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roussette31's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Again, this was fun to read, and more emotional than I thought it would be. I liked Rage but felt like we did not get to see his side as much as I would have wished. Also, I hope we get to see more glimpses of Marissa and Butch’s story in the next few books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Cancer, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Blood, and Infertility
Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Slavery, and Sexual assault
laureljeanreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cancer
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, and Stalking
Lots of past trauma through out for main characters and side characterssabrinacamp's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Rhage is a big softie. From taking Mary on very human dates to TGI Fridays to telling her he loves her after a few days, and that he loves her enough for the both of them, I just thought everything he did was totally adorable.
Well, almost everything. Idk how cheating wound up in a romance novel? Nor how they were able to work through it. Also how was this vampire completely in denial about Mary's terminal cancer? All of the other vampires starting with Bella knew it was bad. Honestly this doesn't even feel like romance...it feels like a romantic paranormal fiction novel. Yeah, there is a HEA but I think the romance is the subplot.
I also hate the worldbuilding, like come on, the vampires have to drink blood from other vampires? Their human mate isn't good enough? Then they might have to cheat on their mate because sometimes it gets a little sexy? That was so horrible to read, just like all of the boring action scenes/ anything having to do with the slayers. And how are these big tough vampire warrior brotherhood types so vulnerable to everything including the police showing up to crime scenes and bullets? And why the ugly leather trench coats? Ewww.
All of that being said, this book got me out of a reading slump AND made me want to read Bella and Zsadist's book.
Well, almost everything. Idk how cheating wound up in a romance novel? Nor how they were able to work through it. Also how was this vampire completely in denial about Mary's terminal cancer? All of the other vampires starting with Bella knew it was bad. Honestly this doesn't even feel like romance...it feels like a romantic paranormal fiction novel. Yeah, there is a HEA but I think the romance is the subplot.
I also hate the worldbuilding, like come on, the vampires have to drink blood from other vampires? Their human mate isn't good enough? Then they might have to cheat on their mate because sometimes it gets a little sexy? That was so horrible to read, just like all of the boring action scenes/ anything having to do with the slayers. And how are these big tough vampire warrior brotherhood types so vulnerable to everything including the police showing up to crime scenes and bullets? And why the ugly leather trench coats? Ewww.
All of that being said, this book got me out of a reading slump AND made me want to read Bella and Zsadist's book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness
allingoodtime's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
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? Yes
4.5
I did not want to put this book down. I liked the first book in this series, but I loved this book. Yes, there are still issues with some of the language and references due to when it was written. You have to know that going in and have to be able to see beyond that or you will not enjoy this story. It may have some problematic language, but it is very obvious that many authors were inspired by these stories.
There was a lot I adored about this book, so I’m actually going to start with what I didn’t like so much. These stories are told from multiple POVs, not just the main couple’s. For the most part, I have enjoyed that. In the first book, I even appreciated the POV of the enemy, the lessers. In this story, I found that every time it switched to the POV of any of the lessers. Even though I found their story to be somewhat important and am sure it will be very important as this series progresses, it just brought the story down for me.
When it comes to the romance between Mary and Rhage, I couldn’t get enough. Their chemistry, their fears, their magnetism, all of it was amazing. Rhage, the guy with a beast even his brothers are terrified of inside of him, is so gentle and tender with Mary. As their bond grows and he, in fact, bonds with her in a more official way, he is beyond romantic. Unfortunately, because he is ashamed of his beast and doesn’t want to scare Mary away, she is confused by a lot of his actions and reactions. It seems to me that Mary’s cancer is the perfect metaphor for Rhage’s beast. For a long time, she wouldn’t agree with that last sentence. But Mary watched her mom waste away and die, she’s already been through one cancer batter and knows how ugly and depressing it can be, and she doesn’t want to subject anyone to her troubles. It takes her a while to open her eyes to what real love is and that she is actually being selfish by trying to keep Rhage at a distance.
The world-building in this story is great, not overshadowing the interpersonal relationships while also adding depth to the vampire/brotherhood part of this world. The friendships and bonds were also deepened and this group felt much more like a family in this book. There are a couple of characters that are introduced through Mary and they are phenomenal new additions. I have a feeling Bella and Zsadist are going to give Mary and Rhage a run for their money in the romance department. And John Matthew will be so interesting to watch grow and become a warrior.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse
pvbobrien's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Sexual assault, Body horror, Cancer, Gun violence, Infertility, and Infidelity
Minor: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Torture, Vomit, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
kaadee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
3.5
100x better than the last book!!! I was genuinely surprised at this because I thought it was going to be another bland, boring book. No, it’s not.
I loved that Mary was human! It made her so intriguing and her emotions with Rhage were so different. It took like 200 pages for them to officially hook up and that’s the best thing. Tension. There was absolutely no tension in the last book whatsoever.
Anyway. Mary is an amazing character. She has so much more depth than Beth had. Rhage is probably my favorite out of all the brothers but we will see I guess.
I’m excited for the Zsadist storyline because he’s very intriguing. They set up Bella and his story throughout this book and I can’t wait to see it flourish in the next. I. Cant. Wait.
There are the same problems I had last time like the writing style and the amount of misogyny. I had to tell myself it was just a guilty pleasure series and to just enjoy it. I’m trying.
I loved that Mary was human! It made her so intriguing and her emotions with Rhage were so different. It took like 200 pages for them to officially hook up and that’s the best thing. Tension. There was absolutely no tension in the last book whatsoever.
Anyway. Mary is an amazing character. She has so much more depth than Beth had. Rhage is probably my favorite out of all the brothers but we will see I guess.
I’m excited for the Zsadist storyline because he’s very intriguing. They set up Bella and his story throughout this book and I can’t wait to see it flourish in the next. I. Cant. Wait.
There are the same problems I had last time like the writing style and the amount of misogyny. I had to tell myself it was just a guilty pleasure series and to just enjoy it. I’m trying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping
kalira's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Cancer, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Infertility, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol
psydneigh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I did not like this one as much as the first one. I was put off by how Rhage and Mary’s relationship started because it seemed like he was forcing her and felt very nonconsensual. I also didn’t get why Rhage hid so much from her for so long. Felt kind of ridiculous. Rhage also felt like a completely different character from the one we met in the first book. I wished we saw more of Beth and John. I also don’t really care about the lesser’s perspective. I get why it’s there, but it doesn’t interest me. I will be continuing the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
kelseyrae15's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Infertility, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence
alexandrap's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture
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