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gracescross's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Classism, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Rape and Death of parent
booksandteatime's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, and Rape
reginasage's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Liked this one best out of all the series so far.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Bullying, Cursing, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Medical content, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Torture, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Violence
overflowingshelf's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
CW: Rape; suicidal thoughts; murder; violence; blood; torture
I went into this book with sky-high expectations – it is Lothaire, the Enemy of Old, after all! I’ve been intrigued since he first popped up on the page way back in A Hunger Like No Other and built up how awesome his book was going to be in mind.
Unfortunately, this one didn’t meet my overall expectations, though it was more BONKERS than expected. Honestly, I was not expecting Lothaire to rip his LITERAL heart out as an expression of love, yet here we are. Seriously, so many limbs and organs were lost in this book. And that’s saying something for this series, as there is at least one limb lost per book.
Honestly, I’m still unsure how I feel about the romance in this book. I felt like Lothaire and Ellie had great chemistry, but I wasn’t rooting for them to get together. I loved Ellie and thought she deserved better than Lothaire, especially considering the shit hand fate handed her with her being possessed by the blood-thirsty Saroya. Lothaire kept making decisions for Ellie, about her body, her future and what she wanted without listening to her, which annoyed me. But I also love how she handled the situation by making it clear she did not want to be with him – as one person in the book said, “I am no expert with females, but I believe an attempted decapitation communicates the need for some space.” Lothaire wanted to kill Ellie for most of the book to be with Saroya and treat her terribly. I don’t think his grand gesture was enough to make up for how he acted towards her, but it is what it is. It was nice to see the calming influence she had on him as he has his issues, but I would have liked a bit more from the romance.
I did enjoy diving more into Lothaire’s backstory as that man has been through the wringer. I understand why he is the way he is, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. He’s also still a villain, with his own motives and agenda for everything, and I love watching him play his game of chess with everyone. Who doesn’t love a good villain? Ellie was a fantastic addition to the series – she’s intelligent, funny, bold, brave and caring. She’s not afraid to go toe-to-toe with Lothaire despite his reputation as the Enemy of Old, as well as taking on a deranged goddess who has possessed her for many years. Speaking of the deranged goddess, Saroya was a lot of fun. I loved how she had her own plan and manipulated Lothaire for her gains. It was clear to me she had zero interest in him, but Lothaire was blinded by thinking she was his mate, and it was nice to see the tables being turned on him for once.
While I liked that this book explored Lothaire’s backstory and built out the mythology of the Lore, I also thought this book was trying to do too much in one story. This book did a lot of work tying up outstanding plotlines from Torture Island to La Dorada to the ring he’s been after while also building out the mythology of the Lore and introducing new storylines and characters. It was a lot to cram into one book.
Some plot points felt raced over or anti-climatic, like tying up some of the loose ends from Torture Island. In contrast, others added to the storyline, like exploring Nïx and Lothaire’s relationship and the introduction of the Dacians. Because so much was happening plot-wise, the romance sometimes felt like it was taking a backseat and the story dragged on rather slowly.
While I didn’t hate Lothaire, I wanted more than I got. Did I enjoy the bonkers ride? Yes. But it did take me a lot longer to get through this book than I thought. Immortals After Dark fans will likely love this one as it’s fun to see all the pieces come together, but this wasn’t necessarily the most satisfying of romances. I am excited by the introduction of the Dacian as I know they have their own semi-spinoff series that is also part of the broader Immortals After Dark series. However, I definitely slowed down my reading of the series after this book as I felt it was a LOT. I’m so invested in this series now that, of course, I will continue reading it, but it will be at a slower pace than before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, and Rape
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
heydebigale's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
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
5.0
This book lived up to the hype!
After reading Dreams of a Dark Warrior, I was pretty much obsessed with Lothaire so I was nervous how Kresley was going to handle his character when he took the spotlight. Amazing.
Lothaire, Enemy of Old, is truly villainous. Ellie is a possessed mortal from Appalachia. Lothaire did many WTF things in this book. There are many consent issues in this book. I think the reason this book worked was because Lothaire throughout the entire series is so self-centered and villainous. It would’ve been weird/out of character if he immediately was centered on Ellie I think?? Also, him being an actual villain Is what made the payoff at the end so beautiful to me. Like he’s finally learning to center someone other than himself. And its great.
I adored Ellie in this book. She was so loyal to her family and was such a strong MC!
Lothaire was SUCH A DRAMA KING, which made this book so hilarious to read. I laughed out loud so much and I can’t wait to re-read this one!!
So many great quotes in this book. But my favorite was:
Lothaire: ”why does no one believe that I am evil anymore?!”
Ellie : “Oh I do. Honest.”
*She doesn’t believe I’m evil. Not really*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, and Sexual assault
katyhosbein's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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
5.0
One of my favorite IADs so far! Ellie has been one of my favorite MCs because she won’t take any shit. Her struggles with Lothaire were really entertaining to read. I also loved finally learning more about Lothaire, his past, and motivations for his evil doings.
Bonus fun was finding out more about the connections between Loreans and learning a bit about the Dacians.
Bonus fun was finding out more about the connections between Loreans and learning a bit about the Dacians.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape
cc0906's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gore, and Kidnapping
Minor: Rape and Child death
folkofthebook's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
One of the most iconic of the IAD with a character like Lothaire, this isn't a book you want to skip in the series. The toxic, villainous (and a bit mad) love interest, a sassy FMC, and the appearance of yet another blood BJ, find yourself a cozy spot and tuck in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Rape
chels_ebooks's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Lothaire is a very old vampire. So old, so ruthless, so blonde. He hates humans, so unfortunately for him, his fated mate is Ellie of Appalachia, who is extremely human (likes Funyons, etc). Ellie felt like a caricature of someone from Appalachia, but every time I got a little heated about it she would say something very funny so I couldn't really stay mad.
Since Lothaire doesn't think Ellie can possibly be the one, he hatches a plan with the evil goddess that's living inside of Ellie (long story), Soraya. Lothaire and Soraya plan to exorcise Ellie's soul from her own body, then destroy one vampire kingdom and take over another. Unfortunately Ellie is aware of this the entire time, so she's preoccupied with finding a way to either kill herself and Soraya (worst case), or seduce Lothaire into keeping her instead of Soraya (best case, maybe?).
It's violent, silly, and fun. I think we were cheated a little bit with how high-stakes things were for Ellie, because her high-gumption strong woman self didn't really acknowledge her fear and desperation until most of her worry was behind her
Since Lothaire doesn't think Ellie can possibly be the one, he hatches a plan with the evil goddess that's living inside of Ellie (long story), Soraya. Lothaire and Soraya plan to exorcise Ellie's soul from her own body, then destroy one vampire kingdom and take over another. Unfortunately Ellie is aware of this the entire time, so she's preoccupied with finding a way to either kill herself and Soraya (worst case), or seduce Lothaire into keeping her instead of Soraya (best case, maybe?).
It's violent, silly, and fun. I think we were cheated a little bit with how high-stakes things were for Ellie, because her high-gumption strong woman self didn't really acknowledge her fear and desperation until most of her worry was behind her
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
sugardustedbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence