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somberliving's review against another edition
I couldn’t get over a number of things.
The constant, unnecessary sex scenes. So many. At least one a chapter. And they were always the same thing? I love a good steamy scene, but you get to a point where you skip it because you know it’ll just be a mirror of the scene from last chapter.
The insufferable obsession of the main character by the love interest. It’s cheesy to the point that I hate them instead of ship/love them.
The cheesy/cliche trope of everyone being impressed by the main character. I get it, P is surprisingly powerful, but her words, choices, actions, and looks are always praised as being perfect. It’s unrealistic and makes every character interaction predictable.
The fact that nothing happens. Is Armentrout even following a plot or is she just trying to increase the amount of books published, thereby increasing the amount of money she makes out of this series? 41% done and I swear nothing has happened except the thing that was so painfully obvious if you were paying any bit of attention in the last book. Also, this all should have happened in the last book- I don’t even count this as part of the plot of this one.
Overall - unimpressed. Cliche. Only gets the hype because of the sex scenes (I wouldn’t even call them steamy because they happen so often the magic is lost). Would not recommend unless you’ve never read a book before.
The constant, unnecessary sex scenes. So many. At least one a chapter. And they were always the same thing? I love a good steamy scene, but you get to a point where you skip it because you know it’ll just be a mirror of the scene from last chapter.
The insufferable obsession of the main character by the love interest. It’s cheesy to the point that I hate them instead of ship/love them.
The cheesy/cliche trope of everyone being impressed by the main character. I get it, P is surprisingly powerful, but her words, choices, actions, and looks are always praised as being perfect. It’s unrealistic and makes every character interaction predictable.
The fact that nothing happens. Is Armentrout even following a plot or is she just trying to increase the amount of books published, thereby increasing the amount of money she makes out of this series? 41% done and I swear nothing has happened except the thing that was so painfully obvious if you were paying any bit of attention in the last book. Also, this all should have happened in the last book- I don’t even count this as part of the plot of this one.
Overall - unimpressed. Cliche. Only gets the hype because of the sex scenes (I wouldn’t even call them steamy because they happen so often the magic is lost). Would not recommend unless you’ve never read a book before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Murder, Kidnapping, and Violence
Minor: Grief
msta9789's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Violence
_malia_pt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, and Violence
aenidpons's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence
gxldyjess's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
The drama in this installment was a bit messy but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I also love the progress between poppy, cas and kieran’s relationship. Especially in the scene where kieran worried about poppy having to protect herself in their homeland even though she shouldn’t have to. AND when they rescued her
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Kidnapping and Colonisation
madisoneve_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual content
thevietvegan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Ok I’m invested in the plot and the characters but a lot of this seemed REALLY forced. A lot of really random sex scenes full of “shattering” and “shuddering” which was exciting and hyperbolic during the first two books but it’s getting repetitive.
The writing style is a bit jarring sometimes, it’s very modern in dialogue but set in a period where running water and electricity exists but only in this magical kingdom of equality. It’s sometimes weird to hear like, Gossip Girl vocabulary level flirting and banter set in hard fantasy.
Everyone keeps dunking on Poppy for having questions after living an extremely sheltered life. And teased for naturally reacting with self-defense and a need for control after being kept in a gilded cage. LET HER BE MAN. SHE’S COPING. Also Casteel needs to chill the F out with his peen anytime Poppy does something cool. The arousal and resulting makeouts with clashing teeth from her being powerful is confusing, weird, and distracting from her badassery. I dunno about other people but I prefer kissing with minimal teeth breaking and bashing tyvm. Sounds expensive and painful.
The plot twists towards the end kind of come from out of left field and are kiiiind of alluded to but not really. There is a lot of setup for the 4th book and now I have to wait until next year for it to come out to resolve everything. I am impatient lol.
Also the freaking hubris, lack of open communication and straight up LIES from so many people are so frustrating in the book. I understand how she feels but Eleona. GIRL. You literally started a cold war over a god who was truly not worth it and then continued to destroy your family and had a ton of people murdered because you were embarrassed. Like damn. Also Poppy keeps getting gaslit and I’m super over it.
Maybe the first two also had a lot of these stylistic issues but I was so enthralled with the world and characters that I didn’t really care as much. But I definitely noticed during this book. 2 stars.
The writing style is a bit jarring sometimes, it’s very modern in dialogue but set in a period where running water and electricity exists but only in this magical kingdom of equality. It’s sometimes weird to hear like, Gossip Girl vocabulary level flirting and banter set in hard fantasy.
Everyone keeps dunking on Poppy for having questions after living an extremely sheltered life. And teased for naturally reacting with self-defense and a need for control after being kept in a gilded cage. LET HER BE MAN. SHE’S COPING. Also Casteel needs to chill the F out with his peen anytime Poppy does something cool. The arousal and resulting makeouts with clashing teeth from her being powerful is confusing, weird, and distracting from her badassery. I dunno about other people but I prefer kissing with minimal teeth breaking and bashing tyvm. Sounds expensive and painful.
Also the freaking hubris, lack of open communication and straight up LIES from so many people are so frustrating in the book. I understand how she feels but Eleona. GIRL. You literally started a cold war over a god who was truly not worth it and then continued to destroy your family and had a ton of people murdered because you were embarrassed. Like damn. Also Poppy keeps getting gaslit and I’m super over it.
Maybe the first two also had a lot of these stylistic issues but I was so enthralled with the world and characters that I didn’t really care as much. But I definitely noticed during this book. 2 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Kidnapping
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Gore, Violence, Murder, Infidelity, and Cursing
Moderate: Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Body shaming
baexlee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
2.25
I had really high hopes for this book. When I first got it delivered I actually waited until I finished my re-read of the first two books in the series before I started because I enjoyed those so much. While overall I enjoyed reading this and it was a continuation of the story, it felt like a downgrade from what I had been enjoying previously. Perhaps it was the mindset that I was going into it with, but overall the plot feels convoluted and confusing and some of the character choices are difficult to reconcile with the idea of them I had from previous installments like Casteel deciding to Ascend Poppy, risks be damned, when she was killed being freed from the Unseen, and he despite his hatred for the Ascended he would kill anyone who tried to kill her even if she was no longer the same? It felt so out of character and it is explained away with Heartmates which is also weakly explained and followed through with. The impact just isn't there.
Nothing feels planned out at all, and the twists feel like they were decided as they were happening and it really just leaves me wanting more. There are some glaring editing errors that just made me feel like the entire thing was rushed (if you want an example of what I'm talking about look at the contradiction that is written one sentence after something is stated on page 639) This installment honestly feels almost wholly separate from the other installments in the series in some ways. It does manage to shine in other regards though.
The main reason that I don't give this a rating lower than a 2 is that the romance is still steamy and Poppy and Casteel still manage to steal my breath away, which is always a redeeming factor, and in addition to that the relationship between Poppy and the wolven is interesting and developed. There was enough that reminded me of the previous installments, well planted call backs and genuinely laugh out loud heart warming moments that I have hope the story can be redeemed in later installments, but as it currently stands I'm nervous to see where Poppy's Crown will take her.
Nothing feels planned out at all, and the twists feel like they were decided as they were happening and it really just leaves me wanting more. There are some glaring editing errors that just made me feel like the entire thing was rushed (if you want an example of what I'm talking about look at the contradiction that is written one sentence after something is stated on page 639) This installment honestly feels almost wholly separate from the other installments in the series in some ways. It does manage to shine in other regards though.
The main reason that I don't give this a rating lower than a 2 is that the romance is still steamy and Poppy and Casteel still manage to steal my breath away, which is always a redeeming factor, and in addition to that the relationship between Poppy and the wolven is interesting and developed. There was enough that reminded me of the previous installments, well planted call backs and genuinely laugh out loud heart warming moments that I have hope the story can be redeemed in later installments, but as it currently stands I'm nervous to see where Poppy's Crown will take her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Minor: Torture and Infidelity
mybookthrone's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Gore, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Torture, and Confinement
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, and Cursing
Minor: Physical abuse and Child death