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whatthefridge's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
I had complained that the first book had too many filler sex scenes. The second book fixes that by keeping Ash and Lonan at a distance for compelling plot reasons.
I was worried that the amnesia aspect of Ash’s vow would be annoying, but it was surprisingly well done. The tension was tight and gripping without ever feeling forced.
This book introduces Lonan’s POV, and thank goodness for that! It extremely helps flesh out his character, who was too flat for me in the first book. I still think there’s some quirks to him that feel heavy-handed from the author, but it’s much more tolerable.
Because this novel is so plotty (in a good way), I’ve really been sold on the world building. I do love me some fae prophecies. And I like how realistic the reactions are.
Waiting on the final book to come out now. Very exciting!
I was worried that the amnesia aspect of Ash’s vow would be annoying, but it was surprisingly well done. The tension was tight and gripping without ever feeling forced.
This book introduces Lonan’s POV, and thank goodness for that! It extremely helps flesh out his character, who was too flat for me in the first book. I still think there’s some quirks to him that feel heavy-handed from the author, but it’s much more tolerable.
Because this novel is so plotty (in a good way), I’ve really been sold on the world building. I do love me some fae prophecies. And I like how realistic the reactions are.
Waiting on the final book to come out now. Very exciting!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Incest, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Confinement, Grief, Drug use, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cannibalism, Car accident, and Death of parent
cluckieduck's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
While I love the characters and world that has been created in the Folk series, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did Mortal Skin. I found it seemed almost...unfinished & rushed, I guess.
Having the two POVs alternate between Ash & Lonan was great, but (aside from spoiler-y plot points that I won't mention here) there wasn't much character development for either of them.
I look forward to see how it wraps up in Book 3!
Having the two POVs alternate between Ash & Lonan was great, but (aside from spoiler-y plot points that I won't mention here) there wasn't much character development for either of them.
I look forward to see how it wraps up in Book 3!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, and Cursing
Minor: Incest
sreberko's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Lily Mayne is absolutely amazing while creating new worlds and different semi-monstrous characters. Her mind has no boundaries, and she gives us lands full of life, differences, magic, and quirks. And I love this; I don't think there are that many romance writers who can do it that well.
But oh.my.god. how much I despise the characters in this series!
First things first: I decided to write a more elaborate review, taking into consideration a lot of tropes that rub me the wrong way. Not for the sake of getting it off my chest, but to make sure anyone can check them and see if they are good for them. Because they weren't good for me, but I KNOW that there are a lot of people who like this kind of narrative trick. Do not be put off by my review and rating - use it to find things you like. ^^
And with this weird beginning, let's go!
1/ I deeply hate Ash. In the first book, he was a young, confused human, who didn't really know how to proceed with his life. He tried to learn, adapt and… well, mostly just wait, until fate will do something with him.
In this book, fate does a lot of things to him. He is traumatized, he is full of fury, and he forgot about a really important part of himself. He is also no longer a human. He suffers a lot - and I do mean A LOT. The mental, physical, and general pain, new world, and new body, are confusing him, and not helping. He does grow a little - but I do mean A LITTLE. He tries to make his own decisions, be more independent, and fight for himself, but... he is pretty stupid. Emotions and fate are messing up with him, and his development as a character is... debatable.
(I didn't like how he justified some deaths, ignored others, and was traumatized after others. I know it's a trilogy, and this topic will probably be touched again in 3rd book, but I did miss a deeper and clearer explanation, and conclusion.)
He didn't redeem himself after hurting Lonan in 1st book, at least not in my eyes - but he suffered a lot, so someone could find it redeeming.
2/ Lonan is no longer a dark, mysterious prince. He is an empty shell of himself - broken, traumatized, heartbroken. He suffers a lot - and I do mean A LOT. We get to know his POV in this book, and while normally I would like that, here it just added another person being in pain for almost the whole book.
He is young and broken, living in a cruel world, and he has (had) only Ash as something good that had to happen to him. Reading his thoughts, pains, problems, and feelings, felt like succumbing to darkness. It's one of the plot devices that makes the reader cry for almost the whole book (for different reasons) - and personally, I'm not a fan.
I just don't like torture porn as a sub-genre. I prefer my characters fighting and dealing with problems, over self-beating and suffering for the whole book.
3/ And about the beating and suffering. This book is full of gore, broken, eaten, blooden, beaten pieces of the fae. And death. The ending of 1st book was just a prelude to this red bath of pain and suffering. We even have some corpses and mutilated body parts!
I'm not squirmish, so I can't say it put me off or made me nauseous, but it definitely can do it to some readers.
However. I am not a fan of torture porn, and after ⅕ on the book, I was already done with the pain and suffering. The more it was, the less affected I ended up being.
4/ Fae are generally cruel, devious, want more power, bonded by magic, vows, and mostly egoistical. There are two courts, and there is a concerning amount of flesh-eating.
All of this is typical for fae/fairies in fantasy books. It just happened to irritate me (and only me).
Building a twisted world where you can't trust anyone, and magic is something foul and risky, doesn't make me fall in love with it. The characters we get to know as the "good ones" had me even more confused - I am not sure why they were like that. Because of the typical dichotomy between Seelie and Unseelie courts? Because in this book Ash is a fae, not a human?
5/ As a book about the magical world there is a concerningly small amount of real magic - and it doesn't really make sense. Especially in the last part of the book, it looked like it worked whenever it was good for the plot - and when it wasn't, everyone was just shouting at each other, with no magic whatsoever.
I still don't know how exactly the promises can be "collected". Why thanking someone is such a big deal? I know why because of tropes in other books, but here? Still a mystery.
The power differences between characters are not visible either. It's written that at this moment the character X has more magic, and then that another one is more powerful, but it's not really shown. If someone prefers a magical world with some fights and gore, that's a proper book for them - but not for someone expecting beautiful charms and awful curses.
5/ The conclusion of the plot felt random to me. Suddenly everything was set up by chances, presented absolutely accidentally, and somehow worked (sometimes better, sometimes worst). Even if the author planned the story very carefully (and in the last book everything will suddenly make sense), Forgotten Vows look like a mix between tropes, ideas, and feels, without proper preparation, craft, and polishing.
There is a saying "the book is still feral, needs a bath, has bitten and will bite again" - and this feels like a proper conclusion to this review.
I received an ARC of this book from Lily Mayne, and I am voluntarily leaving an unbiased review.
But oh.my.god. how much I despise the characters in this series!
First things first: I decided to write a more elaborate review, taking into consideration a lot of tropes that rub me the wrong way. Not for the sake of getting it off my chest, but to make sure anyone can check them and see if they are good for them. Because they weren't good for me, but I KNOW that there are a lot of people who like this kind of narrative trick. Do not be put off by my review and rating - use it to find things you like. ^^
And with this weird beginning, let's go!
1/ I deeply hate Ash. In the first book, he was a young, confused human, who didn't really know how to proceed with his life. He tried to learn, adapt and… well, mostly just wait, until fate will do something with him.
In this book, fate does a lot of things to him. He is traumatized, he is full of fury, and he forgot about a really important part of himself. He is also no longer a human. He suffers a lot - and I do mean A LOT. The mental, physical, and general pain, new world, and new body, are confusing him, and not helping. He does grow a little - but I do mean A LITTLE. He tries to make his own decisions, be more independent, and fight for himself, but... he is pretty stupid. Emotions and fate are messing up with him, and his development as a character is... debatable.
(I didn't like how he justified some deaths, ignored others, and was traumatized after others. I know it's a trilogy, and this topic will probably be touched again in 3rd book, but I did miss a deeper and clearer explanation, and conclusion.)
He didn't redeem himself after hurting Lonan in 1st book, at least not in my eyes - but he suffered a lot, so someone could find it redeeming.
2/ Lonan is no longer a dark, mysterious prince. He is an empty shell of himself - broken, traumatized, heartbroken. He suffers a lot - and I do mean A LOT. We get to know his POV in this book, and while normally I would like that, here it just added another person being in pain for almost the whole book.
He is young and broken, living in a cruel world, and he has (had) only Ash as something good that had to happen to him. Reading his thoughts, pains, problems, and feelings, felt like succumbing to darkness. It's one of the plot devices that makes the reader cry for almost the whole book (for different reasons) - and personally, I'm not a fan.
I just don't like torture porn as a sub-genre. I prefer my characters fighting and dealing with problems, over self-beating and suffering for the whole book.
3/ And about the beating and suffering. This book is full of gore, broken, eaten, blooden, beaten pieces of the fae. And death. The ending of 1st book was just a prelude to this red bath of pain and suffering. We even have some corpses and mutilated body parts!
I'm not squirmish, so I can't say it put me off or made me nauseous, but it definitely can do it to some readers.
However. I am not a fan of torture porn, and after ⅕ on the book, I was already done with the pain and suffering. The more it was, the less affected I ended up being.
4/ Fae are generally cruel, devious, want more power, bonded by magic, vows, and mostly egoistical. There are two courts, and there is a concerning amount of flesh-eating.
All of this is typical for fae/fairies in fantasy books. It just happened to irritate me (and only me).
Building a twisted world where you can't trust anyone, and magic is something foul and risky, doesn't make me fall in love with it. The characters we get to know as the "good ones" had me even more confused - I am not sure why they were like that. Because of the typical dichotomy between Seelie and Unseelie courts? Because in this book Ash is a fae, not a human?
5/ As a book about the magical world there is a concerningly small amount of real magic - and it doesn't really make sense. Especially in the last part of the book, it looked like it worked whenever it was good for the plot - and when it wasn't, everyone was just shouting at each other, with no magic whatsoever.
I still don't know how exactly the promises can be "collected". Why thanking someone is such a big deal? I know why because of tropes in other books, but here? Still a mystery.
The power differences between characters are not visible either. It's written that at this moment the character X has more magic, and then that another one is more powerful, but it's not really shown. If someone prefers a magical world with some fights and gore, that's a proper book for them - but not for someone expecting beautiful charms and awful curses.
5/ The conclusion of the plot felt random to me. Suddenly everything was set up by chances, presented absolutely accidentally, and somehow worked (sometimes better, sometimes worst). Even if the author planned the story very carefully (and in the last book everything will suddenly make sense), Forgotten Vows look like a mix between tropes, ideas, and feels, without proper preparation, craft, and polishing.
There is a saying "the book is still feral, needs a bath, has bitten and will bite again" - and this feels like a proper conclusion to this review.
I received an ARC of this book from Lily Mayne, and I am voluntarily leaving an unbiased review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Grief, Torture, and Incest
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