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amelianotthepilot's review against another edition
1.0
2024 (1 star): This is such a drastic turn from the first three. The first three books were a fun little YA adventure with wild dramatic twists in each one. This book features a random trip to Russia with an idealized abusive relationship. 0/10
The plot follows Rose now in Russia pursuing Dimitri but first, she meets Sydney a human alchemist and Dimitri's entire family as well as an older Russian spirit and shadow-kissed couple. I yet again think this could've been a great Sapphic bodyguard trope story but alas. This book was so frustrating as for some reason we go against all of Rose's personality traits and she becomes a drugged-up Stockholm syndrome girlie. AND YET SHE STILL LOVES HIM this is not it guys
2014 (3 stars): I really didn't like this one as much as the first three in the series. I don't know whether or not my impression of the book was effected by my stress from the school work and musical that my show is putting on or not but I really just didn't like this one. It felt wrong and was sad throughout pretty much the entire thing.
The plot follows Rose now in Russia pursuing Dimitri but first, she meets Sydney a human alchemist and Dimitri's entire family as well as an older Russian spirit and shadow-kissed couple. I yet again think this could've been a great Sapphic bodyguard trope story but alas. This book was so frustrating as for some reason we go against all of Rose's personality traits and she becomes a drugged-up Stockholm syndrome girlie. AND YET SHE STILL LOVES HIM this is not it guys
2014 (3 stars): I really didn't like this one as much as the first three in the series. I don't know whether or not my impression of the book was effected by my stress from the school work and musical that my show is putting on or not but I really just didn't like this one. It felt wrong and was sad throughout pretty much the entire thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Kidnapping, Classism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
amandasbooks1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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? No
3.5
I did enjoy this book! It was nice to get a change of scenery from the Academy and I really liked the new characters like Sydney and meeting Dimitris family. Rose needed this journey not only for the purpose of the story but to grow as a character.
The writing however - still not great or any improvement from the other books. Sentences are formed terribly and this is coming from a non native english speaker. But still a decent read so I wont give it too much hate since there is far more things to hate about.
The internalised misogny, though it has been blatant all the books, were off the charts in this one!! Like wow!! Damn!The whole blood wh*re situation is f*cking disgusting, and that Rose looks down on and is disgusted by women who live like this feels so outdated and it would not have be published today. Because there is hundreds of words saying how disgusting the women are for doing this, there is only one or two saying that the men who are the actual assholes in this are bad also. If a writer wants to skim the topic of prostitution maybe do a bit of sensitivity checks and research before implementing it into a YA novel written for teens :))))
The flashbacks with Dimitri were really cringy and so forced and just put there to force a sad narrative onto to the reader. The situation was sad of course, finding the love of your life to kill him, but the flashbacks did the opposite for me lmao.
Tw: abuse, SA When Rose does find Dimitri and he bites her against her will its literally abuse. And since she only wants to be sexual with him after the first time he bit her and she got high from it, Dimitri literally SA'd her the whole time they were together :)) it doesnt matter that she loved him, she didnt want that. Again this is a very harsh topic that teens from 13-17 read??? Like I read this at a young age when I didnt understand it and couldnt grasp that it was wrong. I know that its not the real Dimitri but its gonna be really f*cking hard rooting for them in the next books??
In conclusion, not a bad read, massively proplmatic though and it would not have been published the same in todays climate.
I have consequently switched teams. Go be with Adrian, Rose and forget about Dimitri.
The writing however - still not great or any improvement from the other books. Sentences are formed terribly and this is coming from a non native english speaker. But still a decent read so I wont give it too much hate since there is far more things to hate about.
The internalised misogny, though it has been blatant all the books, were off the charts in this one!! Like wow!! Damn!
The flashbacks with Dimitri were really cringy and so forced and just put there to force a sad narrative onto to the reader. The situation was sad of course, finding the love of your life to kill him, but the flashbacks did the opposite for me lmao.
Tw: abuse, SA
In conclusion, not a bad read, massively proplmatic though and it would not have been published the same in todays climate.
I have consequently switched teams. Go be with Adrian, Rose and forget about Dimitri.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Drug use
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