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_rowantree_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I absolutely loved the first book in this series - I found the characters nuanced and engaging and the world refreshing. I still enjoyed the world in this third instalment but everything else is becoming a cliche love triangle romance series. I’m still holding out that the next two books might realise the initial potential but I’m no longer expecting it to.
My main annoyance with this book was what has happened with the characters.
Kamran is the worst example of this. He felt conflicted and surprisingly relatable in the first book but now he feels annoying and shallow. He seems minimally impacted by most of the events and revelations at the end of the first book, which are only a few days ago at the start of this book. I feel like the book is pretending he never cared about Alizeh and trying too hard to set him up with Huda, rather than giving their romantic interaction a convincing ending.
Regarding Huda, I also liked her in the first book but I feel like she now exists only to deliver exposition and antagonise Kamran.
I do still like Alizeh but I worry she is becoming the romantasy heroine who is too powerful and everyone is in love with.
Cyrus is the character I feel most uncomfortable about. The series is setting him up as the mysterious romantic hero, without ever really addressing the fact that he violently kidnapped the main character. We’re supposed to find it romantic that he dreams of her and thinks about her so much, but he doesn’t actually know her. Their relationship feels closer to stalking than romance. The story tries to get around it with some sort of unexplained magical attraction but simultaneously pretends she didn’t previously have that sort of magical attraction to someone else.
I had expected more from this book than unconvincingly delivered genre cliches.
My main annoyance with this book was what has happened with the characters.
Kamran is the worst example of this. He felt conflicted and surprisingly relatable in the first book but now he feels annoying and shallow. He seems minimally impacted by most of the events and revelations at the end of the first book, which are only a few days ago at the start of this book. I feel like the book is pretending he never cared about Alizeh and trying too hard to set him up with Huda, rather than giving their romantic interaction a convincing ending.
Regarding Huda, I also liked her in the first book but I feel like she now exists only to deliver exposition and antagonise Kamran.
I do still like Alizeh but I worry she is becoming the romantasy heroine who is too powerful and everyone is in love with.
Cyrus is the character I feel most uncomfortable about. The series is setting him up as the mysterious romantic hero, without ever really addressing the fact that he violently kidnapped the main character. We’re supposed to find it romantic that he dreams of her and thinks about her so much, but he doesn’t actually know her. Their relationship feels closer to stalking than romance. The story tries to get around it with some sort of unexplained magical attraction but simultaneously pretends she didn’t previously have that sort of magical attraction to someone else.
I had expected more from this book than unconvincingly delivered genre cliches.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual harassment
gingerbooknerd3's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Blood
milzy_23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Still Team Cyrus
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
readingelli's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
ruby_12's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
3.25
The character development in this book is great. The friendships and tortured pining too. There’s less plot and but the cliffhanger gives us to look forward too 🤷♀️
Overall, it was a good book. Not the best in the series but it’s still ongoing so we don’t know that yet. Awaiting the fourth book!
Overall, it was a good book. Not the best in the series but it’s still ongoing so we don’t know that yet. Awaiting the fourth book!
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood
sandwiiche's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.25
tahereh mafi is reaalllyyy taking her time with this series 🫠
however i do like where she's going withkamran and huda if u know what i mean ;)
however i do like where she's going with
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Torture
destdest's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Yes, wade through the rivers of purple prose with me. Two books in and nary a liberation to be found. The men here are all in-universe handsome and mystified by Alizeh. We’ve got a tortured sad boy who originally wanted to be a magical nun vs conceited narcissist who thinks everyone is beneath him. Alizeh is still unremarkable. She is kindhearted but not much else.
People are always on the brink of death here but never actually dead. Cyrus is strung out akin to a drug addict for Alizeh. If she bats her eyes at him, he loses 75% of control over his entire body. Her putting a hand on his chest had him seconds from exploding.
BUT this book series is entertaining, so who are me to judge? I did rate this lowly due to the sheer repetitiveness of dialogue and character monologue. So much of this filler could’ve and should’ve been cut.
Also,you just know a woman is writing this lol. In Cyrus' deepest desires/wet dreams, he fantasizes about eating Alizeh's kitty poetically so.
2 stars
People are always on the brink of death here but never actually dead. Cyrus is strung out akin to a drug addict for Alizeh. If she bats her eyes at him, he loses 75% of control over his entire body. Her putting a hand on his chest had him seconds from exploding.
BUT this book series is entertaining, so who are me to judge? I did rate this lowly due to the sheer repetitiveness of dialogue and character monologue. So much of this filler could’ve and should’ve been cut.
Also,
2 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Torture, and Gore
Minor: Xenophobia
chelseanaylor's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Cyrus is an amazing character. I read this book so fast and enjoyed almost everything in it. I will say Mafi is pretty repetitive in the story-- she spends way too much time restating things for the reader.
Kamran continues to be a pompous ass, but I can see the threads of his character arc and like where it's going (it's not that subtle lol)
Alizeh was a little too helpless in this book for my liking. The other characters spent a lot of time plotting around her, talking over her, and making decisions and judgments for her.
For this book being 400 pages, a whole hell of a lot of nothing happened. This book was like 2% plot, 10% Huda and Omid talking non-stop, and 82% vibes. I'm disappointed this book and book 2 only minimally advanced the plot, and that's the main reason I didn't rate it higher. I could have skipped the second book and been able to piece things together pretty well to figure out book 3, and I feel like the same will be true for book 4.
Someone else said it, and I agree: I could read 400 pages of Cyrus's poetic pinning.
Kamran continues to be a pompous ass, but I can see the threads of his character arc and like where it's going (it's not that subtle lol)
Alizeh was a little too helpless in this book for my liking. The other characters spent a lot of time plotting around her, talking over her, and making decisions and judgments for her.
For this book being 400 pages, a whole hell of a lot of nothing happened. This book was like 2% plot, 10% Huda and Omid talking non-stop, and 82% vibes. I'm disappointed this book and book 2 only minimally advanced the plot, and that's the main reason I didn't rate it higher. I could have skipped the second book and been able to piece things together pretty well to figure out book 3, and I feel like the same will be true for book 4.
Someone else said it, and I agree: I could read 400 pages of Cyrus's poetic pinning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
kassidyreads's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death of parent
lenilinnea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
I found myself jumping between feeling extreme ich and swoon over the mail characters thoughts and description of eachother. I listened to some of it on audiobook so maybe the narrator affected it a little. Miss Huds creates a comedic relief and her quarrels with Kamran are entertaining.
The world is also very interesting!
SPOILERS:
I don’t really find the whole reasoning for why the blood pact absolutely HAD to be done plausible as it seems like Alizeh did kind of trust him enough to a point where it was not neccessary to go through with it other than for the drama of it.
Was interesting to learn more or Cyrus background and time at the diviners.
The world is also very interesting!
SPOILERS:
I don’t really find the whole reasoning for why the blood pact absolutely HAD to be done plausible as it seems like Alizeh did kind of trust him enough to a point where it was not neccessary to go through with it other than for the drama of it.
Was interesting to learn more or Cyrus background and time at the diviners.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail