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elleclair's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t. Every time I’d get myself to look past an issue, something new would pop up that would put me off.
THE WRITING
In terms of format, I’m not a HUGE stickler when it comes to grammar or overall writing quality. Sometimes the best stories are wrapped up in the most chaotic packages. But this book had so many repetitive words phrases and poorly described actions that I just couldn’t keep myself immersed. It felt lazy and/or unedited. I was really interested in the story though, so I switched to the audiobook in hopes that I’d notice these things less.
PLOT & ROMANCE
When it comes to the actual content of the book, the plot and worldbuilding were really interesting. They kept me constantly wondering what would happen next. Unfortunately, the story predominantly centers around the main romance, and that part was BAD. Maybe it’s something that others could get into, but it made me physically uncomfortable in many parts.
It’s important to note that our main character (MC) comes from a religious purity culture that judges the value of a woman based on her virginity / sexual purity, her ability to please her husband, and whether or not she’s putting out children. There’s heavy emphasis on the fact that women here do not have a choice and are used and mistreated by the men around them all their lives. Not only that, but there’s also a focus on the abuse of the lower class in general. So you would think that the point of this would be to drive the MC down a path where she finds freedom and perhaps a love interest who opposes all of these things. Nope.
I should start by saying, the love interest calls the MC “Little One” right off the bat, which already threw me off. I’m well versed in kink and the concept of DD/lg, but this wasn’t written like that at all. To me, the context made it creepy and predatory, especially when he insists on using the name during intensely graphic sex scenes - some of which included very dubious consent. I get that this is supposed to be about their size difference, but it didn’t read that way, and there was never any discussion between them to prove otherwise. And some information we get much later makes this point even creepier.
The consent issues maybe could’ve bothered me less than they did. I’ve read much darker smut and been absolutely fine. But when you put a character through an intensely emotional journey revolving around their lack of consent and ability to choose anything for themself, then stick them in a sexual situation where they’re thinking “I’m uncomfortable. I don’t think I want this” and have the love interest ignoring her cues saying “I told you what would happen, now spread your legs” — that’s problematic. Especially when the language used to describe his actions emphasizes that his grip was bruising, he wasn’t gentle, he didn’t ease her into it and tore her open, etc, and then has him say that he’s going to claim his pleasure from her again later that night. And this isn’t just one scene. This undercurrent of pressuring her into doing what he wants is present in every aspect of their relationship - including pressuring her into telling him that she loves him before she’s ready.
And if all that wasn’t an issue, these two have no chemistry. There’s no sense of love or genuine care for one another. Any time the MC talks about his affection or her feelings for him, it’s always in the context of simply having never had that thing before. The sex is good because she was never allowed to have it freely before. The cuddling is nice because she’d never been able to lay next to someone like that before. There were no redeeming qualities to this man, even through her eyes - apart from his determination to protect her from harm at all costs.
Now, I get that the point of some of this is that it’s supposed to lead up to him not being such a great guy. We’re supposed to be conflicted and want the MC to fight back and learn how to set boundaries. We’re supposed to feel like things don’t add up and grow to be scared of the love interest. But it doesn’t seem like this is a situation where she’s going to eventually leave him and end up with someone else. Right now, it definitely seems like he’s it. So, I guess to me the biggest dealbreaker of all here is… if you really want to write a compelling bad guy / love interest who’d destroy all but the woman he loves, that bad guy can’t aggressively embody the very thing that the MC is trying to escape. He needs to represent, in some part, what we want the MC to work towards, and there needs to be real, palpable chemistry between them. The love interest in this book is toxic and rapey, and I was incredibly disappointed when I found out that this wasn’t because we were building up to her leaving him.
Anyway, if none of this is an issue to you, you might really like the book. There are a lot of redeeming qualities in terms of the worldbuilding and pacing. For me personally, it was just hard to notice those things as much when I was busy gritting my teeth through all of the other parts LOL
THE WRITING
In terms of format, I’m not a HUGE stickler when it comes to grammar or overall writing quality. Sometimes the best stories are wrapped up in the most chaotic packages. But this book had so many repetitive words phrases and poorly described actions that I just couldn’t keep myself immersed. It felt lazy and/or unedited. I was really interested in the story though, so I switched to the audiobook in hopes that I’d notice these things less.
PLOT & ROMANCE
When it comes to the actual content of the book, the plot and worldbuilding were really interesting. They kept me constantly wondering what would happen next. Unfortunately, the story predominantly centers around the main romance, and that part was BAD. Maybe it’s something that others could get into, but it made me physically uncomfortable in many parts.
It’s important to note that our main character (MC) comes from a religious purity culture that judges the value of a woman based on her virginity / sexual purity, her ability to please her husband, and whether or not she’s putting out children. There’s heavy emphasis on the fact that women here do not have a choice and are used and mistreated by the men around them all their lives. Not only that, but there’s also a focus on the abuse of the lower class in general. So you would think that the point of this would be to drive the MC down a path where she finds freedom and perhaps a love interest who opposes all of these things. Nope.
I should start by saying, the love interest calls the MC “Little One” right off the bat, which already threw me off. I’m well versed in kink and the concept of DD/lg, but this wasn’t written like that at all. To me, the context made it creepy and predatory, especially when he insists on using the name during intensely graphic sex scenes - some of which included very dubious consent. I get that this is supposed to be about their size difference, but it didn’t read that way, and there was never any discussion between them to prove otherwise. And some information we get much later makes this point even creepier.
The consent issues maybe could’ve bothered me less than they did. I’ve read much darker smut and been absolutely fine. But when you put a character through an intensely emotional journey revolving around their lack of consent and ability to choose anything for themself, then stick them in a sexual situation where they’re thinking “I’m uncomfortable. I don’t think I want this” and have the love interest ignoring her cues saying “I told you what would happen, now spread your legs” — that’s problematic. Especially when the language used to describe his actions emphasizes that his grip was bruising, he wasn’t gentle, he didn’t ease her into it and tore her open, etc, and then has him say that he’s going to claim his pleasure from her again later that night. And this isn’t just one scene. This undercurrent of pressuring her into doing what he wants is present in every aspect of their relationship - including pressuring her into telling him that she loves him before she’s ready.
And if all that wasn’t an issue, these two have no chemistry. There’s no sense of love or genuine care for one another. Any time the MC talks about his affection or her feelings for him, it’s always in the context of simply having never had that thing before. The sex is good because she was never allowed to have it freely before. The cuddling is nice because she’d never been able to lay next to someone like that before. There were no redeeming qualities to this man, even through her eyes - apart from his determination to protect her from harm at all costs.
Now, I get that the point of some of this is that it’s supposed to lead up to him not being such a great guy. We’re supposed to be conflicted and want the MC to fight back and learn how to set boundaries. We’re supposed to feel like things don’t add up and grow to be scared of the love interest. But it doesn’t seem like this is a situation where she’s going to eventually leave him and end up with someone else. Right now, it definitely seems like he’s it. So, I guess to me the biggest dealbreaker of all here is… if you really want to write a compelling bad guy / love interest who’d destroy all but the woman he loves, that bad guy can’t aggressively embody the very thing that the MC is trying to escape. He needs to represent, in some part, what we want the MC to work towards, and there needs to be real, palpable chemistry between them. The love interest in this book is toxic and rapey, and I was incredibly disappointed when I found out that this wasn’t because we were building up to her leaving him.
Anyway, if none of this is an issue to you, you might really like the book. There are a lot of redeeming qualities in terms of the worldbuilding and pacing. For me personally, it was just hard to notice those things as much when I was busy gritting my teeth through all of the other parts LOL
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Blood, Terminal illness, and Bullying
Minor: Incest
virgoabb's review
dark
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
always love a hot mmc w a gf that’s mean to him 🤭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
shan_lou's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
cady_sass's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Someone said this book is what you would get if you told an AI to write a fantasy romance, and that’s about all I can say. It’s certainly not very good, the dialogue is cringey and unnatural and there’s zero character development. There just… no depth. But I didn’t HATE it. And now I have to read the sequel *sigh*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Torture, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, and War
chaotic_hyperactive's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Blood, Murder, Gore, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Grief, and Torture
jadehusdanhicks's review
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Not going to lie I struggled with this book. The general fae story line was amazing and if it was that alone I’m sure I’d probably continue the series.
Unfortunately it contains very consistent weird sexual content with a male MC calling the female one little one which didn’t sit right with me.
Additionally it deals with grooming, suicide, murder and SA.
Overall I was left disturbed especially by the graphic sex because of the phrasing and the uncomfortable nickname used. I wouldn’t reccomend personally.
And I’m not against spice in books. But this was just horrid to read
Also. Despite this book seemingly being set in an old dystopia landscape it kept bringing up modern clothing like leggings. Which just seemed so seperate and disconnected from what I understood to be the setting
Unfortunately it contains very consistent weird sexual content with a male MC calling the female one little one which didn’t sit right with me.
Additionally it deals with grooming, suicide, murder and SA.
Overall I was left disturbed especially by the graphic sex because of the phrasing and the uncomfortable nickname used. I wouldn’t reccomend personally.
And I’m not against spice in books. But this was just horrid to read
Also. Despite this book seemingly being set in an old dystopia landscape it kept bringing up modern clothing like leggings. Which just seemed so seperate and disconnected from what I understood to be the setting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Cursing, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
enchanted_reader32's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was difficult for me to finish, I'm not gonna lie. It started out mostly decent and ended up being overly sexual. The relationship didn't contribute anything to the plot and a lot of the story went missing because of these parts. (Also, very disfunctional relationship. I would've broken this guys' nose and run like hell at any point during this book.) I kept wondering if people really talk like that and wishing that I hadn't read certain parts. A lot of pages, I just skipped.
The male MC kept calling his love interest Little One, which is kind of disturbing as that is something you call your child. In the last few chapters I heard way too many variations of the sentiment "I will not be owned by a man" to a point where I thought the character might have been overly-obsessed. Through some parts of the book, when they made references to drinking blood, they lost me. Overall the trigger warnings didn't lie.
There were a few good quotes and a few good moments of solid humor or cameraderie. Maybe this book just wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean you won't love it. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
.
⚡️Trigger warnings (as listed in the book):
•Religious purity culture
•Verbal and physical abuse
•References to grooming behaviour & assault of a minor by an authority figure
•Ritualistic sacrifice
•Suicidal thoughts & ideation
•Graphic violence
•Graphic sexual content
The male MC kept calling his love interest Little One, which is kind of disturbing as that is something you call your child. In the last few chapters I heard way too many variations of the sentiment "I will not be owned by a man" to a point where I thought the character might have been overly-obsessed. Through some parts of the book, when they made references to drinking blood, they lost me. Overall the trigger warnings didn't lie.
There were a few good quotes and a few good moments of solid humor or cameraderie. Maybe this book just wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean you won't love it. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
.
⚡️Trigger warnings (as listed in the book):
•Religious purity culture
•Verbal and physical abuse
•References to grooming behaviour & assault of a minor by an authority figure
•Ritualistic sacrifice
•Suicidal thoughts & ideation
•Graphic violence
•Graphic sexual content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Blood
cassie12_21's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Death, Abandonment, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
bakunzi1990's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Well... that was one of the most intense books I've ever read. Still not sure if I like it...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and War
lostwaterbottle's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Book tok critiques said it all. My top critiques were:
- the overall sexual dynamic felt forced, coercive and imbalanced. There were times I was confused why the male lead was touching the MC when she didn’t want that. Especially when she had a history of sexual abuse.
- his nickname for her was little one and that was just gross and weird
- I thought that after being in an oppressive culture her whole life, the transition out would be more complex and nuanced. There wasn’t a moment when she reveled in just being free or when she caught her conditioning still influencing her. Overall I feel like the MC could have grown so much more than she did.
- there wasn’t a ton of worldbuilding info in the book. Everyone was keeping secrets from the MC and we didn’t know a lot till the end. I kinda just pieced it together based on other fantasy worlds.
- the MC definitely gave off I’m not like other girls vibes, and I’m the context of her upbringing that didn’t really make sense. There would definitely have been other girls like her who had secret solidarity. And being as poor as she was described would play out differently in my opinion than what she described.
- this is more of a personal pet peeve, but I really dislike when books don’t deal with basic human needs like using the bathroom, smelling gross, and menstruation. It makes me not take the characters seriously
- the overall sexual dynamic felt forced, coercive and imbalanced. There were times I was confused why the male lead was touching the MC when she didn’t want that. Especially when she had a history of sexual abuse.
- his nickname for her was little one and that was just gross and weird
- I thought that after being in an oppressive culture her whole life, the transition out would be more complex and nuanced. There wasn’t a moment when she reveled in just being free or when she caught her conditioning still influencing her. Overall I feel like the MC could have grown so much more than she did.
- there wasn’t a ton of worldbuilding info in the book. Everyone was keeping secrets from the MC and we didn’t know a lot till the end. I kinda just pieced it together based on other fantasy worlds.
- the MC definitely gave off I’m not like other girls vibes, and I’m the context of her upbringing that didn’t really make sense. There would definitely have been other girls like her who had secret solidarity. And being as poor as she was described would play out differently in my opinion than what she described.
- this is more of a personal pet peeve, but I really dislike when books don’t deal with basic human needs like using the bathroom, smelling gross, and menstruation. It makes me not take the characters seriously
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Gore