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rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content
Moderate: War, Slavery, and Gore
Minor: Death of parent
smuttymcbookface's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I found this enjoyable to read, even if just to wrap up the story, but I did find myself overlooking some flaws despite my enjoyment.
Pros:
Pros:
- Interesting and easy to follow plot
- A love triangle where the other man is not an unredeemable villain
- Some sweet and tender moments mixed in
- Any interactions with Misha, since he was hilarious
Cons
- Too quickly and conveniently wrapped up
- Both MMCs lost their character/individuality
- There was too much cheesiness/corniness in some of the romantic scenes
- The amount of fishing and reassurance required by Brie in the romance scenes were ridiculous - especially since she gave nothing back in comparison
- The power and Fae abilities of the main characters (Brie, Misha, Finn) felt inconsistent and underdeveloped
- The early dialog scenes were too long, particularly when contrasted with quick wrapped-up-in-a-bow ending
- Much more minor than the other points, but I hated the use of "male" when Brie described the love interests - left me a little icky even though I know it was trying to diffentiate them as fae
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Death, Child abuse, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content
thelongroadtosanity's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
"There is only one thing I can trust, and that is that no one can be trusted."
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This book concludes the conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Abriella discovers that Bash has betrayed her, and flees the Sun Court, wandering the woods until she stumbles upon a work camp for Unseelie prisoners. Freeing those trapped there, and befriending the Wild Fae King, Bri has to overcome her emotions and discover the truth about herself and the power of the Unseelie Court.
The first book in this Duology has fan-fiction vibes, and that continues on into this story. Towards the end, I definitely felt there was some Throne of Glass overlap. I also struggled with Bri through the entirety of the plot. I felt that she was very, very whiney and annoying and continued to mope about and profess "woe is me, I've been betrayed". It's definitely like that for nearly half the book and I must admit, I would have DNF-ed this solely based on my agitation with Bri's character if I wasn't supposed to be doing a buddy read with coworkers.
The plot is fast-paced, which did keep my attention, and I enjoyed the action and bits of spice sprinkled throughout Bri's emotional breakdowns. The lore and world-building is more complicated in this, and I felt that it was almost too overwhelming at one point until it was all explained later on in the timeline. Once it all made sense, it peaked my interest.
I was not a fan of the conclusion. It felt like there was so much build-up to get to this point and then everything happened over what felt like 5 pages and then everything was suddenly fine and dandy again. The small plot twist at the end was a nice surprise, but I wanted more character development from Bash, Bri, and Finn. I suppose you could consider this a "slow-burn" type of romance with an awkward "love-triangle" troupe if you really wanted to.
Overall, I was slightly disappointed in this Duology. The hype behind the books was so great, especially for those who love SJM, ACOTAR, and TOG (aka ME) but unfortunately for me it just wasn't there. I definitely wanted more from the plot and more from the characters. (07/2023)
3 out of 5 stars
*
**
***
**
*
This book concludes the conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Abriella discovers that Bash has betrayed her, and flees the Sun Court, wandering the woods until she stumbles upon a work camp for Unseelie prisoners. Freeing those trapped there, and befriending the Wild Fae King, Bri has to overcome her emotions and discover the truth about herself and the power of the Unseelie Court.
The first book in this Duology has fan-fiction vibes, and that continues on into this story. Towards the end, I definitely felt there was some Throne of Glass overlap. I also struggled with Bri through the entirety of the plot. I felt that she was very, very whiney and annoying and continued to mope about and profess "woe is me, I've been betrayed". It's definitely like that for nearly half the book and I must admit, I would have DNF-ed this solely based on my agitation with Bri's character if I wasn't supposed to be doing a buddy read with coworkers.
The plot is fast-paced, which did keep my attention, and I enjoyed the action and bits of spice sprinkled throughout Bri's emotional breakdowns. The lore and world-building is more complicated in this, and I felt that it was almost too overwhelming at one point until it was all explained later on in the timeline. Once it all made sense, it peaked my interest.
I was not a fan of the conclusion. It felt like there was so much build-up to get to this point and then everything happened over what felt like 5 pages and then everything was suddenly fine and dandy again. The small plot twist at the end was a nice surprise, but I wanted more character development from Bash, Bri, and Finn. I suppose you could consider this a "slow-burn" type of romance with an awkward "love-triangle" troupe if you really wanted to.
Overall, I was slightly disappointed in this Duology. The hype behind the books was so great, especially for those who love SJM, ACOTAR, and TOG (aka ME) but unfortunately for me it just wasn't there. I definitely wanted more from the plot and more from the characters. (07/2023)
3 out of 5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
kassidyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Death, Confinement, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent and Slavery
haley49's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Compared to the last book this one was super slow. I took week’s getting through that first third of it. It was a lot of build up; however, when it got going it was amazing. The world building, the character relationships, the plot was all so good and worked as an excellent sequel. The twists were even better than the last book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, War, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Genocide
louisa_pennyfeather2021's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I only read this book because Book 1's ending had me thinking there would be an epic female lead with an antivillain arc. I couldn't have been more wrong. To me, this felt like a Wattpad Y/N crossover fanfic of Mortal Instruments, ACOTAR, and The Vampire Diaries. This book almost mad me dislike reading again. I didn't enjoy the undertones perpetuated through the elements of goblins and slave camps. I couldn't figure out how Brie is supposed to be, but I'm hoping she was 18 because if she wasn't, certain scenes of this book shouldn't exist.
I hated both love interests, but the main character made me unreasonably angry. The entire time, it felt like watching The Vampire Diaries. Both Brie and Elena Gilbert had the constant narrative of "I don't want this power, but I want these two brothers and I don't want to choose." Maybe I just prefer sound decisions, but her constant back and forth and emotional manipulation of both love interests was infuriating.
The book was definitely romance heavy because certain aspects of violence and war weren't as detailed as the other Fantasy books I've read since first reading These Hollow Vows.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. Both books made me so angry. I had high hopes for it as this duology was my first time reading Fantasy ever. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
I hated both love interests, but the main character made me unreasonably angry. The entire time, it felt like watching The Vampire Diaries. Both Brie and Elena Gilbert had the constant narrative of "I don't want this power, but I want these two brothers and I don't want to choose." Maybe I just prefer sound decisions, but her constant back and forth and emotional manipulation of both love interests was infuriating.
The book was definitely romance heavy because certain aspects of violence and war weren't as detailed as the other Fantasy books I've read since first reading These Hollow Vows.
Overall, I did not enjoy this book. Both books made me so angry. I had high hopes for it as this duology was my first time reading Fantasy ever. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Classism, Death of parent, and Deportation
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