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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
pinkgiraffe17's review
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Extremely jarring body horror/pregnancy/miscarriage horror that really should have been more clearly disclosed at the start of the book. I would strongly advise anyone who has had these experiences to take a closer look at the trigger warnings before starting this book so no one is caught out.
In the acknowledgements at the end of this book, the author talks about how much she struggled to write this sequel and it really shows. Reincarnation stories are never my favourite anyway, because it feels like throwing away the character you just worked so hard to develop. Valtu, our male lead, also felt like a completely different character. His amnesia combined with the reincarnation thing just made it a worse version of the first book as it felt like we rushed through them falling in love and finding each other again. Characters that were prominent in the first book completely disappeared, wasting all the work that was put in to develop them. Along with massive inconsistencies that were missed in editing. The conclusion of the story felt really rushed and like we missed out on the most important part where Rose's family reconnects.
So many threads were completely dropped from the first book - the portals that the book could open, Saara, Bellamy's intentions. Dahliah was a more enjoyable character, as a slightly older protagonist with more life experience. All of that is erased and Rose is basically a bland doormat in this book.
All in all, it's clear Karina Halle really struggled with this story and I'm genuinely not sure if it's worth reading to complete the story arc.
In the acknowledgements at the end of this book, the author talks about how much she struggled to write this sequel and it really shows. Reincarnation stories are never my favourite anyway, because it feels like throwing away the character you just worked so hard to develop. Valtu, our male lead, also felt like a completely different character. His amnesia combined with the reincarnation thing just made it a worse version of the first book as it felt like we rushed through them falling in love and finding each other again. Characters that were prominent in the first book completely disappeared, wasting all the work that was put in to develop them. Along with massive inconsistencies that were missed in editing. The conclusion of the story felt really rushed and like we missed out on the most important part where Rose's family reconnects.
So many threads were completely dropped from the first book - the portals that the book could open, Saara, Bellamy's intentions. Dahliah was a more enjoyable character, as a slightly older protagonist with more life experience. All of that is erased and Rose is basically a bland doormat in this book.
All in all, it's clear Karina Halle really struggled with this story and I'm genuinely not sure if it's worth reading to complete the story arc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
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