simoemil's review against another edition

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3.0


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seilahuh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i'll keep it short. i loved this book. but i'm at the point of seeing how easily reviews can warp a book. like it's different coming at it with a familiarity with other high rated popular "romances", which rely upon the fmc being this weak, fawning, ultimately coerced object for desire to be exerted upon, to seeing angelika headstrong and capable mostly (the story clarifies what this means), intelligent and retaining her choice so much no man satisfied her but the one she would find in her morose profession. this was fresh for me, it was what i hadn't expected, nor really knew i needed to see written just like this.

and it's probably a faux pas to address reviews in my review but (would that be honest to me) i cannot believe how little people actually engaged with the story...over engaging pop, lib. (not genuine; androphilic, misogynistic) feminism. coming from that angle too of knowing quite more about that topic and having a stance more concrete than "it hurts men's feelings to gesture to smaller dicks being less satisfying for an individual woman," in comparison to the harrowing reality of real life misogyny being more than feelings. and being a more stringent (rad) feminist type myself, it's interesting to see how shallow concepts can rewrite entire material. i would've thought the story was so much worse if i had went in off these elements.

it's odd to me that a book where the woman as a contrast to so much popular material takes action, and is desiring and knows what she wants even despite virginal status, is not fragile and fawning, and is not just an object for an mmc to run over and rape, and carves out respect and stitches it even into his very skin and the fabric of his soul. . .would come off this unfavorable to women who have rated actual rape stories quite highly. even among a "dark" romance crew, i would think this would maybe resonate. but maybe it's that really foundationally, the elements that make that genre and type of story favorable make the reading experience incompatible here, because nothing here is actually forced no matter what reviews might say. that's not the actual story, not at all.

i don't believe angelika is unlikable, i have read quite unlikable characters. i think she's just not been given a chance for not being so docile and being sure of herself in many places, and there's a refusal to actually see the landscape that has made her vain in spite, and that makes this story. that makes william love her, and choose such a fiercesome woman who loves him just as equally, fairly, beautifully. it's really so sweet, i wish people, women, other mages would give themselves a chance for sweeter love without patriarchal force or abuse that would make them reject this story so vehemently for those differences.

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Quite possibly the strangest, most whimsical historical Rom-Com I’ve ever read, I loved every second of it! 

Definitely different from Sally Thorn’s other work but if you love a quirky, eccentric and confident FMCs then you’ll absolutely love Angelika. The romance was actually rather sweet (once you get past the whole raising a man from the dead after shopping for body parts at the morgue), I also loved the way consent was handled when it came to their relationship  —this might just be my all time fave reimagining of Frankenstein. 

It’s is fairly lighthearted but given subject material, I’d still suggest checking TW/CWs

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katharina90's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

Uncomfortable and cringey. Not just problematic but also poorly written with unlikeable characters and terrible dialogue. I came very close to DNF'ing but I'm stubborn.

Can't for the life of me figure out how any of this got approved, but I suspect it's yet another novel where readers are just not bothered by sexual violence and breeches of consent as long as they're being committed by a female character. Disturbing.

Also not sure why the author chose to write this pseudo-historical fiction in which not a single character acts appropriately for the Georgian setting. Just do a modern retelling then?

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miranda_is_reading's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

I was excited to read this to get back into reading. But, I was pretty let down. I debated many time stopping the book, but decided to push through. Sally Thorne isn’t the best writer, but this is hands down my least favorite book of hers. The story is weird and the more you think about it it’s pretty disgusting as well. The amount of times it refers to the corpses penis is also very odd, Sally is a freak and has let it be know. 

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kaattie's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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rockyroadbutch's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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owl_eerie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Other than the obvious giant breech of consent at the beginning, the book takes its time to establish a believable emotional connection between the MCs that is based on respect and communication. Appreciated that. We could have spent less time waxing grandiloquent on how beautiful everyone was, but otherwise an enjoyable twist on the original novel. Spicy without being graphic or explicit, and honestly some of the most alluring spice I've read this year. I appreciated Anjelika's growth thru the book.

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vanesst's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted medium-paced

3.0


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beepbeep101's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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