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congressbaby143's review against another edition
2.0
My god, I don’t even remember when I started reading this book. I think it was in November last year? One good thing about this book though is that it creates a Russia that is so beautiful to imagine, especially St. Petersburg. So it was easy to pick this one up despite the number of times I had to put it down because of life in general.
I was roped in because of the promise of magic, and cute boys. And I keep getting roped in because of those too. But the story keeps on getting into twisty turns that weren’t for the better and also some of it feels too bland like the stereotypical characters in Ludmila, Renata, Sergei, the tsar, the tsarina and some and some I can’t even remember the names of.
And what’s up with Nikolai’s hag of a mother? I just came from watching a Crash Course Mythology about witches and damn that was a poor depiction of witches. It was like a Deus Ex Machina in hag form. Terrible, terrible.
I was very willing to love Pasha and Nikolai and Vika but their character arcs are just meh, virtually nothing. And I knew that pitting Vika and Nikolai and Pasha and Nikolai against each other would bite me in the ass at the end and it did. The end gave me a Pasha that’s so hard to root for and a virtually dead Nikolai. The final game has also drained my energy from wanting to pick up the next installment. Enjoyable but meh.
P.S.
I definitely think that in a rush to create this romance between Pasha and Vika and Nikolai and Vika, the author accidentally created a very homoromantic relationship between Pasha and Nikolai. Her writing is too meh to think that it was intentional. And so I root for Vika as a strong, independent enchanter and altogether ship Pasha and Nikolai. The only possible redemption for this series!
I was roped in because of the promise of magic, and cute boys. And I keep getting roped in because of those too. But the story keeps on getting into twisty turns that weren’t for the better and also some of it feels too bland like the stereotypical characters in Ludmila, Renata, Sergei, the tsar, the tsarina and some and some I can’t even remember the names of.
And what’s up with Nikolai’s hag of a mother? I just came from watching a Crash Course Mythology about witches and damn that was a poor depiction of witches. It was like a Deus Ex Machina in hag form. Terrible, terrible.
I was very willing to love Pasha and Nikolai and Vika but their character arcs are just meh, virtually nothing. And I knew that pitting Vika and Nikolai and Pasha and Nikolai against each other would bite me in the ass at the end and it did. The end gave me a Pasha that’s so hard to root for and a virtually dead Nikolai. The final game has also drained my energy from wanting to pick up the next installment. Enjoyable but meh.
P.S.
I definitely think that in a rush to create this romance between Pasha and Vika and Nikolai and Vika, the author accidentally created a very homoromantic relationship between Pasha and Nikolai. Her writing is too meh to think that it was intentional. And so I root for Vika as a strong, independent enchanter and altogether ship Pasha and Nikolai. The only possible redemption for this series!
hanbovill's review against another edition
Unfortunately a waste of time. I did finish but wish I didn’t.... I was hoping that there was going to be some salvation by the end.
biqueen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
letsbebookfriends's review against another edition
3.0
It was slow in some places, and I guessed a lot of the plot, I may continue with the series because I did enjoy the storyline and the love triangle (I like a good triangle, sue me).
akookieforyou's review against another edition
2.0
My feelings about this book are all over the place. In the first half I was completely enamored with the story, the magic system, the characters, just everything. But the second half severely dropped the ball, and practically everything I loved about this was taken away (the magic was still cool, and interesting). The characters started annoying the crap out of me with their idiotic decisions, and the plot started to drag, to the point that I was utterly bored, until the final chapters where I was just plain angry. I'm also very upset at the prospect of my favorite, and arguably the best, ship will never happen. No one can convince me that Nikolai is superior to Pasha, and that he would be better suited for Vika. Don't get me wrong, I like Nikolai and all, but Pasha is so sweet, thoughtful, and charming, he would balance out Vika. The best thing about this book, other than the magic, was how unexpected certain elements of the story were (until the second half, when it became as predictable and boring as sliced white bread), there were a good amount of scenes where I just didn't know what to expect, and that was refreshing. So given how disappointed I became with this book, I will not be reading the sequel. I just can't put myself through that lolol.
hallowsun's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0