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livist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This started a bit slow but got better. I would say this one leans more romance than fantasy. A lot of the magic is just doing more common things, so I guess it’s more like cozy fantasy? Idk genres
When I read romantasies I’m torn between two parts of me: the toxic romantic and the matured realist and this book was no exception.
The toxic romantic is like my own siren, she calls me to chill out and just enjoy the overbearing protectiveness of the male lead and ignore the large age difference between them.
I was purely a toxic romantic in my teens and early twents and that aged me would have found 0 problems with this story. However, my old ass was so perturbed. Like I always just ask why couldn’t she have been ending high school and all her sad years were in college? It’s so icky that he wants to fuck her at 16 and while the toxic romantic is all heart eyes over the, “I knew it from the moment I saw you trope,” the realist in me is like eewwww she wasn’t even 16 yet when you first met her!!!
Usually in these situations other stuff is happening fast enough to take me out of that mind set/distract me but because this leans more romance, that was the central focus. Their past and how it affects their present.
There’s a fantasy plot unfolding ever so slowly in the background but it’s only enough to delay them hooking up for most of the book and then suddenly she’s kidnapped and held for days in prison. It felt like it came from left field because it wasn’t the primary focus and then bam she’s in prison.
Also the main character is so so so insecure it is so frustrating. I don’t know how many times she had to be like,”he looked at me seductively BUT THATS JUST HOW HE IS. He doesn’t think I’m pretty bc I’m just me and he left me.” I wanted to just scream to get therapy girl.
Ultimately, Caly trades one possessive guy for another, albeit she has more history with Des.
There were some cute and funny moments too. Endearing he wanted to watch movies with her. I liked Desmond overall. I liked him a lot at the beginning when it seemed he had a strong moral compass and didn’t take her favor. I think the whole repayment thing was an interesting plot device too.
I liked the whole until the end of darkness metaphor and it being more meaningful in that darkness never seems to end. I liked some of the seemingly random customs/traditions, I enjoyed that part of the world building. Also lol to werewolves basically having a period.
I honestly liked the flashbacks to show their relationship building but when it was clear he wanted more from teenage her I was icked out. That’s when I wanted to be like let’s never go back to the past ever again.
I know a lot of her self esteem issues come from trauma bc the girl has really been put through the ringer and she seems like she’d be more bad ass but unfortunately a lot of it gets sidelined. I mean the girl gets nerfed instantly when she goes to the other world.
Otherwise, I thought the idea that earth has supernatural beings that walk amongst humans and there’s a separate magical world as a cool concept. I honestly wish we spent more time in magic land or ever more demonstrations of Cali doing more than fretting over her insecurities.
I’ll probably finish this series. This review seems very critical as it is the realist that often writes, but I enjoyed it overall and want to see more of where this goes. I just hope Caly gets some self love and we never tread back to high school ever again.
When I read romantasies I’m torn between two parts of me: the toxic romantic and the matured realist and this book was no exception.
The toxic romantic is like my own siren, she calls me to chill out and just enjoy the overbearing protectiveness of the male lead and ignore the large age difference between them.
Usually in these situations other stuff is happening fast enough to take me out of that mind set/distract me but because this leans more romance, that was the central focus. Their past and how it affects their present.
There’s a fantasy plot unfolding ever so slowly in the background but it’s only enough to delay them hooking up for most of the book and then suddenly she’s kidnapped and held for days in prison. It felt like it came from left field because it wasn’t the primary focus and then bam she’s in prison.
Also the main character is so so so insecure it is so frustrating. I don’t know how many times she had to be like,”he looked at me seductively BUT THATS JUST HOW HE IS. He doesn’t think I’m pretty bc I’m just me and he left me.” I wanted to just scream to get therapy girl.
Ultimately, Caly trades one possessive guy for another, albeit she has more history with Des.
There were some cute and funny moments too. Endearing he wanted to watch movies with her. I liked Desmond overall. I liked him a lot at the beginning when it seemed he had a strong moral compass and didn’t take her favor. I think the whole repayment thing was an interesting plot device too.
I liked the whole until the end of darkness metaphor and it being more meaningful in that darkness never seems to end. I liked some of the seemingly random customs/traditions, I enjoyed that part of the world building. Also lol to werewolves basically having a period.
I honestly liked the flashbacks to show their relationship building but when it was clear he wanted more from teenage her I was icked out. That’s when I wanted to be like let’s never go back to the past ever again.
I know a lot of her self esteem issues come from trauma bc the girl has really been put through the ringer and she seems like she’d be more bad ass but unfortunately a lot of it gets sidelined. I mean the girl gets nerfed instantly when she goes to the other world.
Otherwise, I thought the idea that earth has supernatural beings that walk amongst humans and there’s a separate magical world as a cool concept. I honestly wish we spent more time in magic land or ever more demonstrations of Cali doing more than fretting over her insecurities.
I’ll probably finish this series. This review seems very critical as it is the realist that often writes, but I enjoyed it overall and want to see more of where this goes. I just hope Caly gets some self love and we never tread back to high school ever again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse and Rape
cburch16's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
maddykreed's review against another edition
1.5
this book was terrible, but i talk shit about people who leave one star reviews so oh well.
listen, all i’ll say is, for the love of christ at least make your characters 18 at a MINIMUM. how hard is it to put the character in college instead of high school? come on man.
listen, all i’ll say is, for the love of christ at least make your characters 18 at a MINIMUM. how hard is it to put the character in college instead of high school? come on man.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
passivemoon's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
llau's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape
poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Rhapsodic was a fairly spicy Romantsy story. It was scary but threaded with sexual assault. The age difference between the characters was problematic for me. It wasn't just that there was one, but the age and circumstances of their first meeting gave me the ick. The mystery of the children and catatonic fae was scary, but I wasn't satisfied with the resolution. Perhaps the payoff is further down the series, but I won't get there. I don't like sexual victimization as a plot point, and it was really the only thing moving the story forward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Child death, Confinement, Torture, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Dysphoria, Adult/minor relationship, and Infidelity
helminthy's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Very easy to read. The plot is interesting but the pacing made it clear that the characters were the focus. This would be fine if the character arcs were fleshed out, but they seem to change opinions and states in order to make the tone feel more broody.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Sexual content, Pedophilia, Death, Blood, Child abuse, and Murder
Minor: Torture and Alcoholism
vreyna20_2004's review against another edition
2.5
Good God. I’ve heard that this book was bad but Jesus Christ. I couldn’t even come up with good things about this book. Let me begin with some nitpicks of mine. Callypso Lillis is the name for the main character. I know it’s a real name, but it’s spelled like Calypso not Callypso and why Lillis?? Anyway, onto the next one. Desmond Flynn. His name is Desmond. I had thought he would have a badass name but no, his name is Desmond Flynn. Onto the next, Temperance. I’ve read two books with that name, and I can’t take it seriously. You’re going to look me in my face and tell me Temperance is a real name?? Good Lord. I went into this book as blindly as possible and no one mentioned not even the book about how Desmond isn’t the only supernatural being in this book. There was werewolves which I didn’t know Cally’s ex-boyfriend was one until she mentioned it and she also is a siren. This would’ve made sense if the author simply said so in the beginning of the book that there’s supernaturals in this world which also just so happens to be located in motherfucking Los Angeles because LA is the most magical and mystical place on Earth. It also took until Chapter 8 for ANY fantasy to happen. Fucking chapter 8 and it didn’t take until half of the book for my interest to be piqued.
They characters suck cause most of the time they’re together, they want to fuck each other so badly it literally deosn’t seem like a book more like let’s watch these two horny ass people want to fuck each other, not fuck. Whenever Callypso is horny she would call her vagina “lady parts” which was a lot. And God was hearing Callypso say “my Siren” got on my fucking nerves and the whole glamor also. Then theres edge lord Desmond Flynn talking about “deep stuff” only for him to say this most current time saying of all time and then the fact that he knew Cally when she was 16 and still had feelings for her but the book tries to excuse it as “in the supernatural world, 16 is considered an adult” like no, shut the fuck up. It gave me the ick so badly.
The story went so slow and then so fast in a manner of seconds I couldn’t even keep up with anything. It was all Des and Cally confessing and then them doing it over and over to Cally talking to the client only to get kidnapped and then she gets wings all of a sudden. I had to reread it and I was still confused. I also hated how they just killed Karnon without questioning him. That man committed war crimes but they let him die because Desmond got angy (I meant that spelling) and kills him because he touched Cally.
There’s only a few things I like about this book like the way Des says “mouthy thing” I can’t deny but blush at that or the fact that Des begged for more than a kiss and obviously the fact that he saved her even if it was late but it wasn’t worth it with the countless things I did hate about this book.
They characters suck cause most of the time they’re together, they want to fuck each other so badly it literally deosn’t seem like a book more like let’s watch these two horny ass people want to fuck each other, not fuck. Whenever Callypso is horny she would call her vagina “lady parts” which was a lot. And God was hearing Callypso say “my Siren” got on my fucking nerves and the whole glamor also. Then theres edge lord Desmond Flynn talking about “deep stuff” only for him to say this most current time saying of all time and then the fact that he knew Cally when she was 16 and still had feelings for her but the book tries to excuse it as “in the supernatural world, 16 is considered an adult” like no, shut the fuck up. It gave me the ick so badly.
The story went so slow and then so fast in a manner of seconds I couldn’t even keep up with anything. It was all Des and Cally confessing and then them doing it over and over to Cally talking to the client only to get kidnapped and then she gets wings all of a sudden. I had to reread it and I was still confused. I also hated how they just killed Karnon without questioning him. That man committed war crimes but they let him die because Desmond got angy (I meant that spelling) and kills him because he touched Cally.
There’s only a few things I like about this book like the way Des says “mouthy thing” I can’t deny but blush at that or the fact that Des begged for more than a kiss and obviously the fact that he saved her even if it was late but it wasn’t worth it with the countless things I did hate about this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Slavery, and Alcohol
jenni_catherine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Just couldn't vibe with the writing style at all. It gripped me at the start but found it was a slog to get through. Single pov. Lots of triggers that need to be checked before reading.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Violence, Sexual content, and Slavery
kamreher's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
per my spreadsheet:
i will be read reading the next ones lol
noted.
spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 4 days
did it make me cry? - no
i will be read reading the next ones lol
noted.
spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 4 days
did it make me cry? - no
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse