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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Rape
dark
mysterious
tense
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Super spicy. Heads up, it has edge play.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
dark
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
“I hated him, who he was, what he’d done. But I also understood him, perhaps more than he understood himself. And the truth? He was my enemy, and I knew that. It really was that simple. The only thing I didn’t know was why.
A dark fantasy about a jester secretly wreaking havoc upon his court (for reasons….) can’t not be entertaining. This entire book was pretty wild, and the constant thrill of betrayal certainly kept things very high-stakes. I never knew who I could trust; even the main romance threw me for a loop more than once…
Lark was a really peculiar protagonist. Over the span of the entire book I went from being amused by him, to hating him, to pitying him, to finally really loving him. The rollercoaster of emotions evoked by each plot twist ensured that I was always engaged, constantly vying for new pieces of information that would make sense of Lark and his true self hidden deep beneath his carefully curated persona. Lark initially reads as an antihero—cocky to a fault, and uncaring towards the feelings of others—though this flimsy image slowly begins to crumble as he begins to rediscover his true self through Arin and the Court of Love.
The last third of Fool Me Once really blew me away. I was sure the plotline involving Razak’s crowns didn’t interest me in comparison to Arin’s story, but once everything came together for a truly explosive climax, I was proven wrong yet again. The vast scope of dramatic events unfolding all at once had me flipping pages like a madwoman, desperate to find out who would make it out alive, and at what cost. The setting of this grand finale was also gorgeous; I adored picturing the vast sand dunes of the Court of War, with a castle like Egyptian architecture or a museum exhibit. The romance trajectory also left me really curious… I haven’t seen other reviewers mention it yet, but I suspect we might have a future throuple between Lark, Arin and Draven.
As I mentioned before, Fool Me Once is a really dark book. If you think you might need to look at the trigger warnings, I’d definitely suggest doing so! I’m a big fan of darker fantasy, and still found myself taken aback by some of the scenes that played out after the first third of the book (either because I’d never read anything like them in general, or not in as much detail as here). Nash did an amazing job ensuring tensions ran high throughout this entire book; that climax and ending sequence was phenomenal. I seriously can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel when it releases!!
Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an arc!
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As always with Ariana Nash books, I feel like she starts at the wrong place. She always starts too close to the inciting incident which lends to a fast paced opening, but I’m always left floundering and trying to figure out her characters and world for the first third to half of the book. Normally things settle into place, but they really didn’t for this one, and many of the early moments with Lark and Arin didn’t feel earned or organic. We need more time with both before we hopped into the story. A prologue probably would have worked nicely to show us four years ago and establish the characters. As written, I feel like a lot of info was presented out of order and made it hard to figure out character motivations from the start, which might have been purposeful given the characters and plot, but I feel like I spent too much time trying to puzzle out backstory and whys and motivations and just really why?! That it took me out of the story too much. I’ll read book two because as always, Nash did make me fall in love with the characters even if I didn’t completely understand why.