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mferrante83's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting world and an independant female protagonist are dragged down by a glacial pace. While the stakes present in the threat revealed are high it never really feels that way. I have no real complaints about the writing or the world building here; this is a book I really just failed to connect with on any meaningful level.
artemisia_vulgaris's review
3.5
The edition I have - not listed here - is an audiobook read by John Telfer.
Old fashioned fantasy novel adventure with traces of Zelazny’s Amber books in its tarot deck of immortal sociopaths. I particularly enjoyed the strands of the story that involved animal-human hybrids, but it’s also just nice to get away from the dewy-eyed earnestness of much contemporary fantasy.
Good story, indifferent prose. The narrator is so good he lends all the colour the text is missing.
Old fashioned fantasy novel adventure with traces of Zelazny’s Amber books in its tarot deck of immortal sociopaths. I particularly enjoyed the strands of the story that involved animal-human hybrids, but it’s also just nice to get away from the dewy-eyed earnestness of much contemporary fantasy.
Good story, indifferent prose. The narrator is so good he lends all the colour the text is missing.
annasirius's review
2.0
I liked the premise of this book, and the book did show some promise with one or two interesting characters or situations (such as the marriage of the female protagonist). However, the few nice ideas were stretched over too many pages. What could have been an intriguing mystery was spoilt by allowing the reader access to Cayal's mind, and this mind was astoundingly young and unwise for an 8,000 years old person. By no means did I find him charming or was impressed by his intelligence, as Arkady clearly was. The arousal scent that his cell mate picked up from Arkady while she was still trying to prove him a liar was, frankly, the usual cheap stuff that always puts me off any romance novel - unfortunately, I wasn't aware it was one until she became stunned by his piercing blue eyes and started being described as 'unable to hide her beauty, no matter how hard she tried' (what a cliché!). I would have very much enjoyed a romance if Cayal had been an interesting, deep-thinking, three dimensional character. Unfortunately, he came across as a mindless bully, and I won't ever be comfortable with the 'beauty falls for the stupid arsehole' trope of the romance genre.
On a positive note, the audible narrator did a decent job.
On a positive note, the audible narrator did a decent job.
hoarderreader's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
guillaumelg's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
vaderbird's review
4.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
reginaexmachina's review
This ended up being another one of those books that I really wanted to like but ended up being disappointed. I think it's more of a not my cup of tea kind of thing. The premise is really interesting but for me personally I kept slogging through and the writing was just too dry for me. I didn't really care what happened to anyone, I just wanted something to HAPPEN. Perhaps if I'd stayed with the book it may have gotten better further but I did not have the patience to do so. bummer.
kihadu's review
1.0
For such an interesting premise - immortals, magical powers, werewolf type creatures - this book was so fucking boring I am appalled I finished it. There is rape. Consistently. Everywhere. A race of people bred to be slaves, but they like being slaves, so it's okay. If they disobey commands they get killed. In the end, they're just animals, tbh.
The Immortal Prince himself is aggressively underwhelming in every single aspect. He's so boring. Bored. Eight thousand years old and he's just so bored. Nothing happens! He's done everything! Life is underwhelming! Someone once told him how to travel to different galaxies but he didn't pay any attention, but life is just so boring, he's seen it all, done it all. He spent twenty years having sex with slaves but he has better things to do than rape anyone.
The overall plot line isn't so much as unbelievable as just dull and blandly confusing. The character motivations make next to no sense. Just all of it. Awful. I hate it. Don't do it.
The Immortal Prince himself is aggressively underwhelming in every single aspect. He's so boring. Bored. Eight thousand years old and he's just so bored. Nothing happens! He's done everything! Life is underwhelming! Someone once told him how to travel to different galaxies but he didn't pay any attention, but life is just so boring, he's seen it all, done it all. He spent twenty years having sex with slaves but he has better things to do than rape anyone.
The overall plot line isn't so much as unbelievable as just dull and blandly confusing. The character motivations make next to no sense. Just all of it. Awful. I hate it. Don't do it.