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drealovesbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Confinement, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Violence
sidhewitch's review
2.5
Audiobook Review. Dual narration. Good voice work from both narrators!
This book was so deeply hit and miss. The plot has a LOT going on, but very little that happens feels foreshadowed or set up prior to just before it's needed. Fairly good moments of tension or romance are sliced through with strange interjections about Zoe's past that aren't likely to come up again, and elements you think might be setting up later tension or character growth (Zoe and her fear of the water because of a major childhood trauma, for example) are painfully under-utilized or just dropped entirely.
The male lead is a standard Han Solo type, with clear motivation and personal hang-ups that carry his plot through-out the story. Meanwhile, Zoe is at times ditzy to the point of cartoonishness. She throws in tons of "I'm so quirky and nerdy" asides to the reader (many of which are addressed directly TO the reader, as if in conversation - a narrative feature only Zoe uses and that is deeply off-putting) that frequently overstay their welcome, or behaves in ways that are just painfully stupid.
There isn't even that much spice for how dang long the book is, which honestly would have at least helped pull me through what was at times a real slog.
All that said.. am I going to read the next book? Probably. The writing was not atrocious, and I'm hopeful that with so much world building now out of the way and a singular villain set up, the next book will be more cohesive. If not, it will probably be the last book of this series that I read.
This book was so deeply hit and miss. The plot has a LOT going on, but very little that happens feels foreshadowed or set up prior to just before it's needed. Fairly good moments of tension or romance are sliced through with strange interjections about Zoe's past that aren't likely to come up again, and elements you think might be setting up later tension or character growth (Zoe and her fear of the water because of a major childhood trauma, for example) are painfully under-utilized or just dropped entirely.
The male lead is a standard Han Solo type, with clear motivation and personal hang-ups that carry his plot through-out the story. Meanwhile, Zoe is at times ditzy to the point of cartoonishness. She throws in tons of "I'm so quirky and nerdy" asides to the reader (many of which are addressed directly TO the reader, as if in conversation - a narrative feature only Zoe uses and that is deeply off-putting) that frequently overstay their welcome, or behaves in ways that are just painfully stupid.
There isn't even that much spice for how dang long the book is, which honestly would have at least helped pull me through what was at times a real slog.
All that said.. am I going to read the next book? Probably. The writing was not atrocious, and I'm hopeful that with so much world building now out of the way and a singular villain set up, the next book will be more cohesive. If not, it will probably be the last book of this series that I read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Sexual Content: The spice, though there honestly isn't much of it so don't get your hopes up.Sexual Assault: There is some dubcon with the main pair, and a couple threats of assault on the female lead by other characters.
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