Reviews

What Hunts Inside the Shadows by Harper L. Woods

ipaintitred's review against another edition

3.0

I did really enjoy the ending and I will say overall the plot was better than the first. I really felt the story had good moments and definitely had potential. I recognize the author tries to make a point of calling out the dysfunction of this romance throughout (“codependent,” “possessive”) but also justifies it (“I can’t hold him to human standards”) which I’m torn on how I feel. I will definitely be reading the next book as I must somewhat enjoy the story. I could certainly do without the romanticizing of rape and non-consensual sex. I could do without the blatant lack of choice FMC has and blurred consent generally as well as icky degradation imo at times (“your place is beneath me”). The wishy-washiness of FMC annoyed me often. There were times I did enjoy how sex and romance was written, even times I felt the author was trying to make MMC more likable and understandable, but a lot of his statements and actions still ruined any chance of me fully accepting and liking him. Anyway, the ending did surprise me. The plot was, again, better than first but I felt we were basically traveling and having sex the entire book. I give 2.5 stars because the story had some appeal, FMC had fun development eventually, and overall I’m interested in where we go next.

zii_222's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.5

lket's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

4.0

bmotloch's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

dana_yamaguchi's review against another edition

3.0

“You are the only star in my sky.”
-Caelum, from What Hunts Inside the Shadows by Harper L. Woods

tigerlilly558's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

mags_readsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is book 2 in the “Of Flesh and Bone” series. Now that Estrella has found her fae mate, she must be taken back to the land of the fae to complete the bond - if she chooses to accept. Along the way, a secondary plot is introduced as her mate reveals he’s bound to Mab, the “evil fae queen”, and must also find her daughter in the human lands and return her. 

I really enjoyed the plot of this book and the added characters (Holt and Imelda especially). It gives major Hades and Persephone vibes, especially at the beginning of the book. LOTS of spice in this book - probably a bit difficult to skip over if that’s not something you’re interested in. The book leaves off on a major cliff hanger!! 

lindslinds5's review against another edition

2.0

Someone want to tell me if it's worth continuing this series? This book was awful, was there even a plot?

Please stop comparing it to ACOTAR, it doesn't even come close in comparison.

I did listen to it via an audiobook, so maybe it would have been better to read??? Maybe???

For future readers wondering why I didn't like it- the main reason was there just wasn't enough of anything other than spicy scenes. You're probably like "but we like spicy scenes!" Yes, yes we do, but plot will ALWAYS be > spice, and this book had zero plot. No character growth or character consistency. By the time I got to the end of the 15 hour audiobook, I was rolling my eyes at everything. The spice itself is mediocre at best, probably because it's so repetitive.

I've got several months to wait for the third book on Libby, so hopefully people have either convinced me to keep going or I forget all about this monstrosity.

thaven's review

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.75

kelpiesselkie's review against another edition

I got sick to death of all the whining about how she didn't choose this. That's all this ever amounts to is the MC crying about how she didn't ask for any of this to happen.