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colleen_corleone's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If you can make it past the 25% mark, there's an actual story.
To get there... you have to read a lot of rape. It's not too visceral in terms of the lasting harm, but it's a lot. The "sex" scenes are definitely detailed.
It's a decent telling of the gross parts of mythology that are glossed over. Gods are often horrible, abusive, assholes who don't accept that humans have the right to autonomy.
Enoch starts to soften somewhat, but with the ending who knows what will happen.
It was decently told. I do want to read the next one.
I couldn't recommend it to anyone. Too many CWs for that to feel like anything but a cruelty, but if you're interested, I'd say try it out.
To get there... you have to read a lot of rape. It's not too visceral in terms of the lasting harm, but it's a lot. The "sex" scenes are definitely detailed.
It's a decent telling of the gross parts of mythology that are glossed over. Gods are often horrible, abusive, assholes who don't accept that humans have the right to autonomy.
Enoch starts to soften somewhat, but with the ending who knows what will happen.
It was decently told. I do want to read the next one.
I couldn't recommend it to anyone. Too many CWs for that to feel like anything but a cruelty, but if you're interested, I'd say try it out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Child death, Sexual assault, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Genocide
bangiebangs's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a really hard one to review. It is dark, like all the CWs apply here. It does contain sexual assault and rape in pretty much all its forms. And yes, I agree with another review that it really reminds me of Laura Thalassa's Pestilence as well.
Are there redeeming qualities? Not if you don't want to read about SA. Skip this book, truly. For me, it was the first one that really went there, but I still liked the story overall. It doesnt break any ground (monstrous MMC, an FMC who is dropped into his clutches, and slow enemies to lovers, the tortured man rescued by a kind woman, etc).
The reason I can still enjoy the book is probably that the rape scenes aren't truly fleshed out - we get the mechanics, we don't get a lot of description of how it feels (beyond "my ass still hurts") or the fallout (ie. how does Ada feel afterwards, what physical and mental effects are there). This doesn't diminish what happens, of course, but it does make it much easier to focus on the slow process of her seeing more of him and gaining some understanding. (Fwiw, the worst part for me was her reaction to him "twisting" her legs - so much more palpable, and gave me more of a visceral reaction).
In order for this all to work I think you have to understand that people (especially women) do have rape fantasies, and that that is ok. To be clear, it is *not* ok to actually rape someone, but fantasizing about that is just something that many people do. (I'm explicitly excluding cis men or people who actually want to sexually assault somebody and talking about a sexual fantasy here). I think it's legitimate to suspend disbelief and enjoy the book for what it is: an enemies to lovers rape fantasy, even if it is not something I'd want to read uncritically (meaning without acknowledging the rape, and accepting that this can still be a turn on... as a fantasy.) And because it is a fantasy, a dark one at that, it's acceptable that this is not CNC but actual non con.
With that out of the way: the pacing is pretty good, though feels a tad hurried at times (it's not a long book). The dialogue... eh. His blunt way of talking about fucking her sometimes took me out of the story a little, mainly because he otherwise talks like a being that has lost touch with humanity and isn't particularly modern. But ok.
The world-building was great, super interesting take! Also enough mystery left for book 2.I'm curious about the brothers... like, the god of whispers seems as horrible as the MMC .
Recommended if you liked Pestilence, dark romance, rape fantasy and dont mind gore and violence. Explicitly not for you if you mind any of that and/or graphic descriptions of death and decay (incl children) or violent child death - though that's the cliffhanger so not sure how that will actually work out .
Are there redeeming qualities? Not if you don't want to read about SA. Skip this book, truly. For me, it was the first one that really went there, but I still liked the story overall. It doesnt break any ground (monstrous MMC, an FMC who is dropped into his clutches, and slow enemies to lovers, the tortured man rescued by a kind woman, etc).
The reason I can still enjoy the book is probably that the rape scenes aren't truly fleshed out - we get the mechanics, we don't get a lot of description of how it feels (beyond "my ass still hurts") or the fallout (ie. how does Ada feel afterwards, what physical and mental effects are there). This doesn't diminish what happens, of course, but it does make it much easier to focus on the slow process of her seeing more of him and gaining some understanding. (Fwiw, the worst part for me was her reaction to him "twisting" her legs - so much more palpable, and gave me more of a visceral reaction).
In order for this all to work I think you have to understand that people (especially women) do have rape fantasies, and that that is ok. To be clear, it is *not* ok to actually rape someone, but fantasizing about that is just something that many people do. (I'm explicitly excluding cis men or people who actually want to sexually assault somebody and talking about a sexual fantasy here). I think it's legitimate to suspend disbelief and enjoy the book for what it is: an enemies to lovers rape fantasy, even if it is not something I'd want to read uncritically (meaning without acknowledging the rape, and accepting that this can still be a turn on... as a fantasy.) And because it is a fantasy, a dark one at that, it's acceptable that this is not CNC but actual non con.
With that out of the way: the pacing is pretty good, though feels a tad hurried at times (it's not a long book). The dialogue... eh. His blunt way of talking about fucking her sometimes took me out of the story a little, mainly because he otherwise talks like a being that has lost touch with humanity and isn't particularly modern. But ok.
The world-building was great, super interesting take! Also enough mystery left for book 2.
Recommended if you liked Pestilence, dark romance, rape fantasy and dont mind gore and violence. Explicitly not for you if you mind any of that and/or graphic descriptions of death and decay (incl children)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Religious bigotry
drduck's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Slavery, Death, Rape, Vomit, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
bee_thebee's review against another edition
no. like not for me I cannot process that and I do not want that in my life right now. thanks but no thanks I'm not reading about a woman being raped an then this being called erotica. Honestly not judging if you read but silently distancing myself
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Blood, and Sexual content
gillian0231's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Genuinely what the fuck was that??? I'm just going to make a list of everything bad about this book because I don't feel like this book deserves the energy that it would take to write a full, thought-out review
- RAPE!!! The MMC literally rapes the FMC the entire story. I understand dub-con, have read it in a few dark romances, and do enjoy it if done right, but that was not was what this was. He has to use his mind control powers to get her to fuck him and to get wet.
- The main characters literally have zero chemistry. She doesn't really end up liking him until the last ~20% of the book. No character development and it really feels like she develops Stockholm Syndrome that's how little chemistry there is
- Bad writing. Everything felt disjointed, there was no character development, time would suddenly pass or we would suddenly be in a new location. It was just chaotic
- Personal preference, but it was all kinda just too gross for me. Like enough about the rotting corpses. I know he's the king of the dead but it was a bit excessive
- Smut scenes didn't do it for me. I think it was a bit of a combination of personal taste (so much anal, which he used as a scare tactic/threat) and just plain bad writing. Also I think it started way too quickly in the book, but again that goes back to Enosh just straight up raping Ada
- SHE CALLED HER CLIT HER "NYMPH"!!!!!!!!! WHY?????????
- Why did Enosh have some morals ("I despise pain, Ada. But not as much as I despise those who inflict it without mercy") but was fine with raping her? Does the author not know what consent is?
- So much doesn't get explained, like why doesn't Enosh allow the dead to rest? Why did he abandon his duty? And this was a really big plot point, it definitely should have been explained
- It gets too close to the victim blaming territory with Njala (just like in A Soul to Keep)
- Honestly Ada's only personality trait is wanting to be a mother but not being able to and being a good wife to her abusive husbands. What a role model
Honestly this probably deserves less than a 2 star rating but the author did put time and effort into this and I hate giving someone's hard work such a bad score. 2 is usually the lowest I'll go. I always did think the world-building had potential and was interesting, it just wasn't executed great and was put on the back-burner to the rape
I don't usually put trigger warnings in my reviews because I believe there are better resources out there, but I will for this one, especially because the beginning of the book does a horrendous job of doing so
- RAPE!!! The MMC literally rapes the FMC the entire story. I understand dub-con, have read it in a few dark romances, and do enjoy it if done right, but that was not was what this was. He has to use his mind control powers to get her to fuck him and to get wet.
- The main characters literally have zero chemistry. She doesn't really end up liking him until the last ~20% of the book. No character development and it really feels like she develops Stockholm Syndrome that's how little chemistry there is
- Bad writing. Everything felt disjointed, there was no character development, time would suddenly pass or we would suddenly be in a new location. It was just chaotic
- Personal preference, but it was all kinda just too gross for me. Like enough about the rotting corpses. I know he's the king of the dead but it was a bit excessive
- Smut scenes didn't do it for me. I think it was a bit of a combination of personal taste (so much anal, which he used as a scare tactic/threat) and just plain bad writing. Also I think it started way too quickly in the book, but again that goes back to Enosh just straight up raping Ada
- SHE CALLED HER CLIT HER "NYMPH"!!!!!!!!! WHY?????????
- Why did Enosh have some morals ("I despise pain, Ada. But not as much as I despise those who inflict it without mercy") but was fine with raping her? Does the author not know what consent is?
- So much doesn't get explained, like why doesn't Enosh allow the dead to rest? Why did he abandon his duty? And this was a really big plot point, it definitely should have been explained
- It gets too close to the victim blaming territory with Njala (just like in A Soul to Keep)
- Honestly Ada's only personality trait is wanting to be a mother but not being able to and being a good wife to her abusive husbands. What a role model
Honestly this probably deserves less than a 2 star rating but the author did put time and effort into this and I hate giving someone's hard work such a bad score. 2 is usually the lowest I'll go. I always did think the world-building had potential and was interesting, it just wasn't executed great and was put on the back-burner to the rape
I don't usually put trigger warnings in my reviews because I believe there are better resources out there, but I will for this one, especially because the beginning of the book does a horrendous job of doing so
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
lalysva's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
Wow this was bad.
Now, I'm not squeamish and I don't have triggers. I love dark fantasy and horror. And I don't mind reading about sensitive topics.
But this was just disgusting and uncomfortable to read.
The content warning said dub-con, but this is plain old abuse and r*pe.
Enosh literally uses Ada's body like a marionette puppet to pleasure himself. But it's okay, because she actually likes it, even though she struggles to resist? Hard pass from me
You can include r*pe in stories and do it well, but this is just romanticizing a r*pist. After the first sex scene I lost all hope for the couple. Why would I cheer for a douchebag that forces himself on Ada? The only hope I'd have would be for her to kill him and find someone worthy.
I DNF'ed at 25% as this is the worst book I've read in years.
The only good thing I can say is that the world building with the zombies and Enosh' role is quite interesting, and I would have loved to read more of that if the characters weren't so awful.
The writing was okay, but the dirty talk was cringe worthy with some really poor word choices (seed anybody?).
Unless you're into r*pe erotica don't bother with this book.
Now, I'm not squeamish and I don't have triggers. I love dark fantasy and horror. And I don't mind reading about sensitive topics.
But this was just disgusting and uncomfortable to read.
The content warning said dub-con, but this is plain old abuse and r*pe.
Enosh literally uses Ada's body like a marionette puppet to pleasure himself. But it's okay, because she actually likes it, even though she struggles to resist? Hard pass from me
You can include r*pe in stories and do it well, but this is just romanticizing a r*pist. After the first sex scene I lost all hope for the couple. Why would I cheer for a douchebag that forces himself on Ada? The only hope I'd have would be for her to kill him and find someone worthy.
I DNF'ed at 25% as this is the worst book I've read in years.
The only good thing I can say is that the world building with the zombies and Enosh' role is quite interesting, and I would have loved to read more of that if the characters weren't so awful.
The writing was okay, but the dirty talk was cringe worthy with some really poor word choices (seed anybody?).
Unless you're into r*pe erotica don't bother with this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Torture
lucindanorine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I saw this book on tiktok and immediately wanted to read it. And once I saw the audiobook on netgalley I requested it and was so excited when it hit my library! I loved this book, it took me a little longer to get into it. But I did enjoy it and I'm excited for book two
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, War, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
reverieparacosm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
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