Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - What Lurks Between the Fates

This book is infinitely better than the first two. I really enjoy the series overall, but this book has a much deeper, richer plot. The sex in this book actually moves the story along (I mean ok, not all of it lol). It's not entirely salacious. The character development here is good as well, and there are some twists that you definitely don't see coming. I'm usually able to predict books, and there were some things about this that I actually didn't predict. I liked that about it.

Without giving spoilers away, there are some plot holes that are still lingering from the first and second books, as well as some that are created in this third book, but potentially those could all be tied up in the fourth book, so just keep those in mind in case plot holes aggravate you like they do me...

The violence in this book is a lot stronger and more gorey than the first two books. There were absolutely parts that made me cringe, but I felt like the author did an incredibly good job at conveying the raw, visceral feelings and scenes that she wants the reader to understand so that the scenes serve a purpose instead of just being gratuitous.

Also, I can't help but laugh at all of the people who say that there isn't a diverse cast. The author does a very good job at describing all of the different shades of skin tone of the characters in the book. They range from caramel skin, porcelain skin, practically see-through (they're technically dead lol), the skin of burnt leaves in autumn, etc. It's a unique and fantasy-based way of describing skin tones. That makes it very clear that the characters are based around multiple different ethnicities, not to mention it's literally based around various types of beings. She even refers to one of the Fae as sepia-toned. It's also fae, humans, witches, Gods, changelings, and other fantasy creatures. It's not diverse in reality, but it's definitely diverse!!

I'm dying to see where the fourth book goes. I can't believe how long we have to wait for it to come out. Ugh.

Content Warnings

bsuth's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

Content Warnings

haleyc00k's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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cheerfullyplanted's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I picked this series up after a booksagram rec of “spicy things to read after an ACOTAR series hangover”. It really doesn’t come close to that series high, but it does have a few things going for it.

I like most of the world building, which happens mainly in the first two books, but quite a bit of the Faery world is still left to discover within the 3rd book with, it seems, more to learn in the upcoming 4th. I also liked the themes of a future fight for equality and plots of revenge and rebellion.

The series is very much centered around the MFC and MMC’s relationship and mate bond, so you don’t get much secondary character development to invest in beyond wanting the main villain dead. The main characters’ sexual relationship seems to keep promising consent and sexual liberation, only to result in scenes where there is one initial “yes” and a lot of pushing past what the MFC wants or is comfortable with (like plugging her nose during a BJ so she can swallow him deeper and is gasping for air 🤢).

I feel like most kinks can vibe well with a book as long as characters and motivations are written cohesively, but this main relationship just misses the mark for me.

Question that has been plaguing me since the second book: in the 2nd book she has a thing for controlling snakes, but why hasn’t she tried even once the remove the snake from Caldris’ heart? Like use your golden threads and just give it a try? If it doesn’t work, cool, go on with the plot, but at least try once.

Content Warnings

marlimead's review

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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