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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
After the strong start of These Hollow Vows I had such high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, the love triangle between Abriella, Finn, and Sebastian just became confusing and annoying as Brie flip flops back and forth between not trusting anyone and being in love with everyone. Further complicated by the flirty Misha, the goal of figuring out who could rule the Moon Court really took a back seat. It all came together in the end, but it was a hard journey and dragged at times while Brie figured out her true purpose.
emotional
inspiring
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:
Complicated
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
Look I know it takes so much from acotar and even tog. But I really enjoyed it. Can't help it. I liked the read.
Ok this book starts with a bomb, Abriella has been deceived by the one she loves and well all Hell breaks lose. I would like to said this book was a lot better than the first one and the way this one shows more of Abriella powers and inner struggles. I do like the introduction of Misha and his interaction with Abriella. I like also how her relationships are further explore and how she comes to understand her feelings better. The ending does feel a bit rush but it doesn’t take away from the book. Overall very well done and I did like how it ends.
I can't lie. I'm disappointed. One of the things I liked most about the first book was how Abriella gained her power. King Oberon had fallen in love with a mortal woman, who was Abriella's mother, and when Abriella was fatally injured in a fire, Oberon sacrificed his life to save his love's daughter. In doing so, Abriella inherited all of Oberon's power and his crown. I really liked the idea of her acquiring power unexpectedly, but this book just twists that and is like, Haha, just kidding, she was actually born the chosen queen.
Also, this isn’t a YA book; the sex scenes towards the end were definitely not for young adults, lmfao. This is a new adult book at best.
I still enjoyed reading this book despite the issues I have with it. I like Lexi Ryan's writing style; it's very easy to read. She does a really good job of making me feel what Abreilla is experiencing as well. I understand her frustration and anger, but honestly, I wish she were more angry. Having all this crap piled on her would be infuriating. Not only does she have to deal with potentially risking her life to balance the power of two faerie courts she has hated her entire life, but the guy she thought she loved suddenly turns into the biggest little bitch boy ever. I want to emphasise that I LOVED Sebastian through the first three-quarters of the first book. I was genuinely taken aback by his betrayal (though I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised considering how complicit he was in his mother's actions at first).
Having said all that, I totally understand why Abriella is having those 'woe is me' thoughts, because if it were any of us, we'd also be like 'Haha, WTF is this? Why is this my life all of a sudden?' That said, I really, really hated the whole plot twist of Abriella being the child of Mab and the chosen queen to rule. It seemed super contrived and as if it was just thrown in because there wasn't a better solution to make it all work out.
I loved Misha; he was sassy and excellent. I wish there were more of Jasalyn, to be honest. I feel like she appeared in a very lame way. She'd been absent for like 85% of the book, then suddenly Arya was like HAHA GOT YER SISTER!! I wish she'd been more involved in this plot personally. I really, really, really like Finn. He has grown on me a lot since the last book. Sebastian went from being someone I really, really liked to someone I loathed and then felt pity for. I hope he finds happiness someday, but he has a lot of personal growth to go through.
Overall, I'd still recommend this duology to someone, but it was a kind of letdown at the end.
Oh, and let me complain about this cover as well. Why isn't Finn there? Get Sebastian's deceitful arse off my cover and give me FINNIAN, dammit.
Also, this isn’t a YA book; the sex scenes towards the end were definitely not for young adults, lmfao. This is a new adult book at best.
I still enjoyed reading this book despite the issues I have with it. I like Lexi Ryan's writing style; it's very easy to read. She does a really good job of making me feel what Abreilla is experiencing as well. I understand her frustration and anger, but honestly, I wish she were more angry. Having all this crap piled on her would be infuriating. Not only does she have to deal with potentially risking her life to balance the power of two faerie courts she has hated her entire life, but the guy she thought she loved suddenly turns into the biggest little bitch boy ever. I want to emphasise that I LOVED Sebastian through the first three-quarters of the first book. I was genuinely taken aback by his betrayal (though I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised considering how complicit he was in his mother's actions at first).
Having said all that, I totally understand why Abriella is having those 'woe is me' thoughts, because if it were any of us, we'd also be like 'Haha, WTF is this? Why is this my life all of a sudden?' That said, I really, really hated the whole plot twist of Abriella being the child of Mab and the chosen queen to rule. It seemed super contrived and as if it was just thrown in because there wasn't a better solution to make it all work out.
I loved Misha; he was sassy and excellent. I wish there were more of Jasalyn, to be honest. I feel like she appeared in a very lame way. She'd been absent for like 85% of the book, then suddenly Arya was like HAHA GOT YER SISTER!! I wish she'd been more involved in this plot personally. I really, really, really like Finn. He has grown on me a lot since the last book. Sebastian went from being someone I really, really liked to someone I loathed and then felt pity for. I hope he finds happiness someday, but he has a lot of personal growth to go through.
Overall, I'd still recommend this duology to someone, but it was a kind of letdown at the end.
Oh, and let me complain about this cover as well. Why isn't Finn there? Get Sebastian's deceitful arse off my cover and give me FINNIAN, dammit.
The romantic side of the story was well-written and compelling, with clear character progression. I was also really satisfied with where all the characters ended up. There were a smattering of good action scenes (the climax not among them).
The rest was, unfortunately, just hard to get through. The many (many!) long and repeated stories of Fae history told in chunks of duality’s with no character voice, the way the characters explained what happened to each other over and over, the many meetings where they rehashed the problems without solutions… Disappointing.
There were also parts that felt unbelievable to me based on what we know of the characters. ( At the beginning of the book, Abriella basically just accepts that she’ll never see her sister again. Um, what?? She spent the entire last book trying to save her! Also, all she has to do is have someone teach her how to glamour and she can go live in the human realm with Jas. Easy peasy. Why isn’t this her starting goal, and then she can come around to saving Faerie as the story progresses instead? )
Abriella also struggles through the first 2/3ish of this book with crippling self-doubt and self-loathing (to the point where it’s exhausting and a little frustrating to read), and these feelings don’t seem to get resolved but just drop out of existence somewhere along the way.
Sigh. A lot to say because I was really hoping to enjoy this one more.
The rest was, unfortunately, just hard to get through. The many (many!) long and repeated stories of Fae history told in chunks of duality’s with no character voice, the way the characters explained what happened to each other over and over, the many meetings where they rehashed the problems without solutions… Disappointing.
There were also parts that felt unbelievable to me based on what we know of the characters. (
Abriella also struggles through the first 2/3ish of this book with crippling self-doubt and self-loathing (to the point where it’s exhausting and a little frustrating to read), and these feelings don’t seem to get resolved but just drop out of existence somewhere along the way.
Sigh. A lot to say because I was really hoping to enjoy this one more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well I just devoured this! Honestly, it was just so good to read fantasy again, and this had lots of things I love: secrecy, Fae princes, high stakes, and romance.
I read both [b:These Hollow Vows|53422971|These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows, #1)|Lexi Ryan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603478051l/53422971._SY75_.jpg|82902232] and [b:These Twisted Bonds|58311939|These Twisted Bonds (These Hollow Vows, #2)|Lexi Ryan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638258882l/58311939._SY75_.jpg|91424080] in two days each, and just loved how absolutely readable they were... not the most original, perhaps, but readable. This is definitely a YA duology that I would be happily recommending.
That said, I do think it's better suited to older YA readers (it surely gets rather steamy!!), but perfect for many of the YA fantasy fans I know.
I read both [b:These Hollow Vows|53422971|These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows, #1)|Lexi Ryan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603478051l/53422971._SY75_.jpg|82902232] and [b:These Twisted Bonds|58311939|These Twisted Bonds (These Hollow Vows, #2)|Lexi Ryan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638258882l/58311939._SY75_.jpg|91424080] in two days each, and just loved how absolutely readable they were... not the most original, perhaps, but readable. This is definitely a YA duology that I would be happily recommending.
That said, I do think it's better suited to older YA readers (it surely gets rather steamy!!), but perfect for many of the YA fantasy fans I know.
Wasn’t too sure about the plot of this book. Yes it was an easy read and read it all in one sitting but I couldn’t get into the book. Will definitely try and read the series again but until then I will rate it 3 stars.