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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…
mizmanderz's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
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? It's complicated
3.5
rickireadss's review
5.0
AHHHH THIS ONE!!! i was really hoping that davik's book would be next after seeing him in the last book and i was happily rewarded. HIM AND VIENNE>>>>> the vibes are there. they are SO HOT. and the action in this one there at the end had me on the edge of my freaking seat. i'm immediately going into the next one.
content warnings:death, violence, murder, rape, slavery, blood, death of parent, animal death, confinement, war, pregnancy, vomit
content warnings:
mir_bears's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
gracelizab's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
seahagbookclub's review against another edition
5.0
Another emotional one! I loved the addition of "magic" into the story and the way the world built out! I stayed up till 2 am to finish it.