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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
4.25 ⭐️
the beginning was slow but i pushed through it and i dont regret it.
i loved willow and caz.
the beginning was slow but i pushed through it and i dont regret it.
i loved willow and caz.
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
I started this because I saw someone say the mmc is like Thomas Shelby soo yeah☺️
I started this because I saw someone say the mmc is like Thomas Shelby soo yeah☺️
adventurous
mysterious
Loveable characters:
Yes
This book was everything! It had me hooked from the very beginning. The world-building was immersive and vivid—I could visualize everything so clearly, which made it easy to get completely lost in the story. 😍
The tension and action were perfectly paced, and the chemistry between Caz and Willow? Electric. Their dynamic had me fully invested, and I couldn’t get enough of them.
If you’re looking for a fantasy romance with strong characters, an engaging plot, and just the right amount of spice and suspense—this is it. I’m so excited to continue this series. HIGHLY recommend!
📚✨ Read it NOW!
📚✨ Read it NOW!
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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:
Complicated
⭐ 1/5
🌶 1.5/5
Unfortunately, I won’t be continuing this series. I was initially intrigued by the concept—two worlds colliding and the characters discovering their mates—but the execution didn’t match my expectations. While this is technically fantasy, it leans more toward alternate realities than the immersive world-building I was hoping for.
Content-wise, there are several issues that made this a difficult read for me. There are instances of overt racism—specifically, the FMC is called a racial slur (“darkie”) without significant pushback from the narrative or characters. The violence in Caz’s world goes far beyond casual gun violence including victim-blaming when a FMC’s clothing is cited as a reason for her assault (not assaulted by the MMC, but still deeply problematic as he’s the one who mentioned how she was dressed).
Drug use is also prevalent throughout the book, with both the FMC and MMC using substances. That’s a personal turn-off for me, and it added to my discomfort with the story.
Stylistically, I didn’t love the heavy use of “telling” rather than “showing.” A lot of the world-building and backstory are conveyed through books the characters read, which removed me from the story. Other reviews mention grammar issues—I typically don’t mind that—but the writing overall didn’t pull me in.
There is a cliffhanger, but it wasn’t strong enough to make me overlook the elements I struggled with in order to continue the series.
That said, I did enjoy the telepathic bond and how it enhanced the intimacy between the characters. The mind-speak element added a unique layer to their connection and made the spicy scenes a bit more engaging.
Ultimately, this just wasn’t for me.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of my biggest pet peeves in books is when the first book in a series is just a set-up for the rest and has no real storyline. This book was exactly that. It could have been brought down to 200-300 pages at the start of a longer romantasy book. I haven't read the next book, and I won't, but I'm pretty confident the same storyline of those 2 could be put together in one 500-600 page book. That being said not everything in this book was terrible. I'll start with what I liked.
What I liked:
The world was fairly interesting, though the worldbuilding wasn't strong. I would have liked a map and less info-dumping. The information was given in big blocks with the excuse of reading a history book or stuff like that. This is not only boring but also unoriginal to read. In this specific case it also didn't make sense that Caz, a Monarch, didn't know the history (that is obviously important) to his own continent. Furthermore, while it's repeatedly mentioned that Caz is busy as Monarch of Blackwater, he barely does anything for his land and constantly abandons his duties to deal with his connection to Willow.
I did like the Tether concept (+/- soulmates) and multiple worlds, I am curious on how they would be connected. Moreover the Mournwrath plot (someone who hunts the Tethers) was interesting. Sadly, this was only a minor part of the book and felt more like an afterthought. However I assume it will be more present in the following books.
I like the "world-switching" concept, it's what drew me to this book in the first place. Too bad there were so few parts on earth, because that honestly interested me more than the other world. I read that they're going on earth in the second book, but I don't think I have the willpower to read that.
The dual pov made the book more interesting.
I did like the Tether concept (+/- soulmates) and multiple worlds, I am curious on how they would be connected. Moreover the Mournwrath plot (someone who hunts the Tethers) was interesting. Sadly, this was only a minor part of the book and felt more like an afterthought. However I assume it will be more present in the following books.
I like the "world-switching" concept, it's what drew me to this book in the first place. Too bad there were so few parts on earth, because that honestly interested me more than the other world. I read that they're going on earth in the second book, but I don't think I have the willpower to read that.
The dual pov made the book more interesting.
What I didn't like:
Now for what I disliked, and there's more of it. Since I'm not recommending this book, there will be unmarked spoilers.
The characters:
At first I thought I felt indifferent, but I actually dislike them. Willow is fine, to be honest there's nothing wrong with her. Same for all the side characters, while I didn't particularly like anybody, I saw some fanart on the author's account which was pretty cool. I didn't like the relations between characters, they were boring and all conversations felt surface-level.
I only strongly disliked one person: Caz. Caz would be fine except for a few moments. The "gang" as I'll call them go to party in Alora (they are in a different territory for information). Willow leaves with Juniper, and they get in trouble. This is how Caz thinks about the whole thing:
I only strongly disliked one person: Caz. Caz would be fine except for a few moments. The "gang" as I'll call them go to party in Alora (they are in a different territory for information). Willow leaves with Juniper, and they get in trouble. This is how Caz thinks about the whole thing:
"Honestly I'm not surprised there was trouble tonight with how she and Juniper went out. They weren't dressed the classy way. It was clear they were looking for good time, which was an invitation to let anyone in."
Isn't he just so dreamy? On a serious note, this is a serious problem. Caz perfectly portrays a big issue for rape-victims, which is the societal idea that you were "asking for it" if you are dressed a certain way. It's disgusting and made me dislike him from early on. What only made it worse is that later in the book Willow almost gets raped. It's part of a disgusting scene that made me feel sick while reading.
For context, this was towards the end of the book and 2 people were taken. They had to discover where they were hidden and to do that they sent Willow in, disguised as a whore. She had to seduce the leader of the "Rippies", namely Rami. He could tell her where the 2 are. My first issue lies with the fact that this was completely and utterly unnecessary, it feels like a ploy by the author to have Caz "save" Willow, in my opinion it is a misuse of the topic. I don't think every book needs to discuss rape at length, but if it's just used as a plot device followed almost immediately by sex, the topic deserves more careful handling.
But that's not my only issue with this scene. As I said it made me sick to read, mostly because it was clear how uncomfortable Willow was in the situation even before it escalated. The reason this was unnecessary is because once things start to go bad (Willow is also drugged), Caz just barges in. It's obvious Willow wasn't necessary and maybe it would have been a bit more complicated because she confirmed the location of the 2, but it still would have worked. Caz even says she doesn't have to do this before she goes in. The scene is explicit and it goes as far as Rami pulling down her pants and underwear and unzipping his own trousers. Then Caz comes in and shoots him in the head.
This scene is used to show 2 things, to Caz that he actually cares about her and to Willow that Garrett (her situationship (?) from earth) might become abusive. The only way it deals with the aftermath of almost being raped is Caz saying to Willow "You have to stop thinking about it". Wow Caz, what wonderful advice I'm sure she hadn't thought about that before.
But wait, there's more! Caz is in some trouble because he killed Rami, another Monarch, which is forbidden. He talks about the situation with a side character, and that character points out that Caz knew that Rami has forced himself on women before, but he never took action. Look, I know you can't be everybody's savior, I get that obviously one person can't do everything. But this only shows that Caz doesn't actually care about the women being raped, he even says so himself "it wasn't just about that" (that he killed Rami). He confirms himself that he acted that way because she is his "Tether". Caz is in a powerful position, one of the few Monarchs in Valkeeli (it's unclear how many there are but I'm assuming 5-10 max), so he could report Rami to The Council (the highest power in that world), especially because they (The Council) later admit it is quite practical for them that Rami is dead, as he was a nuisance anyway. Yet, there is no mention of Caz reporting him in the past. This may have bothered me less if there wasn't the previous comment about women's clothes.
The glamorisation of gun-use and violent societies:
In Caz's world, Valkeeli, there is a lot of violence. It is the way he rules over Blackwater (his territory) and is mostly portrayed as something good. The main character, Willow, explains that in "her world" (earth) the police and government hand out punishments. The reaction to that is that not a lot of justice is probably served, and Willow says yes. I don't have an issue with that statement, it is true that the American system has a lot of flaws (in my opinion), but I do not think that having even more violence will fix that. Caz uses a lot of guns, and that's framed positively (although a shock at first). Caz even gives a gun to Willow, who has no experience, which is a perfect way to hurt everybody including yourself. I am not for guns, and in this book it felt very pro a violent society where people take matters "into their own hands". Of course this is my interpretation, but it bothered me throughout.
Caz's agression towards other men is also always excused. One time Willow reprimanded Caz because he was rude to an old man and killed him. Of course it turns out that that man was a pedophile who had many victims, including one of the side characters. Afterwards Willow feels bad for assuming Caz did it with no reason, but her thought process was totally logical if you look at the way he acts. He does kill innocent people if they bother him or his plans. Another time Caz is rude to Alexi (hotel staff basically), just because he's jealous. And of course Alexi turns out to be a traitor.
Another issue I have with the world is that Caz essentially is the political system, it's an autocracy within your territory and once again this isn't portrayed as bad. Sure, it's mentioned that it's a big responsibility (so that we can pity Caz), but that's where the discussion stops. Not once is it mentioned how this is the perfect climate for corruption. Especially because corruption is discussed in the context of police on earth. And a book doesn't need to discuss every societal issue at length, but in this book a lot weren't discussed at all, not even a few sentences. And it's not that the author is incapable of doing it because she discusses the issues with racism (shortly) on earth and in Valkeeli. So I wonder why she couldn't have had a bit of condemnation for the other issues as well.
Caz's agression towards other men is also always excused. One time Willow reprimanded Caz because he was rude to an old man and killed him. Of course it turns out that that man was a pedophile who had many victims, including one of the side characters. Afterwards Willow feels bad for assuming Caz did it with no reason, but her thought process was totally logical if you look at the way he acts. He does kill innocent people if they bother him or his plans. Another time Caz is rude to Alexi (hotel staff basically), just because he's jealous. And of course Alexi turns out to be a traitor.
Another issue I have with the world is that Caz essentially is the political system, it's an autocracy within your territory and once again this isn't portrayed as bad. Sure, it's mentioned that it's a big responsibility (so that we can pity Caz), but that's where the discussion stops. Not once is it mentioned how this is the perfect climate for corruption. Especially because corruption is discussed in the context of police on earth. And a book doesn't need to discuss every societal issue at length, but in this book a lot weren't discussed at all, not even a few sentences. And it's not that the author is incapable of doing it because she discusses the issues with racism (shortly) on earth and in Valkeeli. So I wonder why she couldn't have had a bit of condemnation for the other issues as well.
The writing style: over-explaining
It feels like the author thinks she is explaining the world to children. Especially when Willow discusses the earth with Caz. Because everything is said so literally it feels a bit performative. Like the author wanted to discuss these topics, but wasn't sure how to put them in the story, so she just made the characters talk about them.
An inconsistency I also disliked was the Tether being referred to as "mates" without explanation more than halfway through the book. This felt confusing to me because before it was exclusively referred to as the (Cold) Tether. I admit this is more of a nitpicking issue. Another smaller issue I have is drugs (specifically weed) are portrayed in a mostly positive light, in both cases being how Willow made it to the other world (I think, not 100% sure). Caz also constantly smokes "bloom", which is the Valkeeli equivalent of weed. Once again this is personal, but I am against drugs.
An inconsistency I also disliked was the Tether being referred to as "mates" without explanation more than halfway through the book. This felt confusing to me because before it was exclusively referred to as the (Cold) Tether. I admit this is more of a nitpicking issue. Another smaller issue I have is drugs (specifically weed) are portrayed in a mostly positive light, in both cases being how Willow made it to the other world (I think, not 100% sure). Caz also constantly smokes "bloom", which is the Valkeeli equivalent of weed. Once again this is personal, but I am against drugs.
Conclusion:
I think I've said my piece on this book, I obviously didn't like it. Moreover as I've said in the beginning it is a total set-up and lacks a strong plot in this book. I thought the second half was pretty boring. Normally I would recommend this to people that maybe don't care about less plot, but due to the other issues I've mentioned I don't really recommend it to anyone, especially because there are many romantasy books like it. That being said, maybe I'm overthinking it, but these issues were too prominent for me to ignore.