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angelofthetardis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.0
The second in the 'Five Crowns of Okrith' series, this story follows the second surviving Dammacus sister, Rua, as she remains behind at the Northern Court with its new King, Renwick, the Witchslayer, to counter a new threat and learn to deal with the darkness inside her.
As with book one, this is everything you'd expect from a standard romantasy book, so if you're looking for groundbreaking, probably best to go elsewhere. But for a continuation of an easy reading, reliable, engaging story, this checks all the boxes. It does get off to a bit of a slow start, but this improves as you settle in, aided by the writer's clear style - she uses each scene to illustrate the development of relationships between her characters, rather than to draw focus to action-packed moments, so while it's not a pacy book, by the end you feel can feel the characters' feelings with them, even if you don't like them that much.
I say that last specifically about Rua. Apologies for the obvious comparison, but she comes across to me very much like Nesta in ACOTAR; grumpy, moan-y and with no idea how to see past her own woes. But, where Nesta has been given a beautiful redemption arc, the depth for Rua is missing. It's odd, because while everything flows well and it doesn't come as a surprise, her self-discovery feels like a simple plot contrivance rather than actual development. I believe she could be a much stronger character with further time and energy put into her, but as it is the story definitely works, just not as well as it could. On the other hand, I feel like Renwick's character is fully fleshed out and I love the little twists he brings to the tale.
I am beginning to see Okrith and the Courts more as the series progresses, and the worldbuilding and description in this book make the Northern Court camp in particular a lot easier to picture. But overall I would say that, while certain settings are drawn out to the level of detail they deserve, it is still quite hard to immerse myself fully into the land and imagine myself within the story.
I did enjoy and am happy to continue the series, but don't think it'll be for a while as my library service doesn't carry the rest... ☹️
As with book one, this is everything you'd expect from a standard romantasy book, so if you're looking for groundbreaking, probably best to go elsewhere. But for a continuation of an easy reading, reliable, engaging story, this checks all the boxes. It does get off to a bit of a slow start, but this improves as you settle in, aided by the writer's clear style - she uses each scene to illustrate the development of relationships between her characters, rather than to draw focus to action-packed moments, so while it's not a pacy book, by the end you feel can feel the characters' feelings with them, even if you don't like them that much.
I say that last specifically about Rua. Apologies for the obvious comparison, but she comes across to me very much like Nesta in ACOTAR; grumpy, moan-y and with no idea how to see past her own woes. But, where Nesta has been given a beautiful redemption arc, the depth for Rua is missing. It's odd, because while everything flows well and it doesn't come as a surprise, her self-discovery feels like a simple plot contrivance rather than actual development. I believe she could be a much stronger character with further time and energy put into her, but as it is the story definitely works, just not as well as it could. On the other hand, I feel like Renwick's character is fully fleshed out and I love the little twists he brings to the tale.
I am beginning to see Okrith and the Courts more as the series progresses, and the worldbuilding and description in this book make the Northern Court camp in particular a lot easier to picture. But overall I would say that, while certain settings are drawn out to the level of detail they deserve, it is still quite hard to immerse myself fully into the land and imagine myself within the story.
I did enjoy and am happy to continue the series, but don't think it'll be for a while as my library service doesn't carry the rest... ☹️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Sexual content, War, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Slavery
aseel_reads's review
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
I liked this more than the first book because a) the MC had a much more complex character development/arc/intricacies and b) the overall world plot was much more interesting, though the big plot twist was a bit obvious
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug use, and Grief
skillyillian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book gets points for actually, literally jump scaring me at one point. Also for making me say "oh fuck" probably around three different times during The Big Fight™ and immediately afterwards.
Mild spoilers ahead ✨
This book follows Rua, Remy's little sister, as she helps Renwick rebuild his kingdom after the first book of this series. Rua spends probably a third of this book being your local shithead edgelord to everyone around her, and then another third simultaneously hating herself for how damaged and traumatized she is from things that are not her fault. The last third of Rua's story is true character development and healing - we love to see it.
I spent maybe too much of this book feeling so sad for Rua but seeing her talk about how much she hated herself literally five times per page got hard to bear and ended up just being depressing. I fully understand how hard it is to have Brain Bad Syndrome and be extremely unhappy with yourself but it got so frustrating to see it so persistently in someone else. It felt like a reminder of how frustrating it is to have poor mental health and how sometimes you just can't pull yourself out of it. I'm reading this shit for the escapism, dammit, stop reminding me how hard it is to fight off trauma!!!!!!
That being said, I was very glad to see her and Renwick get closer. My main gripe with that is that it ended up feeling very copy-paste of Hale and Remy, unfortunately. I still like their relationship and everything. Buuuut it was very much the same "we hate each other but have to work together to fight evil and we're in love now and we'll be sex maniacs for most of a chapter before we fight the bad guy and now the fight is even scarier because what if we lose each other" trope. I'm a slut for that trope specifically (hello acotar) but this was too copy-paste from the first book to the second for me. Smut was 5/5 tho, besides the line "his hot tongue slid over her wet folds" which was so yikes that I actually laughed out loud when I read it. But besides that line specifically, 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ and I really love that the author makes sure to talk about body hair and doesn't shy away from it just existing. She's super casual about it because, yes, it's a normal thing, especially as part of sex! Very cool.
Next, the idea of switching MCs in the same series? Cool as hell, I absolutely loved it. I'm excited to read the third, and the fourth comes out in June, theoretically? I will also be reading that. I got distracted by another book or two (okay okay it was crescent city) so this took me longer to read than I'd planned originally, but once I got back to it I read from 30% to completion in, at most, 36 hours. The slow burn is worth it. The plot is worth it. The magic system in these books is just too fucking cool. I didn't love that the violet witch thing was left as open ended and that we didn't see that again even during The Big Fight™ which I thought for sure would happen. Oh but one of the plot twists we see was so good, I didn't see it coming at all, but renwick being part blue witch threw me for a loop and I loved it. Maybe I'm oblivious for not seeing it sooner but imho it just made the surprise better 🤷🏻♀️
Overall, good book!! Couple flaws here and there but still a solid read and I'm excited for more. This author is super descriptive and really paints pictures in your head with emotions, plot, and environment. I haven't spoken out loud in surprise or anger while reading since acomaf and acowar so I was surprised when it happened but it just made the book even better for me. Plus, the LGBTQIA+ representation is great, with sapphic romance and our favorite enby heir 🖤 Can't wait for more of them.
Mild spoilers ahead ✨
This book follows Rua, Remy's little sister, as she helps Renwick rebuild his kingdom after the first book of this series. Rua spends probably a third of this book being your local shithead edgelord to everyone around her, and then another third simultaneously hating herself for how damaged and traumatized she is from things that are not her fault. The last third of Rua's story is true character development and healing - we love to see it.
I spent maybe too much of this book feeling so sad for Rua but seeing her talk about how much she hated herself literally five times per page got hard to bear and ended up just being depressing. I fully understand how hard it is to have Brain Bad Syndrome and be extremely unhappy with yourself but it got so frustrating to see it so persistently in someone else. It felt like a reminder of how frustrating it is to have poor mental health and how sometimes you just can't pull yourself out of it. I'm reading this shit for the escapism, dammit, stop reminding me how hard it is to fight off trauma!!!!!!
That being said, I was very glad to see her and Renwick get closer. My main gripe with that is that it ended up feeling very copy-paste of Hale and Remy, unfortunately. I still like their relationship and everything. Buuuut it was very much the same "we hate each other but have to work together to fight evil and we're in love now and we'll be sex maniacs for most of a chapter before we fight the bad guy and now the fight is even scarier because what if we lose each other" trope. I'm a slut for that trope specifically (hello acotar) but this was too copy-paste from the first book to the second for me. Smut was 5/5 tho, besides the line "his hot tongue slid over her wet folds" which was so yikes that I actually laughed out loud when I read it. But besides that line specifically, 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ and I really love that the author makes sure to talk about body hair and doesn't shy away from it just existing. She's super casual about it because, yes, it's a normal thing, especially as part of sex! Very cool.
Next, the idea of switching MCs in the same series? Cool as hell, I absolutely loved it. I'm excited to read the third, and the fourth comes out in June, theoretically? I will also be reading that. I got distracted by another book or two (okay okay it was crescent city) so this took me longer to read than I'd planned originally, but once I got back to it I read from 30% to completion in, at most, 36 hours. The slow burn is worth it. The plot is worth it. The magic system in these books is just too fucking cool. I didn't love that the violet witch thing was left as open ended and that we didn't see that again even during The Big Fight™ which I thought for sure would happen. Oh but one of the plot twists we see was so good, I didn't see it coming at all, but
Overall, good book!! Couple flaws here and there but still a solid read and I'm excited for more. This author is super descriptive and really paints pictures in your head with emotions, plot, and environment. I haven't spoken out loud in surprise or anger while reading since acomaf and acowar so I was surprised when it happened but it just made the book even better for me. Plus, the LGBTQIA+ representation is great, with sapphic romance and our favorite enby heir 🖤 Can't wait for more of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Torture
ariel790's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
Coming of age story, focusing on Ruadora Damascus, princess of the High Mountain Court. Starts shortly after the events of the first book of its series, from her pov dealing with the aftermath of her choosing to wield the Imortal Blade. Darkness and loneliness has been her bread and butter her whole life, the sword only seems to amplify those feelings. She must now fight for herself while being pulled in many directions at once.
I feel this second story of the Five Crowns of Okrith was well improved over the first. Rua is much more developed and given more depth than even Remy was in her story. This, I felt, made her more interesting.
The story telling was smoother. Less repetitive. Lulled in some spots, but still very enjoyable.
I feel this second story of the Five Crowns of Okrith was well improved over the first. Rua is much more developed and given more depth than even Remy was in her story. This, I felt, made her more interesting.
The story telling was smoother. Less repetitive. Lulled in some spots, but still very enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Slavery, and Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse, Torture, Classism, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
ka_ke's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed when I realized this book was from Rua’s POV and not more about Remy/Hale and the rest of the original characters. I suppose this was because I found Rua to be intolerable for the first 55% of the book. I wish there had been more of a transition from miserable to confident and happy for her. That being said, I am looking forward to the third book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Addiction, Gaslighting, and Misogyny
Minor: War, Torture, Murder, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism
frankieclc's review against another edition
4.75
literal only reason it isnt a 5 is cus i struggled to connect with rua in the first part but omg i cried i love these books ???? !!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, War, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts
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