Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Queen of Myth and Monsters

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Queen of Myth and Monsters by Scarlett St. Clair

8 reviews

luna_lovelace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

From the very beginning I was trying to read carefully to watch for any clues on who the traitor was and

I did not expect there to be two! I was shocked on who it was, expecting someone else.

I had my suspicions, but I just didn't want it to be true because I grew to love them. It speaks volumes on how Isolde must be feeling about their betrayal.

Adrian's abilities come to light and

I had no idea how powerful he really was. The way he was able to control the mind of a vampire, but only those he turns. So of course, that's not very useful with the war that is going on! Still, I wished this ability showed up more often than his ability to read minds.

I am just glad the main characters are not a Mary Sue, there's definitely a lot of questionable decisions they made that made me see them in a different light, but as the story progresses it's hard to not feel for them.

Expect to do a lot of gasping because so much goes on in such a short amount of time that it has your head spinning trying to put it all together.

People she holds dear to her heart betray her for "the greater good", while people like Killian and Safira are starting to earn her trust.

I am stunned on how much character development Killian and Safira have on this book. I can't wait to read how it continues to unfold!

One thing that was a bit difficult to understand was when Isolde re-lived Yesenia's memories because it was not easy to distinguish if Isolde was in the present or past. I had to re-read a couple times to grasp what time period the author was talking about. Maybe if it was italicized or written as a chapter it would have been easier to decipher.

Overall, I can't wait for the third book, Adrian and Isolde went through so much already, I can't wait to continue reading about her journey to conquer despite everything!

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thestickwitch's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

For me this was more of a back story book that really got you connected with the characters and their traumas with some sprinkles of happy moments and spicy scenes. While also showcasing how the character navigate through the traumas even in times of strife. I will be waiting in anticipation for book 3.

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mo_books_read's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

2.25

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mermaidmommy19's review

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4.75

This was such a compelling sequel in my opinion. It was very good. There was a bit of over used vocabulary toward the end, such as "devastated" and "murdered" which I believe were intended to evoke strong emotion, but eventually lost all meaning due to over use. Beyond that, I don't really have any complaints.

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bedtimesandbooks's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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midnacine's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am thoroughly upset with how that ended, Scarlett really knows how to fuck with your emotions. God I love this series.

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ariellesbookreviews's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This book really took a left turn. What Scarlet St. Clair started out in King of Battle of Blood has disappeared. Readers are shown entirely different characters with completely new backstories.

In book one, the reader is led to believe that the kingdom of Redvak is misunderstood and is not filled with brutal monsters. However, what has developed in Queen of the Myth and Monsters seems to show some truth to the rumors. King Adrian has essentially become an ineffective and terrible ruler. He continuously murders his people for disagreeing with him and continues his quest to conquer; however, the reader is never given a definitive reason. Adrian is shown to place his motives above those of his people and Isolde.

Isolde continually makes excuses for Adrian and his abhorrent behavior, but she has no real power. Isolde is overlooked by both Adrian and the court during court decisions despite having better leadership skills and care for the people. Since King of Battle and Blood, Adrian says he wants more than a wife; he wants a queen, but he continually dismisses Isolde’s thoughts and feelings. I cannot see a way forward in this series for me to continue to root for this relationship, and at this point in time, I believe Adrian is becoming the villain. Perhaps he always was.

A Queen of Myth and Monsters is a lot darker than its predecessor. While there were some darker aspects to the story in the first book, the amount of graphic and horrendous backstories readers are getting has dramatically increased. St. Clair intersects trauma with smut scenes, and it is very discombobulating and can feel inappropriate. Going from reading about someone who is being assaulted to getting a sex scene between the two main characters is jarring and uncomfortable.

It sometimes feels like the author is just adding trauma to the story for trauma's sake. For example, you learned that Yesenia was assaulted before she was murdered by Dragos, but that has no effect on the story. Isolde does not remember the trauma of the assault, so why it is brought up to the reader does not make sense. Dragos has already been villainized in the story, so adding these assaults seems almost redundant. St. Clair may be trying to create a narrative of anti-misogyny, does not develop soon enough in the storyline to better the plot.

Some of the finer details of this book also do not make sense. At one point in the story, hundreds of thousands of humans are turned into vampires over maybe a week or two. The timing and logistics do not make sense, and it seems like an easy plot hole to pick out. How did just a couple of people turn so many into vampires so quickly? Where were these newly turned vampires getting food? Why would all of these vampires agree to fight in an army? Many other aspects of the ending were not developed, including Isolde's transformation into a vampire. Isolde was turned, and nothing changed, and a separate pivotal part of the book lasted only a page and a half.

At this point in the story, it feels like scarlet St. Clair has absolutely no idea what is going on and did not plot out the storyline. She appears just as confused as the reader. The book has no structure and seems to develop on a whim. Queen of Myth and Monsters was a disappointment compared to the first book, and I do not know if I will continue this series.

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toffishay's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I was disappointed by this sequel. I think that this book cranks up a lot of the messy and problematic pieces that were in the first book with less of the fun and intrigue. The pacing was also pretty crazy! Things were happening all over the place and major events were just being thrown in at the end of a chapter and then we all move on from it right away. It made it hard to care about anything that was happening. <SPOILER> I really don't know how I feel about Adrian and Isolde's characters after this book either. The pull and push and lack of trust maybe makes a lot of sense, but it was giving me whiplash to be constantly going back and forth with them fighting and fucking. I also found myself more uncomfortable with the presentation of Isolde's body and experience in this book. It was beginning to feel a bit fetishistic the way that her body and sexuality was being treated. Her backstory as coming from other dark-skinned people who are currently enslaved and the white man that she is with being unable or unwilling to understand her desire to free them felt gross. And the depictions of sexual assault in this book felt unnecessary to me. The magic stuff really came out of nowhere too and felt like a very surface level show of "women are destined for magic" "women are all witches deep down" online discourse. <END SPOILER> The smut it fun, but I just with that the rest of the book was as fun.

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