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samellecooke's review
adventurous
medium-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? It's complicated
2.5
Where it seems like most people preferred this book to The Bridge Kingdom, I preferred book one. This book just didn't land for me. It was good, but not great. The flow was choppy to me and got worse as the book progressed. I read one review that said they felt the beginning was rushed. In a strange way for me the entire book was equal parts rushed and equal parts painstakingly slow.
The will they, won't they of Lara and Aren became too repetitive for me. Just make up your mind already. This approach could work, but in this case I didn't feel like it was executed well enough to be pulled off. The ending is what really did me in, however, resulting in the low star rating. The sharks essentially "choosing" Lara's fate was silly to me. Killing her off at the last minute to only resuscitate her the next moment and then have the book end 2 minutes later was annoying and reader's emotional bandwidth.
I was looking forward to reading the remaining two books in the series, but now am not so sure.
I was looking forward to reading the remaining two books in the series, but now am not so sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content and Torture
emma_fay's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minus a star for the smut scene right after someone got their sliced to the bone leg wound stitched up. That was nasty and irresponsible.
Despite that lol I love this world and these characters, as basic as they are, SO MUCH ⚔️
The ending made me cry.
Also take a shot every time the author uses the word ‘respite’ in this series to describe something. Now that I’ve pointed it out you won’t be able to unsee it ur welcome
Despite that lol I love this world and these characters, as basic as they are, SO MUCH ⚔️
The ending made me cry.
Also take a shot every time the author uses the word ‘respite’ in this series to describe something. Now that I’ve pointed it out you won’t be able to unsee it ur welcome
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
marshii1390's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment and War
sleepysapph_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
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
4.0
I have mixed feeelinggsss, but overall I really enjoyed this and it honestly helped bring back the joy of reading for me.
So, the things I liked:
- I absolutely loved getting to see the interactions between Lara and her sisters. It gave Lara more depth while also adding to the story without muddying it. Honestly would’ve been happy to see even more of them throughout the book 😩
- The actionnnnn. Getting to see Lara fully unleash herself and fight was *chefs kiss*
- Getting to see different parts of the world and the way they functioned. I feel like it really widened the universe and kept it from being this small condensed thing. It really showed the gravity of the decisions being made and what the consequences looked like.
Now for the things I wasn’t particularly fond of, and to be fair this will have spoilers so like.. proceed with caution:
- Although I understood why Aren was rightfully pissed off, it did start to annoy me and I genuinely rolled my eyes a few times. But all men are dumb so I can’t be surprised that fictional ones are too.
- The ending. So much was happening and I kept being like “there’s not enough pages left for this”. And maybe it’s just my personal preferences BUT:
1) I wanted to see Lara’s father suffer WAY more than he did. It felt too easy, was over in the blink of an eye.
2) I desperately wanted more time with Aren and Lara actually HAPPY, like hello????
3) I’m supposed to believe all these people spitting at her, wanting her dead, screaming profanities at her etc. all decided to chill because.. the sharks didn’t eat her… okay ya sure totally!!!
I’m interested in reading book 3, but from my current understanding it doesn’t follow Lara and Aren, and if that’s truly the case.. I’m not sure I care enough to read about anyone else.. IM SORRY OKAY 😭😭
So, the things I liked:
- I absolutely loved getting to see the interactions between Lara and her sisters. It gave Lara more depth while also adding to the story without muddying it. Honestly would’ve been happy to see even more of them throughout the book 😩
- The actionnnnn. Getting to see Lara fully unleash herself and fight was *chefs kiss*
- Getting to see different parts of the world and the way they functioned. I feel like it really widened the universe and kept it from being this small condensed thing. It really showed the gravity of the decisions being made and what the consequences looked like.
Now for the things I wasn’t particularly fond of, and to be fair this will have spoilers so like.. proceed with caution:
- Although I understood why Aren was rightfully pissed off, it did start to annoy me and I genuinely rolled my eyes a few times. But all men are dumb so I can’t be surprised that fictional ones are too.
- The ending. So much was happening and I kept being like “there’s not enough pages left for this”. And maybe it’s just my personal preferences BUT:
1) I wanted to see Lara’s father suffer WAY more than he did. It felt too easy, was over in the blink of an eye.
2) I desperately wanted more time with Aren and Lara actually HAPPY, like hello????
3) I’m supposed to believe all these people spitting at her, wanting her dead, screaming profanities at her etc. all decided to chill because.. the sharks didn’t eat her… okay ya sure totally!!!
I’m interested in reading book 3, but from my current understanding it doesn’t follow Lara and Aren, and if that’s truly the case.. I’m not sure I care enough to read about anyone else.. IM SORRY OKAY 😭😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Death, Gore, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
hellodebbies's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
5.0
One of the best read this year !!
I really enjoyed the plot and how it unfolded at the end. It was a bit slow during the desert part but that was fair honestly. The characters were awesome and the tension between Aren and Lara was perfect ! The ennemies to lovers was incredible and I said that as someone who isn't fond of them.
I really enjoyed the plot and how it unfolded at the end. It was a bit slow during the desert part but that was fair honestly. The characters were awesome and the tension between Aren and Lara was perfect ! The ennemies to lovers was incredible and I said that as someone who isn't fond of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
kobookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
4.5
I don’t remember when she learned how to swim - that’s the only reason I gave a 4.5 cause that was such a big plot hole. Otherwise great second book! So tense! Will definitely keep reading the series. I feel like this is actually a true enemies to lovers
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and War
dani_reis's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death and Child death
hannahbailey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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? Yes
2.0
The first one, whilst lacking in world-building, had strong and likeable characters I could get behind. I'm giving this one a generous two stars for the plot, which again, was pretty fun and complex. It started off great with the reunion of certain characters mentioned in the first book, but then went in a totally different direction and we never heard from them again -- such wasted potential! The FMC was put in more and more ridiculous misogynistic situations to humiliate her without it adding anything to the narrative -- all whilst the love interest stood by and watched. I couldn't get behind their relationship anymore and the dialogue/chemistry between them was pretty bad which was such a shame.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War
aamie's review
A good sequel! It didn’t pick up as excitingly as the first book but it was eventful and def more heart wrenching following on from the first. Pretty fast paced, easy to read and enjoyable plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
elsa__reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War