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adventurous
tense
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
it was a bit hard to get into first but then it gripped me good. i'm seriously considering naming this the best book with tension and banter. jaw was indeed dropped many times. the writing being a bit off sometimes didn't bother especially considering it's the authors first book. also the people comparing this to every other book can shut it do yall realise it's close to impossible to write a completely unique book. it was (way too) entertaining and that's enough!!!
ps. not a love triangle paedyn quite clearly didn't like kitt
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one feels like first draft tbh. It had potential, but every aspect of it seemed so underdeveloped. The final scene was really stupid, that king and politics don't make any sense at all. Also not enemies to lovers, it was insta love and dislike to lovers. But the ending is such a good set up to a good enemies to lovers that I might pick up the next one. Hope the next one is a bangger so I can forgive this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Paedyn is an Ordinary (no powers) living in a city of Elites (has powers). The king has convinced the Elites that the Ordinaries are diseased and ordered them to be purged. After saving the prince, she now has to compete in the Purging Trials.
This is basically the Hunger Games, the Red Queen, and Throne of Glass mixed together. The plot was not original and therefore was incredibly predictable.There is a secret resistance, she has to lie and use the prince to help the resistance, the kind prince turns brutal at her betrayal, her friend is killed to punish her, etc... It was a very YA romantasy. I found some things to be very redundant and repetitive (ie. her ocean blue eyes, daggers to the neck). I found her writing to be lacking, she falls victim to the telling instead of showing throughout the entire book. (Ie. We are told that Kai is a monster, but we don't actually see that in the book OR how Kai thinks of Jax as a brother but we never really see it).
I enjoyed the banter and tension between the MCs. I liked that it was dual POV and I enjoyed the switch to Kitts POV at the end.
Due to her writing style, the characters felt flat. I would have liked more of a backstory for these characters, that would help the readers connect more. I wish that there had been more world building and more focus on the trials. The trials almost felt like an afterthought when they were supposed to be the highlight of the book. Also, what was the point of the trails? They make no sense. Why would you want to kill off your strongest Elites?
The implied love triangle was completely unnecessary and very unoriginal. This is marketed as an enemies to lovers, but reads more as an instalove. The enemies to lovers would have made sense if Kitt were the MMC instead of Kai.
Tropes: instalove, trials, fantasy, forbidden, slow burn
This is basically the Hunger Games, the Red Queen, and Throne of Glass mixed together. The plot was not original and therefore was incredibly predictable.
I enjoyed the banter and tension between the MCs. I liked that it was dual POV and I enjoyed the switch to Kitts POV at the end.
Due to her writing style, the characters felt flat. I would have liked more of a backstory for these characters, that would help the readers connect more. I wish that there had been more world building and more focus on the trials. The trials almost felt like an afterthought when they were supposed to be the highlight of the book. Also, what was the point of the trails? They make no sense. Why would you want to kill off your strongest Elites?
The implied love triangle was completely unnecessary and very unoriginal. This is marketed as an enemies to lovers, but reads more as an instalove. The enemies to lovers would have made sense if Kitt were the MMC instead of Kai.
Tropes: instalove, trials, fantasy, forbidden, slow burn
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is amazing. Love the characters and the story line. My only problem would be some of the details (not going to spoil) not being as thoroughly explained as needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
OH MY GOD!!! I have to admit that at first, I wasn’t conviced. I thought the writing was too much « movie style », romance wasn’t my thing and characters were a bit too stereotypical for me… but then, OMG! I fell in love with everything!! The world-building, the TENSION BETWEEN KAI AND PAE, the characters, everything!! I read the last half of that book so fast, I devoured it. And then I saw that the second book wasnt coming out before July 2024 and my heart broke!!
If you’re a fan of Hunger Games, romance, bad-ass characters, then this book is for you!!
Thank you netgalley for the arc!
If you’re a fan of Hunger Games, romance, bad-ass characters, then this book is for you!!
Thank you netgalley for the arc!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Honestly really good fantasy!! I see why people liked it so much, I can say though for people who said powerless might have been a hunger games fanfic originally I can definitely see what you mean especially with pae and adena. The pace was a little slow in the beginning to set it all up but I actually enjoyed how detailed it was in the middle with the story. It felt necessary and fun especially with the trials and building their trust unlike certain books (cough cough dance of thieves) Loved their banter and tension, I'll be real I did want more pay off from the resistance esp considering how we left them at the botched hostage situation but since it's a trilogy I will let it slide because build up and all that. Do want to see what will happen in powerful and omg I feel like kitts gonna be real maven like for me. (Red queen fans if you know you know). Anywho interesting to see Kai and pae developing but also I just want this girl to find peace I'll be real so if she moves to some desert in a different kingdom I will be happy ngl.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Torture
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Really enjoyed this book.
It is Hunger Games meets Throne of Glass meets This Woven Kingdom (and even a scene that was weirdly reminiscent of HP Goblet of fire??).
The description was rich and overflowing with love and desire. Roberts seemed to channel the dramatic love of poetry. Although at times I thought her use of similes/metaphors in triples a bit tacky, their effect was nonetheless to the benefit of developing a dramatic story of forbidden desire
It is Hunger Games meets Throne of Glass meets This Woven Kingdom (and even a scene that was weirdly reminiscent of HP Goblet of fire??).
The description was rich and overflowing with love and desire. Roberts seemed to channel the dramatic love of poetry. Although at times I thought her use of similes/metaphors in triples a bit tacky, their effect was nonetheless to the benefit of developing a dramatic story of forbidden desire
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Blood