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leahadams_'s review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book nearly broke me. I truly feel that this is a great representation of grief and what that can look like. I cried so hard during some parts of the book due to the raw emotions you could feel from Dianna. Although these are not real people (unfortunately!!) it was truly stunning and a journey to go through. I loved the absolute powerhouse Dianna shows up as and how flawed she is. One of the best woman I have ever had the pleasure of reading about!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
kimberlyyyreads's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was way too damn long for it to have severed absolutely nothing š
Literally 500 pages of the FMC going on a destructive bender with no sense of direction š. Like I get it she was grieving but each scene with her felt so damn repetitive.
Also the MMC felt repetitive too, like he was way too lenient with Dianna. I didnāt remember much from the first book but given what I did remember his feelings toward her felt very insta?? Like this man was obsessed and normally I would enjoy but I was so disinterested.
OH
AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE EXTRA POVS???
What was the reason? I still do not know, they literally were such a waste to the book.
Tbh this entire book was filled with repetitive scenes, filler content and wordy writing. I felt like I aged 5+ yrs reading this š
This book was too long for what the actual plot of the book was. I am never gonna get back those 3 days (felt like 5 years) back š„²
Essentially this wasnāt it for me, I honestly am quite shocked that I even finished it cause I was so annoyed š¤”
Literally 500 pages of the FMC going on a destructive bender with no sense of direction š. Like I get it she was grieving but each scene with her felt so damn repetitive.
Also the MMC felt repetitive too, like he was way too lenient with Dianna. I didnāt remember much from the first book but given what I did remember his feelings toward her felt very insta?? Like this man was obsessed and normally I would enjoy but I was so disinterested.
OH
AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE EXTRA POVS???
What was the reason? I still do not know, they literally were such a waste to the book.
Tbh this entire book was filled with repetitive scenes, filler content and wordy writing. I felt like I aged 5+ yrs reading this š
This book was too long for what the actual plot of the book was. I am never gonna get back those 3 days (felt like 5 years) back š„²
Essentially this wasnāt it for me, I honestly am quite shocked that I even finished it cause I was so annoyed š¤”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
toastyness's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.75
I love this book. I loved the character flaws, the varied depictions of grief, and the small moments of joy.
I canāt get over the betrayal though! I saw it coming but at the same time not to that extent so I was still shocked. How dare they! And my heart, Dianna and Samkiel deserve all the happiness. Waiting for that mark to come back like Gathrrielās and Vviveās.
May canāt come soon enough.
May canāt come soon enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Violence, and Blood
bea__reads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Almost nothing happened for the majority of this book. It could be a lot better, given that the world is interesting and the characters have a lot of potential. But the pacing is so off and it got boring, which really made it hard for me to connect with the characters or to care about their relationships.
While it was slightly gratifying (but also rather boring) to be right about so many of the plot twists, I honestly just don't see the point in reading 600+ pages or listening to 28+ hours just to get 10 good chapters in at the end. This also has the unfortunate effect of making some plot twists seem really obvious while others come out of left field.
Plus, I can't stand the (pretty major spoiler)soulmates trope and the way it's handled here really rubbed me the wrong way. (Again, I think this is a pretty big spoiler to know what the trope is) I usually avoid the soulmates trope because it's often based heavily in amatonormativity and pretty much by definition excludes asexual and/or aromantic identities, as well as polyamory and other non-monogamous relationships (unless intentional efforts are made to expand the soulmate concept, which did not happen in this book). Unfortunately, I didn't realize that this trope was going to be a thing before recommending this series to my book club š„²
This series is not for me. My book club loves it, but I think I'll be skipping book 3 when they read it later this year. š
While it was slightly gratifying (but also rather boring) to be right about so many of the plot twists, I honestly just don't see the point in reading 600+ pages or listening to 28+ hours just to get 10 good chapters in at the end. This also has the unfortunate effect of making some plot twists seem really obvious while others come out of left field.
Plus, I can't stand the (pretty major spoiler)
This series is not for me. My book club loves it, but I think I'll be skipping book 3 when they read it later this year. š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
astuart89's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Death
jaedee09's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As much as I couldnāt put this one away, it felt very, very long. The story and characters are so rich, but there was a LOT to get through. The depiction of grief and love felt very real, and I loved getting to know more of The Hand. Very curious where the third book will take us, and confirming what it price Dianna had to pay to bring Samkiel back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Pregnancy and Suicidal thoughts
nloprest6318's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Blood, Abandonment, Murder, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Torture
sqacedvst's review
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
brooketreads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was conflicted on the first book, but this one I just felt mad a lot of the time.
I know others loved Diannaās bad/villain streak in this book, but not me. She did so much work on herself in the last book, and to just show up with her emotions āturned offā and threaten Liamā¦ no. I just wasnāt here for it. Iāve seen characters turn their emotions off in other things and I just hate that. For me, it also felt clichĆ©. Like of course instead of facing her emotions she explodes and goes on a self-destructive path. Liam was being really strong and level headed through it all though. I wouldnāt have expected any less from him. Still, I didnāt feel Liam was as strong of a character in this book for some reason.
I thought the first book was too long, and this one was even longerā¦ unnecessarily so. And again, just as book one, this one was doing too much too.
When Dianna saves Liam though. And yes, Iām going to keep calling him Liam still because I loved the reason for his chosen name in book one. It was everything. āā¦I want you to remember that I love you.ā
Other things I hated besides the length and Diannaās resurgence:
- Azrael being alive because of course he isā¦
- Azrael being Diannaās dad because of course he isā¦
- The nickname Sami.
- The rename to Reggieā¦ like why do people have to have multiple names.
- Vincent.
- Kaden obviously.
- The reveal of the actual villainā¦ š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, and Violence
Probably more content warnings than I listed, will update if I think of any to add.one_more_chapter96's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot but got a bit bored toward the 60/70% mark. It picked up again near the very end which was good though. Loved Dianna and Samkiels journey together, heartbroken about Gabby. Excited to see where they all end up in the final book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War, and Blood