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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The prophecy had lied. Their hero is gone. And in the wreckage, a princess in chains discovers her story has only begun.
This book put my emotions through the wringer in the best way. Briony is captured after her brother, the chosen one, falls, and suddenly she’s forced into a world of rebellion, betrayal, and a boy from her past who’s now the man holding her fate.
This book put my emotions through the wringer in the best way. Briony is captured after her brother, the chosen one, falls, and suddenly she’s forced into a world of rebellion, betrayal, and a boy from her past who’s now the man holding her fate.
It’s dark, gritty, and definitely heavy on the trigger warnings, but that made the slow burn romance and stolen tender moments hit so much harder.
I had a great (and traumatic) time reading and can’t wait for book 2!
I had a great (and traumatic) time reading and can’t wait for book 2!
I enjoyed the world building and Im looking forward to the next one. The content is pretty dark though and lots of sexualized violence/ adjacent so tread carefully
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence
I have not read the original fanfic that this was based off of, and it didn’t matter. It’s great as an original work. We got great descriptions of their magic systems (mind and heart magic), how the enemy leader came into power, and good background on Briony’s relationship with Toven.
Some things that did bother me:
This book is rife with sexual assault and rape. When Briony’s kingdom falls, most of the nobles are auctioned off. They are supposed to be used as heartsprings (taking their magic to magnify their own), and it can be strengthened by a Sacral Bond, meant for married couples to share magic. This leads most of the women who were auctioned off to become little more than sex slaves. We see these men when they were boys in school together, and it just upset me that, despite the fact that they were on opposite sides of the war, they were okay with raping their former classmates like it was no big deal.
One of the men makes an elixir that makes a woman feel completely in lust and that she needs sex immediately, essentially drugging unwilling participants.
One of the women on the evil side of the war is forced into the auction by her father as she didn’t secure herself a marriage in school.
We don’t get much of the love story here. Briony has complicated feelings since she has been bought by a former crush. And it’s obvious Toven bought her to save her from a disgusting man who wanted her, but won’t admit he’s always liked her too.
I hate that I now have to wait for the 2nd part to come out!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
slow-paced
This books wasn’t for me. It was a little too slow and too dark. The pace started out slow, but around 40%, I started listening to it in 2x speed to be done. Definitely check the triggers. I won’t be continuing the next books even though the cliffhanger was intriguing.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
No
This reminded me of Manacled, but tamer and more consent.
Now, to play the waiting game for the next book in the series!
Now, to play the waiting game for the next book in the series!
I can see how some people might like this but not I. The beginning was just a huge info dump. The middle was a whole lotta nothing. The end was like ok there’s another book coming.