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There's lyrical prose, fantastic world building, and amazing dragon lore.
But there's also a severe lack of satisfying narrative arcs.
And for over 500 pages of story, there's so many things that were only addressed once or twice that really could have helped the pacing if they had been brought up again.
Please keep in mind that I'm also grey-ace, so while the sex scenes were well written it was mostly frustrating to have to sit through them when there could have been more time spent on, well, some semblance of a plot.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gore, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Misogyny, Grief, Pregnancy, War
I'm kinda sad I only listened to this as entertaining while sick in bed.
After I had it on my wishlist for a long time and almost accidentaly ordered it twice based of an arc Review AND a coworker saying this is close to dethroning ToG for her, I was so excited for this.
And in the beginning I thought this was gonna be a year-highlight.
Don't get me wrong, I loved it!!
But in the end, there was some emotional connection missing for me. This could be entirely based on my state of mind atm, so I am really excited to read the next book(s) and will recommend this to anyone who'll listen.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Classism
The main character was driving me insane for most of the book. 😞
There was no growth and her anger seemed so unhinged at times. Like she’s smart and powerful but her smart remarks were not thought out well. A lot of repetitive usage of words. It all seemed rushed when it came to the writing. The use of the word fuck seemed so out of place BUT maybe it’s because I listened to the book. 🤷🏼♀️ idk. The main male character was cool but I felt so bad for him. I would read the next book when it comes out because I want to know how this war and all the secrets play out.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing
Minor: Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Xenophobia, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy
Fantasy Romance
Multi POV
Unique magic system
Assassin FMC
Dragons
Secrets
Politics
Flashbacks
I started out with all 3 mediums of consuming this book. I put the audiobook aside fairly quickly due to finding the female narrator to be to be lacking the inflection to keep my interest. I stopped listening and quickly went to my ebook to start over.
But I highly recommend listening to chapter 15, if you have the audiobook available. As well as any following that feature the characters in the chapter.
The prologue was so beautifully used to start the world-building and laying down the groundwork for this to be the start of a very intricate and intense series! Once I got to Chapter 15, I was all in. That was when the book differentiated itself from other assassin FMC books, for me.
The plot was very steady, providing the breath catching moments that kept me at the edge of my seat as well as moments settling in and showing the softer side of the characters. This made it so easy to relate to, and like, the characters.
I loved it. It lived up to all the hype I saw.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Sexism, Vomit, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism