4.25 AVERAGE

medium-paced
adventurous mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I like the idea, but the implementation reminds me of PLL in a bad way. 
Also, fondant is not used for piping when decorating cake, you use for example butter cream.
badwolff's profile picture

badwolff's review

3.0
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

its not the book its me
adventurous dark 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
adventurous dark emotional
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging funny hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I swear to god this entire book Vaen and Arlo were getting on my nerves. They're so fucking naive to what
the queen was doing, especially at the end. wtf are you doing you absolute idiots.  WHY DIDN'T SHE LISTEN TO HER F*CKING GIRLFRIEND. WHY DIDN'T SHE SEE THE WAVING RED FLAGS IN HER FACE. Honestly, at the end, Arlo finally being faced with who riadne rlly was was honestly satisfying. shes gonna be so naive and impulsive she'll face the consequences.
Anyway stan Nausicaa, Saladon and Aurelian.
adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
dark 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: Yes

 A Cruel and Fated Light is very much a “middle book” in the Hollow Star Saga. It has a lot to offer, but it definitely got held back in places. This is even my second attempt to get into it, after I struggled with it the first time around. This is definitely a book where I felt the length, and I did wonder if some things couldn’t have been trimmed to make for punchier pacing to match the first book. 
However, the general semantics of the plot remained pretty engaging, and while there’s a lot more bloating to it, there are some intriguing developments here, and that cliffhanger?! It was worth it once I navigated through the fat and the complex web being weaved here. 
The characters are also pretty solid, and I like that more characters did get time to shine, especially Vehan, Aurelian, and Celadon, who I enjoyed getting to know more about. Arlo and Nausicaa are both still interesting. The romances, friendships, and other dynamics see some interesting developments, and the villain comes out in force
While this book is a bit uneven, I enjoyed this for the most part, and am looking forward to the next one. If you’re looking for queer urban fantasy, I recommend checking this series out!