Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Lightlark

This book made me want to never see a question mark again.

All tell, no show.

Constant explanation of what was being implied instead of just letting the reader understand the implications/piece things together themselves. Poor character depth and very rushed connections between characters. A confused pacing with the characters spending most of their time looking for a particular object in far too many different locations: searches that yielded nothing for the plot or character development, only there to add in tired worldbuilding/lore and fill more pages with words.

A complete over use of clichés and tired tropes, and while this could be true of most books, the author doesn't succeed in making them interesting or fun, meerly laughable.

I have never read a book that felt more like it was in its second or third draft. Characters had no depth, the story felt bored of itself, and things were either not explained enough or completely over-explained. (I couldn't tell you want anyone or anyplace looked like apart from vague, broad descriptors.)

Isla was a character that could do no wrong and was oh so special in the most grating of ways. Boring and plain. The same can be said for her love interests - Oro and Grim - who felt more like vague ideas of a character and less like actual people.

As frustrating, sometimes baffleing, and terribly written as this book is there certainly was a glimmer of something that could potentially be good, but considering this book went through multiple edits and this is the final product, I don't think Aster is the one capable of making it work. At least not without a serious marked improvement in her writing skills.

The half star is for the occasional gasp I had towards a plot twist (admittedly often followed by a laugh) and the memes me and my friend got to make because of this book, we had fun.

Content Warnings

nicoley3's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

This story needed to be more thoroughly developed and edited. Descriptions were often weird or nonsensical (someone drank spoiled water?), the world building was incomplete, and the magic system was kind of a mess. I felt like I needed a map for all the different kinds of powers each faction held because they all had so many. And on top of that, some characters had additional special secret powers unique to them. I actually couldn’t keep up with all the different powers each character had, so I gave up and kind of submitted to a feeling of deus ex machina every time each character exhibited a new useful power just in the nick of time.

The romance confounded me.

Right out of the gate, Grim was gunning for Isla but the only interactions they ever had seemed to involve him making comments about her body and insinuations about what he wanted to do with her. We find out later that they have been lovers and he just erased her memory so she wouldn’t remember him BUT THAT’S a whole other set of issues. For the vast majority of the book, I couldn’t understand what he saw in her or what she saw in him—because there were literally no interactions of substance. They never talked about anything remotely interesting. And he is 500+ years old while she’s somewhere south of 25 and had been completely sheltered/cut off from the world her entire life. Anytime she asked him if he’d do something for her, which happened quite a few times, he always immediately said “anything” even though he couldn’t follow through once or twice. I was happy when she ended up with someone else, but he is also 500+ years old. So I ended up being a little less repulsed because she actually got to know the other guy and he didn’t spend every breath hitting on her, but I am still confused as to how the other guy was interested in her.

The villain’s big reveal at the end actually made me laugh because there were so many inane plot twists shoved into one lengthy monologue. At least 7 and I’m deciding to stop counting there.

I finished the book, so that’s something.

Content Warnings

mypatronusisajedi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

gardevoird's review against another edition

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adventurous sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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