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littlemissmommy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
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? No
5.0
This book is my new empire!
I loved every minute of this book. It’s a true enemies to lovers story and I am so here for it. The world building is superb, complete with a whole new set of wildlife, slang and colloquialisms, and a cool magic system. The story is a mix of war and politics. Talasyn is a fantastically angry girl, full of snark and fueled by rage and determination. Alaric on the other hand is such an awkward morally grey a-hole. And he’s my new number one book boyfriend.
I’ll be honest, about half way through this book I was getting Kylo Ren vibes from Alaric, only better and it took me until the end of the book and Alaric’s stupid, inelegant attempt at affection for me to piece together why I love him so much. Alaric reminds me of Zuko. A shadow daddy version of Zuko and I’m done. This beautiful, awkward boy needs love and care.
This book has a couple steamy scenes and one mildly spicy scene, I’d call it a 2-2.5 on the spicy level, as they haven’t gone all the way YET. But based on that one scene I am eagerly awaiting a higher spice level next book.
Also this ends with a mild cliff hanger. Nothing that will have you throwing a book or your phone against a wall and screaming into the void, but a solid plot hook to ensure you want to read book 2.
Anyways, if you’re hesitating to read this, or thinking about waiting until the whole series comes out, don’t wait. Take the plunge, and fall in love. I promise this book is going to blow everything else out of the water. Also I need more people to suffer along with me in the wait for October.
Off to preorder book two!
I loved every minute of this book. It’s a true enemies to lovers story and I am so here for it. The world building is superb, complete with a whole new set of wildlife, slang and colloquialisms, and a cool magic system. The story is a mix of war and politics. Talasyn is a fantastically angry girl, full of snark and fueled by rage and determination. Alaric on the other hand is such an awkward morally grey a-hole. And he’s my new number one book boyfriend.
I’ll be honest, about half way through this book I was getting Kylo Ren vibes from Alaric, only better and it took me until the end of the book and Alaric’s stupid, inelegant attempt at affection for me to piece together why I love him so much. Alaric reminds me of Zuko. A shadow daddy version of Zuko and I’m done. This beautiful, awkward boy needs love and care.
This book has a couple steamy scenes and one mildly spicy scene, I’d call it a 2-2.5 on the spicy level, as they haven’t gone all the way YET. But based on that one scene I am eagerly awaiting a higher spice level next book.
Also this ends with a mild cliff hanger. Nothing that will have you throwing a book or your phone against a wall and screaming into the void, but a solid plot hook to ensure you want to read book 2.
Anyways, if you’re hesitating to read this, or thinking about waiting until the whole series comes out, don’t wait. Take the plunge, and fall in love. I promise this book is going to blow everything else out of the water. Also I need more people to suffer along with me in the wait for October.
Off to preorder book two!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, War, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Death
ayeitsdaye's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It took longer than I expected to get into this story, considering I came into it knowing it’s a reylo fic. The author’s rich vocabulary bordered on purple prose at times, but overall added depth.
My biggest complaint would be that Talasyn and Alaric’s POVs, while executed in a way that disrupted continuity the least, I felt like the depth on each side was out of sync? Overall it was worth a read, and I’ll be looking out for the sequel!
My biggest complaint would be that Talasyn and Alaric’s POVs, while executed in a way that disrupted continuity the least, I felt like the depth on each side was out of sync? Overall it was worth a read, and I’ll be looking out for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, War, and Colonisation
Minor: Pregnancy, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia
mels_reading_log's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.0
This is a romantacy book about two shoulders from waring lands. He has shadow powers and she has light powers, they could each be the other’s downfall. But for some reason they can’t convince themselves to cast the death blow. And then they realize they need each other, but can they truly trust each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Child abuse
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I didn't know going into this that it was a Reylo fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, but I figured it out about 50 pages in. There were a few issues I think were caused in part by it originally being a fanfic. First, the characters were underdeveloped in the beginning, and I didn't quite buy that they were really enemies. They were truly enemies because they were on opposite sides of a war, but I would have liked for there to be a more personal element to it. Maybe one or both of them could have personally killed someone the other one loved or he could have been responsible for destroying her village, or something like that. In a fanfiction, we have this backstory already because it's in the source material, but since these are new characters, we don't know what they've done to really cause them to hate each other.
The magic system also wasn't very well developed. The shadow magic and the light magic didn't do anything different from each other. They both just formed weapons that did the same things but in different colors. I chalk this up to this being adapted from Star Wars fanfiction where the characters originally probably used the same source of power (the Force) and the same type of weapon (lightsabers).
The pacing was off. It took almost 200 pages for the main characters to actually have a conversation and interact beyond a few fight scenes. It was so weird to have a romance book where the couple hardly interacts for the first half of the book. Once the romance got started, I did enjoy how it developed. I was put off a bit by the insta-lust. The characters would be in the middle of trying to kill each other and then they'd be thinking about how the other one's eyes are so beautiful. Despite the insta-lust, I'd say the romance itself is a slow burn. They started getting to some good character development towards the end as they began to really explore the differences in their ideologies and the conflict that causes in their relationship.
Overall, I enjoyed this well enough, and it definitely picked up towards the end. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series as I'm not super invested in the plot or characters though.
The magic system also wasn't very well developed. The shadow magic and the light magic didn't do anything different from each other. They both just formed weapons that did the same things but in different colors. I chalk this up to this being adapted from Star Wars fanfiction where the characters originally probably used the same source of power (the Force) and the same type of weapon (lightsabers).
The pacing was off. It took almost 200 pages for the main characters to actually have a conversation and interact beyond a few fight scenes. It was so weird to have a romance book where the couple hardly interacts for the first half of the book. Once the romance got started, I did enjoy how it developed. I was put off a bit by the insta-lust. The characters would be in the middle of trying to kill each other and then they'd be thinking about how the other one's eyes are so beautiful. Despite the insta-lust, I'd say the romance itself is a slow burn. They started getting to some good character development towards the end as they began to really explore the differences in their ideologies and the conflict that causes in their relationship.
Overall, I enjoyed this well enough, and it definitely picked up towards the end. I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series as I'm not super invested in the plot or characters though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, War, Abandonment, Death, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Lots of infodumping.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, and Death
Minor: Child abuse
bsafely's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was a superb start to the series!! I am excited to see how everything plays out in the next book!!
This book set up the series to have good potential- political intrigue, war, and some romance. The book itself kept me interested with all the vivid descriptions of the world and I hope there is more character development in the next book.
This book set up the series to have good potential- political intrigue, war, and some romance. The book itself kept me interested with all the vivid descriptions of the world and I hope there is more character development in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Violence, War, and Death
maregred's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Colonisation, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
jomjom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
It was fine. The book is medium pace but feels slow paced (so it drags) and the enemies to lovers aspect could have been stronger in that it was mostly unconvincing. The e2l dynamic should have just been focused on the fact that they are on opposite sides of the war because the personal aspect of their enemy dynamic was lacking and unconvincing Just not fleshed out enough. I would go into more detail but I'm too tired lol (not bc of the book I just need to go to sleep). Anyway it wasn't engaging enough for me be interested in reading the 2nd book but I do think there's an audience for it.kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Genocide, Death, Death of parent, War, Confinement, Cursing, Animal death, and Sexism
yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was a great read! It was easy to follow and so engaging. I love the tension and complex emotions between Alaric and Talasyn. The way they learn more about their roles and about each other is beautiful.i wish they would just tell each other how the really feel all the complex parts of it. I love Sevreem and Gia. They had me laughing a few times.
Throughout the book, I found myself giggling and smirking. I thought the world building was well done and I’m excited to read the rest of the series.
Throughout the book, I found myself giggling and smirking. I thought the world building was well done and I’m excited to read the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, War, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Minor: Cursing