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golden_like_dior's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
relaxing
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Sexual content, Bullying, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Excrement, and Forced institutionalization
rensreading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
i wanted to like this book. it had a strong beginning but i truly could not push past the stockholm syndrome shit going on. it was even worse than in the first book. liz rags on georgie’s relationship a lot without taking a closer look at her own and that irritated me so much because she’s such a strong and stubborn character. but she isn’t perfect and she fell for the dark, tall, and brooding man with the tragic past and parental issues that kidnapped her after she had just escaped another set of kidnappers. way to really stick to your own independence there, liz.
i did like that she mentioned all the shitty and unexplained things the sa-khui are keeping from the humans, unknowingly or not. especially this line: “I thought we were supposed to be equals but maybe the goal is to keep us all barefoot and pregnant and sewing.” bc that is essentially what the sa-khui are doing. she’s aware enough to stir up dissent but not self-aware enough to look at her own relationship and see that its toxic and unhealthy. raahosh is a very shy guy when you get down to it but we can’t just write off the fact that he forced their relationship on liz by shoving the khui into her when she was unwilling. whatever happened to people’s right to die on their own terms? mates a big thing in this universe dixon created, obviously, but they’re also the cause for a lot of dubious consent and plain, unforgiving non consensual sexual assaults too.
again, just more violence against women.
dixon’s writing is also very inconsistent and juvenile too. liz knows the name of the sa-khui’s language without ever being told it by georgie. raahosh acts like the concept of love is normal in their culture and then mentions later that its a big deal to liz without ever mentioning who he learned that from since it wasn’t from vektal or liz, the two most likely to explain that to him. in the epilogue raahosh turns from this mine-mine-mine possessive dude to oh-my-god-what-if-she-hates-my-guts kind of dude and the shift in his character was drastic enough to really catch me off-guard. there was so much being waved away and then explained later but, in the process, it made the first instance all the more confusing since you’re left wondering how characters even know that information.
the spice was alright. it was the only reason i finished this but i wont be continuing with this series any longer and will probably unhaul the copies i got too.
i did like that she mentioned all the shitty and unexplained things the sa-khui are keeping from the humans, unknowingly or not. especially this line: “I thought we were supposed to be equals but maybe the goal is to keep us all barefoot and pregnant and sewing.” bc that is essentially what the sa-khui are doing. she’s aware enough to stir up dissent but not self-aware enough to look at her own relationship and see that its toxic and unhealthy. raahosh is a very shy guy when you get down to it but we can’t just write off the fact that he forced their relationship on liz by shoving the khui into her when she was unwilling. whatever happened to people’s right to die on their own terms? mates a big thing in this universe dixon created, obviously, but they’re also the cause for a lot of dubious consent and plain, unforgiving non consensual sexual assaults too.
again, just more violence against women.
dixon’s writing is also very inconsistent and juvenile too. liz knows the name of the sa-khui’s language without ever being told it by georgie. raahosh acts like the concept of love is normal in their culture and then mentions later that its a big deal to liz without ever mentioning who he learned that from since it wasn’t from vektal or liz, the two most likely to explain that to him. in the epilogue raahosh turns from this mine-mine-mine possessive dude to oh-my-god-what-if-she-hates-my-guts kind of dude and the shift in his character was drastic enough to really catch me off-guard. there was so much being waved away and then explained later but, in the process, it made the first instance all the more confusing since you’re left wondering how characters even know that information.
the spice was alright. it was the only reason i finished this but i wont be continuing with this series any longer and will probably unhaul the copies i got too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Excrement, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Sexual assault
so much violence against women is in this.juliette_95's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Sexism
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, and Child death
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, and Stalking
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