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kale_ramen 's review for:
Forest of Dreams and Whispers
by Katherine Macdonald
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If you really like Jude/Cardan but wish they had never actually hated each other, this book is probably for you. I would say this book is enjoyable, even if it's not particularly anything special. I really like reading characters who have a fun back-and-forth dynamic, and Jules and Hawthorne definitely have that. As I've said with nearly every romance I've ever read, it felt a little fast, unfortunately. We jumped from "ok maybe I like you" to "I love you" to "let's get married" at the end like we were speedrunning or something.
As others have said, this is not really enemies-to-lovers, more like annoyances-to-lovers or playful antagonists-to-lovers, as they weren't ever enemies (certainly not while the characters are actually on page). Now I don't have a problem with that, as I generally don't like actual enemies-to-lovers (I have a hard time shipping characters if one has been repeatedly cruel to the other, honestly, Jude/Cardan is the only ship I've ever liked with that dynamic), but if that's what you're hoping for, this is not it.
Tbh, it is very similar to The Cruel Prince. I say this without malice, but as a fan of those books, the parallels between Jude/Jules, Cardan/Hawthorne, and Madoc/Markham (father of Jude/Jules) are impossible to ignore. I even guessed that Markham would be betraying the crown and side with the villain because Madoc did. I'm not going to speculate about how intentional vs. not those similarities are, but just be aware going in that they do exist (whether you liked A Cruel Prince or not).
Overall, a fun read with some solid banter, even if the ending felt slightly rushed.
As others have said, this is not really enemies-to-lovers, more like annoyances-to-lovers or playful antagonists-to-lovers, as they weren't ever enemies (certainly not while the characters are actually on page). Now I don't have a problem with that, as I generally don't like actual enemies-to-lovers (I have a hard time shipping characters if one has been repeatedly cruel to the other, honestly, Jude/Cardan is the only ship I've ever liked with that dynamic), but if that's what you're hoping for, this is not it.
Tbh, it is very similar to The Cruel Prince. I say this without malice, but as a fan of those books, the parallels between Jude/Jules, Cardan/Hawthorne, and Madoc/Markham (father of Jude/Jules) are impossible to ignore.
Overall, a fun read with some solid banter, even if the ending felt slightly rushed.