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wildatheart1339's review
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Death, Drug use, Death of parent, Medical content, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and War
whatthefridge's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.75
This was really amazing. I don’t have any complaints.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
tragicgloom's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book so much!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Child abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, and War
akirokis's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: War
shadowspinner's review
adventurous
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Blood
Minor: Sexual harassment and Racism
wardenred's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.75
His arm doesn’t feel like a chain around Whisper’s waist; it’s a shield.
Oh wow, this book! It took me a bit to get into the writing style (third person past tense isn't my favorite), but once I adjusted to it, I was absolutely hooked throughout. It's been a while since I read such awesome hurt/comfort outside of fanfiction. Whisper and Julien absolutely melted my heart, and there were so many little moments that made me feel like this book was written for me. I loved the way they were growing closer through the secrets, Whisper's inner turmoil, Julien's kindness, the D/s overtones in the bedroom, everything. I kind of want to forget this book and read it again, to get all the feels afresh.
I also greatly enjoyed the supporting cast—so many colorful personalities and great people. A lot of the characters didn't get a lot of screen time, and still they left a very distinct impression. I'd love to read a book with almost any single one of them as a more prominent presence. I also really liked the worldbuilding. It's a combination of "a lot packed into it" and "broad strokes"; there are all those politics, assassin orders, different types of magic, dragons, magical drugs, cats with superpowers, and each of these cool details just makes me want to dig deeper into it.
The setting is also completely queernorm: no one assumes that a marriage necessarily involves a man and a woman, there's a lovely casual mention of a character being trans, etc. I remember not so long ago fantasy queer romances (especially the ones with royalty) used to have all the homophobia-induced drama, but nowadays, I keep seeing these wonderful queernorm worlds where the characters are free to have and sort out problems that don't have anything to do with their orientation. I'm absolutely digging all these beautiful fantasy worlds.
Back to the book: the one reason I'm not giving it a full five-star mark is that one twist at the end, the one with the betrayal. I feel like it simplified the conflict and the solutions to it. There might have been ways to get to the happy ending without that, too—though admittedly I would probably fall off the edge of my sit if the author went with some alternate route. :D But, yeah. Not really a fan of that specific character turning out to be a manipulator. Very much a fan of absolutely everything else in this book, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Confinement
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse
_isabel_'s review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
This was freaking lovely.
Tavia Lark's writing seems to be specifically created for me: this is the fourth book of hers that I've devoured and absolutely adored, and I can already see myself checking out her other series.
"Prince and Assassin" is everything I love in fantasy and romance, and then some: a simple, but extremely vivid, world-building, all the hurt/comfort tropes my little romance-starved heart can wish for, a vast (and totally lovable and hilarious) cast of side characters, steam with a nice helping of a light D/s dynamic, heartstopping action and two protagonists that absolutely STOLE my heart. Plus, the writing was fabulous.
I must admit, I'm not the biggest fan of hidden identities in my reads, but Whisper and Julien's relationship was lovely: it's sweet and spicy, fuled by a ton of chemistry. Julien was probably my favourite: he's so charming, so protective and ugh, just the best, most respectful and understanding boyfriend ever. I also adored Whisper, but I hated seeing him so stifled by his father and the curse that was put upon him: I wanted to scream at him for not asking for help sooner, but yeah, I guess that's what his horrific upbringing brought him. I still loved him to bits, and I loved seeing him slowly but surely trust Julien with his body and heart.
I also completely ADORED the side characters. Nadine and Rosin and Dury cracked me up; Audric is so damn intriguing and I cannot wait to read his book; I already love Bellamy and the brothers' mothers to absolute death; and Rumi and Fisk were fantastic and totally hilarious. The best feral cats ever.
I'm so excited to read the next book, not only because we'll finally meet Julien and Audric mysterious younger (and much coddled) brother, but also because there are a ton of threads left to unravel in what will surely be another explosive series by Tavia Lark.
Tavia Lark's writing seems to be specifically created for me: this is the fourth book of hers that I've devoured and absolutely adored, and I can already see myself checking out her other series.
"Prince and Assassin" is everything I love in fantasy and romance, and then some: a simple, but extremely vivid, world-building, all the hurt/comfort tropes my little romance-starved heart can wish for, a vast (and totally lovable and hilarious) cast of side characters, steam with a nice helping of a light D/s dynamic, heartstopping action and two protagonists that absolutely STOLE my heart. Plus, the writing was fabulous.
I must admit, I'm not the biggest fan of hidden identities in my reads, but Whisper and Julien's relationship was lovely: it's sweet and spicy, fuled by a ton of chemistry. Julien was probably my favourite: he's so charming, so protective and ugh, just the best, most respectful and understanding boyfriend ever. I also adored Whisper, but I hated seeing him so stifled by his father and the curse that was put upon him: I wanted to scream at him for not asking for help sooner, but yeah, I guess that's what his horrific upbringing brought him. I still loved him to bits, and I loved seeing him slowly but surely trust Julien with his body and heart.
I also completely ADORED the side characters. Nadine and Rosin and Dury cracked me up; Audric is so damn intriguing and I cannot wait to read his book; I already love Bellamy and the brothers' mothers to absolute death; and Rumi and Fisk were fantastic and totally hilarious. The best feral cats ever.
I'm so excited to read the next book, not only because we'll finally meet Julien and Audric mysterious younger (and much coddled) brother, but also because there are a ton of threads left to unravel in what will surely be another explosive series by Tavia Lark.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
prettynerdy3's review
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
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