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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Decent KU fantasy, interesting magic system, not to shabby world building…HOWEVER… the FMC was really dumb sometimes- I was side eyeing a lot of her choices. I will say, the slow burn romance was fine, the pinning for the old love was very realistic which I appreciated - even if I was yelling at her to freaking MOVE ON ALREADY after all the awful things he had said and done. Also, there was over 36 uses of the word gag or gagged, molten was used over 30 times. Could have been edited a bit better, it just felt a little excessive- his eyes were always molten pools- whatever that is
Had some really fun moments, but it's not compelling enough to get me to pick up the next book in the series.
This was….. not enjoyable. And I know that the rest are kind of standalones so I won’t even get the answers I want and I refuse to waste my time reading the rest. 2 stars only because I liked where it was going.
Honey, you need to find yourself new editors because the mistakes in this book made me cringe. This book was 200 pages way too long and in the end I literally skim read the last couple of chapters. The writing is long and boring, something I kind of liked in the beginning but got more and more painful as it went on. I can see what the author was trying to achieve but it really didn’t get there in the end. I liked the twists and thought they were well done. Was so close to not finishing but forced myself to stick it out. Not bothering with other books in the series.
Initial Response: Was relieved to finish this book. Didn’t really relate to the world building and the characters fell flat to me. There was a story within a story that connected to the characters but it felt like more of a way to extend the story and dragged it out, rather than building depth. Ended with somewhat of a cliffhanger. Not enough for me to want to read more.
Recommendation: Would not recommend.
Re-Readability: Would not read again and am not interested in reading the next books.
Style: Fantasy - first in a series - lots of world building - some romance.
Plot/Structure: Had a hard time engaging and did speed read this one to get to the end. The characters weren’t well developed or easy to connect to. It just fell flat as a story and lacked emotional connection to the characters. The story within the story is a good idea, in theory, but might have worked better as a novella or prequel.
Recommendation: Would not recommend.
Re-Readability: Would not read again and am not interested in reading the next books.
Style: Fantasy - first in a series - lots of world building - some romance.
Plot/Structure: Had a hard time engaging and did speed read this one to get to the end. The characters weren’t well developed or easy to connect to. It just fell flat as a story and lacked emotional connection to the characters. The story within the story is a good idea, in theory, but might have worked better as a novella or prequel.
it is going to take me 3-5 business months to screw my head back on after this one — and i mean that as a compliment.
i picked this up off of a booktok recommendation, expecting it to be a standard KU fantasy romance with all of my favorite things (smut, magic, beautiful and heart-melting quotes that imprint themselves onto my soul). i’m going to be direct and up front with you: there is no spice to speak of in this. do not let the KU designation and growly, possessive quotes fool you. but it does have everything else.
once you’ve come to terms with that, you can enjoy this for what it is: a beautiful, interesting, and complex retelling of 1001 nights.
this book centers on asha, a mere human in a world ruled by fae who regard humans as little more than the trash under their feet, littering their cities and towns. the leader of these assholes? the fae king, kiran, who, after his beloved wife and her secret lover plot to kill him and take his throne, turns his jaded, scorned-man rage into a fervent, too-oft-repeated-belief that all ‘humans lie’. in revenge? he’ll select a human woman to sacrifice once a month…after marrying her. a man plotting to take his bad mood and hurt feelings out on innocent bystanders? what a surprise.
the dude has issues. so many so that even i, with my chronic color blindness specifically for red flags, could see how problematic it is to root for this guy. and yet. and yet. you know where this is going, right? i simped. unapologetically so. and before you judge me too harshly — READ THIS BOOK. you’ll understand.
asha, however, is a pure ray of light, in terrible, unrequited love for her childhood best friend (ouch), and devoted to her sister. when she hears of the king’s proclamation, she opts to sacrifice herself, knowing that the loophole to the king’s decree is that if someone offered themselves up willingly to be wed and slaughtered, the king would stop the homicidal institution forever. so what does our kind, loyal, older sister do? runs straight to the palace to offer herself merely on the offchance that her sister would be selected.
we STAN.
naturally, our FMC has a bit of magic inside her - a magic for storytelling, very similar to the magic that cornelia funke’s inkheart gifted us with in our youth - which comes in super handy for the whole 1001 nights retelling aspect.
this book is LONG, yes, and a bit redundant in the first third, but if you push past the slow and frustrating start, this book takes off in a way that literally had me up until 3 am frantically reading and desperate for answers. this has so many twists and turns that it’s basically a goddamned labyrinth. except the evil minotaur’s identity keeps changing. and the thread you used to find your way back out frays entirely. so all you’re able to do is to continue on. (or skip to the end in a frantic panic because you need answers immediately, which i shamefully did. sorry. i was in a STATE.)
the end of this book was an unparalleled, nonstop thrill. i literally do not understand how TA lawrence was able to spin shocking twist after shocking twist, but i’m all in. i need the sequel yesterday.
the setting is immaculate, the characters are lovely, complex, and interesting, and though the plot takes a while to unfurl, it wraps up at a breakneck pace. pick this up if you want to go on an adventure, but go in with appropriate expectations: yes, there is romance, but not spice. i’m fervently praying to the fates and to the magical voice of the Old Magic to spin me a sequel that is adequately seasoned.
i picked this up off of a booktok recommendation, expecting it to be a standard KU fantasy romance with all of my favorite things (smut, magic, beautiful and heart-melting quotes that imprint themselves onto my soul). i’m going to be direct and up front with you: there is no spice to speak of in this. do not let the KU designation and growly, possessive quotes fool you. but it does have everything else.
once you’ve come to terms with that, you can enjoy this for what it is: a beautiful, interesting, and complex retelling of 1001 nights.
this book centers on asha, a mere human in a world ruled by fae who regard humans as little more than the trash under their feet, littering their cities and towns. the leader of these assholes? the fae king, kiran, who, after his beloved wife and her secret lover plot to kill him and take his throne, turns his jaded, scorned-man rage into a fervent, too-oft-repeated-belief that all ‘humans lie’. in revenge? he’ll select a human woman to sacrifice once a month…after marrying her. a man plotting to take his bad mood and hurt feelings out on innocent bystanders? what a surprise.
the dude has issues. so many so that even i, with my chronic color blindness specifically for red flags, could see how problematic it is to root for this guy. and yet. and yet. you know where this is going, right? i simped. unapologetically so. and before you judge me too harshly — READ THIS BOOK. you’ll understand.
asha, however, is a pure ray of light, in terrible, unrequited love for her childhood best friend (ouch), and devoted to her sister. when she hears of the king’s proclamation, she opts to sacrifice herself, knowing that the loophole to the king’s decree is that if someone offered themselves up willingly to be wed and slaughtered, the king would stop the homicidal institution forever. so what does our kind, loyal, older sister do? runs straight to the palace to offer herself merely on the offchance that her sister would be selected.
we STAN.
naturally, our FMC has a bit of magic inside her - a magic for storytelling, very similar to the magic that cornelia funke’s inkheart gifted us with in our youth - which comes in super handy for the whole 1001 nights retelling aspect.
this book is LONG, yes, and a bit redundant in the first third, but if you push past the slow and frustrating start, this book takes off in a way that literally had me up until 3 am frantically reading and desperate for answers. this has so many twists and turns that it’s basically a goddamned labyrinth. except the evil minotaur’s identity keeps changing. and the thread you used to find your way back out frays entirely. so all you’re able to do is to continue on. (or skip to the end in a frantic panic because you need answers immediately, which i shamefully did. sorry. i was in a STATE.)
the end of this book was an unparalleled, nonstop thrill. i literally do not understand how TA lawrence was able to spin shocking twist after shocking twist, but i’m all in. i need the sequel yesterday.
the setting is immaculate, the characters are lovely, complex, and interesting, and though the plot takes a while to unfurl, it wraps up at a breakneck pace. pick this up if you want to go on an adventure, but go in with appropriate expectations: yes, there is romance, but not spice. i’m fervently praying to the fates and to the magical voice of the Old Magic to spin me a sequel that is adequately seasoned.
2.5 ⭐️ Idk what happened in the first 30% of this book, I feel like the major plot was just kind of forgotten after Asha’s first night with him. ALSO what was the point of the story? We got the backstory of the Fae but Asha and Kiran never finished it so did they just stop caring? There were crumbs of this book that made me want to finish it but I really had to power through towards the end
Quite Good
It was like a mix of Scheherazade and the tale of 1,001 nights + Aladdin + Jane Eyre + SJM + some modern linguistic catchphrases all wrapped up in a fantastical story about FAE and humans and the precarious balance beam they rest on. I loved the strong characters and didn’t see the twist coming towards the end. I honestly wasn’t sure how it would end and the plot kept me hooked until the very last page. Really liked this book!
It was like a mix of Scheherazade and the tale of 1,001 nights + Aladdin + Jane Eyre + SJM + some modern linguistic catchphrases all wrapped up in a fantastical story about FAE and humans and the precarious balance beam they rest on. I loved the strong characters and didn’t see the twist coming towards the end. I honestly wasn’t sure how it would end and the plot kept me hooked until the very last page. Really liked this book!
Repetitive. Long winded. Painful.
I usually try to be more eloquent, but I’m so sick of words after this book.
I usually try to be more eloquent, but I’m so sick of words after this book.