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greystory 's review for:
Broken by the Horde King
by Zoey Draven
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I genuinely really liked Maeva, her family, other characters, and the continuation of the overall plot. 5/5 stars for that. -20 stars for Kiran.
My reading of this series came to a grinding halt for awhile. I almost DNF'd this because I got to 70% of the way through and didn't want to pick it back up again. The rest of the book was obviously going to be them ending up together and he hasn't earned it. Kiran's kind of a douche and Maeva deserved so much better.
He was selfish in the way he took all the love Maeva had for him but treated her as less than. He knowingly hurt her and pushed her away and thinks he gets to waltz back in and suddenly she should take him back because he's decided he has feelings for her now? That's some bullshit.
If they were to ever be on equal ground in a relationship, he would have quite a lot to prove and make up to her. Over time, we learn some of the hurts were not intentional or malicious. I felt bad for Maeva that she felt ashamed or the need to apologize to Kiran - he didn't need an apology. If he'd kept in touch, she would have found out the truth much sooner.
I was so annoyed that Maeva was chastizing herself over Kiran. At one point she says "I had tried so hard to keep him at arm’s length. [...] It had been selfish and wrong to think that Kiran was doing the same." okay but it's NOT selfish and wrong? He literally did that to you for YEARS. You are not in the wrong, Maeva! And for fuck's sake, let him be hurt! He needs to learn how much he hurt YOU.
Maeva was always so open - with her emotions, her thoughts, her stories, her past - honest and raw in the truth of who she was. Kiran rarely dilvuged anything. In fact, what did Kiran even have to offer Maeva? Maeva's smart, resourceful, funny, beautiful, loving and Kiran is... what, exactly? Protective? Had a charming smile once upon a time?
In the end, it never felt like he really proved himself to Maeva. He seduced her and asked her to have sex with him a lot. Wowee, consider me impressed (eyeroll). The final thing he did for her family was something, I guess, but that felt more like a sacrifice made by her family than something Kiran did for her.
ALSO I get annoyed when the male character has a very active sex life or gets to be very promiscuous, especially if it's revered or socially acceptable, but the female character has to be some kind of blushing virgin. Hells no. Although there was a little bit of that in the previous books, it didn't feel quite as unbalanced as it was between Kiran and Maeva. Even the Mad Horde King with his reputation seemed to be less of a horndog and at least none of the other horde kings actively kept other suitors from pursuing the woman, thus keeping her unmated. It was circumstance outside of the horde king's control, usually well before the horde king ever met the female character.
Not so with Kiran. He actively threatened and beat the shit out of people to keep them away from her (to be fair, at least one with good reason) while also pushing her away from himself in a twisted "If I can't have her, no one can" mentality. With the way he hurt Maeva, he also kept her from pursuing anyone else even in his absence. But he got to fuck around as he pleased and it's somehow okay or a sign that he actually loved her all along because he didn't kiss anyone or sleep around for a <sarcasm> a whole year </sarcasm>? That's such bullshit and it makes me so mad.
My reading of this series came to a grinding halt for awhile. I almost DNF'd this because I got to 70% of the way through and didn't want to pick it back up again. The rest of the book was obviously going to be them ending up together and he hasn't earned it. Kiran's kind of a douche and Maeva deserved so much better.
He was selfish in the way he took all the love Maeva had for him but treated her as less than. He knowingly hurt her and pushed her away and thinks he gets to waltz back in and suddenly she should take him back because he's decided he has feelings for her now? That's some bullshit.
If they were to ever be on equal ground in a relationship, he would have quite a lot to prove and make up to her. Over time, we learn some of the hurts were not intentional or malicious. I felt bad for Maeva that she felt ashamed or the need to apologize to Kiran - he didn't need an apology. If he'd kept in touch, she would have found out the truth much sooner.
I was so annoyed that Maeva was chastizing herself over Kiran. At one point she says "I had tried so hard to keep him at arm’s length. [...] It had been selfish and wrong to think that Kiran was doing the same." okay but it's NOT selfish and wrong? He literally did that to you for YEARS. You are not in the wrong, Maeva! And for fuck's sake, let him be hurt! He needs to learn how much he hurt YOU.
Maeva was always so open - with her emotions, her thoughts, her stories, her past - honest and raw in the truth of who she was. Kiran rarely dilvuged anything. In fact, what did Kiran even have to offer Maeva? Maeva's smart, resourceful, funny, beautiful, loving and Kiran is... what, exactly? Protective? Had a charming smile once upon a time?
In the end, it never felt like he really proved himself to Maeva. He seduced her and asked her to have sex with him a lot. Wowee, consider me impressed (eyeroll). The final thing he did for her family was something, I guess, but that felt more like a sacrifice made by her family than something Kiran did for her.
ALSO I get annoyed when the male character has a very active sex life or gets to be very promiscuous, especially if it's revered or socially acceptable, but the female character has to be some kind of blushing virgin. Hells no. Although there was a little bit of that in the previous books, it didn't feel quite as unbalanced as it was between Kiran and Maeva. Even the Mad Horde King with his reputation seemed to be less of a horndog and at least none of the other horde kings actively kept other suitors from pursuing the woman, thus keeping her unmated. It was circumstance outside of the horde king's control, usually well before the horde king ever met the female character.
Not so with Kiran. He actively threatened and beat the shit out of people to keep them away from her (to be fair, at least one with good reason) while also pushing her away from himself in a twisted "If I can't have her, no one can" mentality. With the way he hurt Maeva, he also kept her from pursuing anyone else even in his absence. But he got to fuck around as he pleased and it's somehow okay or a sign that he actually loved her all along because he didn't kiss anyone or sleep around for a <sarcasm> a whole year </sarcasm>? That's such bullshit and it makes me so mad.