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porque_no's review
2.5
Rather a let down from the first book. I'm tired of FMCs staying with insufferable MMCs and tolerating abusive behavior for their 'potential'. Also, you don't need a pregnancy for a happy ending. It came out of nowhere and didn't fit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy
melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Too much smut, not enough plot. While that may not be bad for some (me included sometimes) I thought the premise of the book was pretty good and might’ve been more intriguing then the previous one in the duet, so I was hoping for a stronger plot line and dialed back smutty scenes only to be disappointed (hence the 3 star rating.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy
milliejade2110's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
the scene with the baby really creeped me out and everything relating to the ‘bad thing’
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Infertility
kelisabeth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
inkdrinkers's review
dark
emotional
medium-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? Yes
4.0
"I'm someone else's tragedy."
Picking up immediately after the end of Blood Orange, Black Rose follows Rose Harper, a newly turned vampire who has all the memories and emotions associated with her past lives rush into her the moment she turns. It's then she discovers her past with Valtu, who is Dracula and her past lover, and seeks him out to reunite after her past live's death. But fate has intertwined their stories into a tightly woven tapestry, and Valtu is not the same man she once knew.
This is a hard book to rate. It's not as terrible as some of the other reviewer's insist, but it's also in no way as strong as Blood Orange was. I felt like the first in this duet was incredibly powerful, expertly toeing the line of retelling Dracula's well-known story while also weaving in the idea of fated love, witches, demons, and more. Where Blood Orange was gothic and compelling, Black Rose felt more like a journey that didn't know it's ending.
I feel for Karina Halle, the entire book was pushed back and release cancelled when she went through immense grief. These moments in the end of the book where the author's grief comes across on page are some of the strongest writing in Black Rose, but unfortunately it doesn't fit with the other loose plot in the pages. I feel like this sequel struggled with its purpose. Had it just been about reuniting Rose and Valtu, I think it would have been powerful - but throwing in the side plot with Bellamy and Leif felt very confusing and didn't have a satisfying ending. There were massive structuring issues, and glaring continuity errors I found reading 60% onwards which took me out of the story and made finishing this extremely difficult. (It took me three months to read this, but I really wanted to finish it.)
At the end of the day, Blood Orange remains one of my favorite of Halle's books. I think it could have lived without this sequel, but I understand the drive to finish Rose and Valtu's love story. Overall, this is probably closer to a 3-star for me, but again, I really, really found Halle's depiction of grief powerful and well done in the end of this book.
Content Warnings: Sexual content (multiple scenes, including CNC), Death (on page and past), Violence, Child death (in past/nightmares), Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy (epilogue)
Picking up immediately after the end of Blood Orange, Black Rose follows Rose Harper, a newly turned vampire who has all the memories and emotions associated with her past lives rush into her the moment she turns. It's then she discovers her past with Valtu, who is Dracula and her past lover, and seeks him out to reunite after her past live's death. But fate has intertwined their stories into a tightly woven tapestry, and Valtu is not the same man she once knew.
This is a hard book to rate. It's not as terrible as some of the other reviewer's insist, but it's also in no way as strong as Blood Orange was. I felt like the first in this duet was incredibly powerful, expertly toeing the line of retelling Dracula's well-known story while also weaving in the idea of fated love, witches, demons, and more. Where Blood Orange was gothic and compelling, Black Rose felt more like a journey that didn't know it's ending.
I feel for Karina Halle, the entire book was pushed back and release cancelled when she went through immense grief. These moments in the end of the book where the author's grief comes across on page are some of the strongest writing in Black Rose, but unfortunately it doesn't fit with the other loose plot in the pages. I feel like this sequel struggled with its purpose. Had it just been about reuniting Rose and Valtu, I think it would have been powerful - but throwing in the side plot with Bellamy and Leif felt very confusing and didn't have a satisfying ending. There were massive structuring issues, and glaring continuity errors I found reading 60% onwards which took me out of the story and made finishing this extremely difficult. (It took me three months to read this, but I really wanted to finish it.)
At the end of the day, Blood Orange remains one of my favorite of Halle's books. I think it could have lived without this sequel, but I understand the drive to finish Rose and Valtu's love story. Overall, this is probably closer to a 3-star for me, but again, I really, really found Halle's depiction of grief powerful and well done in the end of this book.
Content Warnings: Sexual content (multiple scenes, including CNC), Death (on page and past), Violence, Child death (in past/nightmares), Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy (epilogue)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Murder and Pregnancy
heidi_grey's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Murder and Pregnancy