Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've been given a free arc from Netgalley for an honest review all opinions are my own.
I love the book cover. It gives me Sailor Moon vibes with the drawing style!
I liked this book, but sometimes the writing had me a little confused.
I liked the story and the characters.
I think this book is a solid 4 stars from me.
I love the book cover. It gives me Sailor Moon vibes with the drawing style!
I liked this book, but sometimes the writing had me a little confused.
I liked the story and the characters.
I think this book is a solid 4 stars from me.
Special thanks to the authors, publisher & NetGalley for the review copy. All views and opinions expressed are honest and my own.
A beautiful cover, for a beautifully intricate story about friends & family, sacrifice and finding yourself.
This story starts with Else who is a Chinese descendent of the God of Medicine. She’s a middle child and mainly forgotten by her family but she’s currently posing as a medical calligrapher well below her skills. She’s sacrificing and hiding her true magical abilities to protect her eldest brother from being killed by their youngest brother.
While Elle works hidden without a social life she meets Luc who is a French half eleven fixer. Luc works directly for the head of the agency, practically raised by him as his right hand man. Luc has a dangerous personality and lacks a decent relationship with his colleagues mainly due to misunderstandings
I liked the idea of the world and setting. The world was interesting with a mix of multiple folklore and mythologies. I liked the concept however, I couldn’t really get into it and sometimes had difficulties understanding it. It might be because I haven’t read a lot of folklore and mythologies though.
The characters were amazing. I absolutely loved Tony’s character and he wasn’t even the main character! Probably not his past given how it was but then again there wasn’t any clarity or confirmation on it. I felt that Elle and Luc’s characters were great but probably wouldn’t hit my Top 50 favorite Book Character list. They both had their good sides and their evil badass moments however, sometimes I found that they made ridiculous decisions for being labeled “smart” or “dangerous”.
This story felt more like romance than action or adventure to me. I liked how the story started with subtle hints of Elle’s family drama. It felt like a mystery with sprinkled hints of upcoming action. However, that wasn’t the highlight of the story and had a dull finish to it. To be fair, none of the agents’ missions were and I felt they were given a backseat. Instead the relationships were key. Building and earning trust, unconditional love and understanding as well as just being there in the time of need. There are also some very graphic sex scenes in this book.
Overall, this was a good book. It had a slow start with some awkward conversations and dialogues but it did pick up into a good story with a focused plot. I didn’t like some of the decisions these characters made and I found some characters were just there without any real purpose except to play their part in a scene. I would have probably loved this more if it were a series and if the romance was built over time including the characters overcoming their grief and trauma.
Read more reviews @ Mystic's Review Shelf
A beautiful cover, for a beautifully intricate story about friends & family, sacrifice and finding yourself.
This story starts with Else who is a Chinese descendent of the God of Medicine. She’s a middle child and mainly forgotten by her family but she’s currently posing as a medical calligrapher well below her skills. She’s sacrificing and hiding her true magical abilities to protect her eldest brother from being killed by their youngest brother.
While Elle works hidden without a social life she meets Luc who is a French half eleven fixer. Luc works directly for the head of the agency, practically raised by him as his right hand man. Luc has a dangerous personality and lacks a decent relationship with his colleagues mainly due to misunderstandings
I liked the idea of the world and setting. The world was interesting with a mix of multiple folklore and mythologies. I liked the concept however, I couldn’t really get into it and sometimes had difficulties understanding it. It might be because I haven’t read a lot of folklore and mythologies though.
The characters were amazing. I absolutely loved Tony’s character and he wasn’t even the main character! Probably not his past given how it was but then again there wasn’t any clarity or confirmation on it. I felt that Elle and Luc’s characters were great but probably wouldn’t hit my Top 50 favorite Book Character list. They both had their good sides and their evil badass moments however, sometimes I found that they made ridiculous decisions for being labeled “smart” or “dangerous”.
This story felt more like romance than action or adventure to me. I liked how the story started with subtle hints of Elle’s family drama. It felt like a mystery with sprinkled hints of upcoming action. However, that wasn’t the highlight of the story and had a dull finish to it. To be fair, none of the agents’ missions were and I felt they were given a backseat. Instead the relationships were key. Building and earning trust, unconditional love and understanding as well as just being there in the time of need. There are also some very graphic sex scenes in this book.
Overall, this was a good book. It had a slow start with some awkward conversations and dialogues but it did pick up into a good story with a focused plot. I didn’t like some of the decisions these characters made and I found some characters were just there without any real purpose except to play their part in a scene. I would have probably loved this more if it were a series and if the romance was built over time including the characters overcoming their grief and trauma.
Read more reviews @ Mystic's Review Shelf
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fantasy romance with magic, language, and love at its center. Luc and Elle are really wonderful characters, and it's lovely to see them grow together and fight for what they want. I would recommend this romance to anyone looking for a romance with more teeth.
It's a very well-written paranormal fantasy that takes you to a world of intrigue and romance. The beginning is a little slower for my taste but I think it's perfect in this case because it gives you a chance to get into the story. I especially loved how it combines so many cultures and languages. It's one of the best books I have read with diverse characters.
Elle is more powerful than she admits to anyone, most of all to herself. In the past, she did something that is haunting her and she thinks happiness isn't for her. That is until Luc comes into her life and proves her wrong.
Lucien is working for a man he can't respect doing a job he hates. There is no way out, though. That is until he has a reason to try harder. Now, he is determined to change his circumstances and help Elle regain her happiness.
I'm a fan of Asian Fantasy and the premise of this book is what piqued my interest firts. Then I read more about it and knew I would love it and I wasn't wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and loved every character.
Elle is more powerful than she admits to anyone, most of all to herself. In the past, she did something that is haunting her and she thinks happiness isn't for her. That is until Luc comes into her life and proves her wrong.
Lucien is working for a man he can't respect doing a job he hates. There is no way out, though. That is until he has a reason to try harder. Now, he is determined to change his circumstances and help Elle regain her happiness.
I'm a fan of Asian Fantasy and the premise of this book is what piqued my interest firts. Then I read more about it and knew I would love it and I wasn't wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and loved every character.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Gaslighting
Minor: Child death, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
• 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 •
𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Bitter Medicine
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Mia Tsai
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ☆☆☆☆ 4/5
𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.
This was such a great read!! Romance, spice and a magical world that I could not get enough of. The relationship between the two main characters was paced so well. There was a buildup of trust, friendship and love whilst they were also finding themselves and learned to love themselves. That scene where they made love for the first time was amazing, it had heat and emotions. It was just so well balanced it made me FEEL. I've studied Chinese and it was so much fun to recognize words. After reading the author note at the end, the way it was done made so much more sense and the thought behind it is just so beautiful. It gave the story another dimension. The pacing was not as strong throughout the whole book and I'm still left with some questions I would like answered. I do think the ending was prefect for these characters even if I would have thought the author would go in a different direction. The author kept me on my toes. I would love to read more stories in this world and I would definitely pick up more books from this author. I highly recommend reading this book if you love a paranormal adventure.
A lot of my reviews are also available with photo at my Bookstagram: @justmyfantasyworld
A lot of my reviews are also available with photo at my Bookstagram: @justmyfantasyworld
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an advance copy!
tl;dr
Romance sits front and center in this urban fantasy with two smart and likable adult leads.
About
Elle is a low-level employee at Roland & Riddle, making simple magical glyphs for members of the agency. Luc is the agency's top security expert, favored by Oberon himself. When Luc starts coming to Elle for glyphs for his mission, feelings blossom on both sides. But both sides also carry a lot of secrets - Elle's hiding the true extent of her power, and Luc's still living with the fallout of an old assignment gone wrong. There's also the small matter of Elle's murderous younger brother, and Luc's latest assignment to hunt him down...
Thoughts
Congratulations to fans of pining, this one's for you. The pining is incredibly strong here, with both characters quietly and powerfully into each other before the first page, and a lot of longing thoughts even after their mid-book hookup. I typically read fantasy books with romance in them, but this is most certainly a romance book with fantasy in it. Our lead couple's relationship is firmly fixed as the focus of the book, which is a surprising thing to say about a piece that also includes family drama amongst descendants of gods, and a fight against the fae king Oberon. And yet, it works. In some ways, it feels as if we're getting a slice of insight into our two leads - all the things that mattered before do not matter quite so much in the presence of a loved one.
Elle's arc learning to love herself first before she allows herself to love Luc was incredibly painful in a very real and relatable way (I was not expecting to feel so attacked by this book, but here we are). I love that she's already extremely smart and capable, and she knows it. I also love that a plot twist in the middle could have turned into my least favorite trope - bad communication - and Elle navigated it incredibly well and made no assumptions. I genuinely cheered.
Luc is a likable lead as well, although we get significantly less insight into his story. The narration did a good job of highlighting who he is at work vs who he is with Elle, and his own struggle with who he wants to be always. Also, I will never not be excited about an elf who also cooks.
I think my only "complaint" about the book is that it's written in third person present tense, which is for some reason really hard for me to get into. It took a couple false starts from me before I could actually finish this, but I'm glad I did.
tl;dr
Romance sits front and center in this urban fantasy with two smart and likable adult leads.
About
Elle is a low-level employee at Roland & Riddle, making simple magical glyphs for members of the agency. Luc is the agency's top security expert, favored by Oberon himself. When Luc starts coming to Elle for glyphs for his mission, feelings blossom on both sides. But both sides also carry a lot of secrets - Elle's hiding the true extent of her power, and Luc's still living with the fallout of an old assignment gone wrong. There's also the small matter of Elle's murderous younger brother, and Luc's latest assignment to hunt him down...
Thoughts
Congratulations to fans of pining, this one's for you. The pining is incredibly strong here, with both characters quietly and powerfully into each other before the first page, and a lot of longing thoughts even after their mid-book hookup. I typically read fantasy books with romance in them, but this is most certainly a romance book with fantasy in it. Our lead couple's relationship is firmly fixed as the focus of the book, which is a surprising thing to say about a piece that also includes family drama amongst descendants of gods, and a fight against the fae king Oberon. And yet, it works. In some ways, it feels as if we're getting a slice of insight into our two leads - all the things that mattered before do not matter quite so much in the presence of a loved one.
Elle's arc learning to love herself first before she allows herself to love Luc was incredibly painful in a very real and relatable way (I was not expecting to feel so attacked by this book, but here we are). I love that she's already extremely smart and capable, and she knows it. I also love that a plot twist in the middle could have turned into my least favorite trope - bad communication - and Elle navigated it incredibly well and made no assumptions. I genuinely cheered.
Luc is a likable lead as well, although we get significantly less insight into his story. The narration did a good job of highlighting who he is at work vs who he is with Elle, and his own struggle with who he wants to be always. Also, I will never not be excited about an elf who also cooks.
I think my only "complaint" about the book is that it's written in third person present tense, which is for some reason really hard for me to get into. It took a couple false starts from me before I could actually finish this, but I'm glad I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief
Minor: Child death, Racism