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adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-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:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
The pacing is weird and heavily unbalanced, but this was surprisingly quite lovely as long as you know what to expect. I picked this up thinking it’s romantasy with heavy focus on the romance, so in that sense I got what I wanted. For about 70-80% of the book, it reads like a cozy fantasy. Like yes, there’s a war going on, but Iris spends most of her days writing, moving, adjusting to a new life, and also bantering with Roman. Then suddenly the conflict kicked in, and the last 20% is just chaos erupting at breakneck speed.
Still, I enjoyed this because the writing is beautiful and the banter is fun. The atmosphere is fantastic too, as it really captures the doom and gloom of a wartime period. Iris and Roman’s relationship develops gradually through many moments of shared vulnerabilities and emotional attraction, and I really liked how Rebecca Ross writes about emotions without telling the readers how to feel. Most of all, I love the way misunderstandings are solved properly instead of dragged out for the sake of prolonging conflict. Roman always tries to communicate first and foremost. Iris can get frustrating at times, but she eventually learns to talk it out too.
Maybe that’s why I like this a lot, because I’m really into the romance. The fantasy elements are paper thin. So is the worldbuilding, which makes the war aspect rather lackluster despite it being so important to the plot. I get the feeling we’re getting more worldbuilding and less romance in the next book though, so we’ll see how I feel about that. It’s important to manage one’s expectations after all.
Still, I enjoyed this because the writing is beautiful and the banter is fun. The atmosphere is fantastic too, as it really captures the doom and gloom of a wartime period. Iris and Roman’s relationship develops gradually through many moments of shared vulnerabilities and emotional attraction, and I really liked how Rebecca Ross writes about emotions without telling the readers how to feel. Most of all, I love the way misunderstandings are solved properly instead of dragged out for the sake of prolonging conflict. Roman always tries to communicate first and foremost. Iris can get frustrating at times, but she eventually learns to talk it out too.
Maybe that’s why I like this a lot, because I’m really into the romance. The fantasy elements are paper thin. So is the worldbuilding, which makes the war aspect rather lackluster despite it being so important to the plot. I get the feeling we’re getting more worldbuilding and less romance in the next book though, so we’ll see how I feel about that. It’s important to manage one’s expectations after all.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
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:
Complicated
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Sexual content