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solitarelee's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
This book had its ups and downs for me, but overall I enjoyed it, and some of the twists really had me speed reading to see what happened next. The pace of the book is breakneck, with barely any time to breathe between the next dramatic reveal or questionable decision by the risk-taking main character. There are no answers here, only questions; I could tell halfway through that I was definitely reading the first book of a series. The faeries are really faeries in name only; you could call them elves and change literally 0 things. But tied into that is the fact that the worldbuilding is pretty creative and original.
The author uses "male" and "female" as nouns to describe fae, I think as a purposeful choice to indicate that they're not human to the main character (ie not just saying 'man' or 'woman'), however I found it to be a torment throughout the entire book even after I realized why they were doing it. Especially every time they used 'fae' (which can be a noun) as an adjective to describe 'male' (generally an adjective). Oh, the pain, every time. Male fae was right there. You could have spared me and it still would have included the desired dehumanization.
The first love interest fell completely flat for me, and I kept wondering when this dull perfect boy whose motivations made no sense would do a dramatic betrayal. That being said, I did not predict the exact nature of the dramatic betrayal AT ALL and was delighted. I kind of want to re-read the whole thing with the big spoiler in mind later. The chemistry with the 'secondary' love interest is sparking and way more believable. (This isn't a critique, the author clearly did this on purpose so readers might catch on like I did.)
Overall I'll be reading the next book for sure. I got too many questions not to!
The author uses "male" and "female" as nouns to describe fae, I think as a purposeful choice to indicate that they're not human to the main character (ie not just saying 'man' or 'woman'), however I found it to be a torment throughout the entire book even after I realized why they were doing it. Especially every time they used 'fae' (which can be a noun) as an adjective to describe 'male' (generally an adjective). Oh, the pain, every time. Male fae was right there. You could have spared me and it still would have included the desired dehumanization.
Overall I'll be reading the next book for sure. I got too many questions not to!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape and Torture
Minor: Death and Death of parent
thebookishatelier's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
3.5
I really enjoyed the beginning of this book! The world building was interesting and the pacing was good. However, around halfway through the pacing was all over the place and just kept getting worse. For the final 30% of the book, I had to check to make sure I wasn't missing a chapter. Everything became extremely rushed, the dialogue felt odd, and overall it made me dislike the reading experience. Near the ending, there was a weird plot twist that also made me feel pretty uncomfortable.
Overall, the book had a solid beginning and the second book does have potential. I think lengthening the ending combined with some more edits could have made this first book much better.
Overall, the book had a solid beginning and the second book does have potential. I think lengthening the ending combined with some more edits could have made this first book much better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Torture, Addiction, and Rape
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