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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
No one came, so instead, I grew claws and fangs and freed myself.
Contains spoilers for The Book of Azrael.
3.5⭐ rounded up to 4. I had really high hopes for this one, because the worldbuilding and plot have so much potential, but unfortunately the author lost me with an unbearable FMC and overlong books.
❤️ Interesting worldbuilding and lore
❤️ Side characters and foul-mouthed cinnamon-roll MMC
❤️ Villain arc and cliffhanger ending
❤️ Trauma and mental health rep
❌ Unbearable FMC
❌ Too much foreshadowing
❌ Miscommunication trope
❌ Much, much, much too long
Trigger warnings: lots of violence, blood and gore, death and grief, murder, torture, war, injury detail, emotional and physical abuse, toxic relationship, PTSD, fire and fire injury, kidnapping and confinement, sexual assault, etc.
Plot:
Let me sum up this +600-page book in a few words: A lock on a door in a house rattled. Add “and” at the beginning of the sentence here and there, and there you have it! The end.
Samkiel is oh-so-patient while Dianna throws temper tantrums. The plot is completely set aside to focus on fluff and to stretch the slow burn. About 60% in, Dianna becomes a marshmallow, and everyone is ok with the horrible things she’s done and will stop at nothing to protect her… I’m sorry, WHAT? (Except Vincent, the only character who has a bit of common sense). Dianna and Samkiel dream of the future, and Roccurem the fate is being cryptic about said future. There is so much foreshadowing that the twists and turns don’t really come as a surprise. The last 100 pages and the ending were great, though.
While I think many authors gloss over or speed up the grief / self-destruction parts, there was simply too much pain and guilt and self-disgust and victimization and rampage (and not enough consequences). At some point, we get it. There’s no need to repeat the same things 238956 times with a few different words.
Characters:
While I absolutely loved most secondary characters (e.g., The Hand, Camilla, and daddy Roccurem), both MCs got on my nerves. I love a good villain arc, but reading about Dianna’s temper tantrums for the first +60% of the book annoyed me to no end. This part of the story shouldn’t have been more than 20% of the book, but it dragged on and on. This also impacted my appreciation of Samkiel’s character, because I just wanted him to drop it and fall in love with someone else at some point. The whole storyline made both of them sound so selfish and immature. Urgh. I loved reading about Neverra/Logan and Cameron/Xavier. The tension, angst, and queer romance was a nice addition.
Writing:
Anacolutha and zeugma bonanza! Some parts felt like they hadn’t been edited, and I had to read many sentences more than once to make sure I understood. Phew. Also, if I read one more time about a rattling lock on a door, I’ll riot.
Follow me on Instagram: @bibi.reads.writes
Contains spoilers for The Book of Azrael.
3.5⭐ rounded up to 4. I had really high hopes for this one, because the worldbuilding and plot have so much potential, but unfortunately the author lost me with an unbearable FMC and overlong books.
❤️ Interesting worldbuilding and lore
❤️ Side characters and foul-mouthed cinnamon-roll MMC
❤️ Villain arc and cliffhanger ending
❤️ Trauma and mental health rep
❌ Unbearable FMC
❌ Too much foreshadowing
❌ Miscommunication trope
❌ Much, much, much too long
Trigger warnings: lots of violence, blood and gore, death and grief, murder, torture, war, injury detail, emotional and physical abuse, toxic relationship, PTSD, fire and fire injury, kidnapping and confinement, sexual assault, etc.
Plot:
Let me sum up this +600-page book in a few words: A lock on a door in a house rattled. Add “and” at the beginning of the sentence here and there, and there you have it! The end.
Samkiel is oh-so-patient while Dianna throws temper tantrums. The plot is completely set aside to focus on fluff and to stretch the slow burn. About 60% in, Dianna becomes a marshmallow, and everyone is ok with the horrible things she’s done and will stop at nothing to protect her… I’m sorry, WHAT? (Except Vincent, the only character who has a bit of common sense). Dianna and Samkiel dream of the future, and Roccurem the fate is being cryptic about said future. There is so much foreshadowing that the twists and turns don’t really come as a surprise. The last 100 pages and the ending were great, though.
While I think many authors gloss over or speed up the grief / self-destruction parts, there was simply too much pain and guilt and self-disgust and victimization and rampage (and not enough consequences). At some point, we get it. There’s no need to repeat the same things 238956 times with a few different words.
Characters:
While I absolutely loved most secondary characters (e.g., The Hand, Camilla, and daddy Roccurem), both MCs got on my nerves. I love a good villain arc, but reading about Dianna’s temper tantrums for the first +60% of the book annoyed me to no end. This part of the story shouldn’t have been more than 20% of the book, but it dragged on and on. This also impacted my appreciation of Samkiel’s character, because I just wanted him to drop it and fall in love with someone else at some point. The whole storyline made both of them sound so selfish and immature. Urgh. I loved reading about Neverra/Logan and Cameron/Xavier. The tension, angst, and queer romance was a nice addition.
Writing:
Anacolutha and zeugma bonanza! Some parts felt like they hadn’t been edited, and I had to read many sentences more than once to make sure I understood. Phew. Also, if I read one more time about a rattling lock on a door, I’ll riot.
Follow me on Instagram: @bibi.reads.writes
holy shit, i was raging in the first half, i was so mad and hurt but like i get it, BUT THE SECOND HALF HOLY SHIT OH MYGOD. IM SAT, IM ON EDGE FUCK ME
39% in and I tried. I really did! The books started out good! Really enjoyed the flashbacks for the simple reason that it provided more information on what happened in book 1, that book 1 couldn’t have been bothered with actually mentioning. It was nice to know what was going on in the background of book 1. Besides that, it’s a lot of repetition and Dianna’s heart shattering constantly. Just when you think it can’t break more, there is a piece left that did in fact break more. Also Dianna, girl…I get it. You are grieving, but killing innocent humans to get stronger to kill others is not the way. Also, god king…she is literally killing your family and the people you are sworn to protect and ya just don’t care?? What?
What made me DNF is when Dianna did go all badass looking for the map. You know, she breaks in and destroys the city. So god king traps her and she is chained up, right? So now this is the part where Dianna comes to terms with what she has been doing and how she is grieving, right? This is the character growth part. The montage. She has to work to get everyone to forgive her. She atones for killing hundreds (thousands?) of innocent humans. She teams up with the fam bam and they come up with a plan to kickass! Right? Right?! No. Not even a little bit. Reggie brings the dream eaters, puts everyone to sleep and breaks her out. But not before she calmly goes and grabs the map (without blowing anything up), kissing god king, and quietly leaves. Like WTF was that whole scene for? She could have done that in the first place, no need to break things and fight…ugh. Also, they need to leave Vincent alone. I am on his side.
Two stars for explaining what was going on in book 1…kind of.
What made me DNF is when Dianna did go all badass looking for the map. You know, she breaks in and destroys the city. So god king traps her and she is chained up, right? So now this is the part where Dianna comes to terms with what she has been doing and how she is grieving, right? This is the character growth part. The montage. She has to work to get everyone to forgive her. She atones for killing hundreds (thousands?) of innocent humans. She teams up with the fam bam and they come up with a plan to kickass! Right? Right?! No. Not even a little bit. Reggie brings the dream eaters, puts everyone to sleep and breaks her out. But not before she calmly goes and grabs the map (without blowing anything up), kissing god king, and quietly leaves. Like WTF was that whole scene for? She could have done that in the first place, no need to break things and fight…ugh. Also, they need to leave Vincent alone. I am on his side.
Two stars for explaining what was going on in book 1…kind of.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-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
Okay, it’s better than the first. The build up on all accounts takes for EVER. and soooo many “self hate” issues. I’m gonna finish it because I’m invested but, this just isn’t my favorite series.
adventurous
challenging
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
dark
emotional
funny
sad
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
adventurous
funny
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
adventurous
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
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
Eh. 🤷🏼♀️ Love the characters and world, but holy hell, it did not need to be 600+ pages only to not hit solidly at the end.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A