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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I'm sooo conflicted about this book because for the most part, I really enjoyed it. The world-building was really intriguing and I loved the addiction representation. But I found the romance and the love interest really irritating. It has so many of the tropes that are just not my cup of tea that I feel conflicted about reading the sequels. Is it worth being irritated for 1500+ more pages? 🥲
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
A solid start to the series. I felt the pace was a little slow, and not much happened in this book. I liked Keera as a character, her strength and perseverance, her independence and caring towards others (even as an assasin). A little more ambivalent towards the other characters, and more uncertain of their motivations.
adventurous
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
3.75 rounded up. It took a while to get into and I wasn't sure I liked Keera. Some things were just weird. But it did start to get more interesting towards the end and I look forward to the next book to see how the story develops.
This is the most generic romantasy ever.
If you've read more than 1 romantasy book, you can predict this whole plot.
If you've read more than 1 romantasy book, you can predict this whole plot.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Likes:
- This cover, and all the covers in this series, are seriously so freaking gorgeous (AI could never)
- Love a good map
- Love when a book has a content warning page
- This world is really beautiful
- It’s interesting to think about how she’s forcing herself to sober up kind of as a punishment and not because she wants to
- I usually don’t really care wether or not it’s multiple pov or not, but I’m really glad that we’re only in Keera’s head
- The friendship between Keera and Gwyn is so sweet
- I really like that we’re exploring important themes like alcoholism and self harm cuz I feel like they don’t really get talked about in fantasy books.
- I love the scene where Keera calls him a hypocrite cuz he kind of is. It’s like the perfect victim trope, where he says he wants to save all halflings, but he only is thinking of the ones in the most pain whereas he sees the halflings like Keera who have been forced into the kings service without any choice, as sellouts when they’re victims too.
- I love the title even more now after reading the scene at the end of chapter 26
- I love the growing friendships between Keera and Syrra and between Keera and Nikolai
- I honestly love how we don’t know what the name is of the girls she’s dreaming about because it just shows you how much pain shes in and how much guilt she feels because she can’t even bring herself to say her name
- I love how she’s incorporated indigenous culture into the world like the three sisters for example
- I like how she actually talks about the sacrifices and the morals that need to be put aside/tested when waging a war/rebellion cuz I feel like not a lot of books (that I’ve read) actually talk about that
Dislikes:
- I feel like her deciding switch sides was really fast and rushed
- She’s not a super strong writer. She’s definitely good, but I do think there’s room for improvement (hopefully we see it in the next few books)
- I think the romance needs to work tbh. And I’m honestly really confused on why that first kiss happened.
- I usually like faster paced and more plot based books but this one was so fast paced and so plot based that it left very little time for character work outside of Keera.
- The scene where he sees her scars, I don’t like that it wasn’t completely her choice. He just walked in on her. She was eventually okay with it but I wish it had been a more conscious choice instead of and accident
Random thoughts:
- I’m not sure if I completely trust the reveal in chapter 16
- I’d say it’s a fast paced book
- It’s advertised as a fantasy romance but I’d say it’s more of just a fantasy with a romance subplot
- I really hope we can explore Keera’s past more in the books and she can find out about it cuz I feel like she’s setting that up but I’m not entirely sure
- I really hope Damien dies a slow torturous death and I hope Keera does it. None of that “if I do this I’ll be just like him” crap cuz 1) no it wouldn’t and 2) HE FUCKING DESERVES IT
- I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!
- 3.5 stars
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was a good book, I love that the romance doesn't take off until the very end of the book which ais a good strategy for people to want to read the second one. The world building is nice and unique. It didn't get 5 stars because it was too slow paced and stereotypical for my taste. Typical enemies to lovers where the fmc is a brainwashed by her organization and the mmc is 'bad but secretly good.