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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
Ugh I hate cliffhangers. Anyways this is a great story and really imaginative. Some parts were slow and hard to read. All the Alphas are aholes. The ending is iffy in the way some might consider it non con but I think it is dub con. I hope the next book has less of the cat and mouse stuff. It got a little to much in this.
First from this author for me, and a first from this universe, although it is advertised as a standalone. As such, I found the whole web concept pretty confusing...not sure if it's explained any better in the first series within this universe or not, but I kinda just decided to roll with it after it was clear there wasn't any additional information coming.
Anyway, this is a hard book to review because a lot of the feedback is overshadowed by what every other review is saying...there is no dubcon in this book, it's fully non-con and it's not flagged as that in the trigger warnings. The two "good guy" betas literally become brainwashed slaves to be used by the two "bad guys". (And yes, all four of these men are in the same harem!) And then the FMC is 100%, no bones about it drugged in the final pages of the book. There's some attempt at saying "it's how it used to be done" and "she subconsciously called out to you so even if she doesn't know she wants it she wants it" and it's honestly all just gross. I do read a lot of dark romance with dub-con, but this is not that.
Anyway, this is a hard book to review because a lot of the feedback is overshadowed by what every other review is saying...there is no dubcon in this book, it's fully non-con and it's not flagged as that in the trigger warnings. The two "good guy" betas literally become brainwashed slaves to be used by the two "bad guys". (And yes, all four of these men are in the same harem!) And then the FMC is 100%, no bones about it drugged in the final pages of the book. There's some attempt at saying "it's how it used to be done" and "she subconsciously called out to you so even if she doesn't know she wants it she wants it" and it's honestly all just gross. I do read a lot of dark romance with dub-con, but this is not that.
I was given an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. I really loved elemental fae academy so I expected to love this book too since it is a continuation into Gina's story. I don't really know what I expected but I am torn. The cover is gorgeous and the overall story is good. I was just expecting Gina to confront the Alpha and maybe explain why she resisted him, and instead she just kept running. I'm also not clear at this point who the real bad guy is. I wasn't a fan of the overall premise being the hierarchical society where betas and omegas become "husks" of their former selves bending to their alphas will. Parts of the story triggered some personal issues for me which may have contributed to my feelings at the end of the book. Not a big fan of M/M sex either, but thought I would still give it a try. I want to be clear that I think the book is well written and see the potential as to where the story is going could be really interesting. I just found it a bit confusing and difficult at points. L
dark
slow-paced
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book is not bad, but I did not find the book that enjoyable. I like plot driven stories with a fast pace. This one tried so hard to have a fast pace, while at the same time stumbling around not knowing where it is going.
It has some dark themes as other people have commented on, but that is not what put me off.
Gina is running the entire book, and the running becomes so tiresome, because there is no actual development of the story.
It is not really clear what she is running from. She becomes contradictory, actually being attracted to Seifik, but at the same time fearing the consequences of their mating.
It just ends up as everyone running around to amass more Dust so that they can outcompete each other, but it was not exciting to follow, again it really does not confer any kind of development, so it is just dragging out the story unnecessarily IMO.
It has some dark themes as other people have commented on, but that is not what put me off.
Gina is running the entire book, and the running becomes so tiresome, because there is no actual development of the story.
It is not really clear what she is running from. She becomes contradictory, actually being attracted to Seifik, but at the same time fearing the consequences of their mating.
It just ends up as everyone running around to amass more Dust so that they can outcompete each other, but it was not exciting to follow, again it really does not confer any kind of development, so it is just dragging out the story unnecessarily IMO.
dark
medium-paced
What in the holy matrix did I just read?! There is an absolutely nonexistent explanation for the world building/magic system with left me confused the whole time about the Web. I read another review that said it’s supposed to be a standalone series but if you haven’t read the authors other series then this book will not make sense. I would have to agree with that because I was lost the whole time just hoping that an explanation was around the corner. Add to that the consent issues(least favorite dub-con I’ve ever read) which left me feeling icky and the absolute lack of character development which left me not caring about any of the characters, I won’t be continuing this series.