Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Prince of Agony by Tavia Lark

10 reviews

wildatheart1339's review

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4.75

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fishreads's review

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adventurous challenging hopeful medium-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

3.5

I really hoped that I would like the last book in the series as much or even more than I liked 'Prince and Betrothed'. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Kazia and Lucien were not unlikable characters, but my opinion of Lucien, who I did not find particularly memorable or amusing as a secondary character in the previous books, did not change all that much with him cast as a main character. My feelings towards him were a step above indifference. As for Kazia, he was much more intriguing as a secondary character than as a main one. Still, I found him more likable and sympathetic than Lucien. This was not surprising once it was revealed that Kazia
was a grail, but one that could share his magic with another mage only when feeling pain, a fact that both his father and mother abused since Kazia was 8 years old.


The romance between Lucien and Kazia felt underdeveloped, and the action scenes were poorly described. After six books in the series, the deaths of the two main villains seemed little more than an afterthought.

I'm relieved to be finished with the entire series, but unfortunately, I found myself wanting to like these books more than I actually did. While I enjoyed the overall story arc, most of the romances, as already mentioned, felt underdeveloped, lacking chemistry between the characters. Though I appreciated the story setting, I found the action and intrigue not intricate enough for a great fantasy plot. I did appreciate the fact that all the little mysteries from the previous books were answered before the series end.

Apart from 'Prince and Betrothed', Marek and Sei's book, which was the one that I liked the most, my favorite aspects of this world were all the fantastical animals, such as fellcats (some more enjoyable than others), blinkminks (despite being an obvious menace), dragons (somewhat underused in the series), and rats (adorable, despite not being fantastical if we ignore their possible
immortality aspect
).  Also, I keep forgetting to mention, I thought all the book covers and each of the princes looked pretty damn awesome.

(All the book reviews for this series will be written somewhat quick and dirty as I read through all the books in the span of six days. I've written my quick overall impression of each book as I finished them, but now after finishing the whole series I find myself lacking energy and brainpower to try to write more detailed reviews for each book.) 

Themes: dual POV, enemies to lovers, captor/captive, royalty, age difference, virginity, dragons
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honeyclouds16's review

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious relaxing 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? Yes

4.75

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wardenred's review

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dark emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Kazia doesn’t make plans. He makes problems.

I kind of purposefully tried to read slowly, because it’s the last one in the series after all, and I’m so not ready to let this world go. But damn, this was so engrossing. Tavia Lark definitely saved the best for last—this is 100% my favorite book in the series. Yes, it could have been a bit longer, to flesh out the nuances more. Yes, it could have been a tiny bit better edited. But damn. The feels, the storylines from all the five previous books coming together, the characters, the dragons, and did I mention the feels? Also, lots of dark shit that is not at all made light of, and such a satisfying victory in the last chapters.

I suspected from the previous books in the Draskora arc that Kazia has it a lot harder than his demeanor suggests, that there are some interesting reasons and purpose behind all the chaos he causes, and that he’s the one who’s going to most confidently come out of top at the end. I turned out to be right on all accounts, but damn, I had no idea just how much darker his life is, and there were so many surprises about his plots and both the level and the… flavor? method? of his involvement. It’s a good feeling when you can be simultaneously surprised by each twist you face and proud of having called it.

It was great to know Lucien better, as well, and his relationship with Kazia is just another example of exceeded expectations. There were so many ways this specific type of set-up could go wrong in the “nope, can’t ship it, can’t read it“ way for me, and yet instead I was only getting more hooked with every chapter. I also loved how all the leads from the series got cameos at the very least, particularly Whisper’s active presence.

All in all, simply a wonderful conclusion to a series that hit all the right notes for me. The only big complaint I have is that it’s ended!
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winglesswarrior's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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tragicgloom's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this whole series so much!!! Kazia and Lucien have my heart <3
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amberdlewis's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Perfect End to a Great Series

I’ve enjoyed every book in this series, but I think this one is close to being my favorite. I wasn’t expecting to like Kazia as much as I did, but he really won me over. I loved how this book brought the series full circle and wrapped it all up with a perfect, happy bow.
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shadowspinner's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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jovo's review

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Enemies to lovers is one of my favourite tropes, and this book really delivered on that!

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madscientistcat's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

5.0

Like every other book in this series, I read it in one sitting because putting it down is impossible. Such a perfect conclusion to the adventures of these families. I will miss this world and these characters so much.
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