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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Between Life and Death by Jaclyn Kot is the first book in the Between Life and Death series. This is a dark romantic fantasy about a Cursed woman, Sage, in a world where the Cursed must be Cleansed if they are discovered. Her brother is taken and she embarks on a quest to save him with Cursed rebels and the mysterious Von. Tropes include touch her and die vibes, found family, shadow daddy, angst, fated mates, gods & goddesses, and who did this to you. Please check the content warnings before reading as there are some dark topics/themes in this book.
The Lovely: By far, these characters, main and otherwise, were my favorite part of this book. Sage is wonderfully complex (and funny) while Von is morally dark dark gray. Their relationship is full of questions and trying to resist temptation, and morphs over the course of the book. Ezra cracks me up - how has she not managed to poison anyone yet? Even the villain is ambiguous and it’s tough to decide if he really is that bad, or not. Just be careful who you get attached to because the last 100 or so pages will rip your heart out - more than once.
Also Lovely: I also loved the plot and the tension. You never really know what is coming next or how the characters are going to reach their goals (or what their goals really even are). To be fair, the reader spends a lot of the book trying to piece together what is going on and how the things learned fit together. It’s surprisingly complex and I already want ot go back and re-read the book to understand more of what happened.
The Mundane: I would have liked to have seen a bit more world building in terms of the magic system. While we kind of understand the “Cursed”, the lore, the Gods, etc. isn’t really fully explained (to maintain the mystery). But, we don’t really understand the rules around the magic (system), which be confusing.
Rating: 5/5 Stars 2/5 Flames
Recommendation: I entirely selected this book because it was dark and promised a shadow daddy. Then I was gifted a copy of the book (thanks Melissa) so it jumped up my TBR. And I am in LOVE with this book. I’m normally more into fae fantasies than Gods and curses, but this book was so beautifully written it hit all the right spots. And it made me FEEL - I cried, I laughed, I wanted to strangle a few people and I was worried. I’m glad it’s “only” a three month wait until book 2 releases in late February 2024, but even that might be too long If you like romantasy books with a darker undertone but heavy on the characters and their relationships, you would like this.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book gives heavy Fallen vibes - not a bad thing just a 2010s romance cliche.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Reading log
5/04
I’m at chapter 12 and it’s not going well.
Von is insufferable. The things he says are so cringy. Is he really the love interest?
A summary of my notes so far, chapters 1 - 12
- why
- ew
- no
- wtf/wtf what does it mean
- this is so cringe i want to cry
- ffs
UPDATE 6/04
chapters 13 - 26
Still not going well. Von is still insufferable. Sounds like one of those dumb, arrogant gym dudes with very little to offer to the world.
Notes taken so far:
- what century is this
- BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE
- ah.
- excuse me?
- wtf/wtf not ok dude
- consent?
- cringe
- lol
- why
UPDATE 6/04 pt 2
chapters 26 - 54
Recap of my notes:
- CONSENT!!!!!!
- lol
- why
- cringe
- BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE CRIMINAL OFFENSIVE SIDE EYE
See a pattern here? I do.
I feel bad leaving a bad review to new authors, but when you compare your book to big titles, you set the expectations quite high.
What didn’t work in this book? For me, the major thing was the MMC.
He was just the definition of cringe. Insufferable, really.
Arrogant to the point of being rude.
Possessive (in a bad toxic way).
He DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT CONSENT MEANS.
Every time he called her “Kitten” or “Little Goddess” I was like
5/04
I’m at chapter 12 and it’s not going well.
Von is insufferable. The things he says are so cringy. Is he really the love interest?
A summary of my notes so far, chapters 1 - 12
- why
- ew
- no
- wtf/wtf what does it mean
- this is so cringe i want to cry
- ffs
UPDATE 6/04
chapters 13 - 26
Still not going well. Von is still insufferable. Sounds like one of those dumb, arrogant gym dudes with very little to offer to the world.
Notes taken so far:
- what century is this
- BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE
- ah.
- excuse me?
- wtf/wtf not ok dude
- consent?
- cringe
- lol
- why
UPDATE 6/04 pt 2
chapters 26 - 54
Recap of my notes:
- CONSENT!!!!!!
- lol
- why
- cringe
- BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE CRIMINAL OFFENSIVE SIDE EYE
See a pattern here? I do.
I feel bad leaving a bad review to new authors, but when you compare your book to big titles, you set the expectations quite high.
What didn’t work in this book? For me, the major thing was the MMC.
He was just the definition of cringe. Insufferable, really.
Arrogant to the point of being rude.
Possessive (in a bad toxic way).
He DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT CONSENT MEANS.
Every time he called her “Kitten” or “Little Goddess”
Spoiler
[which, by the way, gave away the ‘big reveal’ straight away…]
This was a such a fun and fantastic read! The story was medium to fast pace, but not rushed, with medium intensity. I loved the use of the gods and goddesses and not in the typical way you are thinking. Anyone who has magic is considered 'cursed' and as such are being killed for it. The main character goes on a noble quest and finds that happy endings aren't quite what they seem. There is a lot that is unexplained, but I think/hope that it is just setting us up for book 2. This would definitely be a series I could happily binge, but now we have to wait for book 2!
Plot:5/5
Spice: 5/5 b/c when there they are very hot
Character Dev: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
Plot:5/5
Spice: 5/5 b/c when there they are very hot
Character Dev: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Firstly I would like to thank Jaclyn Kot for sending me an eArc of her debut novel.
I was absolutely invested in this book from the very first chapter. The banter, the politics and the magic system was very intriguing. Jaclyn did an awesome job of having me hooked the entire way through, especially with those plot twists and the suspense. The worldbuilding is beautiful and fascinating, I liked how it wasn't all shoved in your face, you were given bits and pieces throughout the story.
The slow burn romance with a hint of spice between Sage the quirky, funny and relatable female, and Von the broody, territorial tattooed male I wanted more.
I also have a soft spot for the morally grey love interest that screams 'touch her and you die' vibes.
I will definitely recommend this book. I'm hyped for the 2nd book as that ending!!
I was absolutely invested in this book from the very first chapter. The banter, the politics and the magic system was very intriguing. Jaclyn did an awesome job of having me hooked the entire way through, especially with those plot twists and the suspense. The worldbuilding is beautiful and fascinating, I liked how it wasn't all shoved in your face, you were given bits and pieces throughout the story.
The slow burn romance with a hint of spice between Sage the quirky, funny and relatable female, and Von the broody, territorial tattooed male I wanted more.
I also have a soft spot for the morally grey love interest that screams 'touch her and you die' vibes.
I will definitely recommend this book. I'm hyped for the 2nd book as that ending!!
Look. It has good bones. It just felt rushed and underdeveloped. There wasn’t enough world building, and the characters didn’t feel developed. I didn’t feel like they knew each other at all but they were supposed to have been like soulmates? Like they didn’t spend that much time together? And the part at the end where the friend is hurt and it’s supposed to be really emotional? I didn’t feel anything because that relationship was also so underdeveloped. I just felt like it needed more time for character interactions and conversation so we could get the sense that they actually were friends and bonding.
Girl! This book! I devoured this book and want to gobble up some more right now!
Amazing romantasy with some really unique magic systems! Gods and godesses, elemental magic, political intrigue and royals. Our FMC is such a badass and I love all the side characters. The author wrote the characters in a perfect way, where you can get to know the character and get some backstory without using to many words.
And also, Von, our brooding MMC. Who doesn’t love a good villain gets the girl story. Loved this book so much and I can’t wait to read whatever Jaclyn writes next!
Amazing romantasy with some really unique magic systems! Gods and godesses, elemental magic, political intrigue and royals. Our FMC is such a badass and I love all the side characters. The author wrote the characters in a perfect way, where you can get to know the character and get some backstory without using to many words.
And also, Von, our brooding MMC. Who doesn’t love a good villain gets the girl story. Loved this book so much and I can’t wait to read whatever Jaclyn writes next!