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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
slow-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
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m so unbelievably sad I didn’t like this book 😭 it was one of my most anticipated reads and then it was such a let down!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Phew! Relieved to be done with this. Wanted to give up many times but didn’t as someone recommended it.
The writing is uneven and the story at times utterly unbelievable. Emotional expressions fall flat and make no sense. The “romantic” tension between the lovers sound like an average man had written this: Zero actual dialogue, a terrible sex scene entirely focused on a man’s pleasure. I physically cringed.
Some platitudes don’t make sense (“she hadn’t smiled since [character] died - ok, that was legit yesterday] or mirror abuse-adjacent toxicity (“to be in love means to be used over and over again and not wanting it to stop”).
After attempting 3 different types of (straight) romance books that were recommend to me, I am calling the cis-het version of them done and over with for me. I simply need more substance between lovers.
The writing is uneven and the story at times utterly unbelievable. Emotional expressions fall flat and make no sense. The “romantic” tension between the lovers sound like an average man had written this: Zero actual dialogue, a terrible sex scene entirely focused on a man’s pleasure. I physically cringed.
Some platitudes don’t make sense (“she hadn’t smiled since [character] died - ok, that was legit yesterday] or mirror abuse-adjacent toxicity (“to be in love means to be used over and over again and not wanting it to stop”).
After attempting 3 different types of (straight) romance books that were recommend to me, I am calling the cis-het version of them done and over with for me. I simply need more substance between lovers.
From the promos I saw of this book by the author I expected more vengeance more fire more rage. I know it’s the first book and it’s building, but certain parts dragged on. Overall this was a good fun read, the reveal at the end was surprising.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
This book took me ages to read.
Things I enjoyed:
Things I enjoyed:
- Some great sentences
- The culture imbued in the story
- The premise
Things I found difficult:
- There is a very jarring mix of old-fashioned settings with new-age technologies. The premise and basic setting makes me imagine a medieval fantasy world, and then suddenly there's holopods and reporters and all this technology that didn't feel naturally blended
- A lot of politics in the first half. This one is my bad because the synopsis did warn me about that
- Many scenes were written in a way that lacked impact, and were over before I even knew what was happening. Key scenes felt underwhelming. Examples:
Ferma dying, Leo dying, Elena & Yassen finally hooking up, etc. literally everything big that happened was over within 1/2 a page
Overall an interesting premise and plot, but not quite executed in a way that I found engaging.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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:
Complicated