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koistyfishy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.0
3 Comfortable Couch Stars ⭐
🌶️🌶️/5
I picked this up as part of a buddy read with some girls from Instagram and it sounded SOOO GOOD! This had so much potential to be fantastic and I absolutely loved it in the beginning. However, somewhere along the line in reading this, I fell off the hype bandwagon and by the end, I was thankful it was over. This just didn't hit the mark for what I look for in a book, leaving me a little underwhelmed and disappointed.
I must give credit that the worldbuilding in this was done really well, and I think that was one of the elements that were really topnotch and why I was so hooked in the beginning. It's not really info-dumpy. It's a slow pace in which you can learn to understand how the realms fit together. There's politics, there's classism, and I did enjoy the magic system.
The book follows Remy, who has been living in hiding in dark and dingy taverns for 13 years, as she is one of the last remaining Red Witches. Her Court, the High Mountain Court, was originally overtaken by the Northern Court and all the Red Witches were slaughtered for their power. Since Remy is a Red Witch, she needs to stay undercover. Soon she is found by four Fae, one of which happens to be the MOST GORGEOUS MAN she has ever seen, who enlists her help in a quest for two magical items that they believe will help retake back the fallen High Mountain Court.
🌶️🌶️/5
I picked this up as part of a buddy read with some girls from Instagram and it sounded SOOO GOOD! This had so much potential to be fantastic and I absolutely loved it in the beginning. However, somewhere along the line in reading this, I fell off the hype bandwagon and by the end, I was thankful it was over. This just didn't hit the mark for what I look for in a book, leaving me a little underwhelmed and disappointed.
I must give credit that the worldbuilding in this was done really well, and I think that was one of the elements that were really topnotch and why I was so hooked in the beginning. It's not really info-dumpy. It's a slow pace in which you can learn to understand how the realms fit together. There's politics, there's classism, and I did enjoy the magic system.
The book follows Remy, who has been living in hiding in dark and dingy taverns for 13 years, as she is one of the last remaining Red Witches. Her Court, the High Mountain Court, was originally overtaken by the Northern Court and all the Red Witches were slaughtered for their power. Since Remy is a Red Witch, she needs to stay undercover. Soon she is found by four Fae, one of which happens to be the MOST GORGEOUS MAN she has ever seen, who enlists her help in a quest for two magical items that they believe will help retake back the fallen High Mountain Court.
CUE A MINI INTERNAL RANT: I hate when things are referred to as "Most Gorgeous or Most Beautiful", It's a pet peeve - I dunno why, just is....so seeing it not once, BUT NUMEROUS TIMES how GORGEOUS HE WAS....made me a little nauseous. 🤢
I'm almost MAD, as this has elements of everything that you kind of want in a fantasy romance.
I mean LOOOOK at these tropes:
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ One Horse
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Found Family
▶ He falls first
▶ Fae/Witch Romance
There is no one bed though...BECAUSE THE FUCKING COUCH IS MORE COMFORTABLE!!!!! It was right there, A.K Mulford dangled that carrot and then took it away!
The thing that bothered me the most about this book, is the structure of the plot. Let me prefix this to say I had a lot of fun in terms of the speculation with the fellow ladies doing the buddy read as to the direction of the plot. But in the end, there were so many clues thrown in your face that by the time the "big twist" comes around, IT WASN'T SHOCKING! It just felt anti-climactic.
The other aspect that frustrated me to death was as the reader, you are in Remy's mind, but you don't find out her secrets or what's driving her for about 70% of the book. You are left in that dark for the shock factor twist. I would have preferred it and think it would have had more emphasis to the story had the reader known these from the start. This way we could understand how she tried to divert other people from finding out about her secrets.
The romance was sweet; however, there were one too many aspects that made it feel like insta love. The sexual tension is there from the beginning and right of the bat there is INSTALUST and Remy acting like a jealous teenager if any girl might look at Hale. The problem with the romance was we're not really shown how the relationship evolves between Remy and Hale. You're just told that "she gets on his nerves" and that "he's different with her than with other girls." But they have had about 4 conversations at this point??? There is more interaction with the side characters than with Remy and Hale. Hale is also in the instalove camp as he also is very quickly mesmerized and besotted with her. Once their feelings are out in the open, they're nauseatingly infatuated with each other. And that was the point I lost interest (view spoiler)
One thing I dont understand - and had to reread a few times to try was... (view spoiler) This is always why again this book is very tell, not show.
I can see why this has blown up on booktok/bookstagram, given how popular ACOMAF is and people saying that this is like an almost carbon copy. I know that it is sometimes difficult to avoid this in fantasy romance because it is very much a niche genre, but there were way too many overlaps for it not to seem related or inspired by characters/scenes in ACOMAF...
Ultimately, I don't think I will be continuing the series. I was not invested in the end. There was a teaser chapter of the next book, but I skimmed it and I don't really want to continue. This might be something to pick up on a weekend if you just want a quick little fae romance with a little spice in it. It was ok, but not good enough for me to continue with how much is on my TBR.
I mean LOOOOK at these tropes:
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ One Horse
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Found Family
▶ He falls first
▶ Fae/Witch Romance
There is no one bed though...BECAUSE THE FUCKING COUCH IS MORE COMFORTABLE!!!!! It was right there, A.K Mulford dangled that carrot and then took it away!
The thing that bothered me the most about this book, is the structure of the plot. Let me prefix this to say I had a lot of fun in terms of the speculation with the fellow ladies doing the buddy read as to the direction of the plot. But in the end, there were so many clues thrown in your face that by the time the "big twist" comes around, IT WASN'T SHOCKING! It just felt anti-climactic.
The other aspect that frustrated me to death was as the reader, you are in Remy's mind, but you don't find out her secrets or what's driving her for about 70% of the book. You are left in that dark for the shock factor twist. I would have preferred it and think it would have had more emphasis to the story had the reader known these from the start. This way we could understand how she tried to divert other people from finding out about her secrets.
The romance was sweet; however, there were one too many aspects that made it feel like insta love. The sexual tension is there from the beginning and right of the bat there is INSTALUST and Remy acting like a jealous teenager if any girl might look at Hale. The problem with the romance was we're not really shown how the relationship evolves between Remy and Hale. You're just told that "she gets on his nerves" and that "he's different with her than with other girls." But they have had about 4 conversations at this point??? There is more interaction with the side characters than with Remy and Hale. Hale is also in the instalove camp as he also is very quickly mesmerized and besotted with her. Once their feelings are out in the open, they're nauseatingly infatuated with each other. And that was the point I lost interest (view spoiler)
One thing I dont understand - and had to reread a few times to try was... (view spoiler) This is always why again this book is very tell, not show.
I can see why this has blown up on booktok/bookstagram, given how popular ACOMAF is and people saying that this is like an almost carbon copy. I know that it is sometimes difficult to avoid this in fantasy romance because it is very much a niche genre, but there were way too many overlaps for it not to seem related or inspired by characters/scenes in ACOMAF...
Ultimately, I don't think I will be continuing the series. I was not invested in the end. There was a teaser chapter of the next book, but I skimmed it and I don't really want to continue. This might be something to pick up on a weekend if you just want a quick little fae romance with a little spice in it. It was ok, but not good enough for me to continue with how much is on my TBR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Vomit
liliana_b's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Super derivative. Some word choices were odd. World building is okay. But boy am I a sucker for spicy fantasy. Spicy scenes are sparse but the tension between characters makes it. Bonus points for incredible inclusivity that didn’t feel forced and robotic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, and Sexual content
bookish_cait's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
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
Absolutely loved this book. Got me out of my reading slump from the start. So much happening and loved the development of the characters along the way
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Cursing
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.0
I am a sucker for fae romances and this is no exception from my love.
I was intrigued by not only the characters but the world that has been created. The history alone that we learn in book one makes me want to pick up a history book of the world. I also liked how the courts are different in their cultures rather than types of magic they use as is common in fae books. It made the world feel more alive.
I adore Remy and Hale's relationship and interactions. They were just so fun. I thought all the side characters were good and had intriguing plot lines that I hope we explore with the other books in the series. I cannot wait to continue with the series and explore more of the world.
I was intrigued by not only the characters but the world that has been created. The history alone that we learn in book one makes me want to pick up a history book of the world. I also liked how the courts are different in their cultures rather than types of magic they use as is common in fae books. It made the world feel more alive.
I adore Remy and Hale's relationship and interactions. They were just so fun. I thought all the side characters were good and had intriguing plot lines that I hope we explore with the other books in the series. I cannot wait to continue with the series and explore more of the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Genocide, Torture, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Body horror
rhi_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Gore, and War
Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
cassie12_21's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
4.0
I enjoyed this book, and definitely recommend it to any fae book lovers. I liked that the heir to the south court existed outside of the gender binary. This book is spicy, their are a couple scenes, nothing extravagant though (unfortunately 😭)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Torture, Confinement, Violence, Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and War
ka_ke's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a safe fantasy-romance to read. It’s kind of like if Throne of Glass and FBAA had a love child. The cast is diverse and filled with lovable characters. I would have liked to see more banter between Remy and Hale though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Genocide
Minor: War, Vomit, and Trafficking
finnickdeservedbetter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
It initially feels like it's setting up to be an enemies to lovers but it was very much an insta-love which I'm not a fan of at all. Their relationship feels a flat and underdeveloped too. Because of that I felt no connection to the love interest. He's just kind of...there. Besides that, all of the plot twists were also very predictable. I guessed most of the big ones in the first few chapters which was kind of disappointing. I like unexpected reveals and nothing was unexpected. Getting a little nitpicky here, I didn't really like the main character that much. I didn't hate her but she felt very judgmental. Not in a "my life's in danger and I need to be wary of everyone way" but more so an "I'm better than everyone" way. It also seemed like she just instantly fell in love and started doing everything for a man. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read by any means but I definitely struggled to get it finished. I was really excited to read this book so I'm kind of bummed that I didn't like it as much as I thought.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Genocide, Confinement, Cursing, Torture, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, and Child death
bottleblondebookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Remy is a red witch in hiding. Hale is a Fae prince. The two team up to track down some lost relics that will help them reclaim the land from the evil Nothern Court King. We have some classics tropes here, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one bed, but honestly, I’d say enemies to lovers is a stretch, and is it really a one bed trope if he actually sleeps on the couch?! I felt like the romance developed quickly, but it made sense considering other factors that I won’t get into here. I loved the side characters. Specifically, Bri and Carys. Bri is getting her own book, and I’d love to see a story centered on Carys too. There is a lot of action! From the start, it’s a fast paced book with plenty of fighting and fantasy court drama. But the last 70ish pages is where it really picked up! Some may argue that the ending was rushed, but I quite enjoyed how everything came together! I’m looking forward to reading book two, though, if I’m completely honest, I’m not a big fan of the two characters the second book is focused on. But Bri’s book isn’t out yet, so I may as well read it while I wait for that one, right?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder, and Death
abhss's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent and Blood