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mad_ds's review
0.25
*inhales* THIS BOOK. where do i start? i genuinely don’t know why i decided to finish the book, besides the fact it’s a five hour car ride and whY tHe hEcK nOt? the character building was mid. i didn’t enjoy learning about them. also why the heck is our main characters name ~shadow~? interesting. anyhow, the twos dynamic was weakly portrayed and there wasn’t actual REASON to the ‘growing’ attraction. of course at the end they ended up all “I LOVE YOU” “I LOVE YOU TOO” but there was no leading up to this minus like physical attraction… i swear these two KILLED ME. it was rivals? enemies? to lovers but just… not succeeding. idk.
‘"Shadow.
Be with me, Always. I am yours. Be mine."
Oh, my heart. I cannot breathe and my entire body is aflame.
He is everything I never knew I always wanted. ‘
yeah… i just didn’t vibe. i know this novel was written by a woman, but the whole romance was giving “woman written by a man” you know what i mean?? ugh. also ‘shadow’ AGGRAVATED ME TO NO END. she is so headstrong, in not a strong badass kinda way… rather in a stupid, the-only-reason-your-alive-is-plot-armor kinda way. i just didn’t enjoy the characters themselves or their dynamics. for the plot itself: it just wasn’t interesting. the attempted jaw dropping “plot twist!!” was out of place to me… did i see it coming? no. did i se the pieces where the author had been building to it? yes. but it still didn’t actually make sense to me. the world had potential to be interesting, but there just wasn’t world building that allowed it to be. the magic was fascinating but didn’t go very far…
overall regret picking this book up, hated it and there are better options out there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
saikoro's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book was absolute dog water. First of all, the whole concept sounded like something an early 2000s twelve year old would write in a self-insert Wattpad fanfic. This means the story could either be excellent or beyond cringe. (It was the second one). The character's personalities are so bland. We have Caledon, the stereotypical bad boy who hides his emotions because of his dark past, and Shadow, the quirky, edgy, I'm-not-like-other-girls kind of y/n character. Their character arcs were ridiculous too. At least, I think some character arcs were attempted. Caledon goes from being edgy and distant to compassionate and over protective, and then back to edgy and distant. What caused him to change? Absolutely nothing. He just woke up one day and decided to be a whole different kind of person.
The romance started fairly early upon the two of them meeting, which I found rather strange. This book was trying to push this enemies to lovers troupe (I think) but not even a chapter later, the two are snuggling under a tree. There was no build up to their relationship. It's like both of them just got hit with a romance potion. The author did also add in some "drama" between the two meaning on their mission where they had to go in disguises and woo the noblemen, they ultimately just made each other jealous. You knew what you were getting into guys!
In addition, the writing was so boring. The whole book sounded like those narrative essays kids are forced to write in Elementary school. Everything was told straight to the point. There was never a clear picture of what any of the characters looked like and the world building was extremely messy. Shadow did magic at some point (early on) but it was literally never mentioned again. What was the reason?
Overall, this book was hard to enjoy and the twists were really bland. However, I did find it funny at times.
2/5 stars
The romance started fairly early upon the two of them meeting, which I found rather strange. This book was trying to push this enemies to lovers troupe (I think) but not even a chapter later, the two are snuggling under a tree. There was no build up to their relationship. It's like both of them just got hit with a romance potion. The author did also add in some "drama" between the two meaning on their mission where they had to go in disguises and woo the noblemen, they ultimately just made each other jealous. You knew what you were getting into guys!
In addition, the writing was so boring. The whole book sounded like those narrative essays kids are forced to write in Elementary school. Everything was told straight to the point. There was never a clear picture of what any of the characters looked like and the world building was extremely messy. Shadow did magic at some point (early on) but it was literally never mentioned again. What was the reason?
Overall, this book was hard to enjoy and the twists were really bland. However, I did find it funny at times.
2/5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Sexual content
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