Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
This was SO slow and SO long, but pretty damn amazing anyway, except for the village love interest. He was a dickbag the whole time. Minus one star for the whole 'chosen one' trope and her utterly stupid choices.
this was hard for me to rate. on the one hand, the idea was interesting, the fantasy and magic, and evil kept me intrigued. However the forced marriages....nope. I get that they cannot explain to people that don't already know but honestly, the relationships are Stockholm syndrome pure and simple. they are in dangerous situations and the pipers influence their feelings to remove the fear and anger and so on. eventually, you are going to relate all good feelings to the guys. they are basically removing their free will forcing them into marriage and keeping them magically and emotionally sedated until they think they are in love and want to stay. super big nope for me. its to bad because it started off seeming like it would be so good. and the writing was not full of mistakes which was nice. I won't continue the series, however.
4-4.5 ☆
The world and story were so well-written! Halfway through, I was worried about instalove and the story being too predictable, but there were so many twists that I wasn't expecting! Loved it. Can't wait to read the sequel.
The world and story were so well-written! Halfway through, I was worried about instalove and the story being too predictable, but there were so many twists that I wasn't expecting! Loved it. Can't wait to read the sequel.
3.75 stars!
Now, this book really took me on a rollercoaster. This book started off so slow I honestly planned on DNF it but then it picked up like you wouldn’t believe and I was sucked in.
- I liked Larkin’s character and she had a fire to her that I enjoyed. I liked her relationship with the people she loved and her loyalty was so fierce.
- I think the budding romance felt realistic and I could understand Larkin’s motivations when she was engaged to another and how she felt she couldn’t overstep her mark.
- I liked how the last 30% of the book played out and honestly felt like the plot as well as the character development happened here.
I will continue with book two as I’m curious to see how this might play out! I wouldn’t say this is a beauty and the beast retelling. It’s definitely more of a piper one.
Now, this book really took me on a rollercoaster. This book started off so slow I honestly planned on DNF it but then it picked up like you wouldn’t believe and I was sucked in.
Spoiler
the book literally gets good when she arrives in denan’s home village- I liked Larkin’s character and she had a fire to her that I enjoyed. I liked her relationship with the people she loved and her loyalty was so fierce.
- I think the budding romance felt realistic and I could understand Larkin’s motivations when she was engaged to another and how she felt she couldn’t overstep her mark.
- I liked how the last 30% of the book played out and honestly felt like the plot as well as the character development happened here.
I will continue with book two as I’m curious to see how this might play out! I wouldn’t say this is a beauty and the beast retelling. It’s definitely more of a piper one.
3.75 rounded up. There were parts of this I didn't enjoy and parts I really did. I think the author has created fairly complex characters which I enjoyed reading but overall some of the themes had been irking a bit. First off, the gender essentialism to the magic system. It's literally "women's magic" and "men's magic" which I wasn't a fan of. It's also like an entire system of stockholming women but in a less actual stockholm way because it plays on the sort of soulmate trope, it just goes about it in a way that presents itself to be odd. There's also this concept of the women being enthralled are all young and virgins (though we later learn not the case for the latter) but with the worldbuilding and how it's created for this story, it makes sense but still wasn't my favorite method of storytelling. I did like how it went though, I did like that we were kept on our toes for a lot of it. Miscommunication trope is used but it's also literally a curse so they'd would if they could kind of thing. I'm still mulling this one over for the nitpicky stuff but I'd say overall I enjoyed this story, even if it has some elements I'm not particularly fond of.
2.5
I had to give myself a day before i wrote this review to be sure I absorbed my feelings. I wanted to like this book much more than i did... I love twisted fairy tales, and this was right up my alley but the last third of the book the main character makes the most frustrating decisions and i cant imagine wanting to read more of her journey. "They died to save my family" no, no they died to get you because you made stupid, selfish decisions.
I had to give myself a day before i wrote this review to be sure I absorbed my feelings. I wanted to like this book much more than i did... I love twisted fairy tales, and this was right up my alley but the last third of the book the main character makes the most frustrating decisions and i cant imagine wanting to read more of her journey. "They died to save my family" no, no they died to get you because you made stupid, selfish decisions.
Love the heroine, pace of the story was so quick and captivating. I was holding breath for every twist and turn. Definitely one of my best reads lately. Highly recommend it.
Wow... just wow
The author has truly crafted a whole new world within this book and from the first page I kept reading and reading. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one. And to think this started with a simple ad on Instagram.
The author has truly crafted a whole new world within this book and from the first page I kept reading and reading. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one. And to think this started with a simple ad on Instagram.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars really. The main character was smart and brave and fiercely independent but she was also dense at times. I do love a good enemies to lovers story so I can really judge it to harshly. I love the hero of the story. He may be added to the book boyfriends list (which is extremely short). Will I read the rest of the series? Yes, I will. I’m invested and I was more Denan Tam and Talox in my life.