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spicycronereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Ableism, and Bullying
Moderate: Violence, Body shaming, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault
Minor: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Trafficking
starlit_pathways's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Ableism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Homophobia and Medical content
coraotf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Sexism
lalalaura_92's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy
mx_virg's review against another edition
- 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
🐝 Una Hayes is a great heroine. She's a fighter, a survivor, in a way her pack will never truly appreciate. She has a bad leg and that's all they see, but she doesn't let it stop from taking care of herself and her packmates. She also has that resilience, that quiet determination to keep on moving and living. Her wolf is also a riot.
🐺 I ended up actually really liking Killian and empathize with the path he's taken. It's easy to just focus on the bad and how at times he should have known better. But when you read about how the pack worked before he became alpha, the amount of work and energy he had to put into the pack to get them out of the caves, protect the weak, earn enough money so everybody's taken care of... That required a single-minded focus and determination that unfortunately made him oblivious to other things. Seriously, he can be really dense, especially in the first half of the book. But his hard work also paved the way for Una's ability to take care of her packmates.
💞 They make a really great pair. While he was busy with the big issues in the pack, she made sure the weaker and forgotten wolves were taken care off instead of just left alone. They both grew into strong, resourceful people who complement each other very well. I'll probably read other books in the series just to see how well the pack is now doing thanks to their partnership.
💗 I really like the rejected mate trope here. In many books, this trope is used to have a bully romance where the hero treats the heroine like trash but she's still coming back to him because "the bond makes me do it". It's gross. You have a bit of that here, there were some moments where I didn't understand the dynamics or the choices made (the biology/magic behind the fated mates bond is wonky, no one really knows much about it it seems, plus the wolves have a mind of their own), but overall Una doesn't just give in, and Killian doesn't just demand. It helps that Killian is never an absolute asshole, or is being mean just for the sake of being mean. He hasn't done anything that I see as unforgivable, and he tries to make amends for the harm he's done.
🗒️ I also quite liked the writing. Not overly descriptive, direct and to the point. There are some cringey moments (especially from Killian's POV in the first half), but I really enjoyed the writing overall.
↘️ My main complaint is how little is known/explained around fated mates and their bonds. Between the baffling relationship we see between already existing fated pairs, the ramblings of the crone and her magic... It feels like the author has been purposely vague so she could do with it what she wanted when she wanted it. It was confusing and not very satisfying.
Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Ableism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Murder, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Pregnancy
threeundertwopnw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
cluckieduck's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed both leads and the dual POV narration. Una is a spunky lead, just trying to keep a low profile while she works towards her independence outside of being a ‘lone female reject.’ Her and ‘her girls’ are a lovely breath of fresh air in this pack ruled by strength. Killian gives a first impression as a big, dumb, brutish Alpha, but there’s more than meets the eye, especially once we’re treated to some heartbreaking flashbacks that really flesh out his character. They’re also both pretty darn funny - I found myself chuckling out loud at times, especially once Killian starts trying to win Una back.
I definitely wasn’t expecting how much of a slow-burn this story would be. The language is so crude, with so much sexual imagery and tension right from the get-go, but the actual romance between the two leads takes a loooong time to get going. Not necessarily a bad thing, what with Una giving the big ol’ FU to Killian for the initial mate rejection, just not what I was expecting!
Anyways, perhaps once I get a few more of this trope under my belt I may feel differently. I’m moving onto book 2 right away, and I do think I will give this a re-read at some point.
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Vomit
marysbookinit's review against another edition
4.0
The male MC rejected Uma as his mate early on - big mistake, huge. I could always use more grovel but he did do a fair bit here.
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual harassment
ashleycmms's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault