain when they’re outside in the cold. K S Villoso created interesting contrasts between the way Tali was brought up and the world she was exploring for most of the book’s beginning.
The threats that Tali faced were certainly realistic, too. Maybe a little too much so. It’s not at all unreasonable that a woman would face sexual violence three or more times in the kind of society depicted by The Wolf of Oren-Yaro, but it did start to feel a little grating. While this played into the theme of how difficult it was for Tali to rule single-handed, it just wasn’t very pleasant to keep reading. It probably didn’t help that Tali’s consensual relationships with men (who weren’t related to her) nearly all revolved around sex, too.
Towards the end, I started to struggle with the plot of The Wolf of Oren-Yaro. Despite internally questioning at least one prior note that seemed to be in her husband’s handwriting, Tali jumps to the conclusion that a second note must absolutely be from him. In real life, that’s probably perfectly realistic, but in a narrative, unfortunately, it makes her certainty feel unconvincing. It’s the same kind of ‘but why did you jump to that conclusion?’ problem that I had with Under the Pendulum Sun. It doesn’t ruin the book entirely, but it did affect my enjoyment of the last third of the story.
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro was interesting enough, and reading K S Villoso’s thoughts on the next book in the series intrigued me enough that I think I’ll get around to it one of these days, but it wasn’t something I think I’ll reread over and over.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia
madarauchiha's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
I'll suspend a lit of belief but this is just not making much sense. So the lady kills a dude and her fiance ditches her before the wedding. But they're still somehow married legally despite his absence at the ceremony. Then five years layer he asks to meet with her and she agrees. Butshes legally the queen so why is she going to him? Hes not even emperor or king. Also people refuse to house her on her travels. Is she not the queen? Also she says shes learn to be queen for five years and a princess for twenty years. Why is she going to restaurants and ordering things? She has servants for that. And why, despite her claiming to be feared and despised, she isn't. Not really. She gets flustered and repelled by seeing public torture as punishment of crimes even though her own kingdom supposedly does that?? I am running out of leeway. Also why the fuck does she care about her would be husband? He ditched her five years ago, get over it already. How are there three books of this.
Oh also while traveling to the restaurant she got separated from her guards and had a diversion playing bartering games with a shopkeeper. What the fuck was the point of that scene.
This is stupid as fuck. I want to slap the author for how godawful this plot is. How are you going to declare the mc is a cunty mean evil bitch and not have her be any of that. And according to reviews she simply doesn't become any of that in the second book. And I'm sure as fuck not reading the third book.
The plot is basically survive being near this man, then this man, then another man. Etc etc. I genuinely wonder if someone is buying five star reviews. Like... Who enjoyed this....
▪ the women spoke to me behind fans, coyly suggesting how lucky I was that I could at least look forward to my wedding night. A jibe at my father, I think…I didn’t need someone else reminding me that my mother was forced to marry an ailing man five times her age while I “only” got rayyel, who was young and handsome.
Ok george r r martin, calm it down. Between the whorephobic sex slavery trafficking house scene and the repeat pedophilia I forgot why I started writing that note in my moonreader app but I'll let it stand as is.
▪ that marked the last conversation of our first night together. He entered me, finding no barrier. He wasn’t surprised. I had ridden horses all my life.
I.... A hymen isn't a brick wall.... Wha... Even the sex scenes are boring! Lord help me. Minaread on youtube was right to be let down by this book. I should've listened to her. I stopped reading at chaptr 8 and skipped to chapter 22. I didn't miss anything, frankly.
content warnings, incomplete:
minor gambling, rape, pregnancy, pedophilia, child brides, murder, gore,
medium unsanitary,
major torture, murder, gore, death, violence, marital infidelity
I'll suspend a lit of belief but this is just not making much sense. So the lady kills a dude and her fiance ditches her before the wedding. But they're still somehow married legally despite his absence at the ceremony. Then five years layer he asks to meet with her and she agrees. But
Oh also while traveling
This is stupid as fuck. I want to slap the author for how godawful this plot is. How are you going to declare the mc is a cunty mean evil bitch and not have her be any of that. And according to reviews she simply doesn't become any of that in the second book. And I'm sure as fuck not reading the third book.
The plot is basically survive being
Ok george r r martin, calm it down. Between the whorephobic
I.... A hymen isn't a brick wall.... Wha... Even the sex scenes are boring! Lord help me. Minaread on youtube was right to be let down by this book. I should've listened to her. I stopped reading at chaptr 8 and skipped to chapter 22. I didn't miss anything, frankly.
content warnings, incomplete:
minor gambling, rape, pregnancy, pedophilia, child brides, murder, gore,
medium unsanitary,
major torture, murder, gore, death, violence, marital infidelity
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
achingallover's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Irritating main character making ridiculous choices with no character development and the twist at the end (reason the husband left) pissed me off beyond belief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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
4.0
THE WOLF OF OREN-YARO begins with a queen journeying to meet her estranged husband, then abruptly transforms into a flight from assassins and a struggle just to survive in a strange land where her name means nothing.
The world-building is excellent, with just the right combination of novelty and repetition to introduce and then reinforce ideas and details throughout the story without any one section feeling like infodumping. The convoluted machinations involved appeared at first to be simple, then were gradually questioned and complicated until the final reveal makes things suddenly make sense in a really cool way. While the politics matter, the heart of the story is how Talyien interacts with the ordinary people that she's around for the first time in her life, and what choices she makes under each new and trying circumstance. My favorite individual scenes were the scams, because I love heists, and my favorite secondary character is Khine. I love the way that he and Talyien build this friendship without feeling like the narrative is pushing them together romantically. He has his own baggage, she's literally trying to track down and possibly reconcile with her husband, and they just work really well as characters whenever they're in scenes together. It's either genuinely a platonic friendship or the slowest of slow burn romances, and either way it bodes well for the rest of the trilogy. As for Talyien herself, she's a fantastic narrator. While I was firmly on team "Rayyel isn't worth it" from the start of the book, I understand why she makes the choices she does even if they're definitely not the ones I would make.
I'm definitely interested in seeing where the rest of this series goes. It was a stressful read in places due to imminent danger to characters I like, and very good overall.
The world-building is excellent, with just the right combination of novelty and repetition to introduce and then reinforce ideas and details throughout the story without any one section feeling like infodumping. The convoluted machinations involved appeared at first to be simple, then were gradually questioned and complicated until the final reveal makes things suddenly make sense in a really cool way. While the politics matter, the heart of the story is how Talyien interacts with the ordinary people that she's around for the first time in her life, and what choices she makes under each new and trying circumstance. My favorite individual scenes were the scams, because I love heists, and my favorite secondary character is Khine. I love the way that he and Talyien build this friendship without feeling like the narrative is pushing them together romantically. He has his own baggage, she's literally trying to track down and possibly reconcile with her husband, and they just work really well as characters whenever they're in scenes together. It's either genuinely a platonic friendship or the slowest of slow burn romances, and either way it bodes well for the rest of the trilogy. As for Talyien herself, she's a fantastic narrator. While I was firmly on team "Rayyel isn't worth it" from the start of the book, I understand why she makes the choices she does even if they're definitely not the ones I would make.
I'm definitely interested in seeing where the rest of this series goes. It was a stressful read in places due to imminent danger to characters I like, and very good overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Racial slurs, and Rape
CW for sexism (graphic), misogyny (graphic), racism, racial slurs, xenophobia, grief, confinement (graphic), blood (graphic), attempted rape/sexual violence, violence (graphic), torture, murder, animal death, parental death (backstory), suicide, major character death, death.
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