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noellelovesbooks's review
5.0
Content Warnings: Sexual content, sexual violence, racism, blood play, dubcon, blood, gore, body horror, murder, death, fatphobia, child abuse, forced isolation, loss of body autonomy, slavery, ableism, emotional abuse, physical abuse, cannibalism, gaslighting, kidnapping, child murder, rape, self harm, drugs, man taking contraceptive control over a woman [destroying her birth control...but don't worry he learns the error of his ways real quick lol] and PTSD.
Mention of: deportation, genocide, and colonialism.
"...be a good girl, be a bad girl. I'll enjoy it either way. Though good girls get treats, and bad girls give me treats. You pick, beloved."
~Sal
Gah damn. This book...is just incredible. The amazing history and lore along with the passion of the two MCs...and the way our leading lady learns to love herself and finds her strength *chefs kiss*
This book does cover really heavy and dark subjects along with a lot of blood and violence so don't go into this without checking content warnings.
Don't read this if you "can't relate" to brown women🙄 ...this book is filled with beautiful and rich history, lore, and tradition...the story of a woman finding her strength, her truth, and love she didn't know she could have for herself, her culture, and for others. A woman who's always felt out of place...finally finds the place she truly belongs.
A freaking incredible book and I cannot wait to read the books that continue this series!
Mention of: deportation, genocide, and colonialism.
"...be a good girl, be a bad girl. I'll enjoy it either way. Though good girls get treats, and bad girls give me treats. You pick, beloved."
~Sal
Gah damn. This book...is just incredible. The amazing history and lore along with the passion of the two MCs...and the way our leading lady learns to love herself and finds her strength *chefs kiss*
This book does cover really heavy and dark subjects along with a lot of blood and violence so don't go into this without checking content warnings.
Don't read this if you "can't relate" to brown women🙄 ...this book is filled with beautiful and rich history, lore, and tradition...the story of a woman finding her strength, her truth, and love she didn't know she could have for herself, her culture, and for others. A woman who's always felt out of place...finally finds the place she truly belongs.
A freaking incredible book and I cannot wait to read the books that continue this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Genocide, Colonisation, and Deportation
jaynellewags's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
- This book was a lot- it is a dark romance, fantasy, with monsters, and some horror elements.
- The spice was top-tier- it was *chef's kiss*
- If you have triggers, check them. I gagged a few times due to the gore.
- I hate Annette with every fiber of my being, the amount of things that woman did to her kids is mind-boggling. She is the worst kind of person.
- Sal and Xochitl's relationship is complex. She has very little self-confidence at the beginning of the book- at the end, she is an entirely different person.
- I loved the concept of this book and it makes me want to learn more about the Poton Lenca and other tribe's traditions/stories from Mesoamerica.
- Thank you for doing a glossary and pronunciation guide- I prefer knowing how to say what I am reading in the books.
- The bond between the characters in the book is so wonderful. I love the found family trope and this book does it so well.
triplebriiii's review against another edition
3.0
I wish so much that this book had been a dark fantasy with romantic elements instead of a dark romance with fantasy elements. Because I loved the mythology and fantasy aspects of this a lot, but I could not stand either of the MCs for like, the first solid 80% of the book I swear. In other words, the fantasy is literally the only thing that had be finishing this one.
For the good:
As I said, the exploration of Latine culture and mythology in this one is amazing. I was so invested in the cadejos, their history, their people, their practices, their government, just everything. The pack dynamics were fascinating, I love the idea of the mated pair and the holy leader being equal leads (especially since the majority of them are women - 2/3 leaders ftw 😅😅😅). The mystery that was slowly being revealed towards the latter half of the book was also really interesting and I'm kinda invested ngl.
The author has a unique style of writing that I think a lot of people will enjoy. It was a bit too flowery and descriptive for me personally, but it did lead to beautiful imagery and visuals that I enjoyed.
Basically every other character except the MCs (and the POS abusers) I loved, ESPECIALLY César my absolute beloved. And even tho I didn't vibe with the MCs and the abusers can choke, they were all still complex or interesting characters. (Okay maybe not Shayne though the plot twist at the end was at least somewhat interesting).
FMC is a clearly stated size 18 (hourglass figure) and unashamed of that, which was fantastic to see. There was one passage in the beginning of the book where she is describing her body as strong and powerful was so beautiful to read.
The Bad 😬:
Both the MCs drove me fucking crazy with their stupid ass decisions jesus christ. I feel like the FMC specifically just made idiotic decision after idiotic decision, just one right after the other after another like. (And, like, on at least one occasion the character fully acknowledged it was an idiotic decision so it's not just me!!!). Miscommunication issues out the galore. Literally if one or the other of them had been open about ONE THING it would have fixed like 60% of the conflict and misunderstandings between them.
Some.... convenient... plot devices and writing choices, not to mention frustrating. for example, early on in the book we're informed that the FMCs "vitamins" were described as smelling like death and poisonous and César wanted to test them as well as Xochitl's blood to see what's up and WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT THOSE BLOOD TESTS AGAIN UNTIL LIKE 80% OF THE WAY THROUGH THE BOOK. Like bruh, I know blood tests can take a lot of time but Xochitl had been there for like 2 months already and nothing?? And it took at least 50% of the book before we got a definitive "oh no i shouldn't take my vitamins they are bad for me" decision, at that point I just thought they were being deliberately oblivious.
Overall I enjoyed and will read the next one, if only because it's César's story.
For the good:
As I said, the exploration of Latine culture and mythology in this one is amazing. I was so invested in the cadejos, their history, their people, their practices, their government, just everything. The pack dynamics were fascinating, I love the idea of the mated pair and the holy leader being equal leads (especially since the majority of them are women - 2/3 leaders ftw 😅😅😅). The mystery that was slowly being revealed towards the latter half of the book was also really interesting and I'm kinda invested ngl.
The author has a unique style of writing that I think a lot of people will enjoy. It was a bit too flowery and descriptive for me personally, but it did lead to beautiful imagery and visuals that I enjoyed.
Basically every other character except the MCs (and the POS abusers) I loved, ESPECIALLY César my absolute beloved. And even tho I didn't vibe with the MCs and the abusers can choke, they were all still complex or interesting characters. (Okay maybe not Shayne though the plot twist at the end was at least somewhat interesting).
FMC is a clearly stated size 18 (hourglass figure) and unashamed of that, which was fantastic to see. There was one passage in the beginning of the book where she is describing her body as strong and powerful was so beautiful to read.
The Bad 😬:
Both the MCs drove me fucking crazy with their stupid ass decisions jesus christ. I feel like the FMC specifically just made idiotic decision after idiotic decision, just one right after the other after another like. (And, like, on at least one occasion the character fully acknowledged it was an idiotic decision so it's not just me!!!). Miscommunication issues out the galore. Literally if one or the other of them had been open about ONE THING it would have fixed like 60% of the conflict and misunderstandings between them.
Some.... convenient... plot devices and writing choices, not to mention frustrating.
Overall I enjoyed and will read the next one, if only because it's César's story.
sshelbyreadss's review against another edition
The descriptions in this book are a little too much. Too flowery? Like it’s trying to hard. The book is pretty long too and I don’t know if i can make it through it. If i was reading an audiobook I might be able to overlook it by speeding it up…but I just can’t with the physical book.
And I don’t know if some of the descriptions are supposed to be funny or not, which makes me feel awkward.
I personally don’t enjoy fated mates. The insta/love and destiny of it just aren’t for me.
And I don’t know if some of the descriptions are supposed to be funny or not, which makes me feel awkward.
I personally don’t enjoy fated mates. The insta/love and destiny of it just aren’t for me.
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
General disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all, even if the lesson is that I’m a ho for the smut, recognizing a genre/book/author is not for me, or confronting my own mommy/daddy issues lol. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial
This was such a beautiful & entertaining debut from N. Cáceres!!!! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this, along with stunning character art & more goodies related to the book. Thank you so much, I’m so honored🥹 Anyway, this book did not disappoint!
I don’t want to give too much away but the way she tied in indigenous culture into the setting & language especially was gorgeous😍 I deeply appreciated the glossary of terms at the beginning of the book too, as that was helpful to flip back to!
Xochitl & Sal bang it out pretty quickly but the love is more of a slow burn, due mostly to Xochitl’s processing of all the trauma she has experienced before he re-entered the picture. The dynamics she had with her family back home in San Francisco made me want to throw hands. My poor bb Xo 😭 Anyway, she had a bit of an introspective journey to love herself in order to move forward & allow herself to feel deserving of love.
If you like alphahole, moody, possessive MMCs, you’ll like Sal just fine lmao. He is so messy omg🫠 but I still am feral for him idgaf.
I am curious to see if the next book will be about one of the side characters of this book or if we’ll continue to follow Sal & Xo but either way, I will continue reading the series!
This was such a beautiful & entertaining debut from N. Cáceres!!!! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this, along with stunning character art & more goodies related to the book. Thank you so much, I’m so honored🥹 Anyway, this book did not disappoint!
I don’t want to give too much away but the way she tied in indigenous culture into the setting & language especially was gorgeous😍 I deeply appreciated the glossary of terms at the beginning of the book too, as that was helpful to flip back to!
Xochitl & Sal bang it out pretty quickly but the love is more of a slow burn, due mostly to Xochitl’s processing of all the trauma she has experienced before he re-entered the picture. The dynamics she had with her family back home in San Francisco made me want to throw hands. My poor bb Xo 😭 Anyway, she had a bit of an introspective journey to love herself in order to move forward & allow herself to feel deserving of love.
If you like alphahole, moody, possessive MMCs, you’ll like Sal just fine lmao. He is so messy omg🫠 but I still am feral for him idgaf.
I am curious to see if the next book will be about one of the side characters of this book or if we’ll continue to follow Sal & Xo but either way, I will continue reading the series!
ex_libris_ad_astra's review against another edition
4.0
First, I need to thank N. Cáceres for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
I absolutely loved this book. It's definitely a dark romance, but it's not just a dark romance. Obsidian Feathers is a Latine dark fantasy romance, and I want to break down each aspect of this to talk about individually.
First, I'm not familiar with much Latine mythology, especially the mythology used within this text, and it was an absolute delight learning to read about it. I loved figuring out things alongside our heroine, Xochitl. It made the discoveries even more exciting, knowing that we only knew what she did. There's a bit of prior knowledge I wish I would have had, but that's my own blindspot that I should learn about. The inclusion of Nautl was incredible. You can see not only the author's ties to the culture but also the insane amount of research that went into writing this text as well.
The book is certainly a dark romance. Please read the trigger warnings before beginning the book. None of the triggers are triggers for me, so I had no problem with the book. I like a little dark in my reading.
The fantasy element was phenomenal. It was a new-to-me mythology, and I loved that we were able to read about something diverse in the setting. Too often the only mythology we read is Greek, and while I love learning new things while I read. A cool note is that in her newsletters, the author includes more information about the history and mythology she has been researching.
I really enjoyed Xochitl, but I enjoyed her much more than I enjoyed Sal. By the end of the book Sal had grown on me, but he was not my favorite male MC. I think he's perfect for Xochitl, just not perfect for me, which is totally okay! I instantly loved Xochitl. She was the quiet person I've been and to watch her grow into herself was phenomenal. I loved the way she grew throughout the novel, and how passive is not a word I would use to describe her. She's a fat, latina, FMC with ADHD and I loved everything about her. Sal balances her out, being the more mysterious of the two.
The side characters are also incredible. Each one is so wonderfully developed and they have unique personalities and motivations. I cannot wait to read more about them in upcoming books.
I'm giving this book four stars because, for me, there were a couple of moments when I had trouble following the story. I know it's a long book, but it's so action-packed I wanted more details as I read.
Overall this is a wonderful book, and I highly suggest it! I'm so glad I was able to read it.
I absolutely loved this book. It's definitely a dark romance, but it's not just a dark romance. Obsidian Feathers is a Latine dark fantasy romance, and I want to break down each aspect of this to talk about individually.
First, I'm not familiar with much Latine mythology, especially the mythology used within this text, and it was an absolute delight learning to read about it. I loved figuring out things alongside our heroine, Xochitl. It made the discoveries even more exciting, knowing that we only knew what she did. There's a bit of prior knowledge I wish I would have had, but that's my own blindspot that I should learn about. The inclusion of Nautl was incredible. You can see not only the author's ties to the culture but also the insane amount of research that went into writing this text as well.
The book is certainly a dark romance. Please read the trigger warnings before beginning the book. None of the triggers are triggers for me, so I had no problem with the book. I like a little dark in my reading.
The fantasy element was phenomenal. It was a new-to-me mythology, and I loved that we were able to read about something diverse in the setting. Too often the only mythology we read is Greek, and while I love learning new things while I read. A cool note is that in her newsletters, the author includes more information about the history and mythology she has been researching.
I really enjoyed Xochitl, but I enjoyed her much more than I enjoyed Sal. By the end of the book Sal had grown on me, but he was not my favorite male MC. I think he's perfect for Xochitl, just not perfect for me, which is totally okay! I instantly loved Xochitl. She was the quiet person I've been and to watch her grow into herself was phenomenal. I loved the way she grew throughout the novel, and how passive is not a word I would use to describe her. She's a fat, latina, FMC with ADHD and I loved everything about her. Sal balances her out, being the more mysterious of the two.
The side characters are also incredible. Each one is so wonderfully developed and they have unique personalities and motivations. I cannot wait to read more about them in upcoming books.
I'm giving this book four stars because, for me, there were a couple of moments when I had trouble following the story. I know it's a long book, but it's so action-packed I wanted more details as I read.
Overall this is a wonderful book, and I highly suggest it! I'm so glad I was able to read it.
genhuggins's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
carla_is_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
Enchanting debut!
This book is truly epic.
It is a wonderful balance of mythical arts, folklore, epic love story and great steam!
The fact that so many premises in books that I am weary of like, Dub Con, fated mates, obsessive and overbearing Hero, and many other fierce elements of dark romance were an essential element of this and I welcomed each new detail with eagerness, def speaks to the wonderful writing and world building.
I truly cherish the way this book also taught me so much of the indigenous culture of El Salvador, well one little slice of the pie. So many cultural elements are a part of countries. But I enjoyed learning so much even of the agricultural things the land provides for its people. And the setting of this book stands so strong on its own, I can see many more stories taking place here and me continue learning about it.
The romance woven with fantasy like fated mates of cadejo (similar to what we know as werewolves) truly set a great landscape for the over the top feelings the character feels. Such intense feelings of lust, love, betrayal, anger, all of it, its so over the top but it all fits and goes well. I am not going to lie I love how obsessed the hero is with the FMC, he eats breathes and works for her. He is so possessive, doesnt want to let her out of his sight, and I gobbled the obsession like it was my last meal.
There are also an amazing supporting cast of characters I low key, high key love all the men that flirted with the FMC. I just love that shit. I love all the attention she got. But all the supporting cast was so alive on paper, with such individual voices I would look forward to hearing from them again and was happy to see them again in a scene.
Over all this book is superb. As with all fantasy I read, I get lost in details from time to time. I think its my attention, its def a ME thing. But the writing is so well done I was able to gain my footing every time.
Recommend for fans of fantasy romance, magical realism books, and dark romance.
This book is truly epic.
It is a wonderful balance of mythical arts, folklore, epic love story and great steam!
The fact that so many premises in books that I am weary of like, Dub Con, fated mates, obsessive and overbearing Hero, and many other fierce elements of dark romance were an essential element of this and I welcomed each new detail with eagerness, def speaks to the wonderful writing and world building.
I truly cherish the way this book also taught me so much of the indigenous culture of El Salvador, well one little slice of the pie. So many cultural elements are a part of countries. But I enjoyed learning so much even of the agricultural things the land provides for its people. And the setting of this book stands so strong on its own, I can see many more stories taking place here and me continue learning about it.
The romance woven with fantasy like fated mates of cadejo (similar to what we know as werewolves) truly set a great landscape for the over the top feelings the character feels. Such intense feelings of lust, love, betrayal, anger, all of it, its so over the top but it all fits and goes well. I am not going to lie I love how obsessed the hero is with the FMC, he eats breathes and works for her. He is so possessive, doesnt want to let her out of his sight, and I gobbled the obsession like it was my last meal.
There are also an amazing supporting cast of characters I low key, high key love all the men that flirted with the FMC. I just love that shit. I love all the attention she got. But all the supporting cast was so alive on paper, with such individual voices I would look forward to hearing from them again and was happy to see them again in a scene.
Over all this book is superb. As with all fantasy I read, I get lost in details from time to time. I think its my attention, its def a ME thing. But the writing is so well done I was able to gain my footing every time.
Recommend for fans of fantasy romance, magical realism books, and dark romance.
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
kindlemecozy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
This book had me feeling an array of emotions. Xsochitl is such a hardcore FMC and her character resonated with me so much. Sal was is an incredible MMC, consistently building up Xsochitl, trying to be her rock and always there to catch her 😉
This book was amazing, a dark Latin fantasy romance. If you’re into fantasy & dark romance — I’d definitely recommend this.
This book was amazing, a dark Latin fantasy romance. If you’re into fantasy & dark romance — I’d definitely recommend this.