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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
This book takes place in a gorgeous fantasy world, featuring powerful sorcerers and sorcereresses, animal familiars, decadent libraries, and magically powered daily life. Our FMC Oneira has unique magical powers, which she uses to create a peaceful yet isolated life for herself, as she tries to forget a painful history. She eventually uses her powers to sneak her way into the life of our MMC Stearanos, who has equally powerful (but different) magic. They start a delightfully witty correspondence via notes left in Stearanos' books and library, which escalates into real life encounters, and the crashing in of the outside world.
This is beautifully written with gorgeous flowery descriptions of the book's world. I adored the unique magic, which was creative and captivating. I truly loved the slow burn x irresistible attraction x playful banter elements of the romance. The characters have their quirks and personality that shines through, and there's some very sensitive exploration of dealing with trauma and past tragedies. There are a few lightly spicy scenes, but more time is spent on the witty banter and establishing their connection.
However, the overall read for me was an up and down experience because i felt some of the pacing of the story wasn't quite right Some parts felt too slow and kind of dragged out (like the start) while other parts that I felt deserved more attention were too quickly skimmed over (towards the end). I thought that several side characters had interesting individual stories that I would have loved to see fully explored, but they didn't really become the important parts of the overall story that I was hoping for. I think these were the things that had me feeling like it just did not hit all the notes I was hoping that it would.
That said, it's a magical story with so much beautiful writing and gorgeous metaphors, and deep feelings and meanings to everything. The audiobook narration is excellent, both the male and female narrators do a great job, and I really felt the character's personalities coming through with them. There is also a lovely detailed map in the ebook version!
This is beautifully written with gorgeous flowery descriptions of the book's world. I adored the unique magic, which was creative and captivating. I truly loved the slow burn x irresistible attraction x playful banter elements of the romance. The characters have their quirks and personality that shines through, and there's some very sensitive exploration of dealing with trauma and past tragedies. There are a few lightly spicy scenes, but more time is spent on the witty banter and establishing their connection.
However, the overall read for me was an up and down experience because i felt some of the pacing of the story wasn't quite right Some parts felt too slow and kind of dragged out (like the start) while other parts that I felt deserved more attention were too quickly skimmed over (towards the end). I thought that several side characters had interesting individual stories that I would have loved to see fully explored, but they didn't really become the important parts of the overall story that I was hoping for. I think these were the things that had me feeling like it just did not hit all the notes I was hoping that it would.
That said, it's a magical story with so much beautiful writing and gorgeous metaphors, and deep feelings and meanings to everything. The audiobook narration is excellent, both the male and female narrators do a great job, and I really felt the character's personalities coming through with them. There is also a lovely detailed map in the ebook version!
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
I appreciate the journey the author wanted to take me on, but I’m not sure she got me quite there in the end. I didn’t see the FMC actions at the very end as necessary, so it missed its mark on the impactfulness, leaving me unsure how I to feel about the ending.
As for the romance, it starts very slow, then goes from 0 to 80 mph on their first meeting, with the MMC basically saying “I want to be lovers” after one afternoon with her, which was a bit jarring for my taste. A lot of “this isn’t a good idea, there’s no way this can work out” thoughts from the FMC, which I found tiring/overdone. But overall I did really like them together.
Overall, I did really enjoy the book and the writing style was beautiful. The book just didn’t WOW me… but I would still recommend it and would definitely still read a sequel if there were to be one.
As for the romance, it starts very slow, then goes from 0 to 80 mph on their first meeting, with the MMC basically saying “I want to be lovers” after one afternoon with her, which was a bit jarring for my taste. A lot of “this isn’t a good idea, there’s no way this can work out” thoughts from the FMC, which I found tiring/overdone. But overall I did really like them together.
Overall, I did really enjoy the book and the writing style was beautiful. The book just didn’t WOW me… but I would still recommend it and would definitely still read a sequel if there were to be one.
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into when I started this book.
I really enjoyed the different types of sorcerers, and their magic as well as the hierarchy of magic users and kings & queens.
This was a slow burn, that was filled with solitude, curiosity, adventure, peace, longing, resolve & banter.
This rivals to lovers stars with curiosity & a book on roses, and changes their entire lives.
I really enjoyed the different types of sorcerers, and their magic as well as the hierarchy of magic users and kings & queens.
This was a slow burn, that was filled with solitude, curiosity, adventure, peace, longing, resolve & banter.
This rivals to lovers stars with curiosity & a book on roses, and changes their entire lives.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
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
Oh that ending! I'm crying.
This book is about recovery from trauma, and I think the author does a good job about the recovery from trauma. I'm hoping that this becomes a duology though.
There is one thing about this book that might have me a bit concerned is there are elements of suicide that are a bit troubling. I think the ending of the book leaves things open to the possibility that there is still a way to avoid it, but I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who struggles with it.
This book is about recovery from trauma, and I think the author does a good job about the recovery from trauma. I'm hoping that this becomes a duology though.
There is one thing about this book that might have me a bit concerned is there are elements of suicide that are a bit troubling. I think the ending of the book leaves things open to the possibility that there is still a way to avoid it, but I wouldn't recommend this book to someone who struggles with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, War
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The male lead is introduced when he wakes up in the nude and scratches his nuts. Kind of a slay.
Unfortunately the cover (terrible) foretold of the story within. They're gonna stop giving me ALCs at this rate. I'm going to walk through the entire synopsis as a dedication to my dislike:
The first 10% is spent lightly detailing how Oneira retired from being a dread sorceress for her kingdom and, wishing to atone for all the death she's dealt, has committed to never kill another living being. She grows her own food and never interacts with other people. During this 10%, 3 mythical creatures find Oneira and become her companions. This will not come to affect any element of the story at any point.
Oneira sneaks into the library of her mortal enemy (nothing personal, they were/are in debt slavery to enemy kingdoms), Stearanos, and steals the book he was reading. It's about cultivating a specific rare variety of rose, and she decides to fuck w him a little bit by upsetting his organization. She ends up sneaking in again to exchange another book, as she's now growing those roses and can't return what she took. They write antagonizing notes back and forth while she steals books and he hasn't yet figured out who she is.
We're past 40% and Oneira has not had a single conversation with a human. Literally nothing has happened. Everything beyond this is firmly in spoilers category.
Her former master, Queen whatever, sends a guy she's completely mentally fucked up to seduce Oneira into returning as her sorceress. He's supposed to be this charming lady-killer so he's just the guy for the job. He shows up on Oneira's doorstep fake injured and, once invited inside, he calls her beautiful and flashes his bare dick at her trenchcoat-style, multiple times. This works on Oneira (lmfao) and they make out but she stops short of fucking him.
A few days pass, dude is still staying w her despite him remaining creepy and annoying as fuck. Suddenly Stearanos shows up wielding fireballs, ready to fight her for her book theft. Then he sees she's like soooo hot and cool and he lets go of that immediately. He was being unnecessarily aggro anyways so whatever. He stays for lunch and gets a tour of her garden.
When they're outside he's like, "You're too good for that idiot. Leave that zero for a hero. Please fuck me. Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please. Before you decide not to at least gimme a kiss so you can see what you're missing." They kiss and it's earth shattering but Oneira's like naw this can't happen between us. Stearanos is all "I'll wait for you forever, there is no one else for me." They literally just met maybe 3 hours ago.
Blah blah blah boring shit happens, their kingdoms are on the verge of war blah blah. Creep goes back to his queen having not accomplished his task, Stearanos asks Oneira to come out of retirement to act as a deterrent to prevent his kingdom from invading. They have sex and they're in love I guess. The deterrent doesn't work and Oneira is forced to kill the king to prevent thousands of lives being lost in needless war and she frees Stearanos from his debts in the process. She then kills herself(ish). He visits her body and seeks to find her in the dream she's lost in, the end.
Honestly, what happened could've been hard-hitting, but it was impossible to give a shit about any of the characters. Throughout, there's an underlying theme of trying to escape the apathy of being a debt slave, primarily by working with your hands to create. I think that theme itself is well done, but not enough to carry an entire book.
Oh, and Stearanos is described as having long, thin braids. His skin color is never described, but he does have scars that are said to be silver. This leads me to believe he is a white man with a head full of long braids and -- sorry I'm gonna hurl. Big dawg's out here looking like this:
(insert image of white guy with long braids)
Unfortunately the cover (terrible) foretold of the story within. They're gonna stop giving me ALCs at this rate. I'm going to walk through the entire synopsis as a dedication to my dislike:
The first 10% is spent lightly detailing how Oneira retired from being a dread sorceress for her kingdom and, wishing to atone for all the death she's dealt, has committed to never kill another living being. She grows her own food and never interacts with other people. During this 10%, 3 mythical creatures find Oneira and become her companions. This will not come to affect any element of the story at any point.
Oneira sneaks into the library of her mortal enemy (nothing personal, they were/are in debt slavery to enemy kingdoms), Stearanos, and steals the book he was reading. It's about cultivating a specific rare variety of rose, and she decides to fuck w him a little bit by upsetting his organization. She ends up sneaking in again to exchange another book, as she's now growing those roses and can't return what she took. They write antagonizing notes back and forth while she steals books and he hasn't yet figured out who she is.
We're past 40% and Oneira has not had a single conversation with a human. Literally nothing has happened. Everything beyond this is firmly in spoilers category.
Her former master, Queen whatever, sends a guy she's completely mentally fucked up to seduce Oneira into returning as her sorceress. He's supposed to be this charming lady-killer so he's just the guy for the job. He shows up on Oneira's doorstep fake injured and, once invited inside, he calls her beautiful and flashes his bare dick at her trenchcoat-style, multiple times. This works on Oneira (lmfao) and they make out but she stops short of fucking him.
A few days pass, dude is still staying w her despite him remaining creepy and annoying as fuck. Suddenly Stearanos shows up wielding fireballs, ready to fight her for her book theft. Then he sees she's like soooo hot and cool and he lets go of that immediately. He was being unnecessarily aggro anyways so whatever. He stays for lunch and gets a tour of her garden.
When they're outside he's like, "You're too good for that idiot. Leave that zero for a hero. Please fuck me. Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please. Before you decide not to at least gimme a kiss so you can see what you're missing." They kiss and it's earth shattering but Oneira's like naw this can't happen between us. Stearanos is all "I'll wait for you forever, there is no one else for me." They literally just met maybe 3 hours ago.
Blah blah blah boring shit happens, their kingdoms are on the verge of war blah blah. Creep goes back to his queen having not accomplished his task, Stearanos asks Oneira to come out of retirement to act as a deterrent to prevent his kingdom from invading. They have sex and they're in love I guess. The deterrent doesn't work and Oneira is forced to kill the king to prevent thousands of lives being lost in needless war and she frees Stearanos from his debts in the process. She then kills herself(ish). He visits her body and seeks to find her in the dream she's lost in, the end.
Honestly, what happened could've been hard-hitting, but it was impossible to give a shit about any of the characters. Throughout, there's an underlying theme of trying to escape the apathy of being a debt slave, primarily by working with your hands to create. I think that theme itself is well done, but not enough to carry an entire book.
Oh, and Stearanos is described as having long, thin braids. His skin color is never described, but he does have scars that are said to be silver. This leads me to believe he is a white man with a head full of long braids and -- sorry I'm gonna hurl. Big dawg's out here looking like this:
(insert image of white guy with long braids)
slow-paced
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
3.5 STARS
The first half is a cozy fantasy slow burn romance between two book lovers. I enjoyed the whimsical writing and feel of the book overall. There were a few spicy parts and some awkward dialogues that were not for me though. Might have enjoyed the middle more if it kept the cozy vibe.
3.5 STARS
The first half is a cozy fantasy slow burn romance between two book lovers. I enjoyed the whimsical writing and feel of the book overall. There were a few spicy parts and some awkward dialogues that were not for me though. Might have enjoyed the middle more if it kept the cozy vibe.