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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.25 ✨ a sapphic fairy tale retelling? Doesn’t get much better than that. Knocked off a few decimals for some predictability and corny internal dialogue. That said, I’m looking forward to getting off the Libby waitlist for the second book soon!
dark
emotional
tense
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
Towards the end you start to agree with her even though she’s a villain and I love that play on emotions! We aren’t good people when it comes down to it and this book knows it.
4.5 stars, would've been 5 stars if the ending was a little different.
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, but I never felt bored, it was entertaining, the main character was really interesting, and I loved the romance. The pace was pretty good, it didn't drag but for the most part it wasn't rushed either. It was definitely more character heavy than plot heavy and there wasn't a ton of action for most of the book, but that's not something I particularly dislike in books, and I thought there was a good balance between plot, worldbuilding, characters, and romance. Alyce is a really cool character and it's super interesting to watch her battle between the different people she thinks she's supposed to be based on her upbringing, her ancestry, and how other people expect her to act. Aurora is also great, they have great chemistry, and I absolutely loved her. Alyce's relationships with her sisters, her house mistress, and the various other royals and citizens of Briar are really well done (her kestrel, Callow, is also amazing).
The world is well explained, thought out without being too complicated, and unique enough that it still feels like a fairy tale world but isn't a complete copy of one. On that note, this book puts a really cool twist on Sleeping Beauty, you can tell what it's a retelling of, but is different enough to be it's own story as well. I didn't love the end just because it's not where I saw the story going since I was looking forward to that fairy tale happy ending and not a massive cliff hanger (although since I've learned this is probably going to be a duology, I'm willing to forgive that for the most part). That's the one part that did feel a bit abrupt and rushed to me, but it wasn't awful.
My last thing is that besides Aurora, Alyce, and Endlewild, the rest of the characters don't get good, thorough physical descriptions beyond maybe their hair and eyes, since those are part of the magic system. This created two white main characters and about a dozen side characters that were racially ambiguous at best.
Overall, I had a great time, I loved the romance, and I'll definitely be picking up the sequel.
TWs: medical trauma/experimentation, homophobia, mentions of pedophilia&adult/child relationships, dubcon kissing, past homophobia-driven suicide, misogyny
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, but I never felt bored, it was entertaining, the main character was really interesting, and I loved the romance. The pace was pretty good, it didn't drag but for the most part it wasn't rushed either. It was definitely more character heavy than plot heavy and there wasn't a ton of action for most of the book, but that's not something I particularly dislike in books, and I thought there was a good balance between plot, worldbuilding, characters, and romance. Alyce is a really cool character and it's super interesting to watch her battle between the different people she thinks she's supposed to be based on her upbringing, her ancestry, and how other people expect her to act. Aurora is also great, they have great chemistry, and I absolutely loved her. Alyce's relationships with her sisters, her house mistress, and the various other royals and citizens of Briar are really well done (her kestrel, Callow, is also amazing).
The world is well explained, thought out without being too complicated, and unique enough that it still feels like a fairy tale world but isn't a complete copy of one. On that note, this book puts a really cool twist on Sleeping Beauty, you can tell what it's a retelling of, but is different enough to be it's own story as well. I didn't love the end just because it's not where I saw the story going since I was looking forward to that fairy tale happy ending and not a massive cliff hanger (although since I've learned this is probably going to be a duology, I'm willing to forgive that for the most part). That's the one part that did feel a bit abrupt and rushed to me, but it wasn't awful.
My last thing is that besides Aurora, Alyce, and Endlewild, the rest of the characters don't get good, thorough physical descriptions beyond maybe their hair and eyes, since those are part of the magic system. This created two white main characters and about a dozen side characters that were racially ambiguous at best.
Overall, I had a great time, I loved the romance, and I'll definitely be picking up the sequel.
TWs: medical trauma/experimentation, homophobia, mentions of pedophilia&adult/child relationships, dubcon kissing, past homophobia-driven suicide, misogyny
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is one book I really thought I would love, but I just couldn't get into it.
I've needed to sit on this book for a bit after finishing it, and while I really enjoyed reading it and had no hesitation picking it up once I started reading it, ultimately it was just "pretty good". There were some really strange/frustrating plot moments where the impulsiveness of the main character would suddenly work against her own plans. It's hard to describe, but it happened several times.
And then by the end it was just so hard to empathize with Alyce's actions. Which again is more of a me problem because she is MEANT to be the villain. But it just took me out of it a bit.
The world, Alyce's developing understanding of her powers, the romance, were all really interesting and enjoyable! I will definitely read the second one to see where things go. I can definitely see why people have been raving about this book! It just wasn't 100% for me.
And then by the end it was just so hard to empathize with Alyce's actions. Which again is more of a me problem because she is MEANT to be the villain. But it just took me out of it a bit.
The world, Alyce's developing understanding of her powers, the romance, were all really interesting and enjoyable! I will definitely read the second one to see where things go. I can definitely see why people have been raving about this book! It just wasn't 100% for me.
i'm sad to dnf this bc sleeping beauty is one of my favs, but i was just so bored