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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
so these two were good but just a lot longer than they had to be and didn’t hit as hard as they could but i’ll read the next one
DNF at 42%
Fallon is annoying, arrogant, and idiotic. The first book was fine. But in this book Fallon has turned into a bratty and stubborn idiot.
She makes stupid plans, then doesn’t tell anyone about them, and then regrets it when the people around her get hurt. Does she change her modus operandi? No. of course not! She does the same thing again and again.
The plot is also so incredibly obvious that I don’t care about it anymore. It was clear that Dante was going to become the main villain of the series from basically the first on page encounter between the two. But for some reason she kept defending him and loving him. And when he (of course) becomes a dick to her the moment she challenges his rule, SHE STILL DEFENDS HIM. He’s a bad dude and I’m tired of waiting for Fallon to realise it. Or to finally listen to everyone else around her that is telling her that Dante is a bad dude.
He keeps belittling her and breaking his promises and just being the same king his evil brother was, the only difference is that Dante is without the outside evil demeanour. Fallon keeps apologising when she makes a valid point about how he’s doing nothing to better the lives of his citizens. Her internal monologue is how it is forgivable that he didn’t do anything about her thrashed and defaced house because he didn’t know about it. Isn’t it his job to know about that stuff?? Especially when it’s the house of a “friend”???? I was done with Dante when they were still lovey dovey in the first book and I’m even more done with him now.
And Lore is only attracted to her because of the mating bond because he’s for sure not attracted to her personality. She’s a moron that keeps endangering her friends (and the entire Crow kingdom tbh) because she feels trapped in the sky kingdom where she can do anything and be completely free. So, obviously, she wants to go back to the place where she was oppressed and harassed and where people now hate her to the point of physically attacking her, BeCaUsE iT’s HeR hOmE. Shut up please.
It’s not a terrible book. The plot and world were somewhat interesting if they hadn’t been put on the back burner and the side characters were interesting. But the main characters were annoying and made no sense.
Hence the two stars. It was fine-ish. But it could have been so much better.
Fallon is annoying, arrogant, and idiotic. The first book was fine. But in this book Fallon has turned into a bratty and stubborn idiot.
She makes stupid plans, then doesn’t tell anyone about them, and then regrets it when the people around her get hurt. Does she change her modus operandi? No. of course not! She does the same thing again and again.
The plot is also so incredibly obvious that I don’t care about it anymore. It was clear that Dante was going to become the main villain of the series from basically the first on page encounter between the two. But for some reason she kept defending him and loving him. And when he (of course) becomes a dick to her the moment she challenges his rule, SHE STILL DEFENDS HIM. He’s a bad dude and I’m tired of waiting for Fallon to realise it. Or to finally listen to everyone else around her that is telling her that Dante is a bad dude.
He keeps belittling her and breaking his promises and just being the same king his evil brother was, the only difference is that Dante is without the outside evil demeanour. Fallon keeps apologising when she makes a valid point about how he’s doing nothing to better the lives of his citizens. Her internal monologue is how it is forgivable that he didn’t do anything about her thrashed and defaced house because he didn’t know about it. Isn’t it his job to know about that stuff?? Especially when it’s the house of a “friend”???? I was done with Dante when they were still lovey dovey in the first book and I’m even more done with him now.
And Lore is only attracted to her because of the mating bond because he’s for sure not attracted to her personality. She’s a moron that keeps endangering her friends (and the entire Crow kingdom tbh) because she feels trapped in the sky kingdom where she can do anything and be completely free. So, obviously, she wants to go back to the place where she was oppressed and harassed and where people now hate her to the point of physically attacking her, BeCaUsE iT’s HeR hOmE. Shut up please.
It’s not a terrible book. The plot and world were somewhat interesting if they hadn’t been put on the back burner and the side characters were interesting. But the main characters were annoying and made no sense.
Hence the two stars. It was fine-ish. But it could have been so much better.
Warning: this review contains spoilers for book 1 of the Kingdom of Crows series, House of Beating Wings. So don’t read this review before reading that book.
I dived into House of Pounding Hearts by Olivia Wildenstein immediately after finishing the audiobook of the first book in the Kingdom of Crows series, House of Beating Wings. This suffered a little from middle book syndrome, but still 3⭐️ from me.
So, at the end of the last book, Fallon had freed Lore, the King of Crows, and Marco, the King of Luce, had been decapitated, leaving Dante ruling over half of the kingdom and Lore the other. But Lore isn't letting Fallon go anywhere, and she is mad about it - plus, the obsidian curse still needs lifting.
Fallon in this book goes from the sweet and naive character she was in book 1, to someone angry, impulsive, contrary and generally quite snarky. Some people would really dislike the change, but I have to admit I'd probably react as childishly and stubbornly as Fallon did, so I saw exactly where she was coming from. And I think she needed to go through that, before realising she wasn't the same girl she was when she was a Tarelexan tavern wench. She does a lot of very stupid things in this book, but I can see it's going somewhere, it's just messy character development.
Lore, I genuinely love. He's far too violent and overprotective, but I like that Fallon doesn't just brush that off - so much of her rebellion is against him and his natural instincts. But we can understand that to an extent with the revelations we get.
And when Fallon finally comes round... oh boy. I knew that the very awkward smut in book 1 would need to be made up for, and boy was it made up for. I was definitely hoping for even more smut than we got, or even just more happy Lore and Fallon time, but I enjoyed what I got!
I was really happy that we went back to Tarelexo, because I'd loved it so much in book 1, but it wasn't the same. I really missed Bottom of the Jug and the group of half-blood friends before they were so cross at Fallon - understandably, but still. Instead, this time I'd liked to have spent more time in Monteluce, because those sections were the best. I'm clearly meant to never be completely satisfied!
Be prepared that this book shows the hangover from the flat out quest in book 1, and is clearly setting up for further action in book 3 and beyond, so whilst this was important character development, this book was all character where book 1 was all plot.
The ending was a horrible cliffhanger though, so I was very glad of the fact I could make a start on book 3 straight away!
This series is for you if you liked Once Upon a Broken Heart, or works by KM Shea and Melanie Cellier.
I dived into House of Pounding Hearts by Olivia Wildenstein immediately after finishing the audiobook of the first book in the Kingdom of Crows series, House of Beating Wings. This suffered a little from middle book syndrome, but still 3⭐️ from me.
So, at the end of the last book, Fallon had freed Lore, the King of Crows, and Marco, the King of Luce, had been decapitated, leaving Dante ruling over half of the kingdom and Lore the other. But Lore isn't letting Fallon go anywhere, and she is mad about it - plus, the obsidian curse still needs lifting.
Fallon in this book goes from the sweet and naive character she was in book 1, to someone angry, impulsive, contrary and generally quite snarky. Some people would really dislike the change, but I have to admit I'd probably react as childishly and stubbornly as Fallon did, so I saw exactly where she was coming from. And I think she needed to go through that, before realising she wasn't the same girl she was when she was a Tarelexan tavern wench. She does a lot of very stupid things in this book, but I can see it's going somewhere, it's just messy character development.
Lore, I genuinely love. He's far too violent and overprotective, but I like that Fallon doesn't just brush that off - so much of her rebellion is against him and his natural instincts. But we can understand that to an extent with the revelations we get.
And when Fallon finally comes round... oh boy. I knew that the very awkward smut in book 1 would need to be made up for, and boy was it made up for. I was definitely hoping for even more smut than we got, or even just more happy Lore and Fallon time, but I enjoyed what I got!
I was really happy that we went back to Tarelexo, because I'd loved it so much in book 1, but it wasn't the same. I really missed Bottom of the Jug and the group of half-blood friends before they were so cross at Fallon - understandably, but still. Instead, this time I'd liked to have spent more time in Monteluce, because those sections were the best. I'm clearly meant to never be completely satisfied!
Be prepared that this book shows the hangover from the flat out quest in book 1, and is clearly setting up for further action in book 3 and beyond, so whilst this was important character development, this book was all character where book 1 was all plot.
The ending was a horrible cliffhanger though, so I was very glad of the fact I could make a start on book 3 straight away!
This series is for you if you liked Once Upon a Broken Heart, or works by KM Shea and Melanie Cellier.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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:
Complicated