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bookishmillennial's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
A character list is given to us at the beginning of the book, which I really appreciate, because it shared big moments for each of the characters in the past two books. Essentially, this acted as a "previously on...." segment for me, refreshing my memory of the important things that happened before, and I needed that so thank you Nisha!
Tidbits about this third installment of the series:
- Lor learns significant context about her ancestry & family history
- reads sort of as a filler episode but provides helpful information that I'm sure will be needed later on in the series
- Nisha J. Tuli's writing continues to be goofy and unserious, and I love it
- we get more POVs, like Gabriel
- cliffhanger that has you saying, 'what the actual f***?!'
- steam rating: 4 out of 5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, and Kidnapping
bzliz's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
In hindsight, now that I’ve read this book, I feel like I should go back and lower my rating for the two previous books because I was very generous. It shouldn’t matter to me but my perception changes when something is traditionally published after previously being independently published. In this case, someone should’ve told the author to scale back on the amount of perspectives and time periods because it was beyond excessive. There had to be a better way to share information with readers.
The other big flaw was the near constant back and forth between Nadir and Lor after about the 50% mark where they reiterate mutual love and trust before making out in public or having sex. I’ll give a pass to the first spicy scene because it symbolizes that establishment of trust and that the tension finally has an outlet but the scenes after really didn’t add anything and could have been omitted in favor of making more of the convoluted lore make sense. Another thing that bothered me was that Tulli can’t seem to commit when it comes to anyone’s background of trauma and abuse unless it’s sexual abuse. She makes allusions to serious past torture and secrets that characters are still holding deeply within themselves but won’t let them heal from any of it with the exception of Lor’s sexual abuse within the prison.
I’m not convinced Tulli fully thought through the implications of some of the world she built. There’s a scene where two characters discuss serious topics while receiving blow jobs, after which the women fetch them drinks and it’s all treated like it’s normal. Do those women want to be there? Are they happy with this profession? Why are these two men comfortable discussing sensitive matters while involved in this sex act? Are the women compelled to silence due to their profession? Is that not a form of slavery? One of these men is in essence a salve himself so why is he so cavalier about this act? The more I think about this scene, the more it annoys me because I don’t think the author considered any of these things. I think she just wanted to cram as much spice as possible into this book, as is evidenced by this scene and countless other thoughts of sexual acts characters have at wildly inappropriate times.
The other big flaw was the near constant back and forth between Nadir and Lor after about the 50% mark where they reiterate mutual love and trust before making out in public or having sex. I’ll give a pass to the first spicy scene because it symbolizes that establishment of trust and that the tension finally has an outlet but the scenes after really didn’t add anything and could have been omitted in favor of making more of the convoluted lore make sense. Another thing that bothered me was that Tulli can’t seem to commit when it comes to anyone’s background of trauma and abuse unless it’s sexual abuse. She makes allusions to serious past torture and secrets that characters are still holding deeply within themselves but won’t let them heal from any of it with the exception of Lor’s sexual abuse within the prison.
I’m not convinced Tulli fully thought through the implications of some of the world she built. There’s a scene where two characters discuss serious topics while receiving blow jobs, after which the women fetch them drinks and it’s all treated like it’s normal. Do those women want to be there? Are they happy with this profession? Why are these two men comfortable discussing sensitive matters while involved in this sex act? Are the women compelled to silence due to their profession? Is that not a form of slavery? One of these men is in essence a salve himself so why is he so cavalier about this act? The more I think about this scene, the more it annoys me because I don’t think the author considered any of these things. I think she just wanted to cram as much spice as possible into this book, as is evidenced by this scene and countless other thoughts of sexual acts characters have at wildly inappropriate times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Kidnapping
Minor: Confinement, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Classism
literarymary95's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.25
This book felt about the same level as the previous book (Rule of the Aurora King). It felt like an adventure and a lot was happening but it made sense. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the chapters with the first rulers. It made the story feel slightly disjointed, but you understand their purpose by the end of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Torture, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and War
justsmileandread's review
4.0
Wow I was not expecting that ending! I had to reread it a couple times because I didn’t want it to be true. I don’t think that Nadir will stay that way in the next book, at least I hope not, so it will be interesting to see what Tuli does with him and the story. I devoured the first two books, and I still enjoyed this one, but I did feel like it was missing a little oomph if that makes sense. I don’t know how I’ll be able to wait until November to read the final book in the series. I rated this one 4/5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for my review :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery and Suicide
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