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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a solid read! I personally don't agree with the folks who feel that the characters & dialogue were YA/teenager-ish. That's not to say I didn't experience frustration or disappointment over the characters' choices, behaviors and/or things they said. I experienced this particularly with Thea, who, to me, does come off as quite self-absorbed for a good portion of the book and rather judgemental of anyone who values different crafts than the one that is her passion. Which I do not love.
However, having a couple different characters call her out on her bullshit throughout the book helped me tolerate it. It made me feel as though she was intentionally written that way, giving her room to grow.
Not for nothing, she's only 24. I was mostly a total idiot at 24, nearly just as much as at 18. That's just me though.
The romance btwn Wilder & Thea is whatever. The fact that they reference "this thing between us" out loud, more than once is pretty cringe. While Thea does piss me off sometimes in this book, she is also a badass woman fighting the patriarchy in any way she can to become what she knows she is meant to be. While Wilder's whole personality is like, hey I am hot & gruff & super good at warrior-ing. Not much else has shown up thus far.So, like, good for you for nailing the super hot war hero Thea but I'm hoping book 2 will give him some wittiness or silliness or creativity or SOMETHING to make this pairing make a bit more sense.
All that being said, I really enjoyed myself reading this. There is a good mix of action & calm, I don't think I felt bored at all. I like this world. I like the way Scheuerer created this situation of women's rights being suppressed and then goes on to have several strong, smart, capable women in different capacities (or multiiple capacities!) to be like, yeah that shit's so dumb.
Also, Kipp is pretty top tier, IMHO.
I think it's worth a read y'all.
However, having a couple different characters call her out on her bullshit throughout the book helped me tolerate it. It made me feel as though she was intentionally written that way, giving her room to grow.
Not for nothing, she's only 24. I was mostly a total idiot at 24, nearly just as much as at 18. That's just me though.
The romance btwn Wilder & Thea is whatever. The fact that they reference "this thing between us" out loud, more than once is pretty cringe. While Thea does piss me off sometimes in this book, she is also a badass woman fighting the patriarchy in any way she can to become what she knows she is meant to be. While Wilder's whole personality is like, hey I am hot & gruff & super good at warrior-ing. Not much else has shown up thus far.
All that being said, I really enjoyed myself reading this. There is a good mix of action & calm, I don't think I felt bored at all. I like this world. I like the way Scheuerer created this situation of women's rights being suppressed and then goes on to have several strong, smart, capable women in different capacities (or multiiple capacities!) to be like, yeah that shit's so dumb.
Also, Kipp is pretty top tier, IMHO.
I think it's worth a read y'all.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was one of my HIGHLY anticipated reads and I FINALLY read it!!
I think part of the reason why I put it off so long is because I was truly afraid it wasn’t going to live up to the hype, luckily I was wrong.
Helen’s writing is amazing, this book was such a page turner and it was so easy to read and become immersed inside of it. It was definitely a slow burn, but it was 100% worth the wait
Thea and Wilder drive me absolutely insane (in mostly a good way)—the push and pull between them is maddening but in the (few) fleeting moments of peace they have, it’s so satisfying. I just wanted to smash their faces together and make them kiss throughout most of this book 😅😅
That aside, I do love Thea’s character. When I read the prequel novella, I knew I was going to like her. She’s absolutely my type of FMC—strong willed, badass, likes to put men in their place. Wilder is the biggest grump (if you’re a grumpy x sunshine lover you’re gonna eat this up) but he’s hard to not love.
The banter in this book is INCREDIBLE! Honestly it is so funny, I have so many quotes highlighted in my kindle because the one liners and sassy remarks between characters was AMAZING!! I have to say Kipp and Cal are amazing side characters and nothing better happen to them!! 😤😤
The ending of this book was SO GOOD! I’m officially hooked and I’m so so so excited to read book two!!
I think part of the reason why I put it off so long is because I was truly afraid it wasn’t going to live up to the hype, luckily I was wrong.
Helen’s writing is amazing, this book was such a page turner and it was so easy to read and become immersed inside of it. It was definitely a slow burn, but it was 100% worth the wait
Thea and Wilder drive me absolutely insane (in mostly a good way)—the push and pull between them is maddening but in the (few) fleeting moments of peace they have, it’s so satisfying. I just wanted to smash their faces together and make them kiss throughout most of this book 😅😅
That aside, I do love Thea’s character. When I read the prequel novella, I knew I was going to like her. She’s absolutely my type of FMC—strong willed, badass, likes to put men in their place. Wilder is the biggest grump (if you’re a grumpy x sunshine lover you’re gonna eat this up) but he’s hard to not love.
The banter in this book is INCREDIBLE! Honestly it is so funny, I have so many quotes highlighted in my kindle because the one liners and sassy remarks between characters was AMAZING!! I have to say Kipp and Cal are amazing side characters and nothing better happen to them!! 😤😤
The ending of this book was SO GOOD! I’m officially hooked and I’m so so so excited to read book two!!
Would I recommend? Maybe but slightly leaning towards no… if you do I would recommend audiobook bc I personally wouldn’t have been able to finish it if I physically read it.
The relationship between our main characters was a bit off as well as the pacing of the book itself.
I felt like starting with forced proximity was out of the blue and did not build any tension to look forward to.
Then we got very little of our MMC POV as well as he was missing for some chunks of the story as the FMC was training for 70% of this book…I could not personally connect with him but I can see the vision of what the author wanted for his character.
Also a lot of talk about how our FMC wants to be a warrior… we get it! Every chapter so felt like she had to remind us lol
All that being said… I will read the next book lol
The relationship between our main characters was a bit off as well as the pacing of the book itself.
I felt like starting with forced proximity was out of the blue and did not build any tension to look forward to.
Then we got very little of our MMC POV as well as he was missing for some chunks of the story as the FMC was training for 70% of this book…I could not personally connect with him but I can see the vision of what the author wanted for his character.
Also a lot of talk about how our FMC wants to be a warrior… we get it! Every chapter so felt like she had to remind us lol
All that being said… I will read the next book lol
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
⭐️⭐️.5
Started off good but I ran out of steam on this one. I was hoping for something more inventive and unique. Romance elements also fell a little flat for me as well. Perhaps I just read this at the wrong time in life.
Started off good but I ran out of steam on this one. I was hoping for something more inventive and unique. Romance elements also fell a little flat for me as well. Perhaps I just read this at the wrong time in life.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Liked this book - short summary - I wish the main characters had better chemistry before all their yearning. One meaningful conversation would’ve been nice.. lol. But story was good, love Thea’s determination. Love the monsters, excited to see different kinds (I hope). The first part of the book was pretty fast paced, felt like we were moving super quickly, and then we hit a wall and slowed down from like 45-75% until it picked back up at 80% until the end. Liked the ending, left me excited for more, and ready to see more character development in the next one!
*Wish there was more world building. Felt I had to imagine a lot of the world myself, even just more/better description would do
*Wish there was more world building. Felt I had to imagine a lot of the world myself, even just more/better description would do
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious