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evilovesyou's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Gore, Drug use, Confinement, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, War, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse
poisonviolet's review against another edition
DNF 60%
MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING
what the actual f$ck...
There is two reasons I made it to 60%... 1. I don't want to be a quitter, I have 100 books to read this year and I have started off the year strong. and 2. I was waiting for the cliche moment when the main character awoke and realized this was all a deranged dream and promptly checked himself into a mental institution.
Thank lord I am reading Iron Flame right now, because I feel like I would never touch a book again for months based on what this book did. I literally did not touch my Kindle for a few days even to read Iron Flame because I knew this madness was on the Kindle. I feel so terrible for my poor Kindle who I will have to cleanse thoroughly with incense.
I went into this book completely blind, which I presume is the only reason why anyone ever picked up this book because if I had read what it was about I would have never gone close to it. All I knew about it was that it was gay. Of course, thats all I would need to pick up a book, but no longer will I ever be so naive.
I should've known I'd be in for it when the first page of the book is just a list that tells you who the characters are in the world and their ranks in the kingdom or whatever you want to call it. Cool. It was a pain in the butt having to refer to it constantly to try and have any idea who was saying anything and who they were. Like sure, maybe that's useful but try and write this in the story, it felt like a fanfiction with all the character tags (nothing against fanfiction). It just felt like such lazy writing to me. Not saying I could do any better, but come on...
Then I trudge along and get a sense of where we are going with the plot. I wanted to projectile vomit. Let me tell you I was shaking and near a freaking panic attack reading this. I have never read a book that made me feel so sick and filthy for even looking at it. I hate even writing this review and having my name attached to it because I want no association with this book. But alas, I have to yap and I have never in my life deeply hated a book so much.
I don't understand the appeal. This is literally a book about horrible people doing horrible things. Not in a cute and quirky or morally grey way, just flat-out being the most disgusting and ruthless human beings. I have since read reviews after deleting this from my Kindle and people are gushing about these characters... talking about how they are "the cutest" and their favorite book characters of all time.... THE CHARACTERS WHO LITERALLY R@PE PEOPLE AND HAVE NO SHAME IN IT WHATSOEVER!
I am not one to judge, but you have to be joking right? The main character literally admitted to r@ping his own personal pleasure sl@ve (which right there... why the hell do you have one of those?! Who is this author and are they either in jail or far removed from society because I am honestly scared for humanity) while another man r@pes him.
I seriously don't understand how people are into this kind of thing. I tried to finish it, I really did. If only so I could rant and not have people fact-checking me. But I'm disgusted with myself that I got this far through it. When will I learn that some things just really don't get any better? or for that matter, some things just aren't good AT ALL!
I thought I was going to get a emotion-filled story of a prince who was captured (I was getting this from the title) and who was then rescued by another prince and they fell in love. But NOOOOOO.
UGH, I swear if someone tells me this gets better and that I should have just finished it I will scream. I don't understand how these characters can be even close to redeemable even if they did change. Sorry, but I have no desire to read any more about filthy human beings that are doing the bs done in the book.
Okay, I'm finishing this rant here because I'm going to throw up thinking about this horror for too long.
Save yourselves and don't pick up this sh$t show.
MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING
what the actual f$ck...
There is two reasons I made it to 60%... 1. I don't want to be a quitter, I have 100 books to read this year and I have started off the year strong. and 2. I was waiting for the cliche moment when the main character awoke and realized this was all a deranged dream and promptly checked himself into a mental institution.
Thank lord I am reading Iron Flame right now, because I feel like I would never touch a book again for months based on what this book did. I literally did not touch my Kindle for a few days even to read Iron Flame because I knew this madness was on the Kindle. I feel so terrible for my poor Kindle who I will have to cleanse thoroughly with incense.
I went into this book completely blind, which I presume is the only reason why anyone ever picked up this book because if I had read what it was about I would have never gone close to it. All I knew about it was that it was gay. Of course, thats all I would need to pick up a book, but no longer will I ever be so naive.
I should've known I'd be in for it when the first page of the book is just a list that tells you who the characters are in the world and their ranks in the kingdom or whatever you want to call it. Cool. It was a pain in the butt having to refer to it constantly to try and have any idea who was saying anything and who they were. Like sure, maybe that's useful but try and write this in the story, it felt like a fanfiction with all the character tags (nothing against fanfiction). It just felt like such lazy writing to me. Not saying I could do any better, but come on...
Then I trudge along and get a sense of where we are going with the plot. I wanted to projectile vomit. Let me tell you I was shaking and near a freaking panic attack reading this. I have never read a book that made me feel so sick and filthy for even looking at it. I hate even writing this review and having my name attached to it because I want no association with this book. But alas, I have to yap and I have never in my life deeply hated a book so much.
I don't understand the appeal. This is literally a book about horrible people doing horrible things. Not in a cute and quirky or morally grey way, just flat-out being the most disgusting and ruthless human beings. I have since read reviews after deleting this from my Kindle and people are gushing about these characters... talking about how they are "the cutest" and their favorite book characters of all time.... THE CHARACTERS WHO LITERALLY R@PE PEOPLE AND HAVE NO SHAME IN IT WHATSOEVER!
I am not one to judge, but you have to be joking right? The main character literally admitted to r@ping his own personal pleasure sl@ve (which right there... why the hell do you have one of those?! Who is this author and are they either in jail or far removed from society because I am honestly scared for humanity) while another man r@pes him.
I seriously don't understand how people are into this kind of thing. I tried to finish it, I really did. If only so I could rant and not have people fact-checking me. But I'm disgusted with myself that I got this far through it. When will I learn that some things just really don't get any better? or for that matter, some things just aren't good AT ALL!
I thought I was going to get a emotion-filled story of a prince who was captured (I was getting this from the title) and who was then rescued by another prince and they fell in love. But NOOOOOO.
UGH, I swear if someone tells me this gets better and that I should have just finished it I will scream. I don't understand how these characters can be even close to redeemable even if they did change. Sorry, but I have no desire to read any more about filthy human beings that are doing the bs done in the book.
Okay, I'm finishing this rant here because I'm going to throw up thinking about this horror for too long.
Save yourselves and don't pick up this sh$t show.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Torture, Rape, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
nyxthecactus's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Why is there a rape scene? Like, it was so unnecessary and disgusting. I hate it. Thank you very much, I'll pass. The half a star is because it was a fast read. Not enjoyable one, but fast.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
amallard's review against another edition
dark
fast-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? Yes
2.75
Sorry for reading this. I'm not proud of me either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
meepmeepmia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I have read this series a few times, I always think this is the lowest of the three. Just as how it is written you don't really get a full picture till you have read everything, so while this may be gritty and certain character may be down right un readable for those who like a good pay off keep going!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Racism
Minor: Death, Cursing, Sexual assault, Incest, Torture, Drug use, and Death of parent
livelaughlesbian99's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
3.75
This book is messed up!
And that’s kind what it’s supposed to be, so I’m not judging my rating on that. This takes place in a brutal world where slavery is normalized across many cultures. If that does not sound like a horror you can stomach do not read this book. I can understand why some say this romanticizes slavery, but I saw it more as trying to explore how cultures of the past treated sexual slavery (which is a horrific but prominent part of the human past… this content isn’t based off of nothing. Ancient Greeks and Romans had cultural practices similar to the practices in the book).
Personally I appreciate the focus on how those who were enslaved would have been impacted by societies like this. Between Damen and Erasmus’ perspective you learn a lot about how these systems are justified. I do not believe including morally wrong beliefs in characters means the text condones them. But I completely understand why people have issues with this book and it’s fine if you do. For me books with subject matter like this are also horror books, and like horror books, there can be catharsis in exploring the worst of humanity.
That being said, oh my GOD did I love this book’s political intrigue. It really is as good as people say. While this book is really preamble for the rest of the series, which is why I rated it the way I did, the ending was fantastic.
And that’s kind what it’s supposed to be, so I’m not judging my rating on that. This takes place in a brutal world where slavery is normalized across many cultures. If that does not sound like a horror you can stomach do not read this book. I can understand why some say this romanticizes slavery, but I saw it more as trying to explore how cultures of the past treated sexual slavery (which is a horrific but prominent part of the human past… this content isn’t based off of nothing. Ancient Greeks and Romans had cultural practices similar to the practices in the book).
Personally I appreciate the focus on how those who were enslaved would have been impacted by societies like this. Between Damen and Erasmus’ perspective you learn a lot about how these systems are justified. I do not believe including morally wrong beliefs in characters means the text condones them. But I completely understand why people have issues with this book and it’s fine if you do. For me books with subject matter like this are also horror books, and like horror books, there can be catharsis in exploring the worst of humanity.
That being said, oh my GOD did I love this book’s political intrigue. It really is as good as people say. While this book is really preamble for the rest of the series, which is why I rated it the way I did, the ending was fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Rape, Slavery, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, and War
lisareadingbooks_m's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Torture, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
giulia_rossi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Bullying, Torture, Death, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia
alana_f's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Writing this review after already finishing the second book (and about to start the third), I can confidently say this trilogy is really damn good. I understand some people cannot enjoy the book due to some issues with the sensitive content (which is fine!), but I didn't view the book as glorifying it in any way (contrary actually) so I really enjoyed it! There's so much character development throughout the whole trilogy, and I think the plot is excellently crafted. I also really enjoy the Greco-Roman inspired political elements, and think a lot of people ignore that some of the harder-to-read situations are based on a cruel, historical reality that the book speaks about with disgust and critical commentary. Overall, great books, but not for those that simply don't want to engage in that type of sensitive content.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Classism, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, War, and Death
witheredflower's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War