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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Nothing happens in this book. Like literally, nothing happens. The whole thing feels like a prelude to the actual story, and probably could have been 200 pages shorter.
Orlaith is frustrating to read, she feels very child-like instead of a 21 year old woman, and keeps having the same realizations about how toxic Rhordyn is every 50 pages. I have a feeling Rhordyn is going to be the love interest and I'm definitely going to DNF when that happens. He hates Orlaith, threatens to hunt her down if she leaves, but of course isn't above seducing her to get her to do what he wants 🙃 I get this is a dark romance, but it is supposed to be a *romance*, and usually I like my love interests to actually like each other.
The writing is weird and overwrought, it feels like the author had a thesaurus out the whole time while creating the most head scratching metaphors.
Overall not a fun time, but I might read the next one to see if it improves
Orlaith is frustrating to read, she feels very child-like instead of a 21 year old woman, and keeps having the same realizations about how toxic Rhordyn is every 50 pages. I have a feeling Rhordyn is going to be the love interest and I'm definitely going to DNF when that happens. He hates Orlaith, threatens to hunt her down if she leaves, but of course isn't above seducing her to get her to do what he wants 🙃 I get this is a dark romance, but it is supposed to be a *romance*, and usually I like my love interests to actually like each other.
The writing is weird and overwrought, it feels like the author had a thesaurus out the whole time while creating the most head scratching metaphors.
Overall not a fun time, but I might read the next one to see if it improves
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Decent start to a potentially promising series
This is definitely a decent start to a potentially promising series. The characters draw you in, the twists are subtle but intriguing and the plot moves at a bearable pace, though slow at times.
Overall, I enjoyed it.
My only complaint is that it feels a bit sloppy, like the following books are going to have to work extra hard to pull everything together into a cohesive knot.
Also, the MC feels very much like a YA female MC set against a non YA setting so it can definitely be frustrating trying to reconcile this.
This is definitely a decent start to a potentially promising series. The characters draw you in, the twists are subtle but intriguing and the plot moves at a bearable pace, though slow at times.
Overall, I enjoyed it.
My only complaint is that it feels a bit sloppy, like the following books are going to have to work extra hard to pull everything together into a cohesive knot.
Also, the MC feels very much like a YA female MC set against a non YA setting so it can definitely be frustrating trying to reconcile this.
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
— "I just want to say, I DON'T CARE. There are some things in life that are just wrong, labeling Pedophilia, Grooming, Stockholm Syndrome, and Trauma bonding as just "dark" is by no means enough of a trigger warning. Especially when it's romanticized. And yes, I'm judging you if you can't see the issue with that.
The explaination given in the plot would never be an adequate nor acceptable excuse as to why things happened the way they do."
This portion from a reviewer on this series sums up all my opinions on this book perfectly.
DNF-ed at 30%
The explaination given in the plot would never be an adequate nor acceptable excuse as to why things happened the way they do."
This portion from a reviewer on this series sums up all my opinions on this book perfectly.
DNF-ed at 30%
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What I liked: I really liked the world that was being created, no matter how small it was to start. The way everything was described made it easy to picture and remember. All of the elements for a great book were THERE. And for some people, this will be a great book.
Her mural was really interesting, as was her talking about creating the different pains and her alchemy.
What I disliked: However, for me, it wasn't a great book. It didn't feel like there was any plot. At all. So it was a lot of rambling, repetitious inner monologuing. I wouldn't have had a problem with that had the main character been even the slightest bit likeable. However, I found her to be so annoying I didn't want to continue to the end. It was a push. The mysteries that were hinted at throughout were fine, but there were never enough crumbs left to make me want to chase them through the end of this book, let alone the sequels.
For someone with as small of a world as the MC, you'd think she'd be a bit better about describing or paying attention to the few people she lets into her literal circle. Instead, I walked away from this book feeling like I only know four characters, if that. It doesn't help that she never really had a reason to interact with anyone given the plot-that-really-wasn't-a-plot.
What I disliked: However, for me, it wasn't a great book. It didn't feel like there was any plot. At all. So it was a lot of rambling, repetitious inner monologuing. I wouldn't have had a problem with that had the main character been even the slightest bit likeable. However, I found her to be so annoying I didn't want to continue to the end. It was a push. The mysteries that were hinted at throughout were fine, but there were never enough crumbs left to make me want to chase them through the end of this book, let alone the sequels.
For someone with as small of a world as the MC, you'd think she'd be a bit better about describing or paying attention to the few people she lets into her literal circle. Instead, I walked away from this book feeling like I only know four characters, if that. It doesn't help that she never really had a reason to interact with anyone given the plot-that-really-wasn't-a-plot.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes