Reviews with content warning for Death - Bride

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

108 reviews

sierrabowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought this was a great read! It was a modern take on the classic vampires v werewolves rivalry. I really liked the characters and the side plots that went along with the main plot! There were several times where I audibly gasped because I was shocked at the turn of events!

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apirlroge's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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emerlees's review against another edition

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fast-paced

2.0

Knotty. So bad it’s kind of enjoyable. Therefore, it gets two stars instead of one. Taught me what a knot is and I will never forgive the author for that.

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zydecovivo's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book is one I saw on TikTok in a video discussing fan fiction’s effect on the modern publishing industry. Ali Hazelwood is an author known for getting her start in Star Wars Reylo fan fiction. This book in particular discusses knotting (NOTE: this is something explicit and should not be looked into by readers under 18), which is new in a traditionally published romance but is definitely not new in fandom spaces. These were really the only 2 things I knew about the book before putting it on my TBR. I was curious to see what it was about.

In this universe, werewolves and vampyres exist and are known by humans, but the two species have been enemies for a long time. Our main character is named Mercy, a vampyre, and she has been used all of her life as collateral to keep the peace between humans and vampyres. Now, she is forced to marry the new Alpha of the werewolf pack across the river to create a flimsy alliance between the two groups. It is important to note that vampyres and werewolves work a bit differently than our classical concepts of them, but it is explained well at the beginning of the book.

This general premise is not groundbreaking and I think the overall plot, even the big reveals at the end, is predictable. However, I love Mercy and Lowe (the male love interest). I like them both individually and together as a unit. Their personalities and motivations feel very fleshed out and I enjoy watching their story (as predictable as it is). These two make the story worth reading and why the book deserves high ratings (5 stars? No. But more than 4). Mercy gets to learn what it’s like to be part of a loving family and Lowe learns how to be a little selfish because he deserves it. *chef’s kiss*

I do still have some nitpicking to do. Due to Mercy essentially being raised in the human world, she has very little knowledge of vampyres and no knowledge of werewolves due to historical animosity. This fact is a little overexploited (in my opinion) to show the reader the mechanics of this world. Additionally, the knot thing does not become relevant until the very end of the book. Experienced fan fiction readers, as well as regular paranormal romance readers, will probably find the spicy scenes somewhat tame.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I lost some sleep on a work night in order to finish it in one sitting, so be prepared. It may be a bit overhyped on BookTok, but I think it still deserves hype and praise.

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murve's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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tiffanne11's review

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dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had read one Ali Hazelwood book before this and wrote her off as not an author for me. But after seeing people rave about this one and how it was so different from her other books, I decided to give it a try. And I am so glad that I did.
Misery is a vampire that has lived among humans (not always by choice) for most of her life. Lowe is a were, alpha of the pack. As a form of a treaty, the two are wed in an arranged marriage, but they each have their own motives.
This story is full of deception, surprises, and some mild spice scenes. I could not put this down, and lost sleep because of it.
Not only was the couple compelling, but the tensions from the conflicts between the species, as well as the thread of mystery, made it a non stop read for me.
Spice: 2/5 🌶️ (on page in some detail, not overly graphic)

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rmkg's review against another edition

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Well, it was okay. The dialogue was awkward at times, and the world building left some to be desired, but I did like the male lead. The ABO stuff was definitely there, and provided conflict, but there was a lot of other stuff going on (that wasn’t satisfyingly wrapped up for me—I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a sequel). My overall impression was lukewarm.

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chelbelle122's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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waldtochter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I was recently between a few heavier nonfiction reads (Solito and Ordinary Notes) and needed something to escape into. I mean, those were both 5-star nonfiction books, so please note: I highly recommend them. Normally, though, I try to space out those more intense reads a bit more. However, the timeline for library holds coming in is its own special beast - even us professionals can't predict its workings. And thus, my need for something much lighter. I read Hazelwood's breakout romance, The Love Hypothesis, and I thought it was pretty good. But some critical reviews of follow-up books have left me on the fence about reading more from her. This one, though, has all my so-called "guilty pleasure" soft spots - vampires, enemies to lovers, spiciness - and a review from a library coworker that said it was fast/entertaining that overrode my question marks, and here we are.

Misery Lark, the daughter of a powerful Vampyre leader who is pretty much an outcast from her own people, agrees to marry Were Alpha, Lowe Moreland. Even though their people are enemies, and she'll essentially be alone in dangerous territory, with a high chance of death...Misery has her reasons. And to her, they're worth it. For his part, Lowe is trying to do something new for his people, attempting to build new alliances and create more stable living conditions than under the previous Alpha. Thus, the choice to have a symbolic political marriage with a Vampyre. So basically, neither of them expect the pull towards each other, the slowly melting ice (and deeply heated connection), to grow like it does. And very possibly, that connection may also lead to better Vampyre-Were relations for everyone.

This is pretty basic read, as far as plot and world-building go. Like, if you are looking for epic new worlds and majorly creative new takes on vampire and werewolf lore...this may not be the book for you. However, if you are looking for some smaller new angles on these "species" (a la My Roommate is a Vampire, though more science-y than funny), with an easy and entertaining story that won't really surprise you with its twists, but will keep you interested in turning pages, then give this a go. I tend to think the genetic mutation, with attendant separately developed values in response (and fear of "other" does the rest - apparently no species anywhere can escape that weakness), as an explanation for species differences, is an interesting one. It's similar to the feel of the Psy-Changling series, though of course, being about thirty less books, doesn't have quite the same depth. In fact, I would have loved just a little more on this, to give more context. There is a major plot point based on genetic possibilities, but the background info we get on it remains...very surface-level. One other note, there is a...sexual...genetic difference that is also explored. And it was weird. Like it might have been ok, but it was explained so vaguely that I never really "got" it. I mean, it seemed to really enhance some of the spicy scenes, but not quite in a way that extended into me, as the reader, feeling/following it, if you catch my meaning. So, yea, a weird sex organ thing, but like whatever. It wasn't really part of the novel that much/for that long. Plot-wise, there was enough drama and intrigue and action to keep me invested, which is about all I needed from it.

Now there were a couple things I did really enjoy and appreciate. Like, I can’t help but love Misery’s snarky sarcasm. It’s clearly a protective mechanism, but it’s so well done that I actually laughed out loud a couple of times, so I have to acknowledge that as well done. Really, in fact, it seems that Hazelwood has cracked the code on dialogue overall. It was so good throughout and that's a major hit-or-miss thing for me in liking a book. So, that’s freaking great. As for Misery herself, as a character, I also was grateful for her maturity. I mean, there was the snark, of course, but also, she put a lot of things together, and figured out a number of things, on her own. I hate when the MC needs to be handheld through all realizations...especially ones that are obvious to the reader. It made me respect both her character and Hazelwood's writing of it, more than I was expecting, out of a vampire-werewolf spin-off romance-fantasy situation. Similarly, I thought the relationship development between Misery and Lowe was actually like, pretty solid, for a romantasy (believability wise) and I can’t help but respect that too. Mate situations usually lead to needy-dumb character interactions, and attachments that form so fast and therefore seem pretty shallow. This felt much mroe like a very real growth of connection and feeling and respect between the two. Lowe’s holding back to center Misery emotionally, was honestly the most actually-accomplished-of-it variation that I’ve read in awhile, re: mate tropes. Likely that was helped by this being told only from Misery's POV and that not being a connection she could quite understand in the same way. It might have been more insufferable if we got more than little snippets starting each chapter from Lowe's voice, so thank goodness for that narrative choice.

A final few notes. I loved Ana. Similar to dialogue, child characters are realllllly hit-or-miss for me, and can totally ruin a whole book for me, even if they aren't central (and Ana was central), so I was thrilled that I liked her on-page persona. And the (reluctant, from one side) relationship she builds with Misery was fun to watch unfold. The rest of the side characters were fine, did what they needed to, if nothing special/standout. Alright look, I was promised spicy and didn't get any til the last like, quarter. And I mean, it was solid, but I thought there’d be more? Was hoping for more, really. So that was a small miss for me.

However, I have to say, I enjoyed this *much* more than I had anticipated. And since I see you, sequel setup, I’ll probs be back the next time I need something this quick, light, entertaining and a bit spicy. Escapism at its finest.

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