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goldenleafbooks's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Confinement, Sexual content, Violence, and Death
ruthiedr89's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Trafficking, and Sexual assault
aniwisniewski's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Stalking, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Trafficking, and Sexual violence
nickoliver's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It took me a moment to get into this book, which was mainly because I misunderstood the situation. Within the first twenty pages, Jafar and Jasmine had consensual non-consent sex, and I had somehow missed the very crucial "consensual" part of it and sat there absolutely horrified, thinking I was reading a rape scene and wondering how on earth a romance could blossom from that. Alas, once I realised my mistake, my hatred for Jafar and reluctance to see him with Jasmine dwindled immediately.
Obviously, this book was very smutty. I knew that going into it, so I didn't expect an intricate, well-developed plot and instead a bigger focus on sex than I was usually used to. While the displayed kinks - the aforementioned consensual non-consent sex, plus the whole daddy/baby girl dynamic - weren't something I was personally into or that appealed to me, I still had fun reading the sex scenes. They were very well written, and though I admittedly became a bit too self-conscious sometimes about their role plays, that didn't hinder my enjoyment. I know Robert is quite known for the way she writes about sex, and I can't say I'd disagree with her readers who like that about her books.
I did notice, unfortunately, that the plot was a bit lacking. And for the most part, that was fine by me. I didn't go into this book expecting it to go into a detailed account of the workings of local politics. I didn't think there would be a lot of depth to the setting. However, that didn't mean the world building wasn't completely confusing to me. The characters talked a lot about territories - who ruled over which parts, who wanted to conquer whom -, but without ever actually bothering to explain anything further. I had no idea what kind of territories we were talking about. How many were there? Were they different to one another? If yes, how so? Was it just the ruler who was different, or did they also differentiate in terms of things like politics, language, citizens, etc.? From the way they were talked about, the territories seemed to me merely like obscure pawns on a board game that Jafar, Hades, Hook & Co. lazily moved around, and not like places with actual people in it.
Plus, the story had an overall very contemporary feel to it, as if it was set in a city in the US. But judged by the fact that there were different rulers and different territories, there seemed to have been a fantastical element. I wish Robert would've taken a bit more time to develop the world at least a little bit better. Like I said, I didn't expect an in-depth exploration of the setting, but a few more explanations could've done wonders for my confusion.
Aside from the world building - or lack thereof -, the only thing I’m not entirely sure about was the story line around Ali. Throughout the entire book, Ali was always portrayed as this big danger still revolving around Jasmine, but the climax was over rather easily and quickly. As if Robert realised she needed to find a good ending before the book got too long. I did like the ending, it was satisfying! But for someone who had evaded Jafar for as long as he did, Ali was defeated without any big problems in the end.
The story was told in dual POV, but with a bigger focus on Jasmine. I really liked her as a protagonist. She’d spent her entire life so far being a pawn in her father’s - and later Jafar’s - hunger for more power and wasn’t really considered a person and more like spoils from war, property of whoever was at the top. It was interesting to see her deal with that. I also loved that Robert put a focus on the sensory overload Jasmine experienced when she was outside with Jafar - since she’d never left her fathers place before, everything new overwhelmed her. I can't say I've ever seen something like that in a romance book before, especially not in one that was more erotica than romance.
I liked that protagonists of future books got introduced already. Only one of them was already shown in their coupling - for the most part -, and it was interesting to see how their relationship worked through the protagonists’ eyes. And even the characters who were only introduced by themselves managed to intrigue me. There wasn’t that much depth to them, but I guess Robert needed to be able to hook you in for sequels.
The book could have used another rounds of edits. For a book that got published, there was an embarrassing amount of mistakes being made - words just missing, for example. I'm usually not bothered by something like that, but it happened one time too much for my liking in this book.
Overall, while the world was a bit too confusing to me and the climax was a bit of a letdown, I enjoyed this immensely! The sex was well written and fun to read, and I liked the characters and have definitely interest to keep going with the series! I have heard that Robert is a bit of a one-trick pony when it comes to the synopsis, though, so I'm gonna make sure to not read them all too closely together.
Obviously, this book was very smutty. I knew that going into it, so I didn't expect an intricate, well-developed plot and instead a bigger focus on sex than I was usually used to. While the displayed kinks - the aforementioned consensual non-consent sex, plus the whole daddy/baby girl dynamic - weren't something I was personally into or that appealed to me, I still had fun reading the sex scenes. They were very well written, and though I admittedly became a bit too self-conscious sometimes about their role plays, that didn't hinder my enjoyment. I know Robert is quite known for the way she writes about sex, and I can't say I'd disagree with her readers who like that about her books.
I did notice, unfortunately, that the plot was a bit lacking. And for the most part, that was fine by me. I didn't go into this book expecting it to go into a detailed account of the workings of local politics. I didn't think there would be a lot of depth to the setting. However, that didn't mean the world building wasn't completely confusing to me. The characters talked a lot about territories - who ruled over which parts, who wanted to conquer whom -, but without ever actually bothering to explain anything further. I had no idea what kind of territories we were talking about. How many were there? Were they different to one another? If yes, how so? Was it just the ruler who was different, or did they also differentiate in terms of things like politics, language, citizens, etc.? From the way they were talked about, the territories seemed to me merely like obscure pawns on a board game that Jafar, Hades, Hook & Co. lazily moved around, and not like places with actual people in it.
Plus, the story had an overall very contemporary feel to it, as if it was set in a city in the US. But judged by the fact that there were different rulers and different territories, there seemed to have been a fantastical element. I wish Robert would've taken a bit more time to develop the world at least a little bit better. Like I said, I didn't expect an in-depth exploration of the setting, but a few more explanations could've done wonders for my confusion.
Aside from the world building - or lack thereof -, the only thing I’m not entirely sure about was the story line around Ali. Throughout the entire book, Ali was always portrayed as this big danger still revolving around Jasmine, but the climax was over rather easily and quickly. As if Robert realised she needed to find a good ending before the book got too long. I did like the ending, it was satisfying! But for someone who had evaded Jafar for as long as he did, Ali was defeated without any big problems in the end.
The story was told in dual POV, but with a bigger focus on Jasmine. I really liked her as a protagonist. She’d spent her entire life so far being a pawn in her father’s - and later Jafar’s - hunger for more power and wasn’t really considered a person and more like spoils from war, property of whoever was at the top. It was interesting to see her deal with that. I also loved that Robert put a focus on the sensory overload Jasmine experienced when she was outside with Jafar - since she’d never left her fathers place before, everything new overwhelmed her. I can't say I've ever seen something like that in a romance book before, especially not in one that was more erotica than romance.
I liked that protagonists of future books got introduced already. Only one of them was already shown in their coupling - for the most part -, and it was interesting to see how their relationship worked through the protagonists’ eyes. And even the characters who were only introduced by themselves managed to intrigue me. There wasn’t that much depth to them, but I guess Robert needed to be able to hook you in for sequels.
The book could have used another rounds of edits. For a book that got published, there was an embarrassing amount of mistakes being made - words just missing, for example. I'm usually not bothered by something like that, but it happened one time too much for my liking in this book.
Overall, while the world was a bit too confusing to me and the climax was a bit of a letdown, I enjoyed this immensely! The sex was well written and fun to read, and I liked the characters and have definitely interest to keep going with the series! I have heard that Robert is a bit of a one-trick pony when it comes to the synopsis, though, so I'm gonna make sure to not read them all too closely together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent and Violence
Minor: Stalking and Physical abuse
CW: rape --> no actual rape on-page, but Jasmine and Jafar do have consensual non-consent sex (Jasmine likes to be chased, and they pretend that she doesn't actually want it, but she does and it's consensual), and another character is insinuated to be a rapistsarahsbooklife's review
adventurous
dark
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
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