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clarabooksit's review
I hated this. The writing and story are cheesy, soapy, and cringey. The absolute worst thing about it, though, is the romance: Matthew is controlling and creepy, has anger issues, and treats Diana like a stupid child, and they fall in love to the point of desperation in only three weeks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Misogyny
Moderate: Death of parent
alishamegan's review
I hate Matthew. Super typical arrogant forceful aggressive male hetero love interest and literally a self admitted abuser and killer of women lol. I really don't like how he treats the female MC (which is super controlling and possessive). He is so one dimensional and the female MC has no personality tbh. Super disappointed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Misogyny
bookishchef's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book is like Twilight.
But without the love triangle.
And somehow even more toxic.
You thought Edward stalking Bella was creepy?
Meet Matthew Clermont! He is actually mentally and physically abusive to our bland Mary Sue protagonist named Diana.
If you're Matthew, life is easy.
Diana has a panic attack? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling scared? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling horny? Threaten her life.
Why? Because you just cannot help yourself of course. After all, it is sooooo hot when men treat women like
A. fragile objects they're supposed to control and protect.
B. things to literally kill.
This book perpetrates the idea that men cannot help themselves from abusing, controling, and commanding women.
Worst thing is, that every time Diana goes against Matthew's wishes, she is immediately punished by the plot. Which only confirms that women are supposed to listen to the men in their lives according to this book.
I have no clue how I, the reader, was supposed to find any of this romantic. All of the scenes were either highly uncomfortable or straight up abusive.
The excuse of "he just can't help himself" is as old as time and has been used time and time again to excuse shitty behaviour from men.
And Diana, the MC, decides that this excuse is not an excuse at all. She seems to think this is actually the way the world works. She doesn't even take the horrible "I can fix him" attitude that so many romance MCs take. Instead she just completely accepts Matthew as the toxic asshole he is and gives up every part of her life to listen to him and conform to his ideas of an ideal wife.
So yeah this book stole the toxicity from Twilight and made it 10x worse.
You know what else it stole?
THE WEIRD BABY PLOTLINE
Yup, you heard me correctly.
This author really looked at Renesmee and went "wow that's such a cool plot point".
Remember how Bella wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant because Ed was a vampire? Well, same goes for Diana in this story. For a solid 80% of the book, we hear nothing about pregnancy rates between witches and vampires. (Diana is a witch and Matthew is a vampire)
Matthew refuses to have penetrative sex because of *plot*, and Diana gets frustrated because of this. And then suddenly out of NOWHERE it is revealed that witches and vampires can't have babies together BUT Diana has *special* DNA which means she is able to conceive with Matthew. Matthew supposedly didn't know this, so his aversion to penetrative sex was completely unrelated.
Even so, this entire plotpoint seems to exist to make Matthew right once again, and to rip off Twilight.
Truly do not understand why this gets 4+ stars on Goodreads.
ALSO OMG WINE GETS MENTIONED MORE THAN THE MC'S NAME I STG
But without the love triangle.
And somehow even more toxic.
You thought Edward stalking Bella was creepy?
Meet Matthew Clermont! He is actually mentally and physically abusive to our bland Mary Sue protagonist named Diana.
If you're Matthew, life is easy.
Diana has a panic attack? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling scared? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling horny? Threaten her life.
Why? Because you just cannot help yourself of course. After all, it is sooooo hot when men treat women like
A. fragile objects they're supposed to control and protect.
B. things to literally kill.
This book perpetrates the idea that men cannot help themselves from abusing, controling, and commanding women.
Worst thing is, that every time Diana goes against Matthew's wishes, she is immediately punished by the plot. Which only confirms that women are supposed to listen to the men in their lives according to this book.
I have no clue how I, the reader, was supposed to find any of this romantic. All of the scenes were either highly uncomfortable or straight up abusive.
The excuse of "he just can't help himself" is as old as time and has been used time and time again to excuse shitty behaviour from men.
And Diana, the MC, decides that this excuse is not an excuse at all. She seems to think this is actually the way the world works. She doesn't even take the horrible "I can fix him" attitude that so many romance MCs take. Instead she just completely accepts Matthew as the toxic asshole he is and gives up every part of her life to listen to him and conform to his ideas of an ideal wife.
So yeah this book stole the toxicity from Twilight and made it 10x worse.
You know what else it stole?
THE WEIRD BABY PLOTLINE
Yup, you heard me correctly.
This author really looked at Renesmee and went "wow that's such a cool plot point".
Remember how Bella wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant because Ed was a vampire? Well, same goes for Diana in this story. For a solid 80% of the book, we hear nothing about pregnancy rates between witches and vampires. (Diana is a witch and Matthew is a vampire)
Matthew refuses to have penetrative sex because of *plot*, and Diana gets frustrated because of this. And then suddenly out of NOWHERE it is revealed that witches and vampires can't have babies together BUT Diana has *special* DNA which means she is able to conceive with Matthew. Matthew supposedly didn't know this, so his aversion to penetrative sex was completely unrelated.
Even so, this entire plotpoint seems to exist to make Matthew right once again, and to rip off Twilight.
Truly do not understand why this gets 4+ stars on Goodreads.
ALSO OMG WINE GETS MENTIONED MORE THAN THE MC'S NAME I STG
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, Blood, Death, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Murder, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Torture, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Misogyny
Minor: Child death
georgiaalexturnbull's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Really enjoyed it until Matthew returned to Sept-Tours then I hated the dynamic between the two protagonists
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Misogyny and Murder
linesiunderline's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Sometimes you just want a good story to really sink into. Sometimes that story will have vampires and witches and romance and Oxford in it, and there will be parts of it you don’t really get but whatever, you won’t be mad about it, even if it is a teensy bit overwritten in places.
Did I think I would really enjoy this one so much, to the point that I put the second audiobook on hold before I finished the first? I did not. But Vampire Matthew has quite a presence. So does Oxford and all of the witchy atmospheric business. I’m all in.
If you are an Outlander fan, this one is for you. I have to go watch the TV series now.
Did I think I would really enjoy this one so much, to the point that I put the second audiobook on hold before I finished the first? I did not. But Vampire Matthew has quite a presence. So does Oxford and all of the witchy atmospheric business. I’m all in.
If you are an Outlander fan, this one is for you. I have to go watch the TV series now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Violence, and Xenophobia
katielaine_w's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
applesaucecreachur's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? No
1.5
God this book sucked. It seemed like Matthew’s (the centuries-old vampire love interest) name was on every page at least once, even in scenes where he did not have a physical or dialogue presence. I’ve been calling it “post-grad Twilight”
because of how many similarities there are – Falling ridiculously fast for a vampire who watches the MC sleep, is controlling, and who constantly is explaining how dangerous of a predator he is (ya got that right, pal).
It took everything in me to be able to finish this thing. And I was SO excited about a lighthearted book of witchcraft! How do people enjoy it? Jeez.
... Although, that being said, I REALLY enjoyed the Bishops’ house. It was hands-down the best character. And Em and Sarah were actually a halfway-decent depiction of lesbians.
because of how many similarities there are – Falling ridiculously fast for a vampire who watches the MC sleep, is controlling, and who constantly is explaining how dangerous of a predator he is (ya got that right, pal).
It took everything in me to be able to finish this thing. And I was SO excited about a lighthearted book of witchcraft! How do people enjoy it? Jeez.
... Although, that being said, I REALLY enjoyed the Bishops’ house. It was hands-down the best character. And Em and Sarah were actually a halfway-decent depiction of lesbians.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Animal death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage and Infertility
stormwise's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
Hmmmmm.
It's not that I entirely disliked this book - I'll be reading the sequels - but I spent a lot of time complaining about this book as I read it.
On paper this sounded right up my alley: a story that begins with a witch in a library? Nice. However this novel had a much heavier focus on romance than I expected - not necessarily a bad thing, I do like romance, but...
Did anyone else who read this book find it a little...sexist? Misogynistic, even? I struggled to find Matthew an attractive romantic lead when he was so frequently being controlling towards Diana, or having wild mood swings. It was a bit "Twilight for adults" in my opinion. The 'alpha male' bullshit had me rolling my eyes on a regular basis.
Also, if I had a penny for every time my mum recommended a 500+ page fantasy-romance novel that turned out to have multiple sex scenes in it, I'd have two pennies, which isn't a lot but it is weird that it's happened twice (the other one was Outlander which I read last year and, weirdly, have similar criticisms for).
The writing style was also a bit...long-winded. I love a good bit of descriptive writing but sometimes less truly is more and overly floral language just bogs down the scene.
My various grumbles aside, the overall plot was sufficiently compelling, dragged as it was through endless scenes of monotony which were fortunately bolstered by the intriguing cast of characters. I really liked the magic and the way the world worked with witches, vampires and daemons. I just wish Diana had spent less time taking naps or having decisions made for her... </spoiler >
It's not that I entirely disliked this book - I'll be reading the sequels - but I spent a lot of time complaining about this book as I read it.
On paper this sounded right up my alley: a story that begins with a witch in a library? Nice. However this novel had a much heavier focus on romance than I expected - not necessarily a bad thing, I do like romance, but...
Also, if I had a penny for every time my mum recommended a 500+ page fantasy-romance novel that turned out to have multiple sex scenes in it, I'd have two pennies, which isn't a lot but it is weird that it's happened twice (the other one was Outlander which I read last year and, weirdly, have similar criticisms for).
The writing style was also a bit...long-winded. I love a good bit of descriptive writing but sometimes less truly is more and overly floral language just bogs down the scene.
My various grumbles aside, the overall plot was sufficiently compelling, dragged as it was through endless scenes of monotony which were fortunately bolstered by the intriguing cast of characters. I really liked the magic and the way the world worked with witches, vampires and daemons. I just wish Diana had spent less time taking naps or having decisions made for her... </spoiler >
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Sexism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death of parent, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: Sexual content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Alcohol, and Animal death
Minor: Infertility
veeronald's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Grief, Medical content, Stalking, Xenophobia, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent, Sexism, and Misogyny
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