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lizbein's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Definitely going to finish this series, but my interest is starting to wane (I started the fourth when it came out two months ago and have barely made it past the 10% marker)
I love love Poppy and Casteel, they're sweeties that deserve the world, but the whole "I have a question" "big surprise" banter is getting to me, as it seems to be the only way things are explained - I'm sure there are more effective story building methods out there
If I reviewed this right after finishing it (way back in Jan I think, now June) I might've given a 4.5 or closer to 5 star bc I was caught up in the swell of it all, which isn't a bad thing, but time and space has made me view it a little more critically lol
I love love Poppy and Casteel, they're sweeties that deserve the world, but the whole "I have a question" "big surprise" banter is getting to me, as it seems to be the only way things are explained - I'm sure there are more effective story building methods out there
If I reviewed this right after finishing it (way back in Jan I think, now June) I might've given a 4.5 or closer to 5 star bc I was caught up in the swell of it all, which isn't a bad thing, but time and space has made me view it a little more critically lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: War, Murder, and Gore
saffyre's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cursing, Murder, and Violence
kaylahcc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Gore
Minor: Sexual assault
eve_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Overall Thoughts:
⁕ If I could describe this book in one word, that word would be repetitive. Within itself and in comparison to the previous books in the series, the same scenes just keep repeating themselves over and over.... and over.
⁕ There's a lot of fluff without much consequence for the story. Romance books have to have romance, but after a while it stops adding value. I wish there was less of it and more of the political intrigue that is present in first book.
⁕ Poppy's character is too overpowered. Every time a new challenge arises she develops special abilities out of nowhere that perfectly address whatever the given situation is. It takes all the conflict and tension out of the story.
⁕ At this point, the only reason I will finish the series is solely because I need to know how it ends and not because I actually enjoy the act of reading it.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
⁕ If I could describe this book in one word, that word would be repetitive. Within itself and in comparison to the previous books in the series, the same scenes just keep repeating themselves over and over.... and over.
⁕ There's a lot of fluff without much consequence for the story. Romance books have to have romance, but after a while it stops adding value. I wish there was less of it and more of the political intrigue that is present in first book.
⁕ Poppy's character is too overpowered. Every time a new challenge arises she develops special abilities out of nowhere that perfectly address whatever the given situation is. It takes all the conflict and tension out of the story.
⁕ At this point, the only reason I will finish the series is solely because I need to know how it ends and not because I actually enjoy the act of reading it.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Gore, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and War
morbookish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
folkofthebook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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? No
3.5
While enjoyable, my main complaint is the repetition in this book. JLA has a tendency to repeat jokes, phrases, and reiterate information a bit much in all her series, but this book really pushes it for me. Of course Poppy's going to have a million questions, she was raised in an extremely controlled environment and part of a society that's been lied to for centuries about their entire history and even the present day. Give her a break.
At this point, I'm feeling like books 1 & 2 should've been combined, and I have a feeling I'm going to think this book and book 4 should as well. The series needn't be drawn out the way she's deciding to go because it's sacrificing the quality of storytelling for readers in favor of selling more books.
I know you love to write JLA but I'm begging you to hire a new developmental editor again.
That being said, I still love Cas and Poppy (and no I won't lose my shitwhen there's threesome/throuple Joining. )
At this point, I'm feeling like books 1 & 2 should've been combined, and I have a feeling I'm going to think this book and book 4 should as well. The series needn't be drawn out the way she's deciding to go because it's sacrificing the quality of storytelling for readers in favor of selling more books.
I know you love to write JLA but I'm begging you to hire a new developmental editor again.
That being said, I still love Cas and Poppy (and no I won't lose my shit
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, and Gore
Minor: Child death, War, Confinement, and Death of parent
sabrina22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Death
alicew4k's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
*looks back at the notes I sent my friend while reading* Aha! Yes, here we go...
This has been my favorite book of the series so far. There's a kind of comfort that's settled in between Casteel and Poppy now that they're married - and despite the insane cliffhanger that book two left us on, things were cleared up relatively quickly at the beginning of this book.
Okay, so "cleared up" is maybe the wrong term considering the insanity that followed - and that's where I got a little revved up. Not because I was disliking the story so much as I was constantly confused. There was a lot of information overload in this installation. I found myself constantly looking up the terms because I lost track of the differences between "deities" and "gods" or I lost track of the character names because it seems like someone new is always being introduced. In addition to that, there was a lot of back-and-forth with who the characters were, who they were related to, what they were spawns of, whether they were Ascended, Descenters, masked, Wolven, vamprys, etc. I literally couldn't keep up.
At a certain point, I just decided to kind of say "screw it" and enjoy the story for what it was rather than trying to piece together every little bit of information because, let's be real, JLA is totally gonna throw half of it out the window in the next novel and we'll have to relearn it all again. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the style she's chosen for this series. Everything can be undone or retold and you have to get used to never really knowing for sure whether something is set in stone.
Just like the other two books, there were some irritants for me, such as the repetition:
1) Poppy likes violence
2) Poppy has a lot of questions
We get it. Can Kieren or Casteel acknowledge anything else? Thanks.
There was a lot of sexual content - maybe even more than the others, but at this point it's not as appealing to me. Not that it was "appealing" before, so much as it was new. Now it's not and it felt like she was reaching a lot of the time. I found myself just flipping through pages until those scenes ended because I didn't feel like I was missing anything.
I love Kieren. Honestly, if we could get some books just about him, I think I'd be happy. He's sarcastic and caring - and even though he pretty much only ribs Poppy about how inquisitive she is, he's probably the most likable character in the books.
While I can't say these are my favorite books ever or anything, I definitely stay interested throughout the entire time I'm reading, which encourages me to continue the series. So far, I haven't had anything really make me think I need to stop where I am. I'm not bored and I'm not disinterested, so even though I'm not obsessed, I'll be picking up the next book.
This has been my favorite book of the series so far. There's a kind of comfort that's settled in between Casteel and Poppy now that they're married - and despite the insane cliffhanger that book two left us on, things were cleared up relatively quickly at the beginning of this book.
Okay, so "cleared up" is maybe the wrong term considering the insanity that followed - and that's where I got a little revved up. Not because I was disliking the story so much as I was constantly confused. There was a lot of information overload in this installation. I found myself constantly looking up the terms because I lost track of the differences between "deities" and "gods" or I lost track of the character names because it seems like someone new is always being introduced. In addition to that, there was a lot of back-and-forth with who the characters were, who they were related to, what they were spawns of, whether they were Ascended, Descenters, masked, Wolven, vamprys, etc. I literally couldn't keep up.
At a certain point, I just decided to kind of say "screw it" and enjoy the story for what it was rather than trying to piece together every little bit of information because, let's be real, JLA is totally gonna throw half of it out the window in the next novel and we'll have to relearn it all again. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the style she's chosen for this series. Everything can be undone or retold and you have to get used to never really knowing for sure whether something is set in stone.
Just like the other two books, there were some irritants for me, such as the repetition:
1) Poppy likes violence
2) Poppy has a lot of questions
We get it. Can Kieren or Casteel acknowledge anything else? Thanks.
There was a lot of sexual content - maybe even more than the others, but at this point it's not as appealing to me. Not that it was "appealing" before, so much as it was new. Now it's not and it felt like she was reaching a lot of the time. I found myself just flipping through pages until those scenes ended because I didn't feel like I was missing anything.
I love Kieren. Honestly, if we could get some books just about him, I think I'd be happy. He's sarcastic and caring - and even though he pretty much only ribs Poppy about how inquisitive she is, he's probably the most likable character in the books.
While I can't say these are my favorite books ever or anything, I definitely stay interested throughout the entire time I'm reading, which encourages me to continue the series. So far, I haven't had anything really make me think I need to stop where I am. I'm not bored and I'm not disinterested, so even though I'm not obsessed, I'll be picking up the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
camipuchta's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Sexual content