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kassidyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Death, and Violence
Minor: Slavery, Rape, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
caitsreadingcorner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I will continue reading this series to find out what happened but this book was a bit underwhelming. Maybe I just really enjoyed the flashbacks in the first book, it gave more insight into Des and Callie and their dynamics and how they have grown and changed over the years. I almost feel like their personalities are too similar?? Nothing against two darker, more sinful and villain driven characters but it almost makes their relationship feel more flat.
Also, I found some of Callie’s internal dialogue in this book to be a bit cringe. She’s supposed to be 23? 24?? I honestly think she could have been older in the first book and be in her later twenties by now but I guess that’s why she’s still a bit immature in her thinking. I feel like the plot of this one is a bit messier but I’m still hopeful those holes will be filled in the remaining books. Felt like there were a lot of random turns and characters brought into the mystery piece of this book.
I just need for it to all lead somewhere and not feel like an afterthought. I think the pace between building out the thief of souls storyline and the spicier scenes could be a bit better….maybe that’s because most of the world building has already been done but they have circled around some of the same problems and questions from the first book so I expected more development. At the very least, at least we’re learning more about Des. Conflicted on this one but was compelling enough to finish.
Also, I found some of Callie’s internal dialogue in this book to be a bit cringe. She’s supposed to be 23? 24?? I honestly think she could have been older in the first book and be in her later twenties by now but I guess that’s why she’s still a bit immature in her thinking. I feel like the plot of this one is a bit messier but I’m still hopeful those holes will be filled in the remaining books. Felt like there were a lot of random turns and characters brought into the mystery piece of this book.
I just need for it to all lead somewhere and not feel like an afterthought. I think the pace between building out the thief of souls storyline and the spicier scenes could be a bit better….maybe that’s because most of the world building has already been done but they have circled around some of the same problems and questions from the first book so I expected more development. At the very least, at least we’re learning more about Des. Conflicted on this one but was compelling enough to finish.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Violence
readyforit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
4⭐️2.5🌶️(a few fade to black scenes and a couple graphic scenes, overall spicier than book 1)
I didn’t like this one as much as the first book but we do get introduced to the fae Otherworld and a lot of new fae characters! This book exclusively takes place in the otherworld, whereas book 1 was mostly in the human realm. We learn a lot of backstory about des, his parents, and his childhood.
The first part of the story is des helping Callie come to terms with the fact that she doesn’t look human anymore and can’t return to earth. He takes her on a tour of his kingdom and begins the Training™ that is in every fantasy book. She slowly learns to love her body again because des loves her, regardless of what she looks like. She could probably transform fully into a bird and he would still be obsessed with her lol.
Temper storms her way into the otherworld looking for Callie so we get a lot more of their friendship in this book. Most of the story takes place over the course of a weeklong Solstice celebration in the Flora realm. We meet the flora queen and her weirdass mate. Rulers of the different realms clash, alliances are formed, and trust is broken. Des punches and murders people who cross Callie. We get a lot of “don’t even look at my mate” moments! All the while the thief of souls is back and kidnapping male soldiers this time. It’s a pretty good mystery and twist at the end!
This book had a lot more world-building in it and a lot less of des and Callie’s relationship. I would say that romance isn’t the forefront of this book. It’s still there, but it’s more about how Callie settles into the fae world and then the mystery of the thief of souls.
I am going to continue the series but probably won’t reread unless I forget the plot in the future!
I didn’t like this one as much as the first book but we do get introduced to the fae Otherworld and a lot of new fae characters! This book exclusively takes place in the otherworld, whereas book 1 was mostly in the human realm. We learn a lot of backstory about des, his parents, and his childhood.
The first part of the story is des helping Callie come to terms with the fact that she doesn’t look human anymore and can’t return to earth. He takes her on a tour of his kingdom and begins the Training™ that is in every fantasy book. She slowly learns to love her body again because des loves her, regardless of what she looks like. She could probably transform fully into a bird and he would still be obsessed with her lol.
Temper storms her way into the otherworld looking for Callie so we get a lot more of their friendship in this book. Most of the story takes place over the course of a weeklong Solstice celebration in the Flora realm. We meet the flora queen and her weirdass mate. Rulers of the different realms clash, alliances are formed, and trust is broken. Des punches and murders people who cross Callie. We get a lot of “don’t even look at my mate” moments! All the while the thief of souls is back and kidnapping male soldiers this time. It’s a pretty good mystery and twist at the end!
This book had a lot more world-building in it and a lot less of des and Callie’s relationship. I would say that romance isn’t the forefront of this book. It’s still there, but it’s more about how Callie settles into the fae world and then the mystery of the thief of souls.
I am going to continue the series but probably won’t reread unless I forget the plot in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Classism and Rape
Minor: Alcohol and Pregnancy
One scene where rape is mentioned in the pastvreyna20_2004's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Okay so I hated this. I despised this. Usually, the second book is better compared to the first one and yet I couldn’t find anything that I liked about this book compared to the first one. The only reason why I’m reading this damn series is because Audible made it free for a time period. There’s only TWO things that I enjoyed from this book and it’s the shooting stars scene and Temperance giving up her morality to find Callypso. When I listened to that part I audibly awed at that because that’s so sweet then everything goes downhill.
Des is a fae who lives in a different world, right? But he listens to artists like Led Zeppelin and that’s not an issue, it's the fact he is a supernatural being listening to Led Zeppelin that irks me. Then you have Callyspo calling her siren “my siren” for the 13523357835th time. Honestly everything about her annoyed me like how she missed netflix like ma’am there’s important things going on you can live without your shows for a bit. Or her being oblivious to the word bastard and saying she didn’t know what it meant. FACEPALM. I also hate how dense this girl is like she’s extremely close to figuring things out but doesn’t and the things are so obvious. It felt like the author didn’t try to hide it. Also Des and Callypso are so damn fucking horny that they do it EVERYWHERE!!!! It’s fine when people can’t get enough of each other however they can’t even do anything without fucking like chapter 40 it felt forced to me and the fact that Des said to Callie “you haven’t been satisfied enough” so they keep fucking. I CANT!!!!!
And the writing sucks. Temperance and Callie give off the vibe of “I’m a girl and I can do everything” which is fine but Jesus Christ when you hear that for the 1363487645487th time you just get tired of it. My brain literally sizzled out and blacked out while listening to this damn book. I hate it and hate Callypso.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, and Slavery
Minor: Death, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
maddierandolph's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Rape, and Sexual violence
Minor: Death
rumroza's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Rape, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Gore, Torture, Slavery, and Kidnapping
katiecoconut21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A Strange Hymn was a vast improvement on Rhapsodic. This book had the elements I was missing from Rhapsodic, a true romantic development on the relationship between Des and Callie, and an intricate fantasy world that I could get swept away in.
Where A Strange Hymn felt like a unique world, with a romance I could root for, and an intriguing plot, Rhapsodic was the set-up of a "soul-mate" scenario to make this book flow better.
Honestly, my experience with A Strange Hymn is lessened due to the first book, Rhapsodic. I personally would have loved to see a more drawn-out, slow-burn romance, one where Callie truly admits her feelings for Des when she sees his world, one where the Bargainer would have kept the huge secret of "we're soulmates" a secret for a little while longer.
Having said that, this book elaborates on what Rhapsodic was missing, particularly in terms of plot. The plot of the Thief of Souls is incredibly interesting, and I am glad we got to focus more on that in this book.
Overall, I enjoyed A Strange Hymn, and am glad I stuck with the series long enough to get over where Rhapsodic fell short.
Where A Strange Hymn felt like a unique world, with a romance I could root for, and an intriguing plot, Rhapsodic was the set-up of a "soul-mate" scenario to make this book flow better.
Honestly, my experience with A Strange Hymn is lessened due to the first book, Rhapsodic. I personally would have loved to see a more drawn-out, slow-burn romance, one where Callie truly admits her feelings for Des when she sees his world, one where the Bargainer would have kept the huge secret of "we're soulmates" a secret for a little while longer.
Having said that, this book elaborates on what Rhapsodic was missing, particularly in terms of plot. The plot of the Thief of Souls is incredibly interesting, and I am glad we got to focus more on that in this book.
Overall, I enjoyed A Strange Hymn, and am glad I stuck with the series long enough to get over where Rhapsodic fell short.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape
Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy
dddorika's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Slavery, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent