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bgrrrl's review
4.0
Hardest book ever to rate. As a duology, I really loved the character development that took place, which included the history of both main characters and the full evolution of their relationship. I give that 4 stars.
As a spin-off and extension of the Upending Tad series, it gets a lower 3-star rating. I was incredibly disappointed and frustrated that it took until the 50% mark in book 2 of this duology to reach the point that the characters left of in the Upending Tad series. It felt like I had to read FOREVER to get back to the present and personally I really hate that. It also resulted in a very pivotal relationship scene (the one we saw from Tad and Scott’s POV) being summarized briefly and glossed over. That would suck for anyone that hadn’t read the first series. Additionally, while I liked getting more Tad & Scott, it was misplaced and interruptive to the story.
I’m hesitant to read Kai and Breck’s books because I’m afraid of this same thing happening, and yet, I do want to know their stories.
Overall, I love the writer’s plots, characters and the ability to evoke feelings for the characters. The world she has created is amazing and I want to spend more time in it. My wish is that the books could’ve been timed better so that there was less back story required to get caught up to present time in the duology. My personal preference for series is that they are always moving forward with occasional flashbacks and I went into this duology not knowing that 3/4’s of it was back story.
See 1st book in duology for additional review.
As a spin-off and extension of the Upending Tad series, it gets a lower 3-star rating. I was incredibly disappointed and frustrated that it took until the 50% mark in book 2 of this duology to reach the point that the characters left of in the Upending Tad series. It felt like I had to read FOREVER to get back to the present and personally I really hate that. It also resulted in a very pivotal relationship scene (the one we saw from Tad and Scott’s POV) being summarized briefly and glossed over. That would suck for anyone that hadn’t read the first series. Additionally, while I liked getting more Tad & Scott, it was misplaced and interruptive to the story.
I’m hesitant to read Kai and Breck’s books because I’m afraid of this same thing happening, and yet, I do want to know their stories.
Overall, I love the writer’s plots, characters and the ability to evoke feelings for the characters. The world she has created is amazing and I want to spend more time in it. My wish is that the books could’ve been timed better so that there was less back story required to get caught up to present time in the duology. My personal preference for series is that they are always moving forward with occasional flashbacks and I went into this duology not knowing that 3/4’s of it was back story.
See 1st book in duology for additional review.
loulou87's review
4.0
This was:
1. HOT
2. Angsty
3. Heartbreaking
4. Romantic
5. HOT
Max was:
1. STUPID
2. Jealous
3. Possesive
4. Growly
5. Sexy AF
Sean was:
1. The sweetest bb
2. Fearless
3. Level-headed
4. Romantic
5. Hopeful
Thank the lord that Max took his head out of his a$$ Because DUDE JUST LET SEAN LOVE YOU.
1. HOT
2. Angsty
3. Heartbreaking
4. Romantic
5. HOT
Max was:
1. STUPID
2. Jealous
3. Possesive
4. Growly
5. Sexy AF
Sean was:
1. The sweetest bb
2. Fearless
3. Level-headed
4. Romantic
5. Hopeful
Thank the lord that Max took his head out of his a$$ Because DUDE JUST LET SEAN LOVE YOU.
mwlgal's review
3.0
I really loved Mac and Sean’s story. However, This series could have done well with at least 200 less pages. TONS of repetition. Also frankly, I resented the added bits about Tad and Scott. They had their show and it’s done. Or at least could have been a separate novella. I found that very distracting. Since this book was so long, I completely skimmed through those sections. No idea what happened was Nd frankly didn’t care. The story of Sean and Max was much more involved and quite angsty which I loved. However, too much repetition. Shortened and delete the parts with Tad and Scott and you’d have a winner. A great book cannot stand on hot sex alone.
queenofswordsandwords's review
3.0
things I liked :
- the main characters
things I didn't like :
- "He was a guy after all, in his sexual prime, inundated with fucking testosterone." yeah, this has not aged well. idk, it rubbed me wrong way, ace people exist, I just no. It's just one example of a lot of offhand comments that men are always horny and it's normal. no thank you.
- a character wearing "guyliner". men wearing make up is great, make up doesn't have to be gendered, why couldn't he be wearing eyeliner ?!
- name dropping songs all the time. either songs that would never play on the radio, or the characters bonding over a cool song and it's gonna be something lame, it was annoying.
- the gay bashing of a character from the first book for NO FUCKING REASON other than to redeem his previous bullies who now came to his aid. like WTF.
- The moment one of the main character get his head out of his ass has to be when he thinks that the mc will commit suicide. like I get that he's emotionally stunted but come on.
- Max should have GROVELED at sean's feet. like for a damn long time, after everything he's put him through. he got forgiven way too easily
- the main characters
things I didn't like :
- "He was a guy after all, in his sexual prime, inundated with fucking testosterone." yeah, this has not aged well. idk, it rubbed me wrong way, ace people exist, I just no. It's just one example of a lot of offhand comments that men are always horny and it's normal. no thank you.
- a character wearing "guyliner". men wearing make up is great, make up doesn't have to be gendered, why couldn't he be wearing eyeliner ?!
- name dropping songs all the time. either songs that would never play on the radio, or the characters bonding over a cool song and it's gonna be something lame, it was annoying.
- the gay bashing of a character from the first book for NO FUCKING REASON other than to redeem his previous bullies who now came to his aid. like WTF.
- The moment one of the main character get his head out of his ass has to be when he thinks that the mc will commit suicide. like I get that he's emotionally stunted but come on.
- Max should have GROVELED at sean's feet. like for a damn long time, after everything he's put him through. he got forgiven way too easily
steiner's review
1.0
This was boring and repetitive. The previous book was better as it had a bit more heat. This was not good and needed some heavy editing.
riverreads's review
4.0
I waited for this story since my love Red was first introduced in [b:Upending Tad Bundle (Volumes 1, 2, 3)|23984516|Upending Tad Bundle (Volumes 1, 2, 3) (Upending Tad A Journey of Erotic Discovery)|Kora Knight|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431600382s/23984516.jpg|43586177] I felt like he had a story I wanted to know it. This is more than story than I was waiting for than book 1, don't get me wrong I really enjoyed that book but this one was more in the timeline that I knew.
Things with Max and Sean are exactly were we left them. Max is a closed off man, he thinks that by shutting down his feelings he is protecting himself.
Sean is such a great guy, I like him for Max because he is not a pushover, he might submit to Max in his dungeon but he is not going to let Max get away with treating bad.
The relationship took some time, this book is really long. I love them and everything about them but gosh was this book long.
The upside of this is the we get more Tad and Scott, This personally didn't bother me because I love them and I was so happy know how their relationship is going.
I loved seeing Max heal, it was slow, honestly I wanted to beat some sense into him because he was a stubborn man but he came around and realized that Sean is someone he needs in his life.
The epilogue is a HFN with the promise of a HEA.
I would have love to see more of Max and Sean as a couple, I mean it's very long BUT I'm not complaining, it was a very satisfying ot read their journey.
All in all, if you like slow build romance and good bdsm I totally recommend to read this series, Kora knows how to write sex but she knows how to create good characters with good backstories too.
We get a little teaser for the next couple and man I can't wait for it, Kai pushes all my buttons.
**ARC provided by author in exchange of an honest review**
Things with Max and Sean are exactly were we left them. Max is a closed off man, he thinks that by shutting down his feelings he is protecting himself.
Sean is such a great guy, I like him for Max because he is not a pushover, he might submit to Max in his dungeon but he is not going to let Max get away with treating bad.
The relationship took some time, this book is really long. I love them and everything about them but gosh was this book long.
The upside of this is the we get more Tad and Scott, This personally didn't bother me because I love them and I was so happy know how their relationship is going.
I loved seeing Max heal, it was slow, honestly I wanted to beat some sense into him because he was a stubborn man but he came around and realized that Sean is someone he needs in his life.
The epilogue is a HFN with the promise of a HEA.
I would have love to see more of Max and Sean as a couple, I mean it's very long BUT I'm not complaining, it was a very satisfying ot read their journey.
All in all, if you like slow build romance and good bdsm I totally recommend to read this series, Kora knows how to write sex but she knows how to create good characters with good backstories too.
We get a little teaser for the next couple and man I can't wait for it, Kai pushes all my buttons.
**ARC provided by author in exchange of an honest review**
cadiva's review
4.0
Amazing ending to this tale of desire and healing love
Oh this book was almost perfect in how it brought the somewhat tortured and frustratingly screwed up romance between Max and Sean to its beautiful conclusion.
It's not a full five stars for me because I think it perhaps it went on a little bit longer than it needed to and because there were a few more off page or fade to black encounters which took away the visceral pleasure of the scenes between Max and Sean.
However, it also gets bonus points for giving us more of Tad and Scott and letting the reader see that their relationship is still firmly in the HEA camp.
I felt so bad for both Max and Scott, not so much miscommunication but overwhelming fears based on a quite logical position of never wanting to go through such soul destroying pain again.
But I loved how Kora brought the narrative round to a point where the reconciliation and romance moving forward into HEA territory felt real.
Another stunning cover too and now I'm eagerly awaiting for Breck and Kai's book.
Oh this book was almost perfect in how it brought the somewhat tortured and frustratingly screwed up romance between Max and Sean to its beautiful conclusion.
It's not a full five stars for me because I think it perhaps it went on a little bit longer than it needed to and because there were a few more off page or fade to black encounters which took away the visceral pleasure of the scenes between Max and Sean.
However, it also gets bonus points for giving us more of Tad and Scott and letting the reader see that their relationship is still firmly in the HEA camp.
I felt so bad for both Max and Scott, not so much miscommunication but overwhelming fears based on a quite logical position of never wanting to go through such soul destroying pain again.
But I loved how Kora brought the narrative round to a point where the reconciliation and romance moving forward into HEA territory felt real.
Another stunning cover too and now I'm eagerly awaiting for Breck and Kai's book.
dc7's review
5.0
This was bloody fantastic - even better than book 1! "Revived" is the second book in the duology, the first half takes place at the same time as book 3-6 of Kora Knight's other series, "Up-Ending Tad", the rest afterwards.
I enjoyed how smart and compassionate Sean was, always thinking of new plans how to finally get Max. And Max was a much more likeable character than in "Unearthed" - reading the 1st book I basically wanted to kill him, but now I can relate to him so much. It's great that "Revived" is written from both their perspectives as it show how both of them suffer while being apart. I'm not sure if I've ever connected this much to BOTH main characters in a romance novel.
There are also several scenes that are told from Sean's or Tad's perspective. While I liked this when the information revealed in those scenes pertained to Sean and/or Max, I didn't like it so much when it focused on Scott and Tad's relationship. Don't get me wrong - I love these guys too, but it would have been better if the book sole focused on Max and Sean. Thankfully, the scenes from Tad's or Scott's point of view didn't take over but they did pull me out of the story when they were thrown in.
Kora Knight absolutely NAILED the climax of the story though. And a scene towards the end made me cry. So many feels! The ending wrapped up very nicely and I liked the HFN Max and Sean get. This was an extremely satisfying read. Also: I'm track to read all the novels Kora Knight ever published. One of my new favourite authors for sure.
I enjoyed how smart and compassionate Sean was, always thinking of new plans how to finally get Max. And Max was a much more likeable character than in "Unearthed" - reading the 1st book I basically wanted to kill him, but now I can relate to him so much. It's great that "Revived" is written from both their perspectives as it show how both of them suffer while being apart. I'm not sure if I've ever connected this much to BOTH main characters in a romance novel.
There are also several scenes that are told from Sean's or Tad's perspective. While I liked this when the information revealed in those scenes pertained to Sean and/or Max, I didn't like it so much when it focused on Scott and Tad's relationship. Don't get me wrong - I love these guys too, but it would have been better if the book sole focused on Max and Sean. Thankfully, the scenes from Tad's or Scott's point of view didn't take over but they did pull me out of the story when they were thrown in.
Kora Knight absolutely NAILED the climax of the story though. And a scene towards the end made me cry. So many feels! The ending wrapped up very nicely and I liked the HFN Max and Sean get. This was an extremely satisfying read. Also: I'm track to read all the novels Kora Knight ever published. One of my new favourite authors for sure.
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