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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Nothing about this is grasping me unfortunately 😭
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
“There was no need to change out of funeral attire, as men die every day—a cause for celebration.”
“Believe me when I say this woman gave me butterflies in my stomach. Though that might just be internal bleeding. Either way, she had charmed me.”
I was anticipating this book months before release, but it’s been waiting in my kindle library since release day because I just knew I would LOVE it and I wanted to save it for when I had time to do nothing but read this, and I’m so glad I did. I completely devoured this across essentially one sitting.
Alina is an intelligent, inquisitive, morally-grey badass; everything I adore in a female main character. Silas is a charming, psychotically-hot predator. It’s hard from the start not to be drawn to the two, both together and individually; a gripping but fun but sexy game of cat and mouse, where both are equally the cat and the mouse.
The side characters were just as interesting and complex (phoebe, i love you). There were many twists throughout, some expected and some that had me shocked; though the author warns us to expect the unexpected, the ending still had me reeling and desperate for the next book.
The writing and pacing throughout was nothing short of immaculate; to remember this was a debut from the author was quite astounding. It was truly immersive and had me gripped to the page from the very start. I cannot wait to see what comes of the rest of this series, and from the author in general.
“Believe me when I say this woman gave me butterflies in my stomach. Though that might just be internal bleeding. Either way, she had charmed me.”
I was anticipating this book months before release, but it’s been waiting in my kindle library since release day because I just knew I would LOVE it and I wanted to save it for when I had time to do nothing but read this, and I’m so glad I did. I completely devoured this across essentially one sitting.
Alina is an intelligent, inquisitive, morally-grey badass; everything I adore in a female main character. Silas is a charming, psychotically-hot predator. It’s hard from the start not to be drawn to the two, both together and individually; a gripping but fun but sexy game of cat and mouse, where both are equally the cat and the mouse.
The side characters were just as interesting and complex (phoebe, i love you). There were many twists throughout, some expected and some that had me shocked; though the author warns us to expect the unexpected, the ending still had me reeling and desperate for the next book.
The writing and pacing throughout was nothing short of immaculate; to remember this was a debut from the author was quite astounding. It was truly immersive and had me gripped to the page from the very start. I cannot wait to see what comes of the rest of this series, and from the author in general.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I really wanted to like this one. A few years back, I remember the author doing loads of Instagram promo for The Poisoner, and I was genuinely intrigued. The premise? Great. The characters? Decent enough.
But sadly, the execution just didn’t work for me. What truly pulled me out of the story was the excessive alcohol use. Not just casual drinking, but scenes involving overconsumption to the point of alcohol poisoning. It made me feel deeply uncomfortable and disconnected from the narrative.
I had high hopes, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. Sometimes the idea is there, but the delivery just doesn’t land. This was one of those cases, unfortunately.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The author used violence against women so lightly despite Alina’s motivations being based entirely on that. She barely reacts when she finds members of murder women or a whole corpse in her bathtub and continue to fuck the one doing the killing. Also the rapes were so gross and Silas is irredeemable to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I can’t quite pinpoint what it was about these two characters I didn’t like but I wasn’t a huge fan of either. It felt like some of the dialogue and the early connection made between them was forced and didn’t make a lot of sense. So, it was hard to connect with the story early on and I don’t think I was as invested as I needed to be because of that.
A story with vampires has to be well done for me to enjoy it and even though this wasn’t without some plot holes, the overarching storyline wasn’t bad. I think at the end of the day this particular book body wasn’t for me.
Tropes:
Gothic Romance
Enemies to Lovers
Vampire MMC
Vigilante FMC
Victorian Era
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder