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see_sadie_read's review against another edition
3.0
This ok as a quick evening read, but it wasn't amazing. It had an interesting story idea and the writing was pretty good, but nothing felt particularly developed and I thought the evil was defeated far too easily, allowing for a pat happy ending. Essentially, I thought it started out well and grew progressively weaker as the story progressed.
More specifically, I didn't think the characters were particularly well developed, the men especially. I thought Munro's sudden love and dedication felt unfounded and out of nowhere (or magically manipulated). Saor was a bitter cardboard cutout that was conveniently disposed of by the author when he was no longer needed, and the bad guy (I'm not even gonna try with his elvish name) was bad just because he was bad, no depth greyscale to him at all. I did like Eilidh a lot, but thought that after 25 years in the human world her innocence and lack of knowledge about modern amenities and human customs was unbelievable and obviously played for laughs and weak sexual tension.
But like I said, as a quick read it's entertaining enough, even with these detractions. I'd read more of Drummond's writing.
More specifically, I didn't think the characters were particularly well developed, the men especially. I thought Munro's sudden love and dedication felt unfounded and out of nowhere (or magically manipulated). Saor was a bitter cardboard cutout that was conveniently disposed of by the author when he was no longer needed, and the bad guy (I'm not even gonna try with his elvish name) was bad just because he was bad, no depth greyscale to him at all. I did like Eilidh a lot, but thought that after 25 years in the human world her innocence and lack of knowledge about modern amenities and human customs was unbelievable and obviously played for laughs and weak sexual tension.
But like I said, as a quick read it's entertaining enough, even with these detractions. I'd read more of Drummond's writing.
mumblebee's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book!! The story was gripping and I loved the way it slowly unfolded, one snippet of information at a time. I am in love with the way your perception of the fae kingdom changes as you're shown knew perspectives, along with the main character. I am definitely reading the next book!!
helenid's review against another edition
3.0
This was quite entertaining as a quick read. I may well read the next although it isn't a cliff-hanger.
laine37's review against another edition
2.0
DNF - about 70%.
*relatively spoiler free*
I stopped reading because I grew bored, and that may be quite a remarkable statement since recently the average page count of the novels I've read to completion is 600 pages. Though, the experience certainly wasn't terrible and the most decisive factor in my stopping felt like distraction rather than disapproval.
--- The Bad ---
The book's biggest problem was that it was rather meandering and by extension the plot feels ineffectively structured.
Furthermore, I felt the romance was somewhat weak and the attitudes of each character did not feel natural. Especially so in that each fae character was not supposed to have met the protagonist in over 100 years(iirc?), yet it felt like they had been separated for months instead.
The world building also felt a bit silly, concerning the present magic systems and how different factions react to them.
Some of the characters were a bit thinner than what they ought to have been.
The romance felt weird, being that the deuteragonist thinks his love interest looks like a child and it's weird that his feelings may or may have not been invoked via magic. It also felt a little childish at times.
--- The Middling ---
The prose is fine. It's above what the average person would type out, though I think writers should be held to higher standards. One of the things which dragged it down in my opinion was the apparent tendency of the author to mix segments of dialogue with lengthy descriptions of actions/thoughts.
2 examples are listed below.
She nodded. “As darkness falls, I will be able to see much better than you. Take my hand.” She offered her long, pale fingers, but he hesitated before accepting. When the skin of his palm engulfed hers, heat washed into her, racing up her arm. A wave of concern passed over her. Was he ill? She didn’t worry about contracting a disease from him. The fae did not succumb to human ailments, but she searched his eyes. He did seem slightly red in the face, but she had no time to worry for him. She could not be found here once darkness fell. “Come, I will guide you to the city.”
“All right then, pet. I’ll tell the doctor,” she said. In a quieter voice, as though speaking to someone on the other side of the room, she added, “‘Twisted,’ he said. His fever isn’t coming down.” She tutted, and Munro felt the curtained cubicle empty.
With that being said, my experience as is quite limited, so perhaps I'm jumping the gun on this criticism. I did, however, find that this segmentation made the reading experience slightly less comfortable.
--- The Good ---
There wasn't anything astoundingly good within these pages. The characters were consistent enough. The plot was largely fine, some world building issues aside. The magic systems were generally okay in and of themselves.
Probably the best thing about this book though was the fact that there wasn't anything terribly bad about it either.
--- Would I recommend ? ---
Yes. But only to people whom have an interest in both romance and fantasy, particularly romance. And only if they don't mind a slow plot with mild contrivances.
*relatively spoiler free*
I stopped reading because I grew bored, and that may be quite a remarkable statement since recently the average page count of the novels I've read to completion is 600 pages. Though, the experience certainly wasn't terrible and the most decisive factor in my stopping felt like distraction rather than disapproval.
--- The Bad ---
The book's biggest problem was that it was rather meandering and by extension the plot feels ineffectively structured.
Furthermore, I felt the romance was somewhat weak and the attitudes of each character did not feel natural. Especially so in that each fae character was not supposed to have met the protagonist in over 100 years(iirc?), yet it felt like they had been separated for months instead.
The world building also felt a bit silly, concerning the present magic systems and how different factions react to them.
Some of the characters were a bit thinner than what they ought to have been.
The romance felt weird, being that the deuteragonist thinks his love interest looks like a child and it's weird that his feelings may or may have not been invoked via magic. It also felt a little childish at times.
--- The Middling ---
The prose is fine. It's above what the average person would type out, though I think writers should be held to higher standards. One of the things which dragged it down in my opinion was the apparent tendency of the author to mix segments of dialogue with lengthy descriptions of actions/thoughts.
2 examples are listed below.
She nodded. “As darkness falls, I will be able to see much better than you. Take my hand.” She offered her long, pale fingers, but he hesitated before accepting. When the skin of his palm engulfed hers, heat washed into her, racing up her arm. A wave of concern passed over her. Was he ill? She didn’t worry about contracting a disease from him. The fae did not succumb to human ailments, but she searched his eyes. He did seem slightly red in the face, but she had no time to worry for him. She could not be found here once darkness fell. “Come, I will guide you to the city.”
“All right then, pet. I’ll tell the doctor,” she said. In a quieter voice, as though speaking to someone on the other side of the room, she added, “‘Twisted,’ he said. His fever isn’t coming down.” She tutted, and Munro felt the curtained cubicle empty.
With that being said, my experience as is quite limited, so perhaps I'm jumping the gun on this criticism. I did, however, find that this segmentation made the reading experience slightly less comfortable.
--- The Good ---
There wasn't anything astoundingly good within these pages. The characters were consistent enough. The plot was largely fine, some world building issues aside. The magic systems were generally okay in and of themselves.
Probably the best thing about this book though was the fact that there wasn't anything terribly bad about it either.
--- Would I recommend ? ---
Yes. But only to people whom have an interest in both romance and fantasy, particularly romance. And only if they don't mind a slow plot with mild contrivances.
pjmurphy3's review against another edition
4.0
a nice mix of the supernatural and supspence. fairly quick read.
thereaderofbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Although I did not find the book captured my attention in the beginning, it turned out to be an alright book. I felt at times the story was a little disjointed and missing some pieces that would have helped in the overall story line. By about the middle of the book I was enjoying reading and was not trying to find a reason to stop reading. I will most likely read the next book in the series in hopes that the story is now set up and the writing will be a little more refined.
jacquihutton001's review against another edition
3.0
To be honest, I downloaded this book from Amazon because it was free and had decent reviews as well as being on top of the best seller list. It was surprisingly good, not normally the type of book I would go for, but it was easy to read. Not sure I would want to read the follow up books as it did not fully engage me as other books have done, but a pleasant read all round.
timofeev's review against another edition
3.0
It took me a little while to get into this book but once I did I loved it. I might actually read the rest in the series.
ancabsgod's review against another edition
1.0
The writing was weak, like something you'd find in a 12th grade creative writing class. The characters were barely one dimensional. The romance was forced and unnatural, and the final showdown was exeedinlgy milquetoast. I didn't enjoy it at all.