Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Șarpe și porumbel

I found the first half incredibly boring but the second half I really enjoyed. I never want to hear the phrase 'my husband' again and I forgot his name for half the book because that's all he was referred to as.

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ana24gs's review against another edition

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dark funny

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book may seem like it was written for ten-year-old’s, maybe the way the main plot begins is ridiculous, maybe the characters speak like nine-year-old’s, and maybe the characters are not very original in the fantasy world, but all that doesn't matter because I found the book to be verry entertaining.

I needed to read an enemies to lovers romance with a fantasy subplot, and I got it by reading this book. I wasn't expecting the super plot, I wasn't expecting deep characters, I wasn't expecting a complex world, I needed something easy to read and I got it. This actually was a really funny experience; I couldn't stop reading it.

But I suggest being prepared for how ridiculous it can be at moments, MANY MOMENTS. I can only prepare you for this with this quote, DIRECT FROM THE BOOK: “Big Titty Liddy was not very pretty, but her bosom was big as a barn. Her creamery knockers drove men off their rockers, but she was blind to their charms…”.

Speaking of this, I feel that because of the dialogues and how immature the characters were, you expect it to be a book for teenagers, teenagers from eleven to fourteen years old, but because of the serious topics they touch, such as prostitution, sexism, murder, witch hunt, an explicit sex scene, deformation, neglect of minors, religious extremism, self-flagellation in order to perform magic, and I don't know what else, you'd expect it to be a book for an adult audience.

Despite this, you may like it if you know what you're getting into, a romance of enemies to lovers that unfolds as you expect, with a fantasy plot that also unfolds as one expects it to unfold.

☢️ SPOILERS ☢️:

Okey, as I said the characters are very bland, we have seen them a thousand times in a thousand books with similar themes. But still, I am going to talk about them.

Lou: She is a girl who is not like other girls, because she thinks for herself and is super open with her sexuality, that is fine, it does not bother me, but it is nothing new, so it does not impress me. She is brave, strong, sarcastic, funny, kind, nothing I have not read before. She has the worst mother in the world and an interesting witch power. I take this as an opportunity to say that I like the magic system of this book, I like that there are limitations when using them because it creates tension in the reader, you know that the actions that the main characters carry out come with consequences.

Reid: The author does something with Reid that I liked. Reid is a super religious boy, extremely religious, and hates witches. But that's not what interests me about his character, he develops as anyone expects. What interests me about his character are his anger issues. It is very common to see extremely violent male protagonists, but it is never presented as something dangerous. In this book it is very clear that Reid has anger issues, he is aware of it, he is aware that it is not normal to feel so much anger and so much desire to strangle people and, although it is difficult for him, he is able to control himself. BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT'S NOT NORMAL, AND IT'S NOT OKEY TO BE SO VIOLENT AND HAVE SO MUCH ANGER. It’s shown how it should be shown, a mental health problem that can be managed with good control techniques (and I think medicine, but at that time that does not exist).

Coco: Cosette, she's here because I really liked her.

Anzel: My only opinion is that he's cute, I'm not even going to deny it. He is immature, yes, but it is understood because of his religion.

Labelle: I really liked this woman, super smart, she doesn't bite her tongue, she speaks her mind, and I'm very curious to see how she will handle her relationship with Reid now that he knows that she is his mother.

Lou's mother: The worst mother in the world.

Fangirl moment, let's talk about romance:

I LOVED THE ROMANCE GDABCSDJNLFKD, I walked in for an enemies to lovers romance and this book did not disappoint, from their banter with each other, to the moments where they cared for each other and got jealous. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO SEE. I don't care that Lou makes fun of everything Reid does and at times I have a hard time understanding why he, in the end, falls in love with her, and that Reid does the bear minimum that any good husband can do (not hit her), their scenes together are super cute and I super love them together because they really care about each other and understand each other. It broke my heart when Reid found out that Lou was a witch and told her that she was no longer his wife AUCH, it hurt a lot. But now they are fine, and I hope they continue to be.

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