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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
This was so good! This FMC is closest character I've seen to a truly morally grey character in a while and this is true enemies to lovers, as she literally wants to kills him when she meets him.
The world reminds me a lot of Crescent City, mostly I think due to the existence of Angels and Seraphim and the urban fantasy setting. There are a couple of other points that take from that series as well, but it doesn't come across as fan fic.
I do think the romance gets a little hand-wavey towards the end of the book (like the author is just having someone wave their hands and make everything come out right), but it wasn't enough to detract from my enjoyment of this book.
I think this author has written more books in this same universe. I may look into those once I finish book 2.
The world reminds me a lot of Crescent City, mostly I think due to the existence of Angels and Seraphim and the urban fantasy setting. There are a couple of other points that take from that series as well, but it doesn't come across as fan fic.
I do think the romance gets a little hand-wavey towards the end of the book (like the author is just having someone wave their hands and make everything come out right), but it wasn't enough to detract from my enjoyment of this book.
I think this author has written more books in this same universe. I may look into those once I finish book 2.
2.5 Spoiler warning
I seem to be in the minority, but I did not enjoy this. In fact, I own both books in the duology, but I'm not going to bother reading book two (and I hate leaving things unfinished). I will preface my complaints with the fact that the writing is fine. The book is perfectly readable (if overly long). I just didn't like it.
I have several issues that all sort of roll up together. For one, despite the spice, this book felt juvenile to me. There are just too many scenes of hanging out with friends like carefree youths to match the intended seriousness of the story. Some of that hanging out is doing things like having a foot race to the treehouse, like kids. So, when I say that the tone of some parts doesn't match others, I'm serious. The heroine is a serial killer, let me remind you.
Second, Rory shows up in what is essentially a cushy prison and is instantly treated differently than anyone else. She gets away with things no one else can, even before anyone realizes she's a fated mate to the king. This begs the question, is she able to get away with things because she's special, or is the fact that she's special based on the fact that she gets away with things? The order matters because, in one scenario, the reader is left wondering why she is being given allowances no one else is when no reason (besides being the heroine) is provided. It's a disconnect. The reader is basically being told how special she is and not at all being shown her being special; it's the circumstances that are special.
Last and most importantly, a two-parter: You know what trope I hate more than any other trope in the whole world? It's the scorned women as the villain trope. This trope is largely straight-up misogyny. It's centuries of women being told they can't trust one another, that sex is a resource that can be used to garner another resource (a man). Thus, that resource can be stolen by other women and must be guarded. Failing that, the loss can be vindicated. I HATE THIS TROPE WITH A BURNING FIERY PASSION. It makes my heart hurt when female authors write it. We—the entire female population—deserve better.
Hunter leans into this hard in this book and doesn't do it with any subtly. The transactional nature of the scorned lover's sexual appetite is wholly apparent. She is not only a scorned lover. She is a scorned lover who was only a lover to stand close to power. She then used her sexuality to manipulate other men into trying to remove her obstacle to returning to the king's bed. Imagine a tree with all the plots imaginable at your fingertips and choosing to reach for the one hanging closest to the ground. She also has absolutely zero depth or character outside of this one-dimensional misogynistic presentation.
But the use of the scorned lover trope is problematic in this book for a second reason too. I'm not 100% sure how to express this. But I'll do my best.
Hunter sets up what is a pretty complex world. (I could quibble with the stability and consistency of the world, but I'll set that aside.) The world is geographically small but consists of several sorts of magics, three realms, multiple layers of deities, etc. She provides a serial killer heroine with a fairly intricate backstory and a tragic, dark king as a love interest. It's a big, complex world that is staged for a big, complex plot. Then, Hunter wrote a small, tight, personally vindictive story that we've all read a million times before and utilized none of the complexity available to it.
The world, as written, should be supporting inter-realm intrigue, including assassinations and Machiavellian machinations. Instead, we're given a jealous ex-girlfriend, innumerable drinks at the bar with bubbly friends, and more staircases than I can count. We still have the murders and attempted assassinations, oddly, but they don't fit in with a small-scale plot. Sure, the ex might be a mean girl, but leaping to murder feels super forced and out of place in the context of the plot. Those attempted murders feel like they should be coming from large, political-level players, not the king's ex-fleshlight with a face. The ex-girlfriend as a villain was simply too mundane and unimportant to fit with the rest of Hunter's story structure. It felt dwarfed by its surroundings. Why, for example, do I need a multiple-page world guide for a story that might as well be set in a high school?
All in all, this one was a great big ol' flop for me.
I seem to be in the minority, but I did not enjoy this. In fact, I own both books in the duology, but I'm not going to bother reading book two (and I hate leaving things unfinished). I will preface my complaints with the fact that the writing is fine. The book is perfectly readable (if overly long). I just didn't like it.
I have several issues that all sort of roll up together. For one, despite the spice, this book felt juvenile to me. There are just too many scenes of hanging out with friends like carefree youths to match the intended seriousness of the story. Some of that hanging out is doing things like having a foot race to the treehouse, like kids. So, when I say that the tone of some parts doesn't match others, I'm serious. The heroine is a serial killer, let me remind you.
Second, Rory shows up in what is essentially a cushy prison and is instantly treated differently than anyone else. She gets away with things no one else can, even before anyone realizes she's a fated mate to the king. This begs the question, is she able to get away with things because she's special, or is the fact that she's special based on the fact that she gets away with things? The order matters because, in one scenario, the reader is left wondering why she is being given allowances no one else is when no reason (besides being the heroine) is provided. It's a disconnect. The reader is basically being told how special she is and not at all being shown her being special; it's the circumstances that are special.
Last and most importantly, a two-parter: You know what trope I hate more than any other trope in the whole world? It's the scorned women as the villain trope. This trope is largely straight-up misogyny. It's centuries of women being told they can't trust one another, that sex is a resource that can be used to garner another resource (a man). Thus, that resource can be stolen by other women and must be guarded. Failing that, the loss can be vindicated. I HATE THIS TROPE WITH A BURNING FIERY PASSION. It makes my heart hurt when female authors write it. We—the entire female population—deserve better.
Hunter leans into this hard in this book and doesn't do it with any subtly. The transactional nature of the scorned lover's sexual appetite is wholly apparent. She is not only a scorned lover. She is a scorned lover who was only a lover to stand close to power. She then used her sexuality to manipulate other men into trying to remove her obstacle to returning to the king's bed. Imagine a tree with all the plots imaginable at your fingertips and choosing to reach for the one hanging closest to the ground. She also has absolutely zero depth or character outside of this one-dimensional misogynistic presentation.
But the use of the scorned lover trope is problematic in this book for a second reason too. I'm not 100% sure how to express this. But I'll do my best.
Hunter sets up what is a pretty complex world. (I could quibble with the stability and consistency of the world, but I'll set that aside.) The world is geographically small but consists of several sorts of magics, three realms, multiple layers of deities, etc. She provides a serial killer heroine with a fairly intricate backstory and a tragic, dark king as a love interest. It's a big, complex world that is staged for a big, complex plot. Then, Hunter wrote a small, tight, personally vindictive story that we've all read a million times before and utilized none of the complexity available to it.
The world, as written, should be supporting inter-realm intrigue, including assassinations and Machiavellian machinations. Instead, we're given a jealous ex-girlfriend, innumerable drinks at the bar with bubbly friends, and more staircases than I can count. We still have the murders and attempted assassinations, oddly, but they don't fit in with a small-scale plot. Sure, the ex might be a mean girl, but leaping to murder feels super forced and out of place in the context of the plot. Those attempted murders feel like they should be coming from large, political-level players, not the king's ex-fleshlight with a face. The ex-girlfriend as a villain was simply too mundane and unimportant to fit with the rest of Hunter's story structure. It felt dwarfed by its surroundings. Why, for example, do I need a multiple-page world guide for a story that might as well be set in a high school?
All in all, this one was a great big ol' flop for me.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved loved this booookkk
The writing styling was amazing! Our MCs aahhhhhh, the banter teehee
I will be diving into the next book because I need to know how this will all end! With how this book ended in a cliff hanger I’m on the edge of my seat!
Our MMC a little of an idiot
The writing styling was amazing! Our MCs aahhhhhh, the banter teehee
I will be diving into the next book because I need to know how this will all end! With how this book ended in a cliff hanger I’m on the edge of my seat!
Our MMC a little of an idiot
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
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