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adventurous
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, Trafficking
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Nothing good is found in a book when it starts with a dedication to booktok.
I will say this is not the worst romantasy book I've read. That title still belongs to Fourth Wing.
However. It is incredibly obvious from the get go that this is Throne of Glass fanfiction. We have a badass woman who's the best assassin in all the land who teams up with a Fae male love interest to take down a tyrannical king. Like you couldn't be farther up SJM's ass if you tried.
My first gripe is that in Blair's world is that offspring of elves and humans are not called half-elves but halflings. Maybe that's trying to do something original but Halfling is so synonymous with Hobbit that I couldn't help but imagine that entire race as 3'5" tall women which made things slightly more entertaining. Imagine how much better the story was Blair went that route.
Now for my serious critiques. Blair has no idea what a character flaw is. Having nightmares of your dead lover accusing you for not keeping your promise is not a character flaw. Making your character turn their self-harm scars into cool elven sigils is not a character flaw. Giving your alcoholic MC a magic potion that keeps her from experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms is not a character flaw.
The story would have been so much better if Keera had gone through actual recovery during the course of the book. Think how much higher the stakes would have been if she's in the middle of a fight and she gets shaky and disoriented. Instead she gets a potion so Blair doesn't have to make Keera's alcoholism a big issue and Keera can get "badass" moments like somersaulting over a bad guy (yes, she actually did this.)There's also the "twist" of Keera being the only surviving member of Elves thought to have died long ago. Wow. Didn't see that one coming.
All female halfings are forced into servitude either by becoming assassins for the king or courtesans. That's cool, l guess. But. There is nothing to keep the order of assassins from taking the initiative and killing the royal family. In all the history of this Order, you mean to tell me not a single person tried to actually kill the king? There is nothing to suggest they're unable to. There's no magic/blood binding to keep them incapable of harming the king. As far as I can tell, they all have free will. Blair does not explain any reason why Keera or Blades before her never attempted it.
This book could have been slightly redeemed in my eyes was if the mysterious Shadow actually turned out to be a woman. But nope. We get a generic Fae guy who's not even interesting. Which leads to another thing is that I don't consider this book to be LGBTQ+ friendly at all. There is one queer couple that's only mentioned and all the others are dead or die in the book.
But the thing that actually sent me into a rage: we do not romantasize self-harm. We do not romanticize self-harm.
I will say this is not the worst romantasy book I've read. That title still belongs to Fourth Wing.
However. It is incredibly obvious from the get go that this is Throne of Glass fanfiction. We have a badass woman who's the best assassin in all the land who teams up with a Fae male love interest to take down a tyrannical king. Like you couldn't be farther up SJM's ass if you tried.
My first gripe is that in Blair's world is that offspring of elves and humans are not called half-elves but halflings. Maybe that's trying to do something original but Halfling is so synonymous with Hobbit that I couldn't help but imagine that entire race as 3'5" tall women which made things slightly more entertaining. Imagine how much better the story was Blair went that route.
Now for my serious critiques. Blair has no idea what a character flaw is. Having nightmares of your dead lover accusing you for not keeping your promise is not a character flaw. Making your character turn their self-harm scars into cool elven sigils is not a character flaw. Giving your alcoholic MC a magic potion that keeps her from experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms is not a character flaw.
The story would have been so much better if Keera had gone through actual recovery during the course of the book. Think how much higher the stakes would have been if she's in the middle of a fight and she gets shaky and disoriented. Instead she gets a potion so Blair doesn't have to make Keera's alcoholism a big issue and Keera can get "badass" moments like somersaulting over a bad guy (yes, she actually did this.)
All female halfings are forced into servitude either by becoming assassins for the king or courtesans. That's cool, l guess. But. There is nothing to keep the order of assassins from taking the initiative and killing the royal family. In all the history of this Order, you mean to tell me not a single person tried to actually kill the king? There is nothing to suggest they're unable to. There's no magic/blood binding to keep them incapable of harming the king. As far as I can tell, they all have free will. Blair does not explain any reason why Keera or Blades before her never attempted it.
This book could have been slightly redeemed in my eyes was if the mysterious Shadow actually turned out to be a woman. But nope. We get a generic Fae guy who's not even interesting. Which leads to another thing is that I don't consider this book to be LGBTQ+ friendly at all. There is one queer couple that's only mentioned and all the others are dead or die in the book.
But the thing that actually sent me into a rage: we do not romantasize self-harm. We do not romanticize self-harm.
WE DO NOT ROMANTICIZE SELF-HARM.
This is not 2012. We do not have a boy kiss self-harm scars and call them beautiful. Self-harm is not beautiful, it is a result of mental illness. My god, Blair, what was in your head when you wrote that? I'm aghast no one spoke against this while it was in editing.
If you want a generically, poorly written, romantasy, SJM fan fiction with a cardboard cutout love interest then this is your book I guess. I only give it a one star because all Halflings in this books are Hobbits and you will not convince me otherwise.
This is not 2012. We do not have a boy kiss self-harm scars and call them beautiful. Self-harm is not beautiful, it is a result of mental illness. My god, Blair, what was in your head when you wrote that? I'm aghast no one spoke against this while it was in editing.
If you want a generically, poorly written, romantasy, SJM fan fiction with a cardboard cutout love interest then this is your book I guess. I only give it a one star because all Halflings in this books are Hobbits and you will not convince me otherwise.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual assault
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm
Moderate: Sexual assault
dark
sad
tense
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So the first third of the book was very depressing, focusing on our protagonist living the American dream: doing a shitty job they don't like to barely live and to drown their sorrows in alcohol, all while harming a lot of people.
She then turns her life around by quitting alcohol (good for her) and siding with a rebellious group to eat the rich.
This is all accompanied by a very icky straight romance which is not icky because it's straight (although that is a sad part because i was hoping for a sapphic romance but that only exists in a short flashback) but because the dude forces himself on her all the time and the only chemistry they have is some weird interaction between their types of magic that acts as an aphrodisiac making them horny for each other.She still somehow falls in horny because idk if you can call drug addled make outs love
Then the book also fails to close its main arc during the book but fuck I'm not buying the second book.
Still 2.25, because the unfinished story got kinda interesting in the second half
This is all accompanied by a very icky straight romance which is not icky because it's straight (although that is a sad part because i was hoping for a sapphic romance but that only exists in a short flashback) but because the dude forces himself on her all the time and the only chemistry they have is some weird interaction between their types of magic that acts as an aphrodisiac making them horny for each other.
Then the book also fails to close its main arc during the book but fuck I'm not buying the second book.
Still 2.25, because the unfinished story got kinda interesting in the second half
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
3.5 ⭐️
It was interesting enough to keep me going, but fairly slow. I have higher hopes for the second, hoping this was more world/plot building and that we will have more excitement in book 2 because I do enjoy the plot of this series.
It was interesting enough to keep me going, but fairly slow. I have higher hopes for the second, hoping this was more world/plot building and that we will have more excitement in book 2 because I do enjoy the plot of this series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Self harm, Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
I was not expecting this book to be so unique, I thought it would just be a Romantasy. But it’s so much more dialogues about racism, addiction, slavery. Very well done and interesting. I’m excited to read the second book.
Fantasy, Enemies to Lovers, Character Development, 2 🔥
“And still he found beauty in the darkness of it, in my light and my shadows.”
Fantasy, Enemies to Lovers, Character Development, 2 🔥
“And still he found beauty in the darkness of it, in my light and my shadows.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I loved every minute of this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Slavery
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Self harm
Minor: Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
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
Listened to this as an audiobook and finished it in like a day and a half, parts of it weren’t exactly my jam but I found the exploration of themes like (de)colonization and addiction in a fantasy context really interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Torture
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Violence, Colonisation, War
I was looking forward to this book but, even though I’m almost done with it, I just can’t keep doing. The writing is a little repetitive, the characters aren’t as compelling as I typically enjoy, and the love subplot isn’t my jam. Ultimately it just isn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual assault
Minor: Torture
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
The pacing of this book is a little slow, but it’s totally worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm
Moderate: Sexual assault