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alaskachan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
justinekorson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
1. Is Evangeline really just that naive? I mean this in the nicest way possible.... Evangeline is stupid. Her constant back and forth with herself OVER EVERYTHING was tiresome. "Apollo isn't cursed. He actually loves me I swear!" "Jacks cursed Apollo to love me. This isn't real" "But it could be real! I believe it could be real!" WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!! If she hadn't been so trusting of Jacks literally none of this would've happened. You can't ask the Fates for things without consequences and she couldn't sus out literally any of the lies that Jack was telling her DESPITE EVERYONE, EVEN JACKS HIMSELF, saying she shouldn't trust him.
2. I still can't get over what Jacks did to Tella in Finale... he was wonderful in Legendary but in Finale he was written so badly that I fell out of love with him. I almost didn't want to read this series because of it. How could I root for a character who had FORCED SOMEONE with magic to love them by MANIPULATING AND REMOVING THEIR FREE WILL. He didn't do anything nearly as bad as that in this novel (he felt like the same character I fell in love with in Legendary) but I kept thinking back to those horrible disgusting feelings I had as I read what he did in Finale.
3. Again... Stephanie doesn't seem to want to kill off characters. (or in the case of Finale, killing of people at random for no reason). This is like the third (fourth? it's hard to keep track) time that someone's "died" only for her to say "SIKE!" and suddenly they're not dead. It's honestly annoying at this point.
4. .... Vampires.... seriously? This was a problem I also had in the Caraval series where lore was sometimes introduced so carelessly, like an afterthought and I'm somehow meant to believe it's been true this whole time? Evangeline was CONSTANTLY going on about stories from the North at the beginning, dragons and mermaids, etc. But she'd NEVER heard of vampires being real in this story she never even mentioned hearing a story about them from her mother! But Jacks made it sound like EVERY HUMAN has a fascination with vampires and knows about them. If that was true why did it surprise Evangeline so much??
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
emmieanna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
However, I was HOOKED. I was making notes on my kindle like nobody’s business and was really rooting for the characters. I am so undecided with who my favourite is at this point, (LaLa is winning so far, then probably Apollo) and I will definitely be continuing the series.
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood and Murder
klsreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
mary_do_12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
i think if i would’ve gone into this story unbiased, i could’ve enjoyed it a lot more. however, by hearing all about the greatness of this book, i set out with expectations way too high. and that probably has influenced my reading experience a lot. so keep that in mind for this review.
the characters for this book looked very promising — i knew jacks from caraval already; you know, hot, handsome, haunting or something like that (i just made that shit up). the world building we don’t even have to talk about; great, gorgeous, going above (idk what is happening to me, alliterations have gotten the best of me).
and with it, (most of) the characters in the story were just bound to be amazing and unique.
however, i found myself unable to connect to evangeline for most parts. i’m a fan of strong fmc’s and even though they displayed her as brave — which i’m not arguing with — she just wasn’t giving me the energy i wanted. i wanted powerful, passionate, period. i got sweet, sincere, senseless. know not every character can be strong and independent, but i feel like in this universe such a character would’ve fit better, especially paired with jacks. but then again, who am i to judge.
the plot felt very random and senseless at points — a fact that i’ve pointed out for caraval as well. i suppose it’s just the charme of stephanie’s stories and world, but it made it hard for me to have something to cling on to and create tension. that is why especially the first two parts of the book, i just wasn’t hooked to the story.
now i have to say, about the last fourth of the book or so, i finally was able to feel something for the characters and plot. every since the
i’ve debated a long time on how many stars i should give this, but in the end i couldn’t spare more than 3. i had to remind myself that i’m rating my reading experience and not necessarily the book itself (sorry). i feel like as a re-read this could maybe get a little more from me.
or maybe the real problem with me and this book is I‘M CONFUSED and it’s making me throw things (i have issues).
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Blood
nahyaqina's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
and jacks definitely did not betray her imo. he just has this strong desire to do what he wants without caring abt other people, but soon he started caring a lot abt evangeline during the execution of his plan. im sure he is attracted to her and will continue to do so. evngeline is just hurt that she was used by him initially when he couldnt care less about her.
it’s quite a good book to stir your brain engines and the plot twists are pretty great too!
Graphic: Murder
savvyrosereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Evangeline Fox makes a deal with the Prince of Hearts to stop the wedding of her first love, but all is not what it appears.
I am such a fan of this book! I absolutely LOVE Jacks (not sure what that says about me) and really enjoyed Evangeline as a leading lady. This continued to build upon the world-building from the CARAVAL trilogy but I enjoyed it more—I felt like a had a clearer handle on what was going on and how things worked. I also have theories about what’s coming next and I really hope I’m right.
Also, vampires? I’ll never complain about a book with vampires. Can’t wait to read book two!
CW: Violence/blood/death; mentions of death of parent
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Blood
tashtasher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Grief
booksandstardust's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Emotional abuse
aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship