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abicaro17's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book starts off so strong. Alessandra is the second daughter of an earl looking to gain power and acknowledgement by marrying the Shadow King, Kallias. The problem? She plans to kill him right after. Alessandra is cunning, vicious, manipulative, and talented in many ways. I think the general plot was so fun! I love a good murderess and mystery. Alessandra is fun to read as well with all her inner monologue and complex feelings about people. My issues with this book stem from development (or lack thereof). To me, Alessandra and the world building feel underdeveloped. Alessandra is supposed to be this devious murderess with this plot, but her idea is quite literally just to poison him and hope the blame gets placed on a neighboring kingdom. Also past the first few chapters she doesn't seem very murder prone. I think her initial characterization was much more interesting than what we were left with. My other issue stems from world building. In terms of kingdoms and the country laws we are never given any explanations. This leaves me at a loss at times for why things are the way they are politically. I think this book could definitely benefit from some elaboration and possibly a different ending?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexism, Violence, War, Alcohol, Gun violence, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
headinthepages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
I so enjoyed reading about Allessandra - a fiery independent murdress, and a shadow king brought together.
I loved the story and loved the romance and could happily read an entire series about these characters!
I loved the story and loved the romance and could happily read an entire series about these characters!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Infidelity, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Body horror, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
rensreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
by chapter 2, i was seriously considering DNFing this book but i carried on because the synopsis promised me a love interest that hadn’t been introduced yet and i wanted a glimpse of him before i DNFed.
i’m so glad i waited for him. he carried this novel on his back, his poor shoulders must be breaking under the strain of all that success. kallias is my everything. he was the only reason i started liking alessandra. and by the time he learns of what she did to her first lover (though his age is never brought up, i’m still of the opinion that hektor groomed her) then laughs about it, i realized they really deserved each other.
(in reality, i started liking alessandra when she schemed her friend out of a marriage he would have hated and solved her own problem of unwanted suitors with it. how could i not adore a girlboss?)
the political intrigue and the plot were absolutely marvelous. i started suspecting the assassin by the time that he confessed to alessandra while kallias was listening. i kept wondering why alessandra didn’t see it until it was almost too late but i am glad that his sexism was what caused his demise. a man like him truly assumed that alessandra was nothing less than a noblewoman newly scorned by her ex-lover. what a mistake!
kallias was down bad for alessandra and i loved that fact by the end too lol definitely a 5 stars read for me (:
i’m so glad i waited for him. he carried this novel on his back, his poor shoulders must be breaking under the strain of all that success. kallias is my everything. he was the only reason i started liking alessandra. and by the time he learns of what she did to her first lover (though his age is never brought up, i’m still of the opinion that hektor groomed her) then laughs about it, i realized they really deserved each other.
(in reality, i started liking alessandra when she schemed her friend out of a marriage he would have hated and solved her own problem of unwanted suitors with it. how could i not adore a girlboss?)
the political intrigue and the plot were absolutely marvelous. i started suspecting the assassin by the time that he confessed to alessandra while kallias was listening. i kept wondering why alessandra didn’t see it until it was almost too late but i am glad that his sexism was what caused his demise. a man like him truly assumed that alessandra was nothing less than a noblewoman newly scorned by her ex-lover. what a mistake!
kallias was down bad for alessandra and i loved that fact by the end too lol definitely a 5 stars read for me (:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror and Alcohol
Minor: Classism, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse
Slut shaming happens a lot as well.madarauchiha's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
I... didn't expect to like this so much. It was a potato chip: delicious, not that filling, but if you like the flavor then it brightens your life while it lasts. It's nothing I'd gush over to friends per se, the plot was interesting and the MC was funny and I enjoyed watching her antics.
It does suffer from a white author trying to write Black characters or characters of color. I've noticed that the characters are essentially white. They just happen to have darker skin tones. By that I mean they don't have culture or specific link to a race or ethnicity.
▪ Hestia’s coloring is a rich umber with yellow undertones. She wears her hair short, only about an inch from her scalp, the strands wrapping in tight coils. The lack of length shows off her gorgeous earrings, a pair of garnets encased in complicated brasswork.
▪ The strands are the same color as my black hair, but her skin is a bit darker, more amber than my dark beige.
So the MC and a few other characters are technically characters of color. But again, they have no culture, no generational traditions passed from person to person, no communal links to each other. Beyond descriptions there's not really personalized touches, like you'd expect if a black character / character of color was portrayed as actually black / of color.
Have fun, but don't expect much in terms of personal representation if you're a Black reader or Reader of Color.
Content warnings:
minor drugs opium, manipulation, blackmail, torture, murder,
medium colonization, violence, parent death, orphaning, hanging, NSFW, slut shaming, whorephobic language,
major dogs, gambling, death, gore, murder, poison, alcohol use, body horror, murder, parental death, gore, anti sex worker sentiment, gun violence, guns,
I... didn't expect to like this so much. It was a potato chip: delicious, not that filling, but if you like the flavor then it brightens your life while it lasts. It's nothing I'd gush over to friends per se, the plot was interesting and the MC was funny and I enjoyed watching her antics.
It does suffer from a white author trying to write Black characters or characters of color. I've noticed that the characters are essentially white. They just happen to have darker skin tones. By that I mean they don't have culture or specific link to a race or ethnicity.
▪ Hestia’s coloring is a rich umber with yellow undertones. She wears her hair short, only about an inch from her scalp, the strands wrapping in tight coils. The lack of length shows off her gorgeous earrings, a pair of garnets encased in complicated brasswork.
▪ The strands are the same color as my black hair, but her skin is a bit darker, more amber than my dark beige.
So the MC and a few other characters are technically characters of color. But again, they have no culture, no generational traditions passed from person to person, no communal links to each other. Beyond descriptions there's not really personalized touches, like you'd expect if a black character / character of color was portrayed as actually black / of color.
Have fun, but don't expect much in terms of personal representation if you're a Black reader or Reader of Color.
Content warnings:
minor drugs opium, manipulation, blackmail, torture, murder,
medium colonization, violence, parent death, orphaning, hanging, NSFW, slut shaming, whorephobic language,
major dogs, gambling, death, gore, murder, poison, alcohol use, body horror, murder, parental death, gore, anti sex worker sentiment, gun violence, guns,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Violence, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Torture, and Murder
nerdybirdy101's review
3.5
So, I have wanted to read this book since it first came out. I have heard some not-good reviews which caused me to put off reading this, but I finally decided to do it. I am glad that I did read it because I ended up enjoying it! From the description, we get that our main character Alessandra wants to woo, marry, and then kill the King for the throne. I liked that and Alessandra is a woman who knows what she wants and will do whatever to accomplish her goals. I liked how we got to see Alessandra be convinced she was going to accomplish her goals without change, but then see her adapt her behavior. I thought it was a nice change. And the romance part of the book was sweet because you had two stubborn people realize they had feelings. I am giving this book a 3.5 out of 5 because it was better than average (3 stars) and it was good (4 stars) where it falls nicely between the two ratings. I still think you should give this book a chance and read it for yourself. It would make a nice adaptation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
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