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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’ve come from; it’s in our nature to fall in love with the shackle that binds us.”
Sooooo this book is about a character with Stockholm Syndrome?
I kept waiting for the part where I gave a shit. But it never came.
Probably because I knew nothing about what was going on about 85% of the time, and the 15% I did understand or could follow repulsed me.
There is zero world-building, zero backstory, zero lore.
Characters constantly have conversations referencing objects, rituals, places, people and events we, the readers, have NO knowledge of. But they're being talked about like we know all about them. It's like I was handed a manuscript, but the first 200 pages were missing. And I'm just supposed to be okay with being in the dark about EVERYTHING. There are seriously whole chapters where absolutely NOTHING makes any sense because characters are discussing crap the reader has absolutely zero knowledge about!
Imagine you're reading... I dunno. ACOTAR. And suddenly, Feyre says, "Snarg, flutz, groply borp" and then Rhysand mentions a girl named Boomquifa that he met in a goblat outside some place called Shakado. Only once that chapter's over, YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT BOOMQUIFA OR HER GROPLY BORPS AGAIN.
Who was she? Why was she important? What was the point of bringing her into this story? What does it all mean?!?! Justice for Boomquifa!
THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE READING THIS BOOK.
And the plot is non-existant. It's just pointless scene after pointless scene and nothing goes together. One minute, Orlaith is leading a little lost girl through the tunnels of the keep. Then she's looking at naughty picture books with her fish friend, then she's painting rocks for some reason. Then Baze is telling her about all his dirty trysts with god only knows who. Then there's talk of a ball and a dress fitting. Then there's maybe a cut scene where we're following Rhordyn and he's in the woods being a broody asshole (and maybe killing/dismembering something). Then maybe we'll get a chapter from the fish's perspective going on about how the water's dangerous or something. Oh. And then the FMC goes into heat in the middle of this book because apparently she's a goddamn werewolf????
Was I supposed to like Orlaith? I didn't. She's naive, and mostly a jealous, immature, sheltered brat. Ignorant by her own making. Which isn't a good look when she's showing her ass constantly. Girl's 21 acting 12 for most of the damn book.
And that really makes the...spicy???... stuff in here... hella awkward. I don't wanna read about an infantile character being finger fucked as she's "coming into sexual maturity" by the creep who raised her. Or anybody else. It's gross.
She's also a drug addict with PTSD. So. That's fun.
Explain to me how she's got any memory of the night she almost died when she was TWO when it happened? Do any of y'all remember ANYTHING from when you were TWO?
I didn't think so. It's bullshit. If she were 5 or 6, I could perhaps believe she's got CPTSD or something. But TWO? Nah, fam.
Was I supposed to like Rhordyn? Because dude's got the personality of a sack of half-drowned cats. He's grumpy and broody and manipulative and cruel to the FMC. He's also maybe a drug addict, too. I don't think pedophilia is sexy. I don't think watching a grown ass man groom a young girl for 19 years is sexy. I didn't think his relationship with Orlaith is appropriate. And it's weird to see so many people defending him.
Did I care about literally any of the other characters?
No.
There's absolutely nothing to tie me to any of them emotionally. Nothing that makes me care.
The characters suck. All of them. Across the board.
The relationships are probably supposed to be all dark because this is a DaRk FaNtAsY RoMaNcE or something. But mostly it's just toxic and gross.
I checked out about 40% of the way through this book because what the fuck was I actually reading?
Sooooo this book is about a character with Stockholm Syndrome?
I kept waiting for the part where I gave a shit. But it never came.
Probably because I knew nothing about what was going on about 85% of the time, and the 15% I did understand or could follow repulsed me.
There is zero world-building, zero backstory, zero lore.
Characters constantly have conversations referencing objects, rituals, places, people and events we, the readers, have NO knowledge of. But they're being talked about like we know all about them. It's like I was handed a manuscript, but the first 200 pages were missing. And I'm just supposed to be okay with being in the dark about EVERYTHING. There are seriously whole chapters where absolutely NOTHING makes any sense because characters are discussing crap the reader has absolutely zero knowledge about!
Imagine you're reading... I dunno. ACOTAR. And suddenly, Feyre says, "Snarg, flutz, groply borp" and then Rhysand mentions a girl named Boomquifa that he met in a goblat outside some place called Shakado. Only once that chapter's over, YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT BOOMQUIFA OR HER GROPLY BORPS AGAIN.
Who was she? Why was she important? What was the point of bringing her into this story? What does it all mean?!?! Justice for Boomquifa!
THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE READING THIS BOOK.
And the plot is non-existant. It's just pointless scene after pointless scene and nothing goes together. One minute, Orlaith is leading a little lost girl through the tunnels of the keep. Then she's looking at naughty picture books with her fish friend, then she's painting rocks for some reason. Then Baze is telling her about all his dirty trysts with god only knows who. Then there's talk of a ball and a dress fitting. Then there's maybe a cut scene where we're following Rhordyn and he's in the woods being a broody asshole (and maybe killing/dismembering something). Then maybe we'll get a chapter from the fish's perspective going on about how the water's dangerous or something. Oh. And then the FMC goes into heat in the middle of this book because apparently she's a goddamn werewolf????
Was I supposed to like Orlaith? I didn't. She's naive, and mostly a jealous, immature, sheltered brat. Ignorant by her own making. Which isn't a good look when she's showing her ass constantly. Girl's 21 acting 12 for most of the damn book.
And that really makes the...spicy???... stuff in here... hella awkward. I don't wanna read about an infantile character being finger fucked as she's "coming into sexual maturity" by the creep who raised her. Or anybody else. It's gross.
She's also a drug addict with PTSD. So. That's fun.
Explain to me how she's got any memory of the night she almost died when she was TWO when it happened? Do any of y'all remember ANYTHING from when you were TWO?
I didn't think so. It's bullshit. If she were 5 or 6, I could perhaps believe she's got CPTSD or something. But TWO? Nah, fam.
Was I supposed to like Rhordyn? Because dude's got the personality of a sack of half-drowned cats. He's grumpy and broody and manipulative and cruel to the FMC. He's also maybe a drug addict, too. I don't think pedophilia is sexy. I don't think watching a grown ass man groom a young girl for 19 years is sexy. I didn't think his relationship with Orlaith is appropriate. And it's weird to see so many people defending him.
Did I care about literally any of the other characters?
No.
There's absolutely nothing to tie me to any of them emotionally. Nothing that makes me care.
The characters suck. All of them. Across the board.
The relationships are probably supposed to be all dark because this is a DaRk FaNtAsY RoMaNcE or something. But mostly it's just toxic and gross.
I checked out about 40% of the way through this book because what the fuck was I actually reading?
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautifully written.
However...
Nothing was explained.
Childlike language and a protagonist who was basically a child so I did not get the love interest at all.
The majority of the two main characters' arguments made absolutely no sense.
Just... Didn't work for me at all. I was bored and considered giving up several times.
However...
Nothing was explained.
Childlike language and a protagonist who was basically a child so I did not get the love interest at all.
The majority of the two main characters' arguments made absolutely no sense.
Just... Didn't work for me at all. I was bored and considered giving up several times.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first half was quite boring due to the lack of world building