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essgee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
ladygeekface_'s review against another edition
4.0
Monster boys. Martyr girls. A complicated devil. Gothic landscape. All in all, not bad.
Love the setting and I'm weirdly hoping for something with the Lord Under. This gave me Splintered vibes toward the end.
However, the writing feels clumsy sometimes. They stop making out and just quietly eat fruit instead? She continues to call him a monster.. but fondly? Maybe she has a bad boy fetish. Hah.
Love the setting and I'm weirdly hoping for something with the Lord Under. This gave me Splintered vibes toward the end.
However, the writing feels clumsy sometimes. They stop making out and just quietly eat fruit instead? She continues to call him a monster.. but fondly? Maybe she has a bad boy fetish. Hah.
bookishrona's review against another edition
4.0
What a thrilling Young Adult fantasy! This dark Gothic fantasy of a monster who drowned his family in a cursed lake, a dark death God who has bound himself to many.
Loved the heroine Violeta, a demisexual main character, full of sarcastic teasing, courage, and determination to save those whom she loves.
Also the Lord Under damn he can take me anytime.
This book was different and unique, the magic system was so interesting. The author has used a highly descriptive writing style and by god it is amazing, so immersive and dark.
Cannot wait for another one by this author, truly spectacular!
Loved the heroine Violeta, a demisexual main character, full of sarcastic teasing, courage, and determination to save those whom she loves.
Also the Lord Under damn he can take me anytime.
This book was different and unique, the magic system was so interesting. The author has used a highly descriptive writing style and by god it is amazing, so immersive and dark.
Cannot wait for another one by this author, truly spectacular!
kae_lyns's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
themezzaluna's review against another edition
2.0
For a book that promised so much, it delivered very little.
The worldbuilding felt vague and underdeveloped, and so did the characters.
Being in the head of the main character, Violeta, was exhausting at times, and it was hard to sympathize with her when she made the absolute worst decisions, which I felt directly derived from her self-sacrificing martyr complex. The only times I could actually relate to her and even like her, was when she interacted with her little brother.
Though I felt little to no chemistry between Violeta and her love interest Rowan, I didn't mind reading about their relationship, since it gave me a break from the bleakness of Violeta's thoughts of the corruption. The gentleness of the romance between them was also refreshing, in a way.
I wish we had gotten some more backstory on Clover and Florence, as it was hard to care about them knowing so little of who they are.
I understand this is a debut novel, and it's okay for what it is, I just couldn't get into it and, in the end, made it through the whole thing only because I thought the writing flowed well, and was curious about how the conflict would be solved.
The worldbuilding felt vague and underdeveloped, and so did the characters.
Being in the head of the main character, Violeta, was exhausting at times, and it was hard to sympathize with her when she made the absolute worst decisions, which I felt directly derived from her self-sacrificing martyr complex. The only times I could actually relate to her and even like her, was when she interacted with her little brother.
Though I felt little to no chemistry between Violeta and her love interest Rowan, I didn't mind reading about their relationship, since it gave me a break from the bleakness of Violeta's thoughts of the corruption. The gentleness of the romance between them was also refreshing, in a way.
I wish we had gotten some more backstory on Clover and Florence, as it was hard to care about them knowing so little of who they are.
I understand this is a debut novel, and it's okay for what it is, I just couldn't get into it and, in the end, made it through the whole thing only because I thought the writing flowed well, and was curious about how the conflict would be solved.
brianna_c's review against another edition
4.0
A perfect read for this time of year. This was also just the book I needed to get out of my reading slump.
broomy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
hailey2510's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 85%. It started good but then it slowed down so much and I just couldn’t keep going. Still counting it as read though.
ohokaylil's review against another edition
2.0
ehhhhhh. i wanted to like this book so much more than i did. violeta really drove me kinda crazy until chapter 20 so i really only liked her for 8ish chapters. Rowan and The Lord Under were wonderfully written. Some parts of the book and some of the characters seemed a bit shallowly written. Will I read the next book? Probably not. I honestly will have forgotten by the time it’s released.
eponineeurydice's review against another edition
4.0
4.75 stars. Oh my! That was quite the first read of 2022! Just so you know, this book ends on a cliffhanger and I'm kiiiinda mad about it, but also it was good enough that it didn't ruin my experience. This book gives off Cupid and Psyche vibes, as well as just general Greek mythology vibes, though maybe that's just because I'm writing a Mythology-inspired book so I'm studying that. But it was so so good! Very atmosperheric and transportive and emotional and really... raw and evocative I guess? Maybe I'm just saying words that mean the same thing. Either way it's about a young woman whose brother is touched by darkness and who lives in an abusive home. Certain circumstances lead her and her brother to a very stately mansion/manor/estate that is very very spooky but also cozy! And of course there's a LOVE interest, the master of the house who may or may not have drowned his whole family. Yikes. But he's kinda hot and maybe nice so it's okay?! For real though I liked the romance and that's saying a lot because me and romance usually don't mix, and I was not expecting to enjoy that part of the story. The story has a tinge of magic and interactions with gods and it has lovely side characters so that's a bonus. The only thing keeping me from rating it 5 stars? I guess it was the ending? It didn't wrap up nicely and that kinda is a dealbreaker for me, and it was a great read overall, just not something I would scream about for everyone to read, not necessarily because it's bad but just because it wasn't a 100% perfect match... just a 99.9% match. I'm very picky with five star ratings apparently. Either way it felt like a book that read like a classic but wasn't actually a classic, which was pretty epic. It wasn't necessarily one of those books that keep you up at night or make your heart pound, but that wasn't what it was supposed to be. It was the perfest cozy read to curl up with, and I feel like you could totally read this in fall and get all the Autumn vibes... too bad it isn't Fall right now but in eight months when you're looking for a fall read you can pick this up! In short I think this was just a really cool and interesting gothic fantasy that I would highly recommend for anyone looking for something cozy, romantic and kiiinda dark in a fun way! I know that doesn't make sense, just read the book lol.