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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
bookaholic84's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
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 can’t 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 Gathrriel’s and Vvive’s.
May can’t come soon enough.
May can’t 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 🥲
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. 🙃
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. 🙃
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
howboutjane's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Fire 🔥😩
What can I say, I have a kink for books that shatter me and leave me unable to function for the next 3-5 business days and THIS BOOK does that.
Alot of the world building and context is laid out in the first book, so this book was able to start with a bang and keep going. It was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish.
Morally grey everywhere, everybody, everything. Twists on twists on twists. Beautiful f'kin chaos 😭. I cannot wait for the next book!
What can I say, I have a kink for books that shatter me and leave me unable to function for the next 3-5 business days and THIS BOOK does that.
Alot of the world building and context is laid out in the first book, so this book was able to start with a bang and keep going. It was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish.
Morally grey everywhere, everybody, everything. Twists on twists on twists. Beautiful f'kin chaos 😭. I cannot wait for the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement
sleepygym's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
dr4manrx's review
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse
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 couldn’t 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
rowanwolf13's review
i wasn’t super thrilled with the first book, but it ended on a cliffhanger so i picked this one up out of curiosity. i should have known better because all of the repetitive faults of the first book are just amplified in the second one.
the first half is just a retelling of the events of the first book. and while the characters grief is important the recaps through flashbacks are wholly unnecessary. I read a good couple hundred pages, got super bored with reading the same thing over and over again and then skimmed through to see if i could pick up any kind of forward plot movement.
the author also introduces so many new povs that the story is further convoluted and drawn out. the spicy scenes are super cliche and cringey. the story itself had promise. too bad it was such a chore to read. this book also ends on a cliffhanger. i won’t be picking up the next one.
the first half is just a retelling of the events of the first book. and while the characters grief is important the recaps through flashbacks are wholly unnecessary. I read a good couple hundred pages, got super bored with reading the same thing over and over again and then skimmed through to see if i could pick up any kind of forward plot movement.
the author also introduces so many new povs that the story is further convoluted and drawn out. the spicy scenes are super cliche and cringey. the story itself had promise. too bad it was such a chore to read. this book also ends on a cliffhanger. i won’t be picking up the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity