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ellieames's review
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-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
2.0
taylorthiets's review against another edition
3.75
Story was creative and actual had a solid plot in addition to the smut
fernanda28's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning is great, it's a high fantasy and when I'm in the mood for it I love complex universes with lots of different species, hierarchies, and dynamics. It's a lot like crescent city in this aspect.
But as the story progresses and the romance comes into play I lost interest. There's something about the romance that bothers me and I can't quite figure out what it is.
I'm really sad that it wasn't for me, because I really liked the first chapters.
But as the story progresses and the romance comes into play I lost interest. There's something about the romance that bothers me and I can't quite figure out what it is.
I'm really sad that it wasn't for me, because I really liked the first chapters.
kirigoodie's review
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
For a book that I thought started pretty strong, rating it so low is such a disappointment.
I LOVED how casually queer it was. I loved the setup of immortals and immortal adjacent being high society and needing to navigate that. I love how the MC’s history was hinted at and implied and it gave us a sense of the dynamics between her and the other characters and how fragile they were. And I LOVED how much it reminded me of Pride & Prejudice and Bridgerton.
HOWEVER I felt like it fell off at the middle. The MC and LI had a conflict from their past and it would take a lot to work through and resolve. And while the book handled recovering from an unhealthy relationship fairly well, this conflict was just brushed over. This was an early sign for the rest of the plot where issues and plot points were rushed through, information was dumped onto the audience, and the romance was FLOWN through and felt rushed.
My only other notable issues were how easy it was to get lost while magic was being practiced. Everything was described in a really loose way, which can work to emphasise how other worldly it is, but if it’s to the detriment of the reader understanding what’s happening in the scene it ought to be reworked. Finally, as always, these characters were REALLY horny at REALLY weird times. Like y’all should not be thinking about hooking up in the remains of your ex, just saying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Sexism, Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Child abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Medical content, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, and Grief
jennygx's review
emotional
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
3.75
anitak88's review against another edition
2.0
Something is just rubbing me the wrong way about Harlow's personality but I can't pinpoint exactly what it is. I get that her past boyfriend really did a number on her and he was just a completely abusive manipulative person to her but about 35 to 40% of the way in it just started to get so repetitive the way that it would be brought up and the reasons that she would give for certain things, at some point there needs to be some slow growth or something to kind of break up that repetitiveness cuz it just started to get quite annoying. And I feel like that's a habit of the main female character like talk about definition of sitting in one's trauma and not dealing with it. Because if it's not all the stuff she went through with Mark then it's all the unresolved stuff that she went through with Finn in high school. And at one point I would just had enough.
One thing I do love about this book so far is the representation that it has and not just that it has it but the way that it's written as if it's just a natural part of life as well as how it's completely common for people to be attracted to and have relationships with both sexes as well as to be gender fluid.
One thing that strikes me as odd is the fact that her sisters keeps calling each other pal, for some reason that's just really odd to me. The world building was done quite well in this book but I do feel like it should have come with a little glossary in the beginning because there were certain parts of the book where something happened more in accordance with the rules of the season where I was so confused. It also took me longer than it should have to realize that the term sillies is used I think for her sisters in a group sense and mater used to refer to their mothers as a pair. But again it would have been helpful if this was all laid out beforehand so I wouldn't have had to take so much time to guess and figure it out. And because of that it kind of took me out of the story.
Now for the romance between Finn and Harlow. I thought this was going to be enemies to lovers cuz that's how it was kind of described but it's more a second chance romance which I'm not always fond of. So Finn and Harlow had a romance when they were in high school and loved each other and then Finn did her dirty after they had sex and just completely turned on her. I love the fake dating trope and I like how it was done in this book however I do think it moved super fast and I would have really liked a more slow burn for them to properly sort out their issues before hooking up. And I know that doesn't make a lot of sense since it took about 50% of the book for them to actually hook up but I don't feel like anything was really a slow burn from the time they decided to start fake dating to the time of them hooking up it just didn't flow very well which kind of ruined it for me. Also it seems like just a matter of days it went from her having all these unresolved issues and feelings towards him and hating him and obviously he will still deeply in love with her despite what he did but right before they hook up when he's trying to explain why he did what he did it's also this huge confession that he had this house built for her and how you like always loved her, it was just far too much all at once.
Another issue that I had with the book is that at the very beginning they bring up that something is off with magic in their realm and the author uses that to start the dialogue between Harlow and Finn and then it's like it's completely forgotten because the whole Harlow / finn relationship dynamic takes over and that just becomes the main focus of the whole book but I could think about is what is going on with magic in their world.
I also feel like there should have been some trigger warnings at the start of this book because there's brief mentions of suicidal ideations from the main female character and attempted suicide and I'm fairly certain she has severe depression throughout most of the book and it's just not dealt with very well whatsoever. Like when Harlow finds out that her sister Thea knew the real reason why Finn after the way he did in high school and how depressed she was after for years and her attempted suicide she kind of blames her sister for her own actions and feelings because her sister wouldn't tell her finns secret. It just really disappointed me it had the potential to be so much more and it wasn't. And my anger surrounding how this was so mishandled took it from three stars to two. Because yes she has a great support system but in no way was she encouraged to get therapy and get further help despite only one of her sisters knowing the full extent of her destructive habits at the lowest point.
I do feel like some work could have been put into the character building and not just the main female and male characters but I think all of the characters I just feel like there was something lacking, something to really keep me invested in their individual story and root for their growth throughout the story. Not to say that I didn't like any of the characters it's just that I didn't really feel connected to any of them. Overall I thought the plot was very interesting and the world that the author created was amazing I just think that there were some flaws in the execution and by about 60 to 65% into the book I was really struggling to continue going. So I will not be continuing on with the series because of that.
One thing I do love about this book so far is the representation that it has and not just that it has it but the way that it's written as if it's just a natural part of life as well as how it's completely common for people to be attracted to and have relationships with both sexes as well as to be gender fluid.
One thing that strikes me as odd is the fact that her sisters keeps calling each other pal, for some reason that's just really odd to me. The world building was done quite well in this book but I do feel like it should have come with a little glossary in the beginning because there were certain parts of the book where something happened more in accordance with the rules of the season where I was so confused. It also took me longer than it should have to realize that the term sillies is used I think for her sisters in a group sense and mater used to refer to their mothers as a pair. But again it would have been helpful if this was all laid out beforehand so I wouldn't have had to take so much time to guess and figure it out. And because of that it kind of took me out of the story.
Now for the romance between Finn and Harlow. I thought this was going to be enemies to lovers cuz that's how it was kind of described but it's more a second chance romance which I'm not always fond of. So Finn and Harlow had a romance when they were in high school and loved each other and then Finn did her dirty after they had sex and just completely turned on her. I love the fake dating trope and I like how it was done in this book however I do think it moved super fast and I would have really liked a more slow burn for them to properly sort out their issues before hooking up. And I know that doesn't make a lot of sense since it took about 50% of the book for them to actually hook up but I don't feel like anything was really a slow burn from the time they decided to start fake dating to the time of them hooking up it just didn't flow very well which kind of ruined it for me. Also it seems like just a matter of days it went from her having all these unresolved issues and feelings towards him and hating him and obviously he will still deeply in love with her despite what he did but right before they hook up when he's trying to explain why he did what he did it's also this huge confession that he had this house built for her and how you like always loved her, it was just far too much all at once.
Another issue that I had with the book is that at the very beginning they bring up that something is off with magic in their realm and the author uses that to start the dialogue between Harlow and Finn and then it's like it's completely forgotten because the whole Harlow / finn relationship dynamic takes over and that just becomes the main focus of the whole book but I could think about is what is going on with magic in their world.
I also feel like there should have been some trigger warnings at the start of this book because there's brief mentions of suicidal ideations from the main female character and attempted suicide and I'm fairly certain she has severe depression throughout most of the book and it's just not dealt with very well whatsoever. Like when Harlow finds out that her sister Thea knew the real reason why Finn after the way he did in high school and how depressed she was after for years and her attempted suicide she kind of blames her sister for her own actions and feelings because her sister wouldn't tell her finns secret. It just really disappointed me it had the potential to be so much more and it wasn't. And my anger surrounding how this was so mishandled took it from three stars to two. Because yes she has a great support system but in no way was she encouraged to get therapy and get further help despite only one of her sisters knowing the full extent of her destructive habits at the lowest point.
I do feel like some work could have been put into the character building and not just the main female and male characters but I think all of the characters I just feel like there was something lacking, something to really keep me invested in their individual story and root for their growth throughout the story. Not to say that I didn't like any of the characters it's just that I didn't really feel connected to any of them. Overall I thought the plot was very interesting and the world that the author created was amazing I just think that there were some flaws in the execution and by about 60 to 65% into the book I was really struggling to continue going. So I will not be continuing on with the series because of that.
miss_monaee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
thelaurelwreathcrowned's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
3.5
i really liked this book. it is clear that the author put a lot of thought into making the cast of characters diverse, especially regarding their sexual and gender identities. i enjoyed reading about aroace characters and nonbinary folks in particular because they typically don't get that much representation in romance novels. however, the plot felt a little too predictable at certain points, or things were too conveniently arranged before they happened, which was a bit unbelievable to me and seemed like big fat plot armor.