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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
Oh, what to say about this book.
It started off pretty strong for me. I started liking the FMC and I immediately loved the MMC, but somewhere in the middle, it all fell apart. The 28-year old FMC acted like a 12-year old at the best of times, she's supposed to be the queen and yet it never felt like that for me personally.
Unfortunately, it all fell flat for me 70% through the book and I had to force myself to finish it. The first half of the book saved it from being a one star read for me. Plus the talking crow.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!
It started off pretty strong for me. I started liking the FMC and I immediately loved the MMC, but somewhere in the middle, it all fell apart. The 28-year old FMC acted like a 12-year old at the best of times, she's supposed to be the queen and yet it never felt like that for me personally.
Unfortunately, it all fell flat for me 70% through the book and I had to force myself to finish it. The first half of the book saved it from being a one star read for me. Plus the talking crow.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!
This was kind of all over the place but still enjoyable if you don’t take it very seriously and just lean into the tropes. My main issue apart from everything being entirely obvious for basically the whole book, is actually the MMC. He went from being everything you want him to be, to being like dumb and kind of giving the ick? So weird how inconsistent his character was.
This book had me reading late into the night. It was hard to put down because I had to know what was going to happen next. It has touch her and
First I want to say thank you to Caitlin Denman for sending Ming me this ARC.
I absolutely loved loved loved this book. It had me hooked from the beginning. I’m obsessed with Layla and Rune’s relationship. I had so many moments where I was just like damn and then I had some moments where I giggled. The back and forth between them was great. Also being able to watch Layla grow through out the book from the queen that shrugged her responsibilities due to grief and just wanting answers but by the end she was fighting for not only answers but for her people as well. That growth was great to see and I can’t wait till the next book.
HOWEVER, that cliffhanger……what the heck….I need the second book like now lol.
I absolutely loved loved loved this book. It had me hooked from the beginning. I’m obsessed with Layla and Rune’s relationship. I had so many moments where I was just like damn and then I had some moments where I giggled. The back and forth between them was great. Also being able to watch Layla grow through out the book from the queen that shrugged her responsibilities due to grief and just wanting answers but by the end she was fighting for not only answers but for her people as well. That growth was great to see and I can’t wait till the next book.
HOWEVER, that cliffhanger……what the heck….I need the second book like now lol.
adventurous
funny
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:
No
"Sit down before I take you on this table."
Layla is known as the Blood Queen. She'll do anything for her kingdom. After her parents' death, uncertainty and murder plague the lands. An arranged marriage to a foreign prince gives her hope for peace. However, more lies are unearthed, and Layla needs to find out the truth. Will she finally find out who murdered her parents?
Do you ever feel like a book is just alright, but you want to read the next one to see what happens? That's this book.
It's not that it was a bad book, but I found it predictable. I knew within the first few chapters who the killer was going to be. The bad vibes were definitely there.
I also felt that the main characters were wishy washy. For example, Rune was described as a cold-blooded killer one minute and acts like he's a scared child the next. He is strong and then weak in the following chapter. Layla went back and forth a lot on both love and trust. Rune and Layla relationship was very "I love you and then I hate you". Same with Layla trust in people, she lacks the ability to decide on your feelings. The inner monolog could be too much at times.
However, there are positives about the book as well. I appreciated that Rune was very protective over Layla even though she clearly doesn't need it. His cut throat attention was attractive. There was also some really good spice throughout the book, but I wanted more!!
The plot was very simple but easy to read. I didn't feel like it was long enough, and not a lot happened. The whole book left me wanting more, I would have loved for it to be longer. So yes, I want to read the next one just to see how the story continues.
Layla is known as the Blood Queen. She'll do anything for her kingdom. After her parents' death, uncertainty and murder plague the lands. An arranged marriage to a foreign prince gives her hope for peace. However, more lies are unearthed, and Layla needs to find out the truth. Will she finally find out who murdered her parents?
Do you ever feel like a book is just alright, but you want to read the next one to see what happens? That's this book.
It's not that it was a bad book, but I found it predictable. I knew within the first few chapters who the killer was going to be. The bad vibes were definitely there.
I also felt that the main characters were wishy washy. For example, Rune was described as a cold-blooded killer one minute and acts like he's a scared child the next. He is strong and then weak in the following chapter. Layla went back and forth a lot on both love and trust. Rune and Layla relationship was very "I love you and then I hate you". Same with Layla trust in people, she lacks the ability to decide on your feelings. The inner monolog could be too much at times.
However, there are positives about the book as well. I appreciated that Rune was very protective over Layla even though she clearly doesn't need it. His cut throat attention was attractive. There was also some really good spice throughout the book, but I wanted more!!
The plot was very simple but easy to read. I didn't feel like it was long enough, and not a lot happened. The whole book left me wanting more, I would have loved for it to be longer. So yes, I want to read the next one just to see how the story continues.
4.5/5 Stars
This book has everything I could ever ask for, a FMC who doesn’t need a man but isn’t bothered by having one around, a mysterious MMC and lots of fantasy and spice. Our main character is Layla and her people call her the blood queen, because of one incident she had. Her parents were murdered, and she hopes to eventually find the murderer. She has to marry a foreign prince since it was one of the last things her parents wanted before they died.
I loved Layla, she was a fmc that i absolutely adored, because honestly sometimes reading about a fmc who doesn’t rely on a man is refreshing especially since most fantasies it seems the fmcs do. I loved Rune too, he was super mysterious and his character especially during the spicy scenes was hot. And the spicy scenes / romance scenes we did get 5/5 stars for spice, I loved every second of it.
The world building was okay, it felt like some things I should’ve known I didn’t which was fine at times but others I was just like what? Otherwise I enjoyed how the magic worked and the concept of soul shards. ( I absolutely loved Keir! )
The ending was a cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to read the next book! Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This book has everything I could ever ask for, a FMC who doesn’t need a man but isn’t bothered by having one around, a mysterious MMC and lots of fantasy and spice. Our main character is Layla and her people call her the blood queen, because of one incident she had. Her parents were murdered, and she hopes to eventually find the murderer. She has to marry a foreign prince since it was one of the last things her parents wanted before they died.
I loved Layla, she was a fmc that i absolutely adored, because honestly sometimes reading about a fmc who doesn’t rely on a man is refreshing especially since most fantasies it seems the fmcs do. I loved Rune too, he was super mysterious and his character especially during the spicy scenes was hot. And the spicy scenes / romance scenes we did get 5/5 stars for spice, I loved every second of it.
The world building was okay, it felt like some things I should’ve known I didn’t which was fine at times but others I was just like what? Otherwise I enjoyed how the magic worked and the concept of soul shards. ( I absolutely loved Keir! )
The ending was a cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to read the next book! Thank you to Netgalley and Victory Editing for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)
Somewhere between 2.5 - 3 stars. I think the biggest thing I struggled with is I didn't really like the two main characters. (Keir and Betsy were great though.) They were kind of toxic together. Most of their interactions were one of the Fs and there wasn't much character development. Sometimes Rune felt like two totally different people?
Felt like there were a lot of random parts and it just kind of jumped around plot wise. Also Layla really couldn't figure out who the bad guy was??? I understand a good cliffhanger but this one just felt abrupt.
Somewhere between 2.5 - 3 stars. I think the biggest thing I struggled with is I didn't really like the two main characters. (Keir and Betsy were great though.) They were kind of toxic together. Most of their interactions were one of the Fs and there wasn't much character development. Sometimes Rune felt like two totally different people?
Felt like there were a lot of random parts and it just kind of jumped around plot wise. Also Layla really couldn't figure out who the bad guy was??? I understand a good cliffhanger but this one just felt abrupt.
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced