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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is book 1 in a new series called The Four Kingdoms. The power aspect in this story is very unique, I’m not sure if I’ve read a fantasy book where the character’s powers work in the way the FMC does in this book. I like that the FMC is 25, as I feel like MCs in fantasy romance novels lately tend to be closer to 18/19.
This book was honestly…chaotic at times. There seemed to just be a lot going on. There’s Insta-lust that turns into sort of Insta-love. I would’ve liked to know a bit more about the characters and who they are before we got to that. I don’t always like Insta-love, but I find that I’m personally more forgiving of it in the fantasy romance genre than I am in contemporary romance.
I’m intrigued by the cliffhanger reveal at the end and am interested to see where the series goes from here.
- Political games
- Morally grey MMC & FMC
- Insta-love
- Love triangle
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
2.5
I went into this book with such high hopes. But it honestly just strangled them, one extra page at a time. I'll give the author that the writing is mechanically competent, editing pretty clean, and the world is interesting. I didn't even hate the characters. But the book is far, far, far too long for the plot that it contains. The middle just draaaaaaags and then the whole thing finishes on a cliffhanger. So, there's not even any payoff after sticking with it until the end.
I might have been able to tolerate that if it wasn't paired with constant whiplash changes in character attitudes and behaviors. "I won't do this." Does it. "You can't do that" Does it. "I'll do the thing." Doesn't do it. "I love this man." Hates same man. "I don't sexually love this man." Has sex with him. Back and forwards, back and forwards, back and forwards, back and forwards. I'm talking a full half of this book is just characters flipping between opposing attitudes/opinion/actions. And I was just completely done with it far before the book was done with me. Yes, I understood that the author was trying to show that the characters were conflicted, but it just felt contradictory and exhausting.
Even the narrative is contradictory. Here's an example. The reader is told no one ever goes in the woods and there is virtually no crime on the island. Raven walked into the woods and was immediately accosted by a serial rapist. If no one goes in the woods and there's almost no crime, he's two rarities at once. He contradicts two pillars of the world as the reader has been told it exists. Exhausting.
Further, this is labeled a dark romance. I don't think it's a dark romance. It's a freaking tragedy. I recognize the elements that Dean was trying to paint as dark romance. But it's just toxic, abusive behavior without enough shading to make it an actual dark romance.
Lastly, and this one was just an annoyance, but it really annoyed me. Nothing about Raven—her situation, her attitude, her demeanor, her kingdom, her training, her history, her interactions with others or them with her—felt queenly. Nothing. The book isn't even clear on what she rules. Was it a country, an island, a town, or a village? Village is used more often than anything else. So, she's queen of a village? Linguistically, it doesn't even make sense.
I think this book will find an audience. Exhausting whiplash aside, most aspects of it aren't bad. I am just apparently not that audience.
I went into this book with such high hopes. But it honestly just strangled them, one extra page at a time. I'll give the author that the writing is mechanically competent, editing pretty clean, and the world is interesting. I didn't even hate the characters. But the book is far, far, far too long for the plot that it contains. The middle just draaaaaaags and then the whole thing finishes on a cliffhanger. So, there's not even any payoff after sticking with it until the end.
I might have been able to tolerate that if it wasn't paired with constant whiplash changes in character attitudes and behaviors. "I won't do this." Does it. "You can't do that" Does it. "I'll do the thing." Doesn't do it. "I love this man." Hates same man. "I don't sexually love this man." Has sex with him. Back and forwards, back and forwards, back and forwards, back and forwards. I'm talking a full half of this book is just characters flipping between opposing attitudes/opinion/actions. And I was just completely done with it far before the book was done with me. Yes, I understood that the author was trying to show that the characters were conflicted, but it just felt contradictory and exhausting.
Even the narrative is contradictory. Here's an example. The reader is told no one ever goes in the woods and there is virtually no crime on the island. Raven walked into the woods and was immediately accosted by a serial rapist. If no one goes in the woods and there's almost no crime, he's two rarities at once. He contradicts two pillars of the world as the reader has been told it exists. Exhausting.
Further, this is labeled a dark romance. I don't think it's a dark romance. It's a freaking tragedy. I recognize the elements that Dean was trying to paint as dark romance. But it's just toxic, abusive behavior without enough shading to make it an actual dark romance.
Lastly, and this one was just an annoyance, but it really annoyed me. Nothing about Raven—her situation, her attitude, her demeanor, her kingdom, her training, her history, her interactions with others or them with her—felt queenly. Nothing. The book isn't even clear on what she rules. Was it a country, an island, a town, or a village? Village is used more often than anything else. So, she's queen of a village? Linguistically, it doesn't even make sense.
I think this book will find an audience. Exhausting whiplash aside, most aspects of it aren't bad. I am just apparently not that audience.
Wow, I haven't expected this book to be so down-to-earth yet full of smut and fantasy elements. It definitely deserves more exposure!
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really loved this book! I thought the pacing was done well and the Zeke is morally gray character of my dreams. I also liked that Raven’s top priority is always her kingdom even though she’s unsure why she was given it or if she even deserves it. I think she’s an extremely strong FMC.
This is definitely an adult dark fantasy romance with a lot of spice! If your a fan of instant love, friends to lovers, love triangles and morally grey characters than you’ll enjoy A Kingdom of Flame and Fury. I really liked the elemental magic that Raven possessed and the world the author created. Raven comes across as being strong and confident but as the story progresses you discover she has a lot of self doubt and anxiety about being loved and accepted. Personally, I am not a fan of instant love but it works well with the story line in this book. Her love interests Zeke and Cade, one her soulmate and the other her close confidant both lied and manipulated Raven for different reasons. I found myself rooting for Raven to find her inner strength and stand on her own. Once you get past the insta love and spicy scenes the beginnings of a solid fantasy story unfolds and lays the groundwork for the next book in the series.
Thank you to katieandbreypa for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to katieandbreypa for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.
slow-paced
First off, I want to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this book via R&R Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.
I was meant to review this last month as part of the blog tour, but I fell behind on my reading, so I didn't get it done in time. This book is a big part of why I fell so far behind on my reading. It was so slow but I'm getting ahead of myself.
This is a Romantasy which if you don't know what that is it's a Romantic Fantasy. With an emphasis on the romantic side. This was heavy on the romance and me being a romance lover I did really enjoy the romance for the most part. This is where the slow pace hindered my enjoyment of the book. Because this was so heavy on the romance side of things everything else seemed to take forever to happen and honestly the only sign that I got that this was a fantasy book is that the 2 main characters have magical powers. They use their powers all throughout the book but that's it the rest was just a buildup of the romance. There was a reveal at the end but the only person who doesn't know what that reveal actually is was Raven. It literally took me a month to get through this book because it drug so much for me. Also the long chapters. I loath long chapters!!
I loved Raven and how she's not your typical prim and proper Queen. She's a badass and a morally gray character. She was very indecisive and always second guessing herself and relying entirely too much on a man. She does have some growth in this book. I like love triangles but, in this instance, I didn't like it because it seems like it's in there just to make more drama than is necessary.
As for the romance like I said I really liked the romance. Well, I really liked the romance with one of the characters not so much the other one. It's pretty steamy as well which I love in my books, but it overtook the story in my opinion.
Even though I had some major issues with this book I still liked it and was sucked into the story, and I'm intrigued enough to want to continue on with the next book in the series I just hope it's not as slow because I don't know if I could go through that again. If you can get past it being extremely slow I would recommend giving this book a read.
There are things I really enjoyed and things I didn’t with this one.
Characters, pace, story and over all feel of the book was fantastic and more than enough to keep me engaged. Ravens story is a fresh idea and didn’t feel like I’d read this somewhere before and her history is unfolds at a lovely pace.
Things I didn’t like so much: instant love with what feels like no development, well I do enjoy some good smut sometimes I can dominate and not in a great way.
Overall I enjoyed the book and will give the next one a read
I love a good fantasy book with lore and this one spared no detail! From the back story, to the world building, to the character arcs it was all superb! I particularly loved the dual POV jumping from Raven to Zeke (loved that he fell first
Not bad but dragged on a bit. Raven is just a tad bit dramatic and desperate for my liking