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crondeau_yvr's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse and Confinement
itsgalactic's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
While often don’t like when the main couple fuck after just meeting, Katee Robert crafted two emotionally constipated people who would believably have sex right away rather than talking to each other about their attraction. I mean that positively as the character growth from each of our main characters during this smutty adventure was wonderfully done. I also appreciate the casual queerness of Thane and some of side characters. spoilers and trigger warning for abortion. I also very much appreciated that while Catalina does get pregnant towards the end of the book when she did not want to due to her trauma. Thane also completely supports her decision and it is treated as a necessary for her mental health and wellbeing. The epilogue also doesn’t show her as being a mother in the future which I appreciated with the lore where it would be beneficial for Thane and Catalina to have a child but he puts her needs in this matter first.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Abandonment
nicolewhopickedthisbook's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
I’m really liking this series. Catalina drove me nuts for most of the book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Abortion, and Abandonment
mariakureads's review
challenging
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I wanted to like this one. I really did – I mean the premise sounded promising plus Kraken MC why not right? – but there was enough here that left a sour taste in my mouth.
Thane is cold and distant in a way that leaves him almost nonchalant and unfeeling towards others and slightly self absorbed in his own pain that he's blind to the rest around him which might not be a problem except he's just signed a deal to take a human bride for the next 7 years, which honestly he's not wanting.
Whereas our human MC, Catalina, signed the deal to get away from her world and all the bad with it, I'm thinking in hopes of something better. She has a lot of issues, one being that she's so used to being verbally, mentally and possibly physically abused that she can't tell when she is being hurt thus harmed and in violation of their contract because it's so "normal" to her.
I tried but honestly Thane doesn't recognize his maltreatment until more than 3/4ths of the way in and by then I really couldn't see or understand how aside from the contract keeping them together, why, and this is a short read, they would be together? She has so many different self issues aside from being a survivor of abuse to stay in a relationship with a man who neglected her time and time again and added on to the damage.
I loved The Dragon's Bride and am curious to see how the others play out, hoping that the other protagonists get better treatment than Catalina did.
Thane is cold and distant in a way that leaves him almost nonchalant and unfeeling towards others and slightly self absorbed in his own pain that he's blind to the rest around him which might not be a problem except he's just signed a deal to take a human bride for the next 7 years, which honestly he's not wanting.
Whereas our human MC, Catalina, signed the deal to get away from her world and all the bad with it, I'm thinking in hopes of something better. She has a lot of issues, one being that she's so used to being verbally, mentally and possibly physically abused that she can't tell when she is being hurt thus harmed and in violation of their contract because it's so "normal" to her.
I tried but honestly Thane doesn't recognize his maltreatment until more than 3/4ths of the way in and by then I really couldn't see or understand how aside from the contract keeping them together, why, and this is a short read, they would be together? She has so many different self issues aside from being a survivor of abuse to stay in a relationship with a man who neglected her time and time again and added on to the damage.
I loved The Dragon's Bride and am curious to see how the others play out, hoping that the other protagonists get better treatment than Catalina did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, and Death
unusablebooklore's review
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Loads of grief
Loads of what appears to be CPTSD
Thane’s neglect and isolation of Catalina is abusive and Catalina just keeps accepting it because of her rock bottom self-worth.
At one point Thane gags her and pushes her limits…no discussion, no safe measure. Again, yes it’s fiction, so suspended reality I get that. But I feels so wrong.
I adored the first book in this series, and I enjoyed this one as well. My biggest complaint is that they're a bit too short. They don’t unpack the characters as well as I want them to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Body shaming
smuttymcbookface's review
dark
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, and Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Body shaming and Trafficking
thaliareads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall a very fun and spicy read. However, it did feel like more of a novella. Since these are seven year contracts I sort of wish we could spend some time skipping farther in time to see more. However, the intended story does wrap up nicely in the length used. I think this had a little more plot/conversation as opposed to spicy scenes when compared with the first book, and honestly I thought the balance worked well. Again, I just wish we had more time to see these characters develop further. A good read, but not one I'll feel compelled to frequently come back to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Abortion, and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Murder and Pregnancy
As with the first book in the series there is a high level of detailed spice. A reocurring theme is the discussion of the death of Thane's husband, which was viewed as a murder, and how that's affected him and his ability to accept/enter into a relationship with someone new. Catalina on the other hand has felt abandoned/neglected/unwanted by her family since she was young - which is what led her to enter the contract in the first place. There are some themes of her feeling confined early in the book. Later in the book there is a relatively detailed account of an abortion - however it does have a fantasy twist and while clearly defined is not explicit or graphic.nyx_999's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Barely 3 ⭐️
I liked the first book way more.
This book gave bratty sub and soft dom energy tho the fmc was bratty bcs of past experience not so much for the dynamic.
It definitely gave a bit of enemies to lovers even tho the enemy part took most of the book which made the end and the lover part seem rushed.
3,5/5 smut 🌶
I liked the first book way more.
This book gave bratty sub and soft dom energy tho the fmc was bratty bcs of past experience not so much for the dynamic.
It definitely gave a bit of enemies to lovers even tho the enemy part took most of the book which made the end and the lover part seem rushed.
3,5/5 smut 🌶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Abortion, and Pregnancy
kaetheluise_nckl's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, and Fatphobia
Minor: Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail
CW provided by author: Abuse/neglect (mental/emotional, parent to child, historical), spousal death (historical, non-graphic, off-page), explicit sex, vomit (non-graphic), pregnancy termination (non-graphic), incidental injuries for magical purposes, grief, body shaming (historical, referenced briefly), reference to age play and to DDlg, slight dollification, use of unconventional gagsba2x's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy