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Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Death of parent, Classism
Moderate: Infertility, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Murder
The beginning was epic world building but then it slowed down and it took me a bit to get back into the story. But, it was a great story, very epic fantasy. Gosh I want to leave a longer review but I stayed up till 2am to finish reading it!
If your on the fence about it or feel it slows down after act 1, I 100% recommended that you pick it up and keep reading.
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Slavery, Blood
Minor: Infertility
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Infertility, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Abandonment, Pandemic/Epidemic
Look I know this trope is done a lot and that did make this book predictable at every turn, but I still enjoyed it! Tropes are tropes for a reason and I thought they were done really well in this one.
This was enough of a slow burn for me personally. I really liked Saeris and Kingfisher together in general.
The side characters were awesome, they had great personalities and felt important to the story. I would die for Onyx!
The world building did get confusing some of the time though.
The end got wild and crazy with lots of lore being thrown at you, I had to read some parts a couple times to make sure I had it all straight.
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility, Classism
Moderate: Infertility, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Classism
She's also got a magical affinity for metals, which comes in handy when her luck runs out. Finally captured by the Queen's guardians, she escapes almost certain death thanks to a mysterious sword and a man that looks like Death itself, but is actually just the male lead - the book cover's shadow daddy and (for many) the star attraction - Kingfisher. He's tall, brooding, muscled, and intensely abrasive, because of his dark past. But since we know this book is a romance and often called an enemies-to-lovers story, we know he'll eventually show his soft spot to the female lead, and there will be several spicy scenes along the way from make-out sessions to hours-long sex marathons.
Plot-wise, this book is a series of escalations. At first, it seems like it's about rebelling against the tyrant Queen of Saeris's home city. Then it's about Saeris trying to get home to fight said tyrant after she's roped into another war in a Fae kingdom. Eventually the plot spans multiple worlds and multiple wars, and it's all really one big battle to save the universe if you think about it. But the book is a romance, so it's really about Saeris and Kingfisher. Everything else starts to feel like loosely connected random challenges the author thought to throw at the couple.
To the couple's credit, they only do the "I'm doing X that you disagree with to save you" and "I'm going to be mean for a good reason that will be explained later" a few times before they learn to stop acting in ways that just infuriate each other. But I'd stay away from this book if you want couples that clearly communicate and don't snark at each other every other sentence.
Both leads are abrasive, and while it makes sense for how their characters developed, it becomes exhausting how most of their dialogue with each other and everyone else is combative, snarky, and/or rude. Several side characters are also equally or more abrasive, and if it weren't for a handful of side characters who tended on the gentler side, I would think that snark and attitude are the default for this setting. It doesn't help that this book is narrated in first person by Saeris, who is generally cranky and impulsive.
Regarding the setting and worldbuilding, it's a hodgepodge. We start with a desert city under strict water rations and quarantine, which seemed like it could be an interesting place to set a story in, but we are quickly brought to a wintery Fae kingdom. Saeris, whose life was dictated by water rationing, constantly describes the wintery Fae kingdom in terms of how much water she can't believe it has. Somehow, taverns are common to both settings, so Saeris can get a stiff drink regardless.
The Fae live hundreds of years and have pointy ears, which made me wonder why they weren't just called elves. The Fae can't lie if they swear not to, and seem to function just like humans but prettier and older, which just sounds like elves by another name to me. The Fae also have fangs, but they don't drink blood - that's what the vampires are for. I'm not sure why this is thrown into the mix. The fangs are used for sexy scenes with biting, but it's an odd trait to give to Fae, especially when the story then has to make it clear that Fae fangs are for sex, while vampire fangs are for feeding. This is where I started to feel like the author had a grab-bag of popular tropes that they shoehorned into the story - sexy biting, fated mates, Fae courts, enemies-to-lovers, broody male with shadow powers - but doesn't really do anything particularly new or interesting with them.
Overall, I'm not sure how I finished reading this book. I thought about dropping it several times, but I would give it another couple pages because one of the side characters would say something funny. The lead couple was not compelling to me, but I found Saeris's preoccupation with Kingfisher's attractiveness funny. It's funny how thirsty she is despite her circumstances.
I don't plan on reading the sequel.
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: War
Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Classism
Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts