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arkwen452's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Ehhhh. I want to know more about these demon contracts but I found the FMC in this book to be over the top. I know she had insecurities and was traumatized but her expecting to be treated a certain way did not measures up how she acted to make things worse in my opinion. I know character flaws are important for growth but the MMC's character arc was handled better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Pregnancy
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
emilysbooksandbakes's review
3.75
Every now and then you just need a quick, short read with tentacles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
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
rae_the_reader's review
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a good LGBTQ+ friendly monster romance. The FMC has a lot of trauma she's overcoming and the MMC struggles with the loss of a spouse. It's not my favorite of the series, but there were parts I enjoyed. I didn't think the chemistry between the two characters was believable, and I'm not really a fan of Thane. He just rubbed me wrong and never really made up for the crap he put Lina through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Abortion, and Pregnancy
judythedreamer's review
0.25
I gave the lowest of the low because this novel failed utterly at being a romance for me. The first 50% are just solid partner neglect/abuse. The sex scenes didn't even feel sexy anymore, I just felt cold disgust. (And I really like krakens, people!)
Additionally, which might be informative for new readers and I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, the main character is neurodivergent, ADHD likely.
Additionally, which might be informative for new readers and I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, the main character is neurodivergent, ADHD likely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
attackrat's review
3.25
fairly good spice but I wasn’t the biggest fan of either character tbh. and I feel like a couple of plot points were totally unnecessary and didn’t add much. we love a pair of messy bisexuals though!! and I do love the casual queer rep
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy and Abandonment
lots of negative self talk, like nearly incessantjenniandthebets'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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Abandonment