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Graphic: Child death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, War
Minor: Pregnancy
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
I thought the plot was interesting, though overwhelming, with too many plotlines being pulled in different directions which made it hard to follow at times. It has A LOT going on. You would think this maybe wouldn't be an issue in a 543 page book but even with all that real estate many of the characters weren't developed enough. It still somehow felt rushed? Really a missed opportunity to make the reader really connect with the characters. I went back and forth on both Raeve and Kaan. Sometimes I liked them and then just as quickly I found them insufferable. It's an enemies-to-lovers/miscommunication combo that was increasingly frustrating.
And then there's the very graphic sex scenes. Personally, they felt unnecessary and uncomfortable and you can't really skip through them because the characters are simultaneously having important conversation that's moving the plot along. I'm not opposed to including romance/spice in stories as a plot point but these felt needlessly graphic and vulgar in my opinion. There's spice that makes you blush and then there's spice that makes you say "ick". This book was the latter.
Finally, the end of the book felt unfinished. I understand it's intended to be part of a series, and at the end it says the second one comes out in Fall 2025, but nothing was actually brought to a close in this book. None of the problems that were introduced were solved. In other words, this book can't really be read as a standalone, which felt odd to me. Generally a story, even if it's part of a series, follows a standard arc, wrapping up at the end, while still leaving room for further exploration of additional plot lines. This just ended on what felt like a regular chapter and then there was just no more. Pretty unsatisfying.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Sexual violence
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Gore, Torture, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War
This seems to be the type of book that world work well with a kindle or the like where you can look up the meanings straight away, but as I was reading this on paper I found it confusing at times.
That being said, I'm well looking forward to the next book in this series and where it takes these characters.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Torture, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Eating disorder, Pregnancy, War
- starts with lots of cursing, torture and murder
- hard to understand/get into the world building (you're kinda thrown in without explanations)
- felt like the book was just piled with unnecessary things that get you nowhere until the last couple chapters leaving me with a sense of accomplishing nothing at the end
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing