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lin3han's review
I knew I should have DNFed at 10% when I wasn’t sure. My New Years Resolution was to DNF books I don’t like. I did so at about 70% of this book. Judge this book by its cover.
The writing is like Wattpad fanfic level. The romance is meh at absolute best, extremely uncomfortable at worst. Kamsin is more happy when hanging out with an 8 year old thief than with this weirdo king. Overall BORING! 1/5 for bamboozling me to continue until 70% of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Torture
Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, War, and Sexual assault
audreading's review
I am so shocked that no one is talking about how problematic the themes in this book are. We start out with very incestuous tones from the very beginning before Khamsin is even an adult. And then we have Wynter. At first I thought he seemed like a decent dude. But then I started seeing red flags in the way he talked about the princesses as objects at his disposal. There is a power dynamic there that gets extremely concerning. But I kept reading. And then I got to the part where he meets Khamsin. This section was absolutely appalling. He doesn’t know this girl, thinks she’s a maid, and shoves his crotch against her. He then proceeds to feel up her chest and think disgusting things about her, all while she’s screaming for him to let her go. The author knew what she was doing too, considering Wynter literally has to tell himself he’s not a rapist, but then continues touching and kissing her anyway, thinking to himself that she likes it. It’s textbook sexual assault. I am so upset that people think this is okay, and beyond that actually think it’s sexy. CONSENT IS SEXY. I read romance to escape the real men of the world and see men who actually care about women and see them as human! And that can still involve consensual dominance! I am in no way a prude, I just don’t think assault is hot. Good writers know how to create sexual tension without making it non-consensual. I can’t trust the people who recommended this book at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Child abuse
Do not read if you don’t want to read about a male lead sexually assaulting a female lead!kitten638897's review
Had this one on my TBR for a while and was excited to read it. Wow was I disappointed. MMC tries to rape FMC. DNF
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
emwith's review against another edition
It really starts with sexual assault (something i would consider rape) and he just says "i'm not a rapist", yes you are. also it's just lust=love in this book, which is not my favorite
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent and Violence
Minor: Abandonment
merlinandrose's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: War and Sexual assault
lozziereads's review
this is book is sooo...lacking in consent. i like magic but i do not like men who willingly admit to the desire to sexually assault women.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Cursing, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement
kellylibrarian's review
Boring and so much misogyny.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
Moderate: Rape
bookwisp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Re-read. Yikes. This one was a mess. I've read some of CL Wilson's other stuff, namely the Tairen Soul series. (I'm fond of that series, despite its flaws, as it introduced me to the fantasy romance subgenre.) I vaguely remembered giving up on this one before, but didn't think much of it as I went through a BIG reading slump a few years back because [*gestures vaguely*] life.
The pacing is erratic; the characterisation - what little there is - is frustrating; and the plot dives off the Cliff of Wish Fulfilment straight into the Ocean of 'Sure, Jan'. I reached for this novel because I wanted to read a ridiculous (and I use that term fondly) fantasy romance, but, for me, this was just a bit too much done not quite well enough.
The pacing is erratic; the characterisation - what little there is - is frustrating; and the plot dives off the Cliff of Wish Fulfilment straight into the Ocean of 'Sure, Jan'. I reached for this novel because I wanted to read a ridiculous (and I use that term fondly) fantasy romance, but, for me, this was just a bit too much done not quite well enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
greisreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
I read this because I saw a tiktok that had me completely sold on it. It's important to note that I stuck around only for the enemies-to-lovers romance. I literally did not care for any other aspect of it.
The romance was chef's kiss. Literally everything I love. I can't explain why but I go absolutely feral for the trope of "male love interest who was betrayed by a former love/fiance and is now closed off and wary of any future spouse and questions their loyalty and love." This very much bodied this trope. The tension, the pining, the animosity, it was all chef's kiss.
Also, if you're going into this with any feminist standards...um. Abandon them.
The writing was ok, not the greatest thing I've ever read but also not the worst (those spots are reserved exclusively for male authors and P. C. Cast). The world-building didn't really stick with me, I thought it was pretty underdeveloped personally and like kind of difficult to make heads or tails of so I stopped trying. Most of the plot also was not to my taste, I kind of wish there was the same romantic arc just like different and less mention of Roland Soldeus because my God we really couldn't escape him.
So I would read it for the romance but I would avoid it if you really really care about plot and other relevant aspects of story-telling.
The romance was chef's kiss. Literally everything I love. I can't explain why but I go absolutely feral for the trope of "male love interest who was betrayed by a former love/fiance and is now closed off and wary of any future spouse and questions their loyalty and love." This very much bodied this trope. The tension, the pining, the animosity, it was all chef's kiss.
Also, if you're going into this with any feminist standards...um. Abandon them.
The writing was ok, not the greatest thing I've ever read but also not the worst (those spots are reserved exclusively for male authors and P. C. Cast). The world-building didn't really stick with me, I thought it was pretty underdeveloped personally and like kind of difficult to make heads or tails of so I stopped trying. Most of the plot also was not to my taste, I kind of wish there was the same romantic arc just like different and less mention of Roland Soldeus because my God we really couldn't escape him.
So I would read it for the romance but I would avoid it if you really really care about plot and other relevant aspects of story-telling.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
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