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re_do_876's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
madamenovelist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Murder, and Abandonment
ashleyelizabeth's review
lighthearted
1.5
The smut was too much in this. Tentacles are just not for me I guess. I also hated Catalina. Everything she did was stupid and unbelievable.
The ze/zir pronoun usuage was NOT well done. I was so confused, I got angry and frustrated trying to understand some paragraphs. I really thought the author was adding in another character or speaking in some kind of alien language from how often she put those words in a sentence. I actually googled it to see if Ze and Zer were some kind or pop culture characters I had never heard of, rather than pronouns. (Ex: Ze went to corner to pull out zer blanket for zer to give to ze.)
It was like the author wanted to use some progressive pronouns so bad, she just shoved them into every sentence in the book. The result made no sense and makes her seem not genuine. It felt like she was just trying to earn some Brownie points with the LGBTQ+ community without actually knowing what she was talking about.
The ze/zir pronoun usuage was NOT well done. I was so confused, I got angry and frustrated trying to understand some paragraphs. I really thought the author was adding in another character or speaking in some kind of alien language from how often she put those words in a sentence. I actually googled it to see if Ze and Zer were some kind or pop culture characters I had never heard of, rather than pronouns. (Ex: Ze went to corner to pull out zer blanket for zer to give to ze.)
It was like the author wanted to use some progressive pronouns so bad, she just shoved them into every sentence in the book. The result made no sense and makes her seem not genuine. It felt like she was just trying to earn some Brownie points with the LGBTQ+ community without actually knowing what she was talking about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Abortion
scoobygirl93's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
graceheartsbooks's review
4.75
Wow. I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. Catalina and Thane were such interesting characters and I loved getting to see them navigating a relationship together. I especially appreciate how this book discussed self esteem and grief as it’s two subjects I’m intimately aware of. It broke my heart to hear Catalina dismiss all the hardships she had gone through—how no one in her life thought she was good enough or worthy just by being herself. But that made her coming to realization that she is a person that should be valued was even sweeter. I also loved how Thane’s grief over his husband was discussed. Grief is ever present, ever changing but it doesn’t stop anybody from moving forward and continuing to love—even knowing that they may continue to love the person that they lost…I just completely adored this book. I took a short break to have dinner but was hooked the whole way through❣️
Also bonus points for this book being pro-choice and actually allowing a childless character to not want kids. It feels like a lot of romance novels have pregnancy be the end all be all even for characters that declare they don’t want children which to me, as a sex repulsed asexual who wants to adopt children, I find it particularly insulting. So this was such a breath of fresh air!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse and Death
Minor: Violence, Pregnancy, and War
doahdancer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy
catthered's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse
nose_in_a_book's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️
Of all the books in this series so far, my feelings on this one are the most complicated. Both of the main characters are deeply flawed from trauma. I do think this book handles the way trauma manifests in our actions beautifully. The driving actions have layers to them which is part of why my feelings are complicated. While I wouldn't want changes to how the characters act from a storytelling perspective, it made it really hard for me to actually want the two of these characters to end up together.
The MMC may not have a malicious bone in his body but that doesn't change the fact that his actions for the first half of the story are abusive. That's not to say that characters can't work through unintentional harm but I didn't feel like the book held him accountable for just how fucked up what he did was, regardless of intention. It was hidden behind empathy for why he acted that way and the fact that they clearly had healthy communication by the epilogue.
I suppose I wanted consequences. I wanted the same protection that Briar got in Dragon's Bride to be applied here and it felt deeply unfair that it wasn't. Briar is a stereotypical damsel, described as soft and deeply kind, while Catalina is decidedly not those things. She's self-destructive, loud, and hyper-independent but she honestly needed someone standing up for her (i.e. her demon guardians) more than Briar. At least Briar knew what happened to her was wrong and spent the book advocating for herself. Catalina is so used to being abused that she doesn't even bother anymore. She deserved to be ripped away from Thane and then have him prove he was worthy of her.
All in all, the romance was less successful for me but the character studies were beautiful.
Of all the books in this series so far, my feelings on this one are the most complicated. Both of the main characters are deeply flawed from trauma. I do think this book handles the way trauma manifests in our actions beautifully. The driving actions have layers to them which is part of why my feelings are complicated. While I wouldn't want changes to how the characters act from a storytelling perspective, it made it really hard for me to actually want the two of these characters to end up together.
The MMC may not have a malicious bone in his body but that doesn't change the fact that his actions for the first half of the story are abusive. That's not to say that characters can't work through unintentional harm but I didn't feel like the book held him accountable for just how fucked up what he did was, regardless of intention. It was hidden behind empathy for why he acted that way and the fact that they clearly had healthy communication by the epilogue.
I suppose I wanted consequences. I wanted the same protection that Briar got in Dragon's Bride to be applied here and it felt deeply unfair that it wasn't.
All in all, the romance was less successful for me but the character studies were beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse
ladydamonayde's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, and Abortion
woad674's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death and Death of parent