Reviews

First of all, the romance in this book was quite laughable. I was already expecting the worst since the romance in the first book was so bad but somehow this was worse than I could’ve possibly imagined.

Second of all, I have a list of questions that either don’t really get answered, or were answered and I didn’t notice (either way it was NOT made very clear). These will be in no particular order.

1. We don’t really get any sort of origin as to what a venin/dark wielder is or how one becomes this. I thought it was just some bad dude and then magically at the end of the book Jack who was revived from the dead is one?? And she’s all like how didn’t I notice that his eyes were red? But how would the reader know either since it isn’t explained that the red ring in the eyes is a sign that they’ve become venin until the last 100ish pages of the book

2. Why is her dragon ALWAYS 1 minute away. Constantly it’s like I’m in imminent danger but oh no Tairn is 1 minute away. Like what a convenient plot device!

3. Cat as an entire character confuses me. Is she just there so that a character can hate Violet? I don’t understand the purpose.

4. What is the luminary. I swear I was trying to pay attention and I still don’t know what it is, what it does, and why they need it

5. I’m circling back to why is Violets power lightning and what makes that so much better than everything else. Like Xadens shadow thing seems way better. Also they’re like oh your signet is tied to like your personality or whatever, so then why lightning

6. Jack. I still don’t get what’s going on there. Why wasn’t he dead dead, why weren’t people more sus of him when he literally actively tried to kill a dragon and Violet just for fun. Like the entire time I’m just thinking when is Jack gonna do some evil shit and why is no one concerned and they’re just healing him

7. Violet and Xadens fights. They fight about the exact same thing over and over again and then magically at the end of the book they’re like okay let’s resolve it

8. Why is Violet the only one who seems to know how to figure out the journals? Like surely there’s more people than Violet, Dain, and Jesinia who know some of these old languages

9. In the first book it was mentioned that Violet had like extra brittle bones and constantly needs to be mended, why is this never an issue? Like I swear it’s brought up twice in the first book and in the second book it’s like oh Nolon who used to mend me all the time is the worst. Like how would this affect her in flight? How would this affect her ability to wield? We just hear that she’s struggling but we have to assume everyone else is too since people are dying

10. How does her little group always survive everything? It seems too convenient.

Anyways that’s it I’m sure there’s more questions but these are the ones on the forefront

simonerao's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.5

chloe_marie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lisabelle05's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ortneram's review against another edition

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5.0

The first 300 pages, give or take, didn't peak my excitement in the way the first book did. After that, though, it picked up speed. By the last 200ish pages, I couldn't put the book down.

I did have a few minor annoyances with repeated descriptive phrases throughout the book to describe the smutty scenes or Violet's injuries. But overall, I still enjoyed the writing.

Though I will say the first book is better, this one still earned 5 stars due to the emotional reaction I had in the last 40 pages or so. If it hadn't been for that ending, I would have gone with a 4 star rating. But alas, an ending that makes me cry and leaves me on a cliffhanger is worth the 5 stars.

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