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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
I thought it was a promising start but the FMC is whiney and incredibly indecisive, while the surrounding characters are over-protective and one dimensional, haven't been hooked in the first 1hr40mins so DNF it is.
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A frustrating read. I had to force myself to finish, and at the end I realized I should have DNF-ed it.
This book was honestly just bad. So much tell, zero show.
The modern dialogue in a book with a historical setting is awful. I can't take any of the characters seriously because of their silly last names. Having last names related to your coven makes sense but there were SO MANY more subtle options that weren't wattpad level lmao.
The FMC was indecisive and made the dumbest decisions. The first 100 pages of the book are just her complaining about being scared and not sure when she starts out so sure that she wants to participate in the trials. Sure some nerves etc. makes sense, but it really made me feel like the only reason why she wanted to do this was for her grandma but never gave it more than a seconds thought before.
Once the trails start it's just kind of silly? Like the first part where the other coven leaders eliminate people is like 0 stakes and just based on vibes. And then the trials in the castle are also just not as high stakes or dangerous as you'd expect. Sure people die, they have been warned but for some reason FMC never thought about the implications of the trials and is now super upset that the king is forcing these people to get killed (??? He didn't?? These people participated knowing it was dangerous because that's the whole point??)
Then over time she keeps learning (and experiencing) new things about the king, her friends, the covens and coven leaders which are opposite of what she learned growing up and instead of an adult keeping her mind open and adjusting her view upon careful consideration of the things she learned and the bad experiences she had with the coven leaders and her friend Nikos, she instead gets upset, does more stupid things that go against what she just learned "just because". Gets severe consequences of doing do and STILL goes on doing more stupid stuff and saying how "I don't know who I can trust". At the very least you can just not trust anyone and remove yourself from the situation as best you can??
There was no chemistry between the Dark King (honestly also just tired of the broody bad guy who is actually good but puts up an act of being bad for no good reason??), and there was no solid explanation of why the FMC and MMC even liked eachother other than lust at first sexual-fantasy-inducing shadow wall.
Over the course of the story we keep getting told how powerful the FMC is but we are literally never shown. She doesn't do anything (more) powerful than the other witches in the book, and whenever she fights with someone she basically loses. The FMC being unmarked does nothing more than make her a special girl and she expresses no desire to find out why she is the way she is.
Then the magic system is just weird? Just convenient? There's no real rules to it as far as I understand it. People just conveniently have spells for things and limitations of such spells are never really discussed. Apparently no spells can kill people, because there's a mythical "death spell", but for some reason people still die at the hands of spells? And only later in the book with the emergence of the death spell does the FMC realise the king couldn't have straight up killed a guy because any other person who had the death spell was covered in markings, and the king isn't. How are the rules of magic not common sense to those who practice it?
The modern dialogue in a book with a historical setting is awful. I can't take any of the characters seriously because of their silly last names. Having last names related to your coven makes sense but there were SO MANY more subtle options that weren't wattpad level lmao.
The FMC was indecisive and made the dumbest decisions. The first 100 pages of the book are just her complaining about being scared and not sure when she starts out so sure that she wants to participate in the trials. Sure some nerves etc. makes sense, but it really made me feel like the only reason why she wanted to do this was for her grandma but never gave it more than a seconds thought before.
Once the trails start it's just kind of silly? Like the first part where the other coven leaders eliminate people is like 0 stakes and just based on vibes. And then the trials in the castle are also just not as high stakes or dangerous as you'd expect. Sure people die, they have been warned but for some reason FMC never thought about the implications of the trials and is now super upset that the king is forcing these people to get killed (??? He didn't?? These people participated knowing it was dangerous because that's the whole point??)
Then over time she keeps learning (and experiencing) new things about the king, her friends, the covens and coven leaders which are opposite of what she learned growing up and instead of an adult keeping her mind open and adjusting her view upon careful consideration of the things she learned and the bad experiences she had with the coven leaders and her friend Nikos, she instead gets upset, does more stupid things that go against what she just learned "just because". Gets severe consequences of doing do and STILL goes on doing more stupid stuff and saying how "I don't know who I can trust". At the very least you can just not trust anyone and remove yourself from the situation as best you can??
There was no chemistry between the Dark King (honestly also just tired of the broody bad guy who is actually good but puts up an act of being bad for no good reason??), and there was no solid explanation of why the FMC and MMC even liked eachother other than lust at first sexual-fantasy-inducing shadow wall.
Over the course of the story we keep getting told how powerful the FMC is but we are literally never shown. She doesn't do anything (more) powerful than the other witches in the book, and whenever she fights with someone she basically loses. The FMC being unmarked does nothing more than make her a special girl and she expresses no desire to find out why she is the way she is.
Then the magic system is just weird? Just convenient? There's no real rules to it as far as I understand it. People just conveniently have spells for things and limitations of such spells are never really discussed. Apparently no spells can kill people, because there's a mythical "death spell", but for some reason people still die at the hands of spells? And only later in the book with the emergence of the death spell does the FMC realise the king couldn't have straight up killed a guy because any other person who had the death spell was covered in markings, and the king isn't. How are the rules of magic not common sense to those who practice it?
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved this book so much just the right amount of romance and storyline had me hooked for hours
Hunger Games but make it witchy - and spicy!
I loved this book and need Book 2 as soon as possible, please! When the MMC’s name is “the Dark King” you know you’re going to instantly fall in love. And I did. He literally said two of my favorite trope phrases. Swoon.
⇢ Enemies to lovers
⇢ “Who hurt you?”
⇢ “I would burn the world down for you.”
⇢ Phantom hands
⇢ Dreamwalking / steamy dream time visits
⇢ Morally grey MMC
I loved this book and need Book 2 as soon as possible, please! When the MMC’s name is “the Dark King” you know you’re going to instantly fall in love. And I did. He literally said two of my favorite trope phrases. Swoon.
⇢ Enemies to lovers
⇢ “Who hurt you?”
⇢ “I would burn the world down for you.”
⇢ Phantom hands
⇢ Dreamwalking / steamy dream time visits
⇢ Morally grey MMC
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
I did not enjoy listening to this narrator. Also, I apparently wasn't in the mood for witchy trials.