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greek_myth5's review
5.0
What a great start to a new series!
Wren has been isolated all of her life with the exception of Thorn. This makes her a bit naive and very innocent but she's also kind and open minded after being treated a certain way all her life. She really blossoms when she starts making friends and meeting other guys. The guys are all a little broken, with hurt pasts and some are a little crazy but OMG! They are sweet and protective of Wren and so, so hot when she interacts with them. Honestly I liked all of the characters and am curious to see how all of the mates will pan out. Also, the mystery of what's going on is intriguing - war is coming but from several fronts - why and what role will Wren and her guys play? All in all a good read and I highly recommend.
Wren has been isolated all of her life with the exception of Thorn. This makes her a bit naive and very innocent but she's also kind and open minded after being treated a certain way all her life. She really blossoms when she starts making friends and meeting other guys. The guys are all a little broken, with hurt pasts and some are a little crazy but OMG! They are sweet and protective of Wren and so, so hot when she interacts with them. Honestly I liked all of the characters and am curious to see how all of the mates will pan out. Also, the mystery of what's going on is intriguing - war is coming but from several fronts - why and what role will Wren and her guys play? All in all a good read and I highly recommend.
marisakucha's review
5.0
Great paranormal academy romance
Every now and then you read a book that surprises you and this was one of those books. I was expecting a regular shifter/paranormal academy romance, something I’ve read quite a bit of, but this ended up being really good. I feel like I was drawn into the story right away and I adored the characters. Each of them was so distinguishable and I love that the author used multiple point of views so that we were able to know the characters on a deeper level. I’m looking forward to more of the other point of views, especially of those who weren’t as prominent in this books.
What I really enjoyed with this book is that the author used the concept of fated mates but it wasn’t an instant attraction, you know who is going to be her mate thing. It’s suspected and you can kind of assume who will be in her harem. The ones that are chosen could be surprising, or at least the order of them. I love that little aspect that the author tossed in.
I also liked that the author focused on character development, getting to know the different characters and the world building before she brought one of the bigger conflicts to the surface. It had been brought up naturally within conversations but until certain events it wasn’t the main focus. Some of the other issues actually seemed more important until they weren’t.
I enjoyed the author’s spin on a paranormal academy romance. The author is a great storyteller and she was able to completely capture you within the story and it’s like no time passed at all. The book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, it’s more of a let’s see what will happen.
4.5/5
Every now and then you read a book that surprises you and this was one of those books. I was expecting a regular shifter/paranormal academy romance, something I’ve read quite a bit of, but this ended up being really good. I feel like I was drawn into the story right away and I adored the characters. Each of them was so distinguishable and I love that the author used multiple point of views so that we were able to know the characters on a deeper level. I’m looking forward to more of the other point of views, especially of those who weren’t as prominent in this books.
What I really enjoyed with this book is that the author used the concept of fated mates but it wasn’t an instant attraction, you know who is going to be her mate thing. It’s suspected and you can kind of assume who will be in her harem. The ones that are chosen could be surprising, or at least the order of them. I love that little aspect that the author tossed in.
I also liked that the author focused on character development, getting to know the different characters and the world building before she brought one of the bigger conflicts to the surface. It had been brought up naturally within conversations but until certain events it wasn’t the main focus. Some of the other issues actually seemed more important until they weren’t.
I enjoyed the author’s spin on a paranormal academy romance. The author is a great storyteller and she was able to completely capture you within the story and it’s like no time passed at all. The book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, it’s more of a let’s see what will happen.
4.5/5
whatjennahreads's review
5.0
I received access to this book before it blew up on Booktok, but it took me a second to actually read it which kind of sucked because I saw so much hype for it on my "For You Page". This just pushed me to read it ASAP.
I'm normally not a huge fan of large harems because I feel like all of the men take on the same personality and are hard to differentiate - but that was NOT the case here. Each of Wren's men were clearly different and very enjoyable.
Thorn- Ice fae, prince, can read minds
Alister- Vampire, professor, can control blood
Damien-Shadow demon, feeds off pain
Kain- Necromancer, can see the future
Lachlan- Werewolf, can use magic
Rhett- Incubus, very powerful, counselor
Rowan- Fire drake, headmaster of the academy
I really enjoyed this book and as soon as I realized I was almost finished with it, I wish I had the second book ASAP. While it didn't end on a "cliffhanger," it ended and I wasn't happy.
Tropes include: age-gap, teacher/student, rejected mates, large harem, friends to lovers, and tons more!
Thank you Netgalley and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I'm normally not a huge fan of large harems because I feel like all of the men take on the same personality and are hard to differentiate - but that was NOT the case here. Each of Wren's men were clearly different and very enjoyable.
Thorn- Ice fae, prince, can read minds
Alister- Vampire, professor, can control blood
Damien-Shadow demon, feeds off pain
Kain- Necromancer, can see the future
Lachlan- Werewolf, can use magic
Rhett- Incubus, very powerful, counselor
Rowan- Fire drake, headmaster of the academy
I really enjoyed this book and as soon as I realized I was almost finished with it, I wish I had the second book ASAP. While it didn't end on a "cliffhanger," it ended and I wasn't happy.
Tropes include: age-gap, teacher/student, rejected mates, large harem, friends to lovers, and tons more!
Thank you Netgalley and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
sarasbooktalk's review
4.0
It was, cute. Wish there was more tension or suspense, but overall it was an easy page-turner book. I read it in a few hours and now I need the 2nd book asap. I'm more invested in the story than in the characters. Wren feels a little too sweet, too good to be true, and too sheltered. Think she needs a little more depth.
deathh_queen's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
cookiemuncher3000's review
2.0
This book was a whirlwind. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what to say.
When I first started I was into the book. What’s not to like about fae’s and shifters and matebonds. I like those kinds of reads. But then, once we get to the Academy things started going downhill. We had barely gotten the story before all sorts of ridiculous things seemed to happen.
I like the idea of a supernatural school and where the humans are the bad guys (humans are, indeed, the worst). But when all these guys started to show up and Wren had instant attraction to them I had so hoped they wouldn’t all be potential mates. It was just getting too crowded and too ridiculous as the story went on and on. Everyone came on too strong and everyone treated Wren as if she was the most beautiful and amazing, smart, kind, selfless person in the word. She was the stars in the sky and hung moon.
And all I could do was laugh.
To me, this book read like someone took all their dreams and desires and insecurities and made one giant wet dream. A conglomerate of almost every trope you could think of shoved together. Everyone was obsessed with one girl and I had no clue why. Sure, she was nice, but just because she said something that made you believe she understood you then you were instantly attracted?
Hello. If you don’t know me, I don’t do instalove.
I almost gave up on this book around 30% but a part of me wanted to see where this was going so I held on.
And it was wild.
I just couldn’t get over the fact that everyone treated her like a small, pathetic little creature (which was sad because she had a backbone at times when no one was around her but when there was people, she became meek and sad) who couldn’t do anything by herself without someone being there to basically say, “no, don’t lift your pretty little finger. I’ll do everything for you so long as you just breathe next to me. I am eternally grateful.” Bleh!
Another thing that bothered me was it seems like none of the guys had any unique backstories (maybe Damien, since he was consistent from the start so he didn’t grate on me as much). Everyone was the same to me that it became a challenge to distinguish which guy from the others (I’ve read a book where a woman had 12 mates and that was written better than this. 7 (or is it 8?) is too much in this book). They all say the same tragic story and Wren says something nice to them and they all say, “no one has ever been this nice to me before.” And then cry.
It was grueling!
When I first dived into this story I had hope. Hope that it would all come together and work cohesively. But there were many times I felt awkward, times I felt embarrassed, times I felt like things were wrong. I just wanted more but all there was to me were many sexual conversations and sexual innuendos and everyone wanting to get into Wren’s pants. I felt conversations were repeated over the course of the book as people repeated the same conversations to different people (because this book had multiple POVs, it was pointless for it if everything was just going to repeated anyways). And when someone say, “oh, we can wait,” but end up doing the thing immediately after without an actual discussion, it’s weird.
This book was basically a time frame of a week until near the very end when it jumps a month. Considering all the things that happened in that first week, it could not justify all the happenings to me. It was all too quick and scenes that were supposed to have tension were almost immediately forgotten with sexual tension (which is basically all the time).
I had hope but hope for me was dashed.
When I first started I was into the book. What’s not to like about fae’s and shifters and matebonds. I like those kinds of reads. But then, once we get to the Academy things started going downhill. We had barely gotten the story before all sorts of ridiculous things seemed to happen.
I like the idea of a supernatural school and where the humans are the bad guys (humans are, indeed, the worst). But when all these guys started to show up and Wren had instant attraction to them I had so hoped they wouldn’t all be potential mates. It was just getting too crowded and too ridiculous as the story went on and on. Everyone came on too strong and everyone treated Wren as if she was the most beautiful and amazing, smart, kind, selfless person in the word. She was the stars in the sky and hung moon.
And all I could do was laugh.
To me, this book read like someone took all their dreams and desires and insecurities and made one giant wet dream. A conglomerate of almost every trope you could think of shoved together. Everyone was obsessed with one girl and I had no clue why. Sure, she was nice, but just because she said something that made you believe she understood you then you were instantly attracted?
Hello. If you don’t know me, I don’t do instalove.
I almost gave up on this book around 30% but a part of me wanted to see where this was going so I held on.
And it was wild.
I just couldn’t get over the fact that everyone treated her like a small, pathetic little creature (which was sad because she had a backbone at times when no one was around her but when there was people, she became meek and sad) who couldn’t do anything by herself without someone being there to basically say, “no, don’t lift your pretty little finger. I’ll do everything for you so long as you just breathe next to me. I am eternally grateful.” Bleh!
Another thing that bothered me was it seems like none of the guys had any unique backstories (maybe Damien, since he was consistent from the start so he didn’t grate on me as much). Everyone was the same to me that it became a challenge to distinguish which guy from the others (I’ve read a book where a woman had 12 mates and that was written better than this. 7 (or is it 8?) is too much in this book). They all say the same tragic story and Wren says something nice to them and they all say, “no one has ever been this nice to me before.” And then cry.
It was grueling!
When I first dived into this story I had hope. Hope that it would all come together and work cohesively. But there were many times I felt awkward, times I felt embarrassed, times I felt like things were wrong. I just wanted more but all there was to me were many sexual conversations and sexual innuendos and everyone wanting to get into Wren’s pants. I felt conversations were repeated over the course of the book as people repeated the same conversations to different people (because this book had multiple POVs, it was pointless for it if everything was just going to repeated anyways). And when someone say, “oh, we can wait,” but end up doing the thing immediately after without an actual discussion, it’s weird.
This book was basically a time frame of a week until near the very end when it jumps a month. Considering all the things that happened in that first week, it could not justify all the happenings to me. It was all too quick and scenes that were supposed to have tension were almost immediately forgotten with sexual tension (which is basically all the time).
I had hope but hope for me was dashed.
micareadsstuff's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to then rest. while I love Damien and his craziness I do agree that the story focused on her relationship with Damien far too much. I really wish The others especially Kian. There is something about him that is very intriguing. I wanna know more about him and I wish I got to know more in this 1st book. Perhaps there connection connection with Wren. Really like how The other mates understand and feel the connection of a new mate. Well I read this book originally for the spicy snippets I've seen floating around I really enjoyed the balance between spicy and the ultimate purpose of the plot.