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bookcaptivated's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, and Classism
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Rape
abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
4.0
📱
I had a wonderful time with this book. I loved the sentinel library. I thought the characters were good and I liked the friendships. Personally, I'm waiting for the romances to develop more. While I enjoyed the plot, I did find it predictable and I did see the twist at the end.
I struggled some with the worldbuilding regarding the magic system. I'm hoping that is something explained in the sequel. I also found the pacing to be difficult. There were some parts that were long and other parts that I wanted to read so it that were completely skipped over.
I had a wonderful time with this book. I loved the sentinel library. I thought the characters were good and I liked the friendships. Personally, I'm waiting for the romances to develop more. While I enjoyed the plot, I did find it predictable and I did see the twist at the end.
I struggled some with the worldbuilding regarding the magic system. I'm hoping that is something explained in the sequel. I also found the pacing to be difficult. There were some parts that were long and other parts that I wanted to read so it that were completely skipped over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Rape
adafae's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I will start with I didn’t want to put this book down. The story is beautiful it captures you. Lore the main character is a strong women independent and protective. The story never stagnates it moves and a good pace.
However, there are some negatives which I want to mention. Sometimes the language used is crass and take a leap towards more modern and not fitting with the setting. It also has some descriptions in scenes I would not expect to find in a YA book that make it seem that it might be better suited as the adult fantasy genre. There were also a few times where the wording or sentences structure throw me off or consistencies where changed like the scent of someone changing when mentioned but always said as their familiar scent.However this might be linked to the twist at the end of the story, with Asher, it might make some of the inconsistencies make sense if that was the intention of the author.
Overall I enjoyed the book, I read it in no time and it kept me guessing. I cannot wait for the second book to come outI cannot wait to find out more about Finn and how he is so good at fighting and to see future works by this author.
However, there are some negatives which I want to mention. Sometimes the language used is crass and take a leap towards more modern and not fitting with the setting. It also has some descriptions in scenes I would not expect to find in a YA book that make it seem that it might be better suited as the adult fantasy genre. There were also a few times where the wording or sentences structure throw me off or consistencies where changed like the scent of someone changing when mentioned but always said as their familiar scent.
Overall I enjoyed the book, I read it in no time and it kept me guessing. I cannot wait for the second book to come out
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Rape, Pregnancy, and War
lyndsayscan's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
stardust22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Violence
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Rape
erinreadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Unfortunately, this book was not enjoyable to me. The writing style felt juvenile, full of “telling” rather than “showing”, which made it feel like the author was speaking down to the reader, spelling things out that didn’t need to be spelled out. The worldbuilding was also severely lacking; there wasn’t much explanation about how the magic worked in this world, especially regarding the magical grimoire. The whole thing just felt underdeveloped. The rough storyline was interesting but overall, the writing style just made me cringe.
Read if you like romantasy and if you don’t mind a more blunt, simple writing style.
Read if you like romantasy and if you don’t mind a more blunt, simple writing style.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Misogyny, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
singingshooter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
Really struggled with how choppy this book felt.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Rape
sandreline's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The nicest thing I can say about this was that it was an easy read. Because if it wasn't, I would have DNF'd it.
This reads very much like a YA. But there are explicit sex scenes, which muddies that.
Lore's entire personality is just "charge headfirst into danger, and somehow it turns out fine." Even though we were in her point of view, I got very little sense of her motivations. Her wants, her needs, her strengths and flaws. Her flaws, in particular, are minimal and go largely unaddressed.
I have no idea why everyone around her loves her so much.
She spent her whole life terrified of fae. They killed her father in front of her and oppressed her people. But when one (who has her imprisoned) tells her she can't go to a FESTIVAL, she pouts and then risks her life to steal cookies. I can't. I just can't.
I think she's supposed to be pragmatic and headstrong, but she just comes off as dumb and inconsistent.
And I thought they might set up a cute polycule. It's 2024, who even does love triangles anymore? But it's giving Rhysand and Tamlin, neither of whom I'm terribly fond of.
This reads very much like a YA. But there are explicit sex scenes, which muddies that.
Lore's entire personality is just "charge headfirst into danger, and somehow it turns out fine." Even though we were in her point of view, I got very little sense of her motivations. Her wants, her needs, her strengths and flaws. Her flaws, in particular, are minimal and go largely unaddressed.
I have no idea why everyone around her loves her so much.
She spent her whole life terrified of fae. They killed her father in front of her and oppressed her people. But when one (who has her imprisoned) tells her she can't go to a FESTIVAL, she pouts and then risks her life to steal cookies. I can't. I just can't.
I think she's supposed to be pragmatic and headstrong, but she just comes off as dumb and inconsistent.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
naomi_k's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Sexual content
Minor: War and Alcohol
kstacy91's review against another edition
Librarian here to leave a review on a book I was REALLY looking forward to. This book is poorly edited and written. So much so that it was distracting. The descriptions were all over the place. For example, Lore is speaking with the High Steward about why she’s there and suddenly we get a description of the room and what he looks like. It threw me off completely. Then, I came across the part where she entered the library, which was beautifully written! But after that section, she’s back outside the library again and convincing herself to open the door to the library. I couldn’t push through after that. Though this is marketed towards adults, it’s definitely YA. Yes, there’s sexual content (because I flipped through to find it), but it aligns with current YA trends, descriptions, and patterns that are acceptable for the genre. Overall, the writing is stilted, lacks depth, and consistency. While I think the author has some great ideas, the delivery was so lackluster that any positives were snuffed out instantly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Sexual content