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alejandra_guerrero's review against another edition
3.75
First, I like Rathbone, but this should have been part of the LOTU series, and more focused on that, instead of forcibly inserting it here, and taking the focus away from the Astra (I really, really don’t like Azar, and if Lore is his gravita, I absolutely don’t want to read their story. Also, when will we have Hades' story?).
Second, I didn’t like the way Neeka is written. Supposedly, she’s deaf, and only learned to speak thanks to Taliyah, but… she doesn’t give me that impression. There are way too many auditory evoking words and descriptions in her POVs. She describes some sounds she –supposedly– doesn’t hear, and let’s not forget that lip-reading in some of the situations she finds herself in would be next to impossible, even for an immortal. And she’s easily distracted, which would make it even more difficult.
Third, there were a lot of funny moments, though the spice was kinda disappointing. It was a slow burn, but in the end, the sex scenes felt almost fade-to-black, so generic and underwhelming.
Finally, I hated the ending. Not with Rathbone and Neeka, their story had a HEA, but with the Astra, and the set up for the next installment. Not liking the implication that, once again, the focus would be divided, this time between Silver and Azar (who I really don’t like).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Child abuse
allingoodtime's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.0
This story is a bit different than the others in this series as it doesn’t center on the Astra and his challenge, but on the people who are attempting to stop the Astra from completing his goal. There are times we get the POV of Azra, the Astra who is attempting to bring the goddess Lore back to life. We even get Lore’s POV a time or two. But for the most part, this story is told from the POV of Rathbone (Lore’s husband when she was killed) and Neeka, a harpy who is also an oracle.
Rathbone is under the illusion that Lore is his fated mate and he must bring her back to life and protect her. Neeka knows that bringing Lore back will spell doom for the Harpy Nation as well as the Astra, and is she really Rathbone’s fated mate? Neeka has a feeling there is more to Lore than meets the eye. With everyone seeming to be working against each other as they are outwardly helping each other, it’s a tangled web. As the story progresses, Rathbone finds more and more to admire about his harpy oracle. Neeka goes from trying to hinder Rathbone’s progress to doing all she can to protect him.
The banter between Neeka and Rathbone is fun and witty. Although they start working together somewhat under duress, they are a lot alike and start to admire each other’s skills and cunning. Plus, they have great chemistry that soon cannot be denied.
Both Neeka and Rathbone have incredibly terrible parents. This has left both with deep scars that feed their insecurities. Neither trusts easily and both expect to be rejected at every turn. This, of course, means they understand each other in ways nobody else does. There are times when the way Rathbone reacts to things Neeka does breaks my heart. She gives him chance after chance and he messes up a lot. Once he gets his head on straight, these two are unstoppable.
As much as I ended up enjoying this story, it was a slow starter. Because I am familiar with this author and this series, I trusted her and kept reading. I was glued to the last half of this book, the same cannot be said for the beginning. It was interesting and important to the overall story but wasn’t quite as engaging.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Torture
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