Scan barcode
alyssarrw's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
I really enjoyed this! All the tropes and characterizations are right up my alley. I loved Davik and Vienne’s conversations and then getting to know each other. I really enjoyed the world building and the histories we are discovering.
guardyourhonor's review
adventurous
emotional
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
3.0
The books continue to improve as the series progresses. Characters continue to have more personality and each has a bit more substance as it goes. Personal peeve: adding magic. I dislike when magic is added to a sci-fi setting and it makes me have to reconfigure my imagining of the entire world. I would've much preferred this to just be a fantasy series.
amanda_kt's review
4.0
Whoa there is a lot going on in here. Slavery, poison, sexual assault, visions of the dead, folklore, and….magic? I loved how Vienne was both soft and strong, unwavering in her sense of self and defense of those she loves. And poor tortured Davik! The way the layers of their secrets and trauma-filled pasts were peeled away one by one, resulting in a solid new beginning, was beautiful. And Davik's relationship with his sister was a great facet of his character.
kwalla15's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
poppymonster's review
4.0
Tender hearted FMC plus mad king
I will choose an insane MMC over a perfectly sane one most times. Mr mad king had some issues but so did Vienne. They were super cute together.
This book read more like a fantasy romance than the previous ones, as it had some obvious magic playing a much larger part. Honestly, the magic almost ruined the book for me. It was too wrapped up in the personalities of the MCs for my taste. But, they were still super cute together so I kept it at 4 stars.
Spice: 4/5
Triggers: forced nudity (brief, not forced by MMC), rape (off page), dubcon (kinda Quid pro Quo), slavery, murder (off page), flashbacks
I will choose an insane MMC over a perfectly sane one most times. Mr mad king had some issues but so did Vienne. They were super cute together.
This book read more like a fantasy romance than the previous ones, as it had some obvious magic playing a much larger part. Honestly, the magic almost ruined the book for me. It was too wrapped up in the personalities of the MCs for my taste. But, they were still super cute together so I kept it at 4 stars.
Spice: 4/5
Triggers: forced nudity (brief, not forced by MMC), rape (off page), dubcon (kinda Quid pro Quo), slavery, murder (off page), flashbacks
sagittarian's review
3.0
i desperately need to pivot away from these horde king books, but the concept is just so fun.
it’s such a far cry from the standard sci-fi/alien romance i read, but i truly eat it up.
‘madness’ was an easy read, but not as enjoyable as the previous books in the series. we get a bit more ‘magic’ and ‘fantasy’ elements, with our main character vienne’s seemingly-supernatural gift of reading emotions and projecting intentions into others’ minds, and our love interest, the ‘mad horde king’, who sees dead people.
there’s a bit more plot going on in this one, as we meet vienne on a mission to save her own life and that of her family, who are all slaves to the ghertun. a mission that, naturally, requires the help of the dakkari.
this was easy, spicy, with a bit more emotional ‘meat’, but ultimately not my favorite of the series so far.
pick this series up if you’re in the mood for some light khal drogo smut — you won’t be disappointed.
TWs/CWs: recounted sexual assault from a third party perspective, murder, enslavement, and dealing with grief/loss.
it’s such a far cry from the standard sci-fi/alien romance i read, but i truly eat it up.
‘madness’ was an easy read, but not as enjoyable as the previous books in the series. we get a bit more ‘magic’ and ‘fantasy’ elements, with our main character vienne’s seemingly-supernatural gift of reading emotions and projecting intentions into others’ minds, and our love interest, the ‘mad horde king’, who sees dead people.
there’s a bit more plot going on in this one, as we meet vienne on a mission to save her own life and that of her family, who are all slaves to the ghertun. a mission that, naturally, requires the help of the dakkari.
this was easy, spicy, with a bit more emotional ‘meat’, but ultimately not my favorite of the series so far.
pick this series up if you’re in the mood for some light khal drogo smut — you won’t be disappointed.
TWs/CWs: recounted sexual assault from a third party perspective, murder, enslavement, and dealing with grief/loss.
faithd's review
4.0
I think this was my favorite of the series. I love how the mmc was a bit unhinged and I loved the fmc’s character - she was a great mix of soft and sweet yet still powerful and she had a great arc. Yes they kept secrets from each other for seemingly the sole purpose of creating conflict in story…but I found that I didn’t even mind because it was a good story with developed characters. The spice scenes were great too!
sageling's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookish_kristina's review
5.0
Another dark and gritty alien read. 4.5 stars. I might have enjoyed this one the best so far. It was a little rough getting started as I found it difficult to connect with both characters. Vivienne, the heroine, was a scared mouse of a woman at first, taken as a slave to the Gertrun, she was the most downtrodden female character yet. But she had a special power, she could read feelings and influence them, she could control people’s minds, which played out in very entertaining fashion with a huge culmination at the end. For the hero, Davik, he was a grumpy, self deprecating character with an awful backstory, the worst so far. Because both of them were so damaged, the beginning was heavy and dragged a bit. But it got much better once they travelled away from Dothick City into the wilds of Drakkar. There was a lot of world building in this book, Draven revealed much more to us about the planet, it’s creatures and other inhabitants and why the aliens (the non Drakari) were not allowed to hunt. Some of this info was frustrating because I’d have loved to have known this stuff like maybe TWO BOOKS AGO! But it was nice to finally have it.
This book had an element of the paranormal in it, as both characters have supernatural powers and the magic of the planet and it’s gods were invoked in a pretty spectacular fashion near the end. This was interesting but a weird choice to start paranormal in the third book, I guess I will have to chock it up to the author diving more deeply into her works, which was good as this book was excellent, but the first book certainly suffered for the lack of detail, but luckily she corrected it in this one.
The conflict in this book was great for me because it was all external. We didn’t have any dumb moments from the characters causing break ups, we didn’t have any conflict within the horde either, which was nice and a change from the last two books. I quite like how each of these books is quite different and Draven isn’t repeating herself in any of these stories. There are consistent and similar elements linking the books together, but each story is unique and builds on the cool world she has created. I’m kind of addicted and seem to be reading these back to back to back. We will see if she can keep my attention for two more…
This book had an element of the paranormal in it, as both characters have supernatural powers and the magic of the planet and it’s gods were invoked in a pretty spectacular fashion near the end. This was interesting but a weird choice to start paranormal in the third book, I guess I will have to chock it up to the author diving more deeply into her works, which was good as this book was excellent, but the first book certainly suffered for the lack of detail, but luckily she corrected it in this one.
The conflict in this book was great for me because it was all external. We didn’t have any dumb moments from the characters causing break ups, we didn’t have any conflict within the horde either, which was nice and a change from the last two books. I quite like how each of these books is quite different and Draven isn’t repeating herself in any of these stories. There are consistent and similar elements linking the books together, but each story is unique and builds on the cool world she has created. I’m kind of addicted and seem to be reading these back to back to back. We will see if she can keep my attention for two more…