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tothestarsxxx's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
leggothemeggoreads's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing!
This book was amazing! Holy World Building! Holy Slow Burn! This was high fantasy romance at its finest and I can’t wait for the 2nd book..
And that ending…Dang…
This book was amazing! Holy World Building! Holy Slow Burn! This was high fantasy romance at its finest and I can’t wait for the 2nd book..
And that ending…Dang…
simplysalcedo's review against another edition
3.0
I had put off reading this book, but recently I saw it pop up more and more on my instagram, so here we are lol. There was not a lot of world building, which was nice. Sometimes I get lost from the story if there is too much world building. The book itself is predictable, and has the same-ish plot as a lot of other books out there. I am a big fan of "mates" and "fated mates", so I was a sucker for Caelum and Estella. Had a good amount of spice. If you're looking for an easy to read fantasy book that isn't too complex, this is definitely for you.
Do check trigger warnings. Fated mates, forced proximity, touch her and die, possessive, exhibitionism, praise kinks, and breeding kink.
Do check trigger warnings. Fated mates, forced proximity, touch her and die, possessive, exhibitionism, praise kinks, and breeding kink.
bibi_reads_writes's review against another edition
2.0
“You and the basilisk in your trousers stay right there, thank you very much.”
Well, this was disappointing. This book didn’t even succeed in keeping me nicely distracted while driving or doing chores. It started off great, and everything went downhill as soon as the generic FMC-obsessed alphahole MMC was introduced. I won’t be reading the rest of the series. Not even curious about what happens next. If it had been a paper book, I would have DNFed.
❤️ Worldbuilding and lore
❌ …everything else
Trigger warnings: death and murder, poisoning, blood and gore, violence, toxic relationship, child abuse, grooming, death of a parent, domestic and emotional abuse, gaslighting, grief, misogyny and sexism, sexual violence (assault, harassment, bullying, etc.), dubious consent, rape.
Plot:
Estrella has spent most of her life tending to the lord’s garden and being groomed by him against her will. One day, she is faced with an impossible choice: to become his wife—and belonging—, or to be sacrificed as part of a tradition meant to maintain a magical barrier, called the Veil, between humans and the Fae. But when the Veil suddenly shatters and the Fae starting hunting for their human mates, Estrella must go into hiding. She soon meets Caelum, another Fae-marked human, who will stop at nothing to protect her.
It started off nicely, with great worldbuilding and lore. The FMC’s background also included grooming, which isn’t approached as often as sexual assault, and felt like an interesting twist. Basically, this book had potential. But then Caelum appeared, and it was reduced to 2 horn dogs hiking and camping and building a very, very toxic relationship. The plot just… disappeared. Estrella’s brother tries to kill her, and she ponders the question once or twice, and then it’s never mentioned again. Her whole world went upside down, she killed her own friend and lover, and then her brother tried to kill her before dying himself, and all she thinks about is the beautiful stranger who came out of nowhere. Come on. Predictable, cheap, and dull, with a “massive cliffhanger” that could be predicted about 20% in.
Characters:
Estrella, just heh. With her background, she could have been a very interesting character. But she ends up being a bland, dim damsel in distress who makes all the wrong choices and alternates between being feisty and submissive. Caelum, your typical morally-grey alphahole who doesn’t seem to have a personality outside of his obsession for the FMC. Utterly unlikeable and not even sexy. Wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole. Oh, and he calls her sweet nicknames like “little one” and “my star” about 30 seconds after meeting her, which is weird AF. There is absolutely no chemistry or relationship building: we jump right into the “who did this to you” and “touch her and die” tropes, and it’s simply not believable.
Writing:
The writing didn’t strike me as good or bad. However, the dialogues between the two MCs made me cringe more than a few times. For example, Caelum when bullying Estrella to have public sex with him:
“If I see your body one more time, if I watch them look at you again, I will not be held responsible for what I do to you. Is that clear, my star?”
Seriously? This was written by a woman? I don’t understand how an author can build a whole character based on her sexual trauma, with many references to how she wants to be free and never again controlled by a man, and then romanticize a sexist man treating her as his belonging and telling her she’s responsible for his toxic and abusive behaviour.
Also, just a reminder that the word “assault” is not sexy. Ever.
I like dark fantasy and don’t mind most triggers. I have NOTHING against the genre, but seriously, this was just bad.
Well, this was disappointing. This book didn’t even succeed in keeping me nicely distracted while driving or doing chores. It started off great, and everything went downhill as soon as the generic FMC-obsessed alphahole MMC was introduced. I won’t be reading the rest of the series. Not even curious about what happens next. If it had been a paper book, I would have DNFed.
❤️ Worldbuilding and lore
❌ …everything else
Trigger warnings: death and murder, poisoning, blood and gore, violence, toxic relationship, child abuse, grooming, death of a parent, domestic and emotional abuse, gaslighting, grief, misogyny and sexism, sexual violence (assault, harassment, bullying, etc.), dubious consent, rape.
Plot:
Estrella has spent most of her life tending to the lord’s garden and being groomed by him against her will. One day, she is faced with an impossible choice: to become his wife—and belonging—, or to be sacrificed as part of a tradition meant to maintain a magical barrier, called the Veil, between humans and the Fae. But when the Veil suddenly shatters and the Fae starting hunting for their human mates, Estrella must go into hiding. She soon meets Caelum, another Fae-marked human, who will stop at nothing to protect her.
It started off nicely, with great worldbuilding and lore. The FMC’s background also included grooming, which isn’t approached as often as sexual assault, and felt like an interesting twist. Basically, this book had potential. But then Caelum appeared, and it was reduced to 2 horn dogs hiking and camping and building a very, very toxic relationship. The plot just… disappeared. Estrella’s brother tries to kill her, and she ponders the question once or twice, and then it’s never mentioned again. Her whole world went upside down, she killed her own friend and lover, and then her brother tried to kill her before dying himself, and all she thinks about is the beautiful stranger who came out of nowhere. Come on. Predictable, cheap, and dull, with a “massive cliffhanger” that could be predicted about 20% in.
Characters:
Estrella, just heh. With her background, she could have been a very interesting character. But she ends up being a bland, dim damsel in distress who makes all the wrong choices and alternates between being feisty and submissive. Caelum, your typical morally-grey alphahole who doesn’t seem to have a personality outside of his obsession for the FMC. Utterly unlikeable and not even sexy. Wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole. Oh, and he calls her sweet nicknames like “little one” and “my star” about 30 seconds after meeting her, which is weird AF. There is absolutely no chemistry or relationship building: we jump right into the “who did this to you” and “touch her and die” tropes, and it’s simply not believable.
Writing:
The writing didn’t strike me as good or bad. However, the dialogues between the two MCs made me cringe more than a few times. For example, Caelum when bullying Estrella to have public sex with him:
“If I see your body one more time, if I watch them look at you again, I will not be held responsible for what I do to you. Is that clear, my star?”
Seriously? This was written by a woman? I don’t understand how an author can build a whole character based on her sexual trauma, with many references to how she wants to be free and never again controlled by a man, and then romanticize a sexist man treating her as his belonging and telling her she’s responsible for his toxic and abusive behaviour.
Also, just a reminder that the word “assault” is not sexy. Ever.
I like dark fantasy and don’t mind most triggers. I have NOTHING against the genre, but seriously, this was just bad.
ladygeekface_'s review against another edition
3.0
The story was interesting, but the pace tended to throw me off. Also Caelum is an alpha-hole and not in a good way.
chelyely's review against another edition
2.0
Not my cup of tea
It's a fanfic that basically mashes together the Grishaverse, ACOTAR, FBAA and The Witcher.
The story could have been 170 pages had the FMC not been blind and dimwitted. For as smart as she can be, she is also extremely dumb, therefore dragging out the story.
I got to 70% and while I could see who MMC was still saw no point to this story.
It isn't smutty....3 spicy scenes and some explicit talk.
I found this boring and unnecessarily long.
It's a fanfic that basically mashes together the Grishaverse, ACOTAR, FBAA and The Witcher.
The story could have been 170 pages had the FMC not been blind and dimwitted. For as smart as she can be, she is also extremely dumb, therefore dragging out the story.
I got to 70% and while I could see who MMC was still saw no point to this story.
It isn't smutty....3 spicy scenes and some explicit talk.
I found this boring and unnecessarily long.
wormwoods's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
2.5
lexi_kohnke's review
2.5
Nothing memorable. Felt like I’d read most of the plot lines before and was too predictable
loustorer's review against another edition
The main character was pretty self sacrificing but in a pretty annoying way, she was also the only person in a very religious and pure environment didn’t really believe any of it even though she had been groomed to and I wish she had been a bit more brainwashed because there was no explanation about why she felt that way and others didn’t? She also trusts a guy after like 5 minutes when she’s on the run because he’s hot and flirts with her so that says something about her character to me…