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thecatconstellation's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first one, but I did still enjoy it. There are certain parts that felt a bit too drawn out and there are certain things that get repeated too often (gee I wonder what Cas smells like?). But I do mostly like the characters (many more than Poppy and Cas) and I do enjoy the plot. Medium pace fantasy novel with a decent spice level. Interested to see if the third one bounces back for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, War, Sexual content, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, Body shaming, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol, and Vomit
jen1804's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Eeek, I loved this book! (I’d give it more but there’s too many grammatical/ spelling mistakes to let it slide I’m sorry!) This book has everything you need from a good fantasy romance novel, good guys, bad guys, bad guys who you thought were good guys and good guys who you thought were bad guys, battle, blood, justice, fantastic banter between characters, endearing blossoming relationships, laugh out loud moments, complex character development, a sense of mystery, heavy flirting, arguments between our two MCs, sexy scenes, the list goes on. And boy did I love the strangers, to friends, to lovers, to enemies, to fake relationship, to lovers journey we got to go on with Poppy and Casteel throughout book 1 and 2.
There are parts of this book which felt so reflective for me, the scene with the chamber full of names of the fallen scratched into the walls was haunting. And the overall message of xenophobia throughout this book was deeply harrowing. The way our FMC, Poppy, has the ability to sense others’ feelings and emotions towards her, and the absolute disgust, distrust and hatred she feels just because she was born and raised elsewhere is horrific. Like at one point she gets stoned, and it is AWFUL.
But alongside this incredibly complex plot which keeps you engaged throughout and wanting to learn more about Poppy and her growing abilities, are some fantastically well developed characters. Poppy is so freaking strong, I actually adore her as a FMC. She has such a brilliant personality, unafraid to talk back and unapologetically herself. Casteel is just such a beautiful MMC and I am OBSESSED with their back and forth. Armentrout has created brilliant chemistry between the two of them on the page and I cannot get enough of their constant bickering, flirtatious arguments, Casteel’s dimple smirks and Poppy regularly stabbing Cas because he’s pissed her off, knowing he’ll quickly heal.
And I think the two of them fighting together on the battlefield is one of my fave fantasy couple scenes of all time🙊.
I actually cannot WAIT to find out what happens in the next book because that ENDING!
Satisfactory ending? Yes!
There are parts of this book which felt so reflective for me, the scene with the chamber full of names of the fallen scratched into the walls was haunting. And the overall message of xenophobia throughout this book was deeply harrowing. The way our FMC, Poppy, has the ability to sense others’ feelings and emotions towards her, and the absolute disgust, distrust and hatred she feels just because she was born and raised elsewhere is horrific. Like at one point she gets stoned, and it is AWFUL.
But alongside this incredibly complex plot which keeps you engaged throughout and wanting to learn more about Poppy and her growing abilities, are some fantastically well developed characters. Poppy is so freaking strong, I actually adore her as a FMC. She has such a brilliant personality, unafraid to talk back and unapologetically herself. Casteel is just such a beautiful MMC and I am OBSESSED with their back and forth. Armentrout has created brilliant chemistry between the two of them on the page and I cannot get enough of their constant bickering, flirtatious arguments, Casteel’s dimple smirks and Poppy regularly stabbing Cas because he’s pissed her off, knowing he’ll quickly heal.
And I think the two of them fighting together on the battlefield is one of my fave fantasy couple scenes of all time🙊.
I actually cannot WAIT to find out what happens in the next book because that ENDING!
Satisfactory ending? Yes!
It was the emotion behind the long looks and the seeking touches. The feeling behind the way his arm always tightened around me when we rode together and why he was always messing with my hair. It was the emotion that drove him to draw that line he wouldn’t cross with me. It was why he wouldn’t use compulsion, and it was what allowed him to want to protect me but demanded that he allow me to protect myself. It was how when he was with me, he didn’t think of his kingdom, his brother, or the time he’d been a captive. And it was one of many things forbidden to me as the Maiden. It was love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, War, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping and Child death
midnacine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
I really just love these books and listening to it this time around was amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cursing, Sexual content, Murder, Body horror, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, War, Confinement, Medical content, Child death, Kidnapping, and Torture
Minor: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Rape
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, and War
Minor: Death of parent
montina72's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
SPOILERS
- The confusion that is Poppy’s feeling for Cas gets old quick. It’s a cycle of the same 3 feelings for most of the book and it gets boring after the first few times, yes I understand where she’s coming from but the spend 400+ pages mulling over the same things is stretching it. Especially when it doesn’t so much for the development of the plot.
- While the pace is the same as the last book it still feels like it’s dragging, 400+ pages in I felt like there’s been such minimal progress. The book started with a marriage proposal and 400+ pages in they’ve barley moved or made it to the kingdom to deal with this marriage thing, it feels rather slow on emotional development.
- Kieran and his comments on Poppy asking questions gets irritating the third time he does it. Each time she asks something he has to make a comment on it, it’s not as if she’s been sheltered her whole life from the truth and has been fed lies the whole time. And this ‘joke’ running throughout the whole book is that she annoying.
- The most exciting things happen in the last 100 pages, give or take. This whole book could so be cut down to like 400pages instead of 600pages.
- Poppy remains a strong character throughout the whole book. She doesn’t turn meek or into a damsel in distress and that I love. Shes strong and she knows it and she used it. She actually has a brain, which I hate having to say but sadly it’s a trait that way too many female main characters do not have.
- That one scene in chapter 40, why???? It was so out of place and just plain wrong I hated ever second I skipped it.
- The whole book is just repeating itself in different ways and gives the absolute bare minimum on world building or plot development. It was definitely a let down after how good the first book was.
My favourite line: Biases were taught and learned. Maybe that wasn’t my fault but that didn’t make it acceptable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Rape
cady_sass's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
2.5
This was 100% intended to be a hate-read. I hated, and I mean HATED, the first book and simply am a glutton for punishment and needed to know what was going to happen. What an absolutely unwelcome surprise to have moderately enjoyed this book! The main character is still borderline insufferable but the character development helps, and the actual plot (that should’ve been explained, at least in part, in book 1) develops. Albeit very, very slowly. As with the first, this literally could’ve been about 400 pages shorter and accomplished the same thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, War, Sexual content, Death, and Blood
clairegauthier's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Gore
midnacine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-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
5.0
At around 90% I thought I was gonna give this 4 stars, maybe 4.5. But that ending took it straight to a 5 for me.
Forgiving the grammar mistakes and the repetitive descriptions of things the reader should already be aware of (that typically irritate the living hell out of me), this story was incredibly captivating and was a wild ride from start to finish. There're so many things to love: the spicy romance, Poppy's personal growth and arc, the balanced pacing and passage of time, the relationship dynamics and development (not just between the main characters), the dedication to world and culture building so rich in magic and elusion. And unlike the preceding title, I failed to preemptively catch the plot twists before they occurred; absolutely nothing was expected.
If you enjoyed the first novel, you'll love this one!
Forgiving the grammar mistakes and the repetitive descriptions of things the reader should already be aware of (that typically irritate the living hell out of me), this story was incredibly captivating and was a wild ride from start to finish. There're so many things to love: the spicy romance, Poppy's personal growth and arc, the balanced pacing and passage of time, the relationship dynamics and development (not just between the main characters), the dedication to world and culture building so rich in magic and elusion. And unlike the preceding title, I failed to preemptively catch the plot twists before they occurred; absolutely nothing was expected.
If you enjoyed the first novel, you'll love this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gore
clairew97's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Death of parent, Grief, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Kidnapping
kerttuli's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Gore, Death, Violence, War, and Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Child death
Minor: Torture and Rape