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stephsbookrecs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
hebberelle's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Too much young adult romance , but I very much like a princess who’s needed BECAUSE she’s smart.
fmcfranny's review
5.0
this was pretty awesome. I loved that for once intelligence rather than brawn was what was called for to solve the problems of the elvin kingdom. Aldari is one of my fave princesses ever. I loved her wit and compassion. Hawk was charming even while kidnapping someone. And I loved that it took both their skills to save everyone. Their relationship was interesting and the side characters were great. Some I hated and some I wanted to know more about. The reason for my 4 star rating instead of 5 stars is I would have loved a bit more fleshing out for the side characters and the ending was a bit eh. It did wrap up the main storyline but this is a fantasy romance and the ending lacked the romance part in my opinion. But even so it is well worth the read.
courtney_saba's review
2.0
I went into this thinking it was a romance. It's advertised as one. But 400 pages later and there were 2 kisses. 2. Kisses. And zero chemistry or tension.
The main characters were like those shy YA characters in the 2000s. The heroine acted like a tween. She avoided the books with sexy times. How sad for her. Plus, all the dialogue felt stilted, rigid, awkward, and overly explained.
The plot was fine and the world building was intriguing, but they weren't enough to keep my attention. The stakes were high and the creatures were so interesting, but the rest of the story flopped.
I ended up skimming the majority of this and I really didn't miss anything.
Happy reading, Goodreads fiends.
The main characters were like those shy YA characters in the 2000s. The heroine acted like a tween. She avoided the books with sexy times. How sad for her. Plus, all the dialogue felt stilted, rigid, awkward, and overly explained.
The plot was fine and the world building was intriguing, but they weren't enough to keep my attention. The stakes were high and the creatures were so interesting, but the rest of the story flopped.
I ended up skimming the majority of this and I really didn't miss anything.
Happy reading, Goodreads fiends.
kzimm2024's review
4.0
Certainly a unique little story- with math and economics and the "Twisted" (zombies)!
Our heroine is promised to another county in an arranged marriage and is kidnapped along the way by the elves to help them solve a little zombie problem that has bee plaguing their people for CENTAURIES.
This book read a little YA on the first few pages with the banter between Aldari and Theli in the library so I stopped reading the book to come back weeks later. And for some reason I read it differently this time- and it was very enjoyable. I realize now that what I was missing in my other series was humor. When that is missing from a well written book, for me it falls flat. Humor gives it that extra spark of fun. This had good humor, not laugh out loud but enough to spark the story for me.
Banter with Theli:
“Why don’t you just stab me through the heart with your logic and kill me here?”
“Have I mentioned how delightful it is that you’re always implicating me in your hypothetical deaths?”
Banter with Hawk:
Setvik sneered, pointed at Hawk’s crotch, said something curt, and stalked back toward the camp. “He says the mercenaries are ready to go,” Hawk said.
“Are you sure? It sounded… cruder.”
“There were embellishments."
I enjoyed Hawk and Aldari was a strong and smart heroine, good combo, and THANK you baby jesus that this was a standalone story and not 5 books in the making! I got worried after 70% and we still didn't have a solution and I have to say, the ending was a bit of a rush trying to pack all that amazing action and puzzles into the last 10% of the book. Why make it so hard?
All in all, an enjoyable read if you like elves :)
Our heroine is promised to another county in an arranged marriage and is kidnapped along the way by the elves to help them solve a little zombie problem that has bee plaguing their people for CENTAURIES.
This book read a little YA on the first few pages with the banter between Aldari and Theli in the library so I stopped reading the book to come back weeks later. And for some reason I read it differently this time- and it was very enjoyable. I realize now that what I was missing in my other series was humor. When that is missing from a well written book, for me it falls flat. Humor gives it that extra spark of fun. This had good humor, not laugh out loud but enough to spark the story for me.
Banter with Theli:
“Why don’t you just stab me through the heart with your logic and kill me here?”
“Have I mentioned how delightful it is that you’re always implicating me in your hypothetical deaths?”
Banter with Hawk:
Setvik sneered, pointed at Hawk’s crotch, said something curt, and stalked back toward the camp. “He says the mercenaries are ready to go,” Hawk said.
“Are you sure? It sounded… cruder.”
“There were embellishments."
I enjoyed Hawk and Aldari was a strong and smart heroine, good combo, and THANK you baby jesus that this was a standalone story and not 5 books in the making! I got worried after 70% and we still didn't have a solution and I have to say, the ending was a bit of a rush trying to pack all that amazing action and puzzles into the last 10% of the book. Why make it so hard?
All in all, an enjoyable read if you like elves :)
wave__nami's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a blast to read. Sometimes it actually made me laugh. Even though there are so many sexual innuendos throughout this book… we are left with only a few measly kissing scenes.
sewster314's review against another edition
4.0
This book was really fun! I enjoyed the main character and the humor shared between characters. Some really great lines.
I only wish less time had been spent in the “we’re all going to die” tension at the end and more time spent on the two love interests actually getting together. They aren’t even officially in a relationship at the end!
I only wish less time had been spent in the “we’re all going to die” tension at the end and more time spent on the two love interests actually getting together. They aren’t even officially in a relationship at the end!
katkaity's review against another edition
4.0
Good story building and good character development.
Could be a bit longer; took less than a few hours to read.
Will be re-reading as it was cute as heck.
Could be a bit longer; took less than a few hours to read.
Will be re-reading as it was cute as heck.