Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Exquisite Ruin is a book that keeps us guessing. Even Sadaré herself doesn't know what's happening. However, May does a fabulous job at creating, and sustaining, this tension. We are slowly both introduced to Sadare and Daesra's relationship. We witness their betrayals, love, and trust. What happened to them and why are they both trapped in the maze? Exquisite Ruin is a book that only builds. By the end I was entirely entranced. I loved how Exquisite Ruin explores control, love, and trust in relationships and with ourselves.
Exquisite Ruin is a book that keeps us guessing. Even Sadaré herself doesn't know what's happening. However, May does a fabulous job at creating, and sustaining, this tension. We are slowly both introduced to Sadare and Daesra's relationship. We witness their betrayals, love, and trust. What happened to them and why are they both trapped in the maze? Exquisite Ruin is a book that only builds. By the end I was entirely entranced. I loved how Exquisite Ruin explores control, love, and trust in relationships and with ourselves.
This book bored me so much and I read reviews from people and they said it bored them too and that the twist at the end is weird and confusing.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an interesting minotaur retelling, but I can't speak to how closely it followed that storyline, as I didn't reread it for a reference. The beginning is a little confusing, but considering that the POV it's in, it makes sense. I also give grace in fantasy novels because the beginning of books tend to be slower with the world building and laying the ground work.
I like the mix of past memories and what was presently happening. I like how it feels she has a redemption arc from her past choices, which consistently get blocks from her now enemy.
I thought the sidekick pet was a cute idea and how looks can be deceiving. (Very much an echo to what's actually happening)
This book is definitely for adults that like to read dark and kink style books. Highly recommend reading the TW list. There is a lot more graphic self induced pain than I anticipated, and don't think most people would be ok with reading it.
I would recommend this to dark dark romance readers.
I like the mix of past memories and what was presently happening. I like how it feels she has a redemption arc from her past choices, which consistently get blocks from her now enemy.
I thought the sidekick pet was a cute idea and how looks can be deceiving. (Very much an echo to what's actually happening)
This book is definitely for adults that like to read dark and kink style books. Highly recommend reading the TW list. There is a lot more graphic self induced pain than I anticipated, and don't think most people would be ok with reading it.
I would recommend this to dark dark romance readers.
Interesting premise and a great twist at the end, but I never felt the danger they were in. Being in the labyrinth, there are really only 2 characters and that made this slow burn feel very slow.
Thank you Gallery Books for the gifted ARC
Thank you Gallery Books for the gifted ARC
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you Gallery Books for gifting me this book!
This book is a perfect mix of dark romance and fantasy. For those girls who love tension and banter it starts from page one with one being somewhat familiar what is going on and the other having no memory. They have chemistry and hate that makes you not want to put down the book. The challenges they face are fast paced and create the perfect atmosphere for those who want nitty gritty fantasy world. This book you think you know where it's going but there is so many little twists that it keeps it engaging. The spice I would put at a 3/5 it's got a lot of sexual tension and kinks so please check trigger warnings.
This book is a perfect mix of dark romance and fantasy. For those girls who love tension and banter it starts from page one with one being somewhat familiar what is going on and the other having no memory. They have chemistry and hate that makes you not want to put down the book. The challenges they face are fast paced and create the perfect atmosphere for those who want nitty gritty fantasy world. This book you think you know where it's going but there is so many little twists that it keeps it engaging. The spice I would put at a 3/5 it's got a lot of sexual tension and kinks so please check trigger warnings.
Exquisite Ruin is a dark romantic retelling of the Minotaur myth. With that in mind, I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings because there are a lot of them. I find amnesia storylines to be fascinating especially in fantasy reads, so Exquisite Ruin was already a win for me in that regard. It created some really interesting plot twists and revelations that I wasn’t expecting. I tend to be pretty good at guessing twists but this book left my head spinning. While we don’t get to experience much world building aside from the labyrinth due to the FMC’s amnesia, I did enjoy how May crafted the labyrinth itself and the thought put into the magic system. I also felt that both the FMC and MMC were richly developed and highly interesting characters. This is also quite a spicy read, so if you’re not a fan of high spice stories, I would recommend steering clear of this one. The biggest struggle I had with this book was the ending. I can’t describe it because of spoilers, but it’s odd. There’s really no other way for me to describe it. I read this via audiobook and loved the decision to use two narrators to voice the main characters. With the story pretty much entirely revolving around them, having separate narrators really enhanced the listening experience. I also felt that both did well bringing emotion and energy to the narration, which increased my enjoyment.
✨
✨
ARC courtesy of Gallery Books
ALC courtesy of Simon Audio
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my new favorite greek retelling. Thank you to Gallery books for the physical ARC . When I received this I didn’t know what to expect from the book, all I knew was that is was and Ariadne and minotaur retelling of some kind. But wow did I love the twists, hints and familiarity of the story. I loved reading about i don’t usually like the amnesia trope (not my favorite) but I very much enjoyed the mystery it brought to the story. Sadare who wakes up in the labyrinth, with no memories and with her now ex-lover, Daesra, who is a daemon, must work on surviving and also recover her memories. I loved reading how these two must work together but also can’t trust each other since betrayals are still fresh in both their minds. I especially enjoyed the banter and the full rollercoaster of emotions these two characters show. Then comes the ending which shocked me. Like what happened? It made me questioned everything I had read to that point. It was a very clever twist that I think will have several people twisting their heads. It was full of sacrifice, reflection and all the emotions you see in the book. The beginning was thrilling, the middle was emotional and the ending was so bittersweet. I truly think the dark fantasy readers will devour this one I certainly lost a saturday to reading this thrill of a book