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jennn_3's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Rape, Child death, and War
literarymary95's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and War
jadeandherbunny's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Torture, Child abuse, Grief, Violence, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I loved this follow up to Trial of the Sun Queen, where we spend time in the Aurora Kingdom with the Aurora Prince, Nadir, and Lor is finally reunited with her siblings from Nostraza! Nadir spends the entire book pretending that Lor is just another random hookup that he is keeping in his area of the court, hiding her true identity from his father because of his elusiveness surrounding his motivations to find Lor in the first book.
Most of the book is spent in character and romance exploration between Lor and Nadir, as Lor wrestles with what Atlas tried to do to her with the bond in the last book. They decide âitâs just sex, right?â and play around with the idea of actually hooking up, but denying that thereâs anything beyond this sexual tension. I actually really enjoy that setup because at least theyâre acknowledging their attraction, and now are just avoiding their romantic feelings hahaha. Itâs very entertaining!
I forgot that these people are fae and that they can fly, so when Nadir flew with Lor in his arms, I giggled because I forgot this is fantasy because there has been such a huge focus on the romance, which I am a sucker for. But then!!!! Big big big spoiler
A lot of the plot movement happens in the last 15% of the book, with another ending that entices readers to get oh so excited for the next book!
Honorable mention to some sapphic romance developing between the side characters Amya (Nadirâs younger sister) & Willow (Lorâs sister, canât remember if sheâs younger or older lol forgive me!)
steam rating: 3 or 4/5 â itâs a lot steamier than the first book because Nadir and Lorâs tension is so much better than her and the Sun Kingâs!!!!! You also get a BJ scene from Nadirâs POV if you sign up for NJTâs newsletterđ uhhhhh done and done â đ¤
see content warnings below â a lot of Nadirâs momâs backstory really got to me, so fucking sad & she deserves better đ
Graphic: Cursing, Pregnancy, Violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Confinement
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual violence, Torture, and War
rachelglazer's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Violence, War, and Pregnancy
thereaderkristle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
the plot and stakes feel incredibly convenient most of the time, and the fantasy itself definitely took a back seat to the characters.
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual assault and War
xapoptosisx's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, War, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Violence, and Child abuse
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Vomit and Rape
hann_smc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'll start with the good. I actually like the story line. Is it predictable? Absolutely, but I'm a firm believer that predictable doesn't always mean bad.
Now for the bad stuff. Everything else.
I do not like a single character. If they all died I'd shrug my shoulders and move on. They're just so annoying that I cannot bring myself to care about them.
Lor is so weirdly self-aware of her trauma, and she keeps explaining how her behaviors are trauma responses to the audience. Her constant "I hate you" for no reason is giving me whiplash. I swear to god she's trying to gaslight me with the way she keeps talking about how she was fooled by the Sun King in the last book and that's why she can't bang it out with Nadir now. Like girl, I was there too. You literally spent the entire time talking about how it would be stupid to trust him and it was just sex, just like it was just sex with the random dude from the prison. Atlas tricked you (I guess? He was pretty clear about keeping his motivations secret though) but either way it had nothing at all to do with sex.
Also her trauma felt cringey? I know that's a terrible thing to say, but the way it was written / she talks about it it was just there for shock value, not to actually add anything to the plot.
Nadir is dumb as fucking rocks and doesn't deserve to run the kingdom any more than his dad. I'm all for a possessive MMC, but it was the
The romance was very meh. The two characters were just randomly mean to create this "enemies to lovers" tension instead of them having any real conflict. The conversations just didn't make any sense either. One minute she'd be telling him he's hot, and the next she'd be like "he can't know I find him attractive." Like, what?
To top it off, them
I understand that the flashbacks are supposed to provide important context to the present day, but I could not bring myself to care about them.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence