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cluckieduck's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Sorry friends, but I found this one highly disappointing. And there was so much going for it too - a poly monster romance with a body-positive FMC should not have left me feeling so bored and underwhelmed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Stalking, Abandonment, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Body shaming
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Kidnapping
Minor: Hate crime
qmedna's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
First book of 2023 and it was well spent with deceived by the gargoyles. It wasn't revolutionary but having some experience with reverse harem books, this was a pretty nice read since miscommunications were actually resolved in 1-2 chapters instead of taking the entire book to resolve. I really found Alasdair loveable with all his blubbering mess of trying to find the right words and his little love letters aww .
The bad things about the book is that world building is pretty much nonexistent, you gotta know about gargoyles, witches and the other character tropes. Grace was a librarian but it was brought up like 3 times on how well she was at going through magical historical text, but then not even show how she does magical circles/wards or anything a witch could do. It felt like she was cuddled too much by the MLs to do anything. And omg even when I said miscommunication was resolved quickly, I didn't like that the author split it up. By that I mean, in the middle section, every chapter she was discovering how she was "deceived by them" (hence the name I guess) but would have appreciated if she bundled them up into one or two chapters and resolved it all together. Sex scenes were steamy and they actually had a week long courtship which was surprising. IMO could have done without the sex and it would have been just as sweet.
The bad things about the book is that world building is pretty much nonexistent, you gotta know about gargoyles, witches and the other character tropes. Grace was a librarian but it was brought up like 3 times on how well she was at going through magical historical text, but then not even show how she does magical circles/wards or anything a witch could do. It felt like she was cuddled too much by the MLs to do anything. And omg even when I said miscommunication was resolved quickly, I didn't like that the author split it up. By that I mean, in the middle section, every chapter she was discovering how she was "deceived by them" (hence the name I guess) but would have appreciated if she bundled them up into one or two chapters and resolved it all together. Sex scenes were steamy and they actually had a week long courtship which was surprising. IMO could have done without the sex and it would have been just as sweet.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming
ky_wes's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Body shaming
Moderate: Fatphobia, Stalking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death and Blood
katiekeske's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A great poly monster romance! Each love interest was well developed, and the spicy scenes were creative, hot, and full of consent. I was looking forward to reading this book for a while, and it did not disappoint!
Grace is a sweet heroine who has to work through her personal issues due to her hurtful family. She has been on some terrible dates and decides to go to the match maker at the bathhouse (the same from Stalked by the Kraken!).
This is a MMMF relationship. I thought the relationship dynamics were interesting since the Gargoyles were all already established in they own polyamorous relationship before meeting Grace.
If you see the trigger warnings, the villain in the story is responsible for thestalking, vandalism, kidnapping, and body shaming. . It's brief and not overwhelming.
Grace is a sweet heroine who has to work through her personal issues due to her hurtful family. She has been on some terrible dates and decides to go to the match maker at the bathhouse (the same from Stalked by the Kraken!).
This is a MMMF relationship. I thought the relationship dynamics were interesting since the Gargoyles were all already established in they own polyamorous relationship before meeting Grace.
If you see the trigger warnings, the villain in the story is responsible for the
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking and Grief
Minor: Body shaming and Kidnapping
karamelka_kar19's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
kad21's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming
lanorton's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love this book. To be fair she is my favorite author. I love the writing style. The amazing consent is so hard to find in monster romance. Her smut is hot but not physically impossible. I honestly have nothing to change. Itβs definitely a 4 pepper spice. Lots of detailed well written scenes but no hard core fetish or anything like that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Abandonment, Body shaming, Kidnapping, and Stalking
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
relaxing
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
4.5
As someone who does not read smut often at all I was hella into this ! This was recommended by a friend, and the Gargoyles intrigued me. The writing here is actually very well done, and the characters are fully fleshed out. Everyone has their own personality; there is no way you could confuse characters.
The world this story takes place in is also quite interesting. The magic, the paranormals, the interactions, just everything made me want to know more about this world. Grace's powers in particular are fascinating, and I love how much she connects with and adores her power.
Every spicy scene felt natural; nothing felt forced, or out of place. I thought they were well timed in the story, and that there was a great variety in the scenes themselves, so they never felt repetitive.
The reason this is a 4.5, and not a 5, is thatthe deceived part of this book happened way too much. There are 3 instances where the same character has to come clean about something, and it just got to be a, "omg, really, again !?" sort of situation.
Overall this book really took me by surprise. I started it, and just had to finish it, so I ended up reading until 3am ! Definitely going to be checking out the Kraken story next...
The world this story takes place in is also quite interesting. The magic, the paranormals, the interactions, just everything made me want to know more about this world. Grace's powers in particular are fascinating, and I love how much she connects with and adores her power.
Every spicy scene felt natural; nothing felt forced, or out of place. I thought they were well timed in the story, and that there was a great variety in the scenes themselves, so they never felt repetitive.
The reason this is a 4.5, and not a 5, is that
Overall this book really took me by surprise. I started it, and just had to finish it, so I ended up reading until 3am ! Definitely going to be checking out the Kraken story next...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Animal death and Blood
thefatpaperback's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body shaming, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Infidelity
Minor: Blood, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
book_lover56's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Spectacular....
This book gave everything with a little twist of gargoyle. There was breeding, knots, size difference and I mean significant size difference. Character development, with awesome plot writing. Like just awesome must read again. Ooo and the praise π and I discovered a kinktails in places π . This book cared everything down to the end. Love it. Must read Lillian Lark. ππππ
This book gave everything with a little twist of gargoyle. There was breeding, knots, size difference and I mean significant size difference. Character development, with awesome plot writing. Like just awesome must read again. Ooo and the praise π and I discovered a kink
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming and Stalking
Minor: Gaslighting and Emotional abuse