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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Never in my life have I been so glad for a review website to have a rating option that is lower than 1 star. This book is horrendous. The pacing feels rushed, especially in the last fourth of the book. The switching POVs between Alix and Daemon are weird because they end up leaving a lot of gaps between scenes. I feel like I was constantly reading sentences to the tune of "I don't know how we got here. One minute I was doing (x), and suddenly I found myself doing (y)." It felt like the author didn't know how to connect scenes together in a seamless way so she just decided to switch the POV and thought that was good enough.
Also, Alix has virtually zero personality beyond liking to play violin (which is very clumsily inserted only a handful of times within the book in a way that feels like the author kept forgetting that her FMC plays violin) and being so horny for Daemon. Daemon's no better; his defining personality traits include being kind of a dick to his so-called "found family", getting pissed to the point of idiocy whenever someone touches Alix, and, of course, being so horny for Alix. They're boring, cardboard characters that I couldn't bring myself to really connect to or care about.
The soul-bond that Daemon and Alix share is so uneven it almost feels forced. I understand that Daemon's whole deal is that he's possessive of Alix, but throughout the book, he seemed to be more into Alix than Alix was into him. And of course, there were no strong reasons why Daemon and Alix were into each other; reasons like, you know, defining personality traits and mannerisms beyond being hot and horny. I will say, one redeeming quality that this book has is that both Alix and Daemon have the agency to opt in to the soul-bond as opposed to it being a predestined innate trait that neither party can avoid.
Alix's pop culture references are tired and out of place, and I really dislike her unwillingness to play along and make an effort to accept that the fairy world isn't like the real world. Is she really so obsessed with her pop culture references that she can't stop to even consider that people in Vernalis aren't going to understand what the Hogwarts Express is? (Also, a Harry Potter reference in the year of our lord 2025? Yikes.) She's sassy in the same way characters in the MCU are sassy which is to say, she thinks having little quippy isms and references makes her witty. It doesn't. It took me out of the story every single time.
I could go on to complain about the way that every side character was basically one dimensional unless with was to set up a sequel book. Or how King Thorn was such a boring antagonist that by the time it was revealed that he had killed his former wives in what should've been a delightful Bluebeard twist, I wasn't even that surprised or horrified. Or how so many parts of this book were a blatant attempt to ride the coat-tails of more successful books. But I'll end my review here. I don't dislike the romantasy genre, but this was just plain bad writing.
Also, Alix has virtually zero personality beyond liking to play violin (which is very clumsily inserted only a handful of times within the book in a way that feels like the author kept forgetting that her FMC plays violin) and being so horny for Daemon. Daemon's no better; his defining personality traits include being kind of a dick to his so-called "found family", getting pissed to the point of idiocy whenever someone touches Alix, and, of course, being so horny for Alix. They're boring, cardboard characters that I couldn't bring myself to really connect to or care about.
The soul-bond that Daemon and Alix share is so uneven it almost feels forced. I understand that Daemon's whole deal is that he's possessive of Alix, but throughout the book, he seemed to be more into Alix than Alix was into him. And of course, there were no strong reasons why Daemon and Alix were into each other; reasons like, you know, defining personality traits and mannerisms beyond being hot and horny. I will say, one redeeming quality that this book has is that both Alix and Daemon have the agency to opt in to the soul-bond as opposed to it being a predestined innate trait that neither party can avoid.
Alix's pop culture references are tired and out of place, and I really dislike her unwillingness to play along and make an effort to accept that the fairy world isn't like the real world. Is she really so obsessed with her pop culture references that she can't stop to even consider that people in Vernalis aren't going to understand what the Hogwarts Express is? (Also, a Harry Potter reference in the year of our lord 2025? Yikes.) She's sassy in the same way characters in the MCU are sassy which is to say, she thinks having little quippy isms and references makes her witty. It doesn't. It took me out of the story every single time.
I could go on to complain about the way that every side character was basically one dimensional unless with was to set up a sequel book. Or how King Thorn was such a boring antagonist that by the time it was revealed that he had killed his former wives in what should've been a delightful Bluebeard twist, I wasn't even that surprised or horrified. Or how so many parts of this book were a blatant attempt to ride the coat-tails of more successful books. But I'll end my review here. I don't dislike the romantasy genre, but this was just plain bad writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Kidnapping
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
adventurous
lighthearted
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:
No