Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Read without looking into beforehand didn’t expect it to be full on romance the whole time. Not a reread but not the worst.
2
2
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
What an enjoyable read. I was drawn in by the premise and I was not disappointed. I loved the magic and world building. I wish there had been a bit more on this, as I found it very interesting. For me, this was like a slice of life meets fantasy romance anime. Or at least in my mind this is how it played out as I read and I loved it.
It’s been so long since I’ve felt this book rage, it’s like I’m in high school again reading all those dystopians. The book started out as 5/5. I loved it starting with where the author dedicated the book to herself bc she could. And then the last half of the book went south fast. Elle always was the one to protect her brothers and during the climatic scene her younger brother was captured and with the older brother, Elle gave up everything for him… again. When this happened I expected Tony to somehow die and all the stuff would go back to her. That there would be more scenes with them fighting the younger brother. But nah. Tony got to continue being the worst brother ever and was totally fine taking it all from her. I guess he felt owed bc she broke his Jade that’s kept his powers but to be fair, he didn’t want it! What is up with authors feeling the need to depower female characters. Elle was super powerful and was talked about as hiding her powers and then we never saw that bc she lost them! Afterwards she became this mundane shell and really unlikeable character. It’s like Killing off tris in the middle of divergent, Alina lost her powers in shadow and bone, or throne of glass with Aelin. The author just really built it up and then took it all away. And then did the same for the male love interest. Like was there no other way for him to be freed?? I almost wonder if there will be a second book to redeem this one but I doubt. Everything was completed. Even tho The last half of the book sucked so bad. I am so pissed. It just overall built up this awesome fantasy world and Elle’s and Luc’s love story, and I just wanted to know more about Elle’s powers and how she wanted to tattoo Luc. Like come on!!
Ugh enough rant for now.
Ugh enough rant for now.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-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:
Yes
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicide attempt, Death of parent
Starts slow but worth it once you get into it. It’s a really cool world and I hope the author explores it more. Be warned it will make you cry
slow-paced
2.5 stars?
This really did take me a month to read and felt so much longer than 400 pages. While much of it is well written I found this story didn't keep my attention very well. It seemed whenever something fascinating would happen the story would get sidetracked elsewhere and therefore so would I.
The bits of lore and world building we got were fascinating but I wanted more. More about glyphs, what is in inks to give them different power levels, the various types of power, the jobs of agents and spies. Instead I felt like I was thrown into the story and supposed to know things. It is explained at the end of the book but all the untranslated bits of text got a bit old. If it was only a few times that would have been fine and still proved the point the author was trying to get across. How often it is done just makes reading it annoying and hard to tell if the reader is missing something important.
I love the idea of magic through glyphs and runes. I like the importance of family and how following the set path can destroy a person. I enjoy assassin teams or fixers in this case. I love the combination of magic and medicine. The uses of qi for healing and different techniques. Mythical beings yes please. But all of it together plus so much more meant there was too much going on and nothing gets fleshed out. There are a bunch of plots and subplots that never really get finished. Oberon is really just going to let them live in peace? What happened to the younger brother? Why did Tony give in and go back to the family and everything he hates? The parents are leaving her alone with her knowledge that they want?
All this being said, it wasn't a terrible book. There are so many good ideas and the characters are interesting enough. Overall though, it just didn't work for me.
This really did take me a month to read and felt so much longer than 400 pages. While much of it is well written I found this story didn't keep my attention very well. It seemed whenever something fascinating would happen the story would get sidetracked elsewhere and therefore so would I.
The bits of lore and world building we got were fascinating but I wanted more. More about glyphs, what is in inks to give them different power levels, the various types of power, the jobs of agents and spies. Instead I felt like I was thrown into the story and supposed to know things. It is explained at the end of the book but all the untranslated bits of text got a bit old. If it was only a few times that would have been fine and still proved the point the author was trying to get across. How often it is done just makes reading it annoying and hard to tell if the reader is missing something important.
I love the idea of magic through glyphs and runes. I like the importance of family and how following the set path can destroy a person. I enjoy assassin teams or fixers in this case. I love the combination of magic and medicine. The uses of qi for healing and different techniques. Mythical beings yes please. But all of it together plus so much more meant there was too much going on and nothing gets fleshed out. There are a bunch of plots and subplots that never really get finished.
All this being said, it wasn't a terrible book. There are so many good ideas and the characters are interesting enough. Overall though, it just didn't work for me.
2.5 stars?
This really did take me a month to read and felt so much longer than 400 pages. While much of it is well written I found this story didn't keep my attention very well. It seemed whenever something fascinating would happen the story would get sidetracked elsewhere and therefore so would I.
The bits of lore and world building we got were fascinating but I wanted more. More about glyphs, what is in inks to give them different power levels, the various types of power, the jobs of agents and spies. Instead I felt like I was thrown into the story and supposed to know things. It is explained at the end of the book but all the untranslated bits of text got a bit old. If it was only a few times that would have been fine and still proved the point the author was trying to get across. How often it is done just makes reading it annoying and hard to tell if the reader is missing something important.
I love the idea of magic through glyphs and runes. I like the importance of family and how following the set path can destroy a person. I enjoy assassin teams or fixers in this case. I love the combination of magic and medicine. The uses of qi for healing and different techniques. Mythical beings yes please. But all of it together plus so much more meant there was too much going on and nothing gets fleshed out. There are a bunch of plots and subplots that never really get finished.
All this being said, it wasn't a terrible book. There are so many good ideas and the characters are interesting enough. Overall though, it just didn't work for me.
This really did take me a month to read and felt so much longer than 400 pages. While much of it is well written I found this story didn't keep my attention very well. It seemed whenever something fascinating would happen the story would get sidetracked elsewhere and therefore so would I.
The bits of lore and world building we got were fascinating but I wanted more. More about glyphs, what is in inks to give them different power levels, the various types of power, the jobs of agents and spies. Instead I felt like I was thrown into the story and supposed to know things. It is explained at the end of the book but all the untranslated bits of text got a bit old. If it was only a few times that would have been fine and still proved the point the author was trying to get across. How often it is done just makes reading it annoying and hard to tell if the reader is missing something important.
I love the idea of magic through glyphs and runes. I like the importance of family and how following the set path can destroy a person. I enjoy assassin teams or fixers in this case. I love the combination of magic and medicine. The uses of qi for healing and different techniques. Mythical beings yes please. But all of it together plus so much more meant there was too much going on and nothing gets fleshed out. There are a bunch of plots and subplots that never really get finished.
Spoiler
Oberon is really just going to let them live in peace? What happened to the younger brother? Why did Tony give in and go back to the family and everything he hates? The parents are leaving her alone with her knowledge that they want?All this being said, it wasn't a terrible book. There are so many good ideas and the characters are interesting enough. Overall though, it just didn't work for me.