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jessicalarson125's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5/5
I’ve been flip flopping about rounding up or down, but after some reflecting and remembering that at least 300 pages of this book felt like I was just hate reading it to be mad, I ultimately decided to round down.
Grace. For the love of god, WHY. Her inner monologue makes me want to pull my hair out. AND MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND ALREADY LIKE STOP LOOKING AT HUDSON LIKE HE’S A PIECE OF MEAT WHILE ACTIVELY SAYING “I don’t actually want to be with him!! It’s just the mating bond, silly mating bond!! I love Jaxon!! ….. I just want to fvck his brother….”
I never liked Jaxon and Grace’s relationship (it’s giving Edward and Bella from Twilight aka bland and boring) so while I like Jaxon as a character and I feel like they did him dirty here, I was also mad that Grace spent so much of this book actively whining about him while also pretending she didn’t have a stronger connection with Hudson from the beginning. As soon as he was introduced in the second book, I was like “oh THERE’S the chemistry the ‘main couple’ has been missing this entire time.”
This series is unhinged and I feel unhinged while reading it. I feel like I’ve lost the plot, but I can’t stop. It’s like a train wreck I can’t look away from.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, and Torture
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and War
Minor: Vomit
lamianoctalis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Ich muss sagen, je weiter ich in der Reihe voranschreite, desto überzeugter werde ich von der Reihe.
Spannender Konflikt, gut ausgebaute Charaktere, wunderbare Liebesgeschichte.
Eine Empfehlung an alle Liebhaber paranormaler Geschichten
Spannender Konflikt, gut ausgebaute Charaktere, wunderbare Liebesgeschichte.
Eine Empfehlung an alle Liebhaber paranormaler Geschichten
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Torture and War
Minor: Vomit
steger97's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
There is some strange pacing. Some parts of the book really seem to drag on, and then some events seem a tad rushed, or even skipped over.
It’s a fun read overall though.
It’s a fun read overall though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, War, and Death
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Violence, Vomit, Slavery, and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol
scarlett_f's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, War, Gore, Kidnapping, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
cady_sass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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 will start by saying that loved this and cried at the end. If YA can bring tears to my eyes, you know there’s at least something solid going on here. I’ll be reading the next one as soon as I get my hands on it!
That said, I’m now 3 books and approximately 2100 pages into this series and I have QUALMS. Questions. This isn’t a knock on this book in particular but at the fact that having read this much there are some things that should be addressed by this point. Definite spoilers below, but at this point in the series you should already know all these things.
1. Hudson and Jackson (and presumably others???? Again, no idea) are centuries old. Why are they NOW, at 200+ years old, graduating high school? Surely there is a plot device that could explain this but it hasn’t been written. Normally it’s a high-school-forever plot line, due to being immortal and never aging and moving around forever etc, but this is a school for paranormal that they haven’t been attending for 200 years. WHY????
2. We are dangerously close to being “no plot, just vibes”. You might say “but so much is happening!” and you would be correct, but when it comes to fantasy some of the pillars of the genre are world building and magic systems and we get NONE of either. Some people are fine with this, I get it! But I want to understand this universe, I want to understand the factions, I want to understand the magic. 2100 pages of content and you can’t throw us a bone? :(
3. The spell/ritual that Lia tried to perform in Crave (yes I realize that was 1400 pages ago) still has not been explained. What exactly was she doing and why was it going to work? How did she find Grace at all let alone kill her parents? What about Grace is it that was the ONLY thing that would make it work, the gargoyle thing, the mate thing, something else? It does stand to reason that this could still be explained, but I the fact that everyone just accepted (seemingly) that Lia could and would bring Hudson back and never asked “how” is baffling to me. You can just bring people back from the dead? They should be more concerned about this.
3. The writing is just… not great. Has this stopped me from reading? Absolutely not. But it needs to be addressed. Just because a book is deemed YA doesn’t mean you have to write it like one. This HAS gotten marginally better with each book but it’s still very elementary.
4. This will be an unpopular opinion (probably) - I find myself questioning both the spice level and the violence/gore detail and the appropriateness for a young audience. As an adult, I read this and want more spice. The scenes are so unsatisfying in the way they are written, but they are written that way because it’s not adult fiction. The violence is vivid and grotesque, you feel those visuals deeply. So I find myself wondering if, even as it’s currently written, if it’s a little too much for a tween reader? Maybe not. But there’s a difference between 12 and 17, and my mom certainly wouldn’t have let 13 year old me read this.
That said, I’m now 3 books and approximately 2100 pages into this series and I have QUALMS. Questions. This isn’t a knock on this book in particular but at the fact that having read this much there are some things that should be addressed by this point. Definite spoilers below, but at this point in the series you should already know all these things.
1. Hudson and Jackson (and presumably others???? Again, no idea) are centuries old. Why are they NOW, at 200+ years old, graduating high school? Surely there is a plot device that could explain this but it hasn’t been written. Normally it’s a high-school-forever plot line, due to being immortal and never aging and moving around forever etc, but this is a school for paranormal that they haven’t been attending for 200 years. WHY????
2. We are dangerously close to being “no plot, just vibes”. You might say “but so much is happening!” and you would be correct, but when it comes to fantasy some of the pillars of the genre are world building and magic systems and we get NONE of either. Some people are fine with this, I get it! But I want to understand this universe, I want to understand the factions, I want to understand the magic. 2100 pages of content and you can’t throw us a bone? :(
3. The spell/ritual that Lia tried to perform in Crave (yes I realize that was 1400 pages ago) still has not been explained. What exactly was she doing and why was it going to work? How did she find Grace at all let alone kill her parents? What about Grace is it that was the ONLY thing that would make it work, the gargoyle thing, the mate thing, something else? It does stand to reason that this could still be explained, but I the fact that everyone just accepted (seemingly) that Lia could and would bring Hudson back and never asked “how” is baffling to me. You can just bring people back from the dead? They should be more concerned about this.
3. The writing is just… not great. Has this stopped me from reading? Absolutely not. But it needs to be addressed. Just because a book is deemed YA doesn’t mean you have to write it like one. This HAS gotten marginally better with each book but it’s still very elementary.
4. This will be an unpopular opinion (probably) - I find myself questioning both the spice level and the violence/gore detail and the appropriateness for a young audience. As an adult, I read this and want more spice. The scenes are so unsatisfying in the way they are written, but they are written that way because it’s not adult fiction. The violence is vivid and grotesque, you feel those visuals deeply. So I find myself wondering if, even as it’s currently written, if it’s a little too much for a tween reader? Maybe not. But there’s a difference between 12 and 17, and my mom certainly wouldn’t have let 13 year old me read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Classism, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Murder, and War
honeybunchesofoats06's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Vomit, War, and Blood
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
Alright, SO, if you've read my reviews for the first two books in the series, you'll know that I've been thoroughly enjoying my time reading this. It's fluffy, trope-y, and just pure entertainment. I've loved learning about all of the different creatures and I definitely want to take a trip to Katmere Academy.
BUT...
This book left me in the dust. I think maybe it just needed to be two separate books? Like pre-prison and getting out of prison? Because so much happened before Hudson and Grace were locked up, but even more happened while they were in there and I got super lost. Like really super lost. I had absolutely no clue what was going on and had the toughest time following as they tried to get out.
Also, what was with the number of betrayals in this one? I literally never learned who I could trust. Even by the end there were people I was still confused about.
And the end... I genuinely shed tears towards the end. Losing characters is never fun but this one stung more than I anticipated. Maybe because I didn't see it coming like I had for the character death in Crave. However, the resurrections for other characters drove me a little batty. Like yes, we get it, they can't die yet, but also... it could've been good if they had?
This is such a rambly review and I feel like that happens after a few books in a series. I get less structured with my thoughts because it's all just how the book makes me feel.
This one made me feel confused and I wanted more from it. Hoping Court brings the good stuff.
BUT...
This book left me in the dust. I think maybe it just needed to be two separate books? Like pre-prison and getting out of prison? Because so much happened before Hudson and Grace were locked up, but even more happened while they were in there and I got super lost. Like really super lost. I had absolutely no clue what was going on and had the toughest time following as they tried to get out.
Also, what was with the number of betrayals in this one? I literally never learned who I could trust. Even by the end there were people I was still confused about.
And the end... I genuinely shed tears towards the end. Losing characters is never fun but this one stung more than I anticipated. Maybe because I didn't see it coming like I had for the character death in Crave. However, the resurrections for other characters drove me a little batty. Like yes, we get it, they can't die yet, but also... it could've been good if they had?
This is such a rambly review and I feel like that happens after a few books in a series. I get less structured with my thoughts because it's all just how the book makes me feel.
This one made me feel confused and I wanted more from it. Hoping Court brings the good stuff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Blood, Violence, Gore, Torture, and Vomit
Moderate: Suicide and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content
somewhereinbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Confinement
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders
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