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graceheartsbooks's review against another edition
4.75
Wow. I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. Catalina and Thane were such interesting characters and I loved getting to see them navigating a relationship together. I especially appreciate how this book discussed self esteem and grief as it’s two subjects I’m intimately aware of. It broke my heart to hear Catalina dismiss all the hardships she had gone through—how no one in her life thought she was good enough or worthy just by being herself. But that made her coming to realization that she is a person that should be valued was even sweeter. I also loved how Thane’s grief over his husband was discussed. Grief is ever present, ever changing but it doesn’t stop anybody from moving forward and continuing to love—even knowing that they may continue to love the person that they lost…I just completely adored this book. I took a short break to have dinner but was hooked the whole way through❣️
Also bonus points for this book being pro-choice and actually allowing a childless character to not want kids. It feels like a lot of romance novels have pregnancy be the end all be all even for characters that declare they don’t want children which to me, as a sex repulsed asexual who wants to adopt children, I find it particularly insulting. So this was such a breath of fresh air!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Death and Child abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, War, and Violence
doahdancer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Abortion, Sexual content, Death, and Confinement
emilysbooksandbakes's review against another edition
3.75
Every now and then you just need a quick, short read with tentacles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
lazy_raven's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Its ok. Lots of abandonment and neglect. Smit scenes were ok, not her best work
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abortion
captainsillypants's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
catthered's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Abortion
Moderate: Child abuse
jasbeingjas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed reading this book. Both Thane and Catalina have past hurts that are keeping them from fully giving this relationship a try but it was really sweet to watch them grow close. Can’t wait for Ramanu and Lenora’s story too!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Grief, and Emotional abuse
nose_in_a_book's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️
Of all the books in this series so far, my feelings on this one are the most complicated. Both of the main characters are deeply flawed from trauma. I do think this book handles the way trauma manifests in our actions beautifully. The driving actions have layers to them which is part of why my feelings are complicated. While I wouldn't want changes to how the characters act from a storytelling perspective, it made it really hard for me to actually want the two of these characters to end up together.
The MMC may not have a malicious bone in his body but that doesn't change the fact that his actions for the first half of the story are abusive. That's not to say that characters can't work through unintentional harm but I didn't feel like the book held him accountable for just how fucked up what he did was, regardless of intention. It was hidden behind empathy for why he acted that way and the fact that they clearly had healthy communication by the epilogue.
I suppose I wanted consequences. I wanted the same protection that Briar got in Dragon's Bride to be applied here and it felt deeply unfair that it wasn't. Briar is a stereotypical damsel, described as soft and deeply kind, while Catalina is decidedly not those things. She's self-destructive, loud, and hyper-independent but she honestly needed someone standing up for her (i.e. her demon guardians) more than Briar. At least Briar knew what happened to her was wrong and spent the book advocating for herself. Catalina is so used to being abused that she doesn't even bother anymore. She deserved to be ripped away from Thane and then have him prove he was worthy of her.
All in all, the romance was less successful for me but the character studies were beautiful.
Of all the books in this series so far, my feelings on this one are the most complicated. Both of the main characters are deeply flawed from trauma. I do think this book handles the way trauma manifests in our actions beautifully. The driving actions have layers to them which is part of why my feelings are complicated. While I wouldn't want changes to how the characters act from a storytelling perspective, it made it really hard for me to actually want the two of these characters to end up together.
The MMC may not have a malicious bone in his body but that doesn't change the fact that his actions for the first half of the story are abusive. That's not to say that characters can't work through unintentional harm but I didn't feel like the book held him accountable for just how fucked up what he did was, regardless of intention. It was hidden behind empathy for why he acted that way and the fact that they clearly had healthy communication by the epilogue.
I suppose I wanted consequences. I wanted the same protection that Briar got in Dragon's Bride to be applied here and it felt deeply unfair that it wasn't.
All in all, the romance was less successful for me but the character studies were beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse
pantswithpockets's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Grief
dwarrowdams's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Didn’t love this as much as the first in the series, but it was still enjoyable. The relationship between Thane and Catalina worked surprisingly well, although some of the development felt a bit rushed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Emotional abuse and Child abuse