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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
dark
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
4/5 ⭐️
Ophelia is a necromancer. In order to find her sister, she enters a deadly contest - Phantasma.
After much back and forth, I decided to give this paranormal, dark romance-fantasy a go. I try to stay away from horror, and this was on the verge of becoming too scary. The book initially depicts quite the horror scene, but that fades into the background quickly.
There are no particular standouts in terms of writing, plot or world building, which might sound bad but it's an easy read and a good time. And sometimes, you need just that. It started off slower than I'd hoped, but bonus points for being a standalone.
Ophelia is a necromancer. In order to find her sister, she enters a deadly contest - Phantasma.
After much back and forth, I decided to give this paranormal, dark romance-fantasy a go. I try to stay away from horror, and this was on the verge of becoming too scary. The book initially depicts quite the horror scene, but that fades into the background quickly.
There are no particular standouts in terms of writing, plot or world building, which might sound bad but it's an easy read and a good time. And sometimes, you need just that. It started off slower than I'd hoped, but bonus points for being a standalone.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It took me a little while to get into this one. I literally had to put it down and come back to it. But it was worth the second chance because of Blackwell. Although I do have to say this is probably the third series this year I have read with the same sort of ending so I saw that coming but I was still okay with it.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book had a strong start and then fell apart once the tournament started.
For one, this book is set in an undetermined time in New Orleans. Since the women wear gowns and corsets and the mentions of carriages, I'm guessing this is supposed to be set in the late 1800s or early 1900s. There is a mention of a car so I'm leaning beginning of the twentieth century.
But all the characters speak like they're from the 2020s. I'm not a huge stickler for dialogue needing to be 100% accurate to the era in period pieces but if your dialogue is completely anachronistic then I'm pulled right out of it.
The two most egregious examples of this I hated where:
1. The overuse of the word fuck and its various forms. I say fuck on the daily but when characters tend to overuse it and especially when trying to seem intimidating, it gets old really fast. I beg authors who want to set their novels in different time periods to please do so basic research and see what the popular curse words were. Maybe you can introduce some new vocabulary into the lexicon.
2. Genevieve describing Sinclair as "hot." Come on, we can't use handsome or dashing? No woman in this time period would use hot to describe an attractive man.
Then there's the romance or lack thereof. This was more insta-lust than romance. Blackwell was okay. But he and Ophelia have sex every single moment they get and most of those scenes were laughably bad. Also pretty sure 'pussy' was not a slang term for vagina in the early 1900s.
The twist was painfully obvious and the backstory for it was hamfisted in like three pages?We didn't even get the original love's name. She is forever nameless. Otherwise I guess he's cheating on Ophelia?
The solution to breaking the curse also didn't make any sense?Like why would the king put the woman's heart in a locket and give it to a line or mortal women on the off chance they might, might come in contact with Blackwell someday. It doesn't make any sense when you really think about it. And then there's Sinclair. I'm not entirely sure why Blackwell hates him? Sinclair helped him hide his lover from the King. And then Sinclair was punished alongside Blackwell for the deceit. Sinclair's hatred is justified but Blackwell's???
Maybe I missed it. There was a lot I forgot the moment I read it. Someone pointed out this novel is Caravel except with demons and devils and they're not wrong. If I was a betting person, I'd put up money for the sequel being how Genevieve gets together with Sinclair.
I gave this a two for really well done OCD representation.
For one, this book is set in an undetermined time in New Orleans. Since the women wear gowns and corsets and the mentions of carriages, I'm guessing this is supposed to be set in the late 1800s or early 1900s. There is a mention of a car so I'm leaning beginning of the twentieth century.
But all the characters speak like they're from the 2020s. I'm not a huge stickler for dialogue needing to be 100% accurate to the era in period pieces but if your dialogue is completely anachronistic then I'm pulled right out of it.
The two most egregious examples of this I hated where:
1. The overuse of the word fuck and its various forms. I say fuck on the daily but when characters tend to overuse it and especially when trying to seem intimidating, it gets old really fast. I beg authors who want to set their novels in different time periods to please do so basic research and see what the popular curse words were. Maybe you can introduce some new vocabulary into the lexicon.
2. Genevieve describing Sinclair as "hot." Come on, we can't use handsome or dashing? No woman in this time period would use hot to describe an attractive man.
Then there's the romance or lack thereof. This was more insta-lust than romance. Blackwell was okay. But he and Ophelia have sex every single moment they get and most of those scenes were laughably bad. Also pretty sure 'pussy' was not a slang term for vagina in the early 1900s.
The twist was painfully obvious and the backstory for it was hamfisted in like three pages?
The solution to breaking the curse also didn't make any sense?
Maybe I missed it. There was a lot I forgot the moment I read it. Someone pointed out this novel is Caravel except with demons and devils and they're not wrong. If I was a betting person, I'd put up money for the sequel being how Genevieve gets together with Sinclair.
I gave this a two for really well done OCD representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Death, Sexism
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes