You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Right after i was done i had to 1/ read a REAL romance novel to remind me of what a real love story was, and 2/ re-re-read the Hunger Games to remind me of what is good writing and worldbuilding.
There are so many plot holes i stopped trying to understand a quarter of the way through (for instance we don't know how or why the trial participants are chosen, or even what are the rules of the trials).
But also most of the characters are just ridiculous. They have no real feelings but the loooooove they feel for the other for no good reason and spend the whole book hating themselves. I don't remember a main male character I despised as much as Kai.
If I had a physical version of the book I would hurl it through the window or burn it - but thankfully it was an audiobook. Delete.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Genocide
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
The repeat of three was annoying (drowning isn't so bad, burning isn't so bad, ... forgot the other examples. I just remember my eyes almost rolling out of my eyes... they did that alot while reading this book). The nativity of Paedyn and the blind 'yes, sir'-ing of the princes (without any critical thinking) was just stupid.
And then there were all the obvious tropes shoved in ('who did this to you' literally word for word, not even paraphrased or dressed up a bit more originally). The author also blatantly stole so many ideas (there is a difference between stealing and being inspired. She didn't even attempt to hide it.): Harry Potter (maze), of blood and ash (scar on face), Hunger Games (damn near the whole book!), divergent, throne of glass, red queen, trail of the sun queen (didn't even fully read this one and still saw the similarities), fourth wing (cruel, vicious little thing, the silver hair)... and the list goes on and on. => At this point I changed the star rating from a 2.25 to a 1.0 This book just makes me angry by how bad it is and how much time I wasted on it. I really tried to like it. The one star is for how mildly entertaining it was.
oh and almost everything that happened to Paedyn in the trail happened to Kai and vise versa (climing trees to find water, similar injuries/fights, the snakes; it laked variation in ideas)
Normally, I can easily switch my brain off and ignore similar story lines/books or dialogues that are a bit mid. This book made that possible by being so unoriginal that it was annoying. (For example twilight; it's not stellar writing, but god did I enjoy those books)
Do yourself a favour and do not read this book. You'll get more enjoyment by (re-)reading one of the book that this author stole from.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Genocide, Classism
Minor: Confinement, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Death of parent
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Police brutality
I can see the similarities between this book and hunger games/red queen, but it didn't bother me so much.
overall I expected more from all the hype, but it was good.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Classism