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I have so much to say. Romantasy novels have completely flooded the market with predictable story telling mixed in with middle-grade level writing and the illusion of complexity and this book is no exception. I really don't want to yuck anyone's yum but this book makes me mad. Actually mad.
So I have three points I want to bring up that you shouldn't ignore.
- If you read the other reviews on this book DO NOT IGNORE the warnings about the writing style- the author throws in all these buzz word adjectives and metaphors and similes over and over again to try and make it seem poetic- it's just repetitive and uninsightful and a waste of paper.
- If you want to read porn get on Wattpad. It's free and the writing is just as good if not better. At least don't waste your money on this. SPOILER TW : SA
I lived in constant fear I was going to read that main character or a different female character was going to assaulted, the author also definitely wrote this with some sort of breeding infatuation - I mean this so genuinely...I love the dragon lore, LOVE the dragon lore. I think it is so cool and so interesting but not worth the read unfortunately. It's heartbreaking that the rest of the story is such a flop. The characters don't motivate me to read and there just isn't enough for me to ever recommend it.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Minor: Gore, Torture, Violence, War
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Classism
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Violence, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Also it reads like a fanfiction. The sentence structure is so bad; how can there be page long sentences and one word paragraphs in the same chapter? I get that this is a first person narrative, but the tone of voice gets real confusing when the narration includes personal thoughts by the protagonist with no change in punctuation or font. I’m drawn away from the world every time I have to hear this feral woman’s insane thought process.
The dragons were cool, though. Two stars for the dragons.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Kidnapping
Minor: Trafficking, Pregnancy
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment
I was looking for a fantasy book for a long time that caught me like When The Moon Hatched did.
I was too bored with the classic YA fantasy books promoted by Booktok. Or the older Highfantasy books that are slowly becoming outdated and deep with sexism.
When the moon hatched really surprised me in that sense.
Of course it still uses the typical tropes. But there's a fine line between skillfully incorporating them and having a whole world and story on top of them.
When a scene happened that I would describe as tropey, it made me smile rather than being annoyed by it.
The beautiful cover gives a false impression. I was really expecting a typical YA fantasy story as it has been written a thousand times before.
The brutality, "spicyness" and vulgar language almost surprised me in a positive way.
The magic system is great. I love elemental magic!
But where the book really shines is in the description of the lascivious, colorful world built with attention to detail.
Anyone who liked looking for aesthetic images of fantasy worlds on Pinterest in 2019 will feel right at home here.
Everytime I started reading, I saw a beautiful, cinematic scene in my head. It was so easy so visualise the lush and diverse world.
The highest praise goes to the illustrator, who really does a great job. The chapter illustrations are the most beautiful I have ever seen. They motivated me to continue reading with every chapter.
I also love how pictures were used to represent magical items or letters.
There is so much love in this book! I forget that the protagonist Raeve sometimes annoyed me with her stubbornness. The same goes for Kaan and other characters, who were a bit too similar to the familiar character constellations for me. (Huge man, protective, controlling. Just a "Rhys" variant that you can't quite get away from since SJM's Acotar).
So I would say, the only draw back was that I would've liked to see more facets of each characters. Yes, we got deep insights. Yes, we got emotional scenes. But some small thing was missing, which I can't put my finger on atm.
Maybe I would've liked to see more calmer scenes. But I get that the plot has so go on, especially in such a long book.
The Enemies to Lovers trope, as obligatory and overdone as it feels by now, worked very well.
The mystery surrounding Elluin etc was also great. The story in general was very engaging and original.
I would love to return to this world. But I'm curious to see what happens in the next volume. In theory, the story could almost be finished for me. Even if there are still some mysteries left open. Maybe I'm just tired of long fantasy series that are repetitive.
All in all, it was an amazing reading experience. It still can't compete with my all-time-favourites, but it was exactly what I was craving for.
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Vomit, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping