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raptorq's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood and War
flora_fcrp's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
An amazing book! Made me cry....
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, War, Slavery, Suicide, and Trafficking
rgkingsbury's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It was good until the graphic and poorly written sex scenes. Like there is better ways to say those things than using the word “pounding” and “she shattered” or “he touched that bundle of nerves”. It really offset the pace of the book. Compared to how the rest was written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, War, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
dalek_caan's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.0
This book made me feel a lot of emotions. It was definitely a can't-put-this-book-down kind of book. I will definitely be reading the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, War, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Violence
raypaws's review
adventurous
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: War
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
apersonfromflorida'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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Genocide
Moderate: War, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death and Vomit
pauluszanna's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It is a fantastic magical world I got to know in this book! Fae rules the land of Okrith in four courts - however, 13 years ago it used to be five courts. Up until the North decided to erase the High Mountain Court from history and hunt down the red witches who belonged to it.
We follow Remy, a red witch trying to stay hidden in the backcountry so as to not draw attention to witch hunters and get herself killed. But a voice in her mind keeps getting louder to stop hiding and fight for her right to be free from sneaking around.
An opportunity to get revenge on the North arises she doesn't hesitate to take action and get back what has been stolen from her. Of course with a handsome prince as partner in crime.
One thing I considered giving it 3 stars is the whole Fated mate drama. Why does everyone have to be fated mates? Why do the characters have to say it every second sentence?
I also read the novellas connecting to the Okrith series, I highly recommend reading them as the author suggests - and they are free to download from her website.
We follow Remy, a red witch trying to stay hidden in the backcountry so as to not draw attention to witch hunters and get herself killed. But a voice in her mind keeps getting louder to stop hiding and fight for her right to be free from sneaking around.
An opportunity to get revenge on the North arises she doesn't hesitate to take action and get back what has been stolen from her. Of course with a handsome prince as partner in crime.
I also read the novellas connecting to the Okrith series, I highly recommend reading them as the author suggests - and they are free to download from her website.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Grief and Death
koistyfishy's review
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
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
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