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alejandra_guerrero's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
I couldn’t get into this. The first third of the book Blythe can only think of how much she hates him, and I was feeling it. That, I could relate to. But at around 28% of the story, it’s like she flips a switch and now all she can think of are his abs. From one page to the next, literally, she can’t stop thinking how sexy this guy is, a guy a page before she was hating so badly she was plotting his death. All the sadness she feels because her consort is dead is completely gone. I hated this woman from that point forward. She seemed like a different person. And she started to compare Roux with her dead consort constantly. That was annoying.
We’re told a lot of things I never saw, mostly because all the days they spent alone inside a room, in forced proximity, are not shown on the page. We’re just told all the things she saw during those days, but don’t get to see it. What I saw of this guy was that he was blander than freaking flour. What did these females see in him? I mean, the guy has only to blink for Blythe to get all hot and bothered (literally). The rest of the girls I understand, they had centuries without a guy, but Blythe? And with her husband’s murderer? (I just can’t get past that, especially when he didn't grovel, nor did much to earn her forgiveness). The reason Laban was her consort in the first place doesn’t matter, because it was stupid, and to be honest felt like a retcon on the subject of consorts.
The women in this prison planet were assholes, objectifying Roux constantly. The way they treated him felt very abusive, Blythe included. And the “sexy” banter felt cringey at best. Very objectifying, and not even funny. And of course he was the best in bed, in spite of not only being a virgin, but having zero sexual experience whatsoever, not even with kissing. The guy had been asexual for millennia, but flips a switch and now he’s the best lay ever. I really don’t like that trope. The virgin hero, sure, but please have him fumble a little, at least! If he asks his woman for guidance at every turn, even better. (If you want a really nice take on this, I recommend Package Makes Perfect, by Lauren Connoly).
Harpies in general are hilarious, the few LOL moments were thanks to them. It’s just the harphantoms I can’t stomach, it seems.
We’re told a lot of things I never saw, mostly because all the days they spent alone inside a room, in forced proximity, are not shown on the page. We’re just told all the things she saw during those days, but don’t get to see it. What I saw of this guy was that he was blander than freaking flour. What did these females see in him? I mean, the guy has only to blink for Blythe to get all hot and bothered (literally). The rest of the girls I understand, they had centuries without a guy, but Blythe? And with her husband’s murderer? (I just can’t get past that, especially when he didn't grovel, nor did much to earn her forgiveness). The reason Laban was her consort in the first place doesn’t matter, because it was stupid, and to be honest felt like a retcon on the subject of consorts.
The women in this prison planet were assholes, objectifying Roux constantly. The way they treated him felt very abusive, Blythe included. And the “sexy” banter felt cringey at best. Very objectifying, and not even funny. And of course he was the best in bed, in spite of not only being a virgin, but having zero sexual experience whatsoever, not even with kissing. The guy had been asexual for millennia, but flips a switch and now he’s the best lay ever. I really don’t like that trope. The virgin hero, sure, but please have him fumble a little, at least! If he asks his woman for guidance at every turn, even better. (If you want a really nice take on this, I recommend Package Makes Perfect, by Lauren Connoly).
Harpies in general are hilarious, the few LOL moments were thanks to them. It’s just the harphantoms I can’t stomach, it seems.
nlghtshade's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
3.75
I love Gena Showalter and I enjoyed Roux and Blythe's story.
pinklilly122's review against another edition
4.0
As always, another great read from Gena. I was excited to read this one to see how Roux and Blythe would overcome all the history and hurt between them. While I usually enjoy a bit more spice in my books, I thought it was done just right for this couple. I'm glad it wasn't rushed into, despite the major tension between them. I can't wait to see who the next book is about. I really like this series and the idea of each book having a different task that needs to be completed.
faithd's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good read for what it was, another fated mates paranormal romance that follows the same pattern from the first two books in the series. Although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t quite enough to get me excited to keep reading this series.
- fated mates
- enemies to lovers
- love triangle
- spice level 3/5
- slow burn
- third person, dual POV
- fated mates
- enemies to lovers
- love triangle
- spice level 3/5
- slow burn
- third person, dual POV
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Loved reading this book, it was so good, I loved these two, and their story and I can't wait to read more!
kaylasmom11's review against another edition
5.0
Another great one from Gena. Love Blythe and Rue together. They are such a good match. Great twists at the end. Grandpa Bus can go kick rocks.
maeverose's review
First off, an explanation: I’m logging this as a dnf because I skipped through most of this and only have a vague idea of how everything plays out plot-wise (I probably only actually read about 30% of it), and I don’t feel right rating it anyway being as it’s not the type of thing I would’ve ever liked to begin with. I stupidly bought a ‘blind date with a book’ (that was categorized as sci-fi/fantasy, not romance. Yes this is fantasy but I feel a bit cheated by that seller), and only decided to try and read it because I spent money on it. This genre has never been my thing, and if I had found this in a store and read the synopsis I never would’ve picked up this book. I’m gonna have to find a way to repurpose it as stationary or something to get my money’s worth I guess. This book is who it’s for, and I am absolutely not who it’s for. Therefore if this is a genre you typically read, my review will probably be irrelevant to you. I’m sure you’d like it more than me.
The writing and dialogue is so cringy. It’s not trying to be serious, but the characters talk in a very irritating way, especially their inner thoughts. The author does this thing where when they react to something it will just say a bunch of words in italics, like this: Truth? Mine! Hatred! Evil! It makes the characters sound so dumb. Also, I know this is a thing™️ in monster/paranormal romance, but it rarely, if ever says ‘men’ or ‘women’ and instead says ‘males’ and ‘females’ which I personally cannot stand. It just sounds so degrading to me, in a very unsexy way. All I can think of is misogynistic men referring to women as ‘females’ in a demeaning and dehumanizing way. Whether it’s directed at women or men, it’s so gross to me.
From what I did manage to read of the actual romance, the main couple didn’t feel like they were in love at all. Their attraction to each other was only lust. Also, a pet peeve of mine: They had sex multiple times before they ‘had sex’, because they only considered penetration to be sex. Here’s a quote from the book that really bothered me: “I never understood…why males waged wars…for their females…but this…you… I understand now.” You wanna take a guess what’s happening in that scene? He’s getting a blowjob…. He doesn’t get why a man would fight for his lover… until he gets a blowjob. Then he gets it. They’re fighting for their wives because they had their blowjob givers taken away :( so sad for them.
Like, are we supposed to find that romantic???
The worldbuilding was weird and done in a very info dumpy and awkward way. Like, I get the romance is the main thing people are here for, but it’s not like the magic system and species characteristics are lazy or neglected, it’s overly complicated.
The setting of the story is very unclear. For the most part it feels like a high fantasy setting. I don’t think locations are really described hardly at all, unless I happened to skip over all of those parts. It’s just the unnecessarily in-depth, convoluted magic system/species explanations that make it feel high fantasy. But then besides their ‘warrior’ garb, the clothes the characters wear are just t-shirts and jeans.. and all the food mentioned is very typical american junk food or fruit. It’s very weird. It’s reminiscent of urban fantasy but I based on what I know of urban fantasy I don’t think this quite fits under that category. I could be wrong.
The writing and dialogue is so cringy. It’s not trying to be serious, but the characters talk in a very irritating way, especially their inner thoughts. The author does this thing where when they react to something it will just say a bunch of words in italics, like this: Truth? Mine! Hatred! Evil! It makes the characters sound so dumb. Also, I know this is a thing™️ in monster/paranormal romance, but it rarely, if ever says ‘men’ or ‘women’ and instead says ‘males’ and ‘females’ which I personally cannot stand. It just sounds so degrading to me, in a very unsexy way. All I can think of is misogynistic men referring to women as ‘females’ in a demeaning and dehumanizing way. Whether it’s directed at women or men, it’s so gross to me.
From what I did manage to read of the actual romance, the main couple didn’t feel like they were in love at all. Their attraction to each other was only lust. Also, a pet peeve of mine: They had sex multiple times before they ‘had sex’, because they only considered penetration to be sex. Here’s a quote from the book that really bothered me: “I never understood…why males waged wars…for their females…but this…you… I understand now.” You wanna take a guess what’s happening in that scene? He’s getting a blowjob…. He doesn’t get why a man would fight for his lover… until he gets a blowjob. Then he gets it. They’re fighting for their wives because they had their blowjob givers taken away :( so sad for them.
Like, are we supposed to find that romantic???
The worldbuilding was weird and done in a very info dumpy and awkward way. Like, I get the romance is the main thing people are here for, but it’s not like the magic system and species characteristics are lazy or neglected, it’s overly complicated.
The setting of the story is very unclear. For the most part it feels like a high fantasy setting. I don’t think locations are really described hardly at all, unless I happened to skip over all of those parts. It’s just the unnecessarily in-depth, convoluted magic system/species explanations that make it feel high fantasy. But then besides their ‘warrior’ garb, the clothes the characters wear are just t-shirts and jeans.. and all the food mentioned is very typical american junk food or fruit. It’s very weird. It’s reminiscent of urban fantasy but I based on what I know of urban fantasy I don’t think this quite fits under that category. I could be wrong.
Again, this book was never for me to begin with, so hopefully this review was at least entertaining to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Gore, Body horror, Sexual content, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
lynx_bookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Well written, I like this World, and the plot was interesting.
This is the third book in the series, and we follow Blythe, the Undoing and Roux the Phantom as they discover that they are stronger together, when they are thrown into a "Super Max Prison" in another realm, by her father, the God Arabus.
Now, if only Blythe could stop trying to kill Roux...
Lts of fun banter, and the narrator of the Audiobook (Max Bellmore) has a raspy voice and an intonation that grips the listener!
This is the third book in the series, and we follow Blythe, the Undoing and Roux the Phantom as they discover that they are stronger together, when they are thrown into a "Super Max Prison" in another realm, by her father, the God Arabus.
Now, if only Blythe could stop trying to kill Roux...
Lts of fun banter, and the narrator of the Audiobook (Max Bellmore) has a raspy voice and an intonation that grips the listener!
romancejunkie1025's review against another edition
5.0
Well as usual this story was one for the ages, one that will leave you in tears, laughter, and wondering why you and your mate didn’t have a game off “how many organs can I steal from you” during your courtship. There is truly nothing like a Showalter story when it comes to the unique and interesting ways that she brings her lovers together, even against the most outlandish and unbelievable of odds. With enemies at every turn you wonder how the hell she could ever get these two from death and torture to the love that will change a universe and tip the scales of an epic battle for the fate of the gods. This series is not for the faint of heart to be sure, with gruesome details, heartbreaking tragedies, and the outlandish and terrifying habits of some creatures that make you wonder if they are psychotic or just a little quirky. That said I haven’t read a single story that I haven’t loved and that hasn’t left me dying for the next in the series, so if you want a wild ride filled with action, passion, twists and turns, reach no further than The Phantom.
There is always that bit of speculation when I begin a Gena Showalter novel—will she pull out that HEA? This novel I truly wasn’t sure how she was going to manage it. Obviously if you’ve read previous novels in the series you’d know the chips were already stacked against them, but then reading the blurb it just became less and less likely in my mind. But thankfully Gena again pulled out a miracle and we got not only a stellar ending with an HEA, but a story filled with plots twists to rack the brain, epic danger and action, and two people so obviously in love that you wonder why we didn’t see it sooner. Blythe was the kind of woman that you want to be friends with just because you always wanted someone to get into and out of trouble with. Strong, sassy, deadly, and loving she is the ultimate female warrior and one you want on your side for sure but definitely NOT as an enemy. On the other hand, Roux is the kind of male that you wonder how the poor guy ever ended up in his life. It’s obvious that while he is a skilled warrior he truly doesn’t have the heart or mind made to be a killing machine, and he is far from the sociopathic male that we might think he is in the beginning. I loved seeing these two circle one another and fight their way (and fight each other) through the trials and dangers of their courtship to the passionate mating that they should have always had. I am DYING for the next book in the series, though I know I’ll have a bit of a wait and I know that whatever comes next for these Astra warriors and the sexy harpies in their midst it’s gonna be one hell of a ride!
See Full review @
https://romancewitchreviews.blogspot.com/2023/02/arc-review-phantom-rise-of-warlords-3.html
There is always that bit of speculation when I begin a Gena Showalter novel—will she pull out that HEA? This novel I truly wasn’t sure how she was going to manage it. Obviously if you’ve read previous novels in the series you’d know the chips were already stacked against them, but then reading the blurb it just became less and less likely in my mind. But thankfully Gena again pulled out a miracle and we got not only a stellar ending with an HEA, but a story filled with plots twists to rack the brain, epic danger and action, and two people so obviously in love that you wonder why we didn’t see it sooner. Blythe was the kind of woman that you want to be friends with just because you always wanted someone to get into and out of trouble with. Strong, sassy, deadly, and loving she is the ultimate female warrior and one you want on your side for sure but definitely NOT as an enemy. On the other hand, Roux is the kind of male that you wonder how the poor guy ever ended up in his life. It’s obvious that while he is a skilled warrior he truly doesn’t have the heart or mind made to be a killing machine, and he is far from the sociopathic male that we might think he is in the beginning. I loved seeing these two circle one another and fight their way (and fight each other) through the trials and dangers of their courtship to the passionate mating that they should have always had. I am DYING for the next book in the series, though I know I’ll have a bit of a wait and I know that whatever comes next for these Astra warriors and the sexy harpies in their midst it’s gonna be one hell of a ride!
See Full review @
https://romancewitchreviews.blogspot.com/2023/02/arc-review-phantom-rise-of-warlords-3.html
jeanay's review against another edition
3.0
idk why this author’s new books aren’t hitting as well as her older ones are like i still read them and am entertained but they don’t have that same charm it had but maybe it was because the whole series was out and i was able to read it back to back. and ofc these books aren’t well written masterpieces and are like trashy smutty fantasy books that give me a good little chuckle and it did it’s job. my main complaint is the ending being rushed bc the whole series is about the warlords completing their task and it gets brushed off until the very last chapter so it just felt rushed and unplanned especially w the solution to the task being figured out within that last chapter bc of this convenient thing happening. also i’m still confused bc i thought his whole thing was him being insane and hearing voices in his head and i thought his book was gonna be something resolving that but he don’t even hear them that much and the main girl supposedly makes it go away or idk i was kinda zoning out while reading but the end was just him in his head w the main girl and her kid talking to his conscious being like let’s move on from the past and focus on the future implying that his insanity arc is over like what. but i’ll give it to the book as i didn’t expect some of the plot twists like i predicted some but then there was more layers to it that got revealed at the end and i was like that’s good fr. but literally why does every task the main guys get assign having to do w killing the main girl like can they breathe fr. idk the ending made it feel like there’s a lot of unanswered question and unresolved conflicts like what happened w that wraith bitch is she just over w bc the main girl broke out of her collar like i want a more direct solution to that conflict. but i’m not gonna complain too much bc beggars can’t be choosers fr. the things i do like about this book is that the girlies are so me and funny and ngl i don’t know whether i should view it as a why are women always being painted as horny and villains but nah this shit was funny asf bc the task of the main guy is to kill the queen of this other dimension and the girlies they are sex deprived and can also speak modern slang bc of the wraith bitch giving them smut readings it’s so random but funny. like these girls were so excited when he came and were like dips on him i respect them fr i would be w them if i was in their situation. so humor is good as always and the little banter and tension between the main two is cute like the main girl calls her aggression w him foreplay lmao she’s so real for that but um do have to break the bad news and understand why she’s pissed at him bc he literally killed her consort and father to her child so she’s in the right for sure and main guy is supes sorry but also like that guy is alive at the end and is conveniently a terrible person so the main girl is gonna choose the main guy obviously. honestly i found that plot point interesting and i hate love triangles so i’ll take it. the tournament situation w the girlies fight for who gets to be queen and fuck the main guy reminds me of one of the lord of underworld books w the main girls cousin i think joining this harpy tournament like come one i love a little connection to the series. also main guy and the main girl’s daughter relationship is cute like she doesn’t even care he killed her dad LMAO and also she lowkey insane bc why she talking to her evil grandpa and was like yeah i can make portals it looks easy so i can do it like damn kids scare me but in an endearing way ig. erebus taking sm l’s he’s such a loser it’s really embarrassing. and it’s a good thing he made the main girl’s consort a puppet bc he wasn’t even that good of a partner anyways not supporting their ways as harpies kind of and tryna restrict her true nature like boo but at least he begged the main guy to kill him before he killed his daughter. also yas for the main girl trusting the main guy and there wasn’t any miscommunication drama like no third act break up w them is so slay but then again he also fell for that framing trick the wraith bitch did like girl you really believe the main girl is that dumb but she forgave him and was like omg you care about me sm asking questions about me and our relationship while torturing me like i love her she’s funny asf. i’ll wrap it up here i’m giving this a 7.5/10 or 8/10 idk it didn’t hook me in until a while.