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siesssie 's review for:
Burned Dreams
by Neva Altaj
2.5 ★
This story had potential, but its execution fell flat. Alessandro’s cluelessness about the abusive dynamics between Ravenna and her husband was frustrating and made him seem dumb for a supposed black ops operative. Any woman would have immediately recognized the signs of control and manipulation, yet Alessandro remained oblivious for far too long. Shouldn’t pattern recognition be an integral part of his training?
His constant thoughts of killing Ravenna for revenge were repetitive and nonsensical, especially after discovering she was trapped in an abusive situation and trying to escape. His fixation on revenge felt shallow and lacked critical thinking, killing her wouldn’t have hurt a man like Rocco. Instead, “stealing” her and humiliating him—exposing his toxic jealousy, inferiority complex, and fragile masculinity—would have been the most effective way to damage what he values most: his social standing. Honestly, Alessandro’s lack of brains made him less attractive.
His indecision about committing to Ravenna felt like a forced attempt to drag out the plot, making him seem more foolish than conflicted. Meanwhile, Ravenna’s sudden infatuation with him felt rushed and lacked depth, likely driven by her desperation to escape her abusive circumstances—falling for the hero figure and clinging to someone who could offer safety and protection.
The stakes were low, and the plot never developed beyond a mediocre premise. The book promised an angsty revenge fantasy with complex characters, but what we got was a shallow, half-baked narrative that failed to deliver on its potential, especially with Alessandro being hyped up in the previous books. Worst of all, I was bored. Often.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ⟡ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
1. [b:Painted Scars|60881793] - 3 ★
2. [b:Broken Whispers|61047552] - 3.5 ★
3. [b:Hidden Truths|61153578] - 4 ★
4. [b:Ruined Secrets|61161170] - 5 ★
5. [b:Stolen Touches|61210821] - 2.75 ★
6. [b:Fractured Souls|63916515] - 4.5 ★
7. Burned Dreams - 2.5 ★
8. [b:Silent Lies|184470846] - 3.5 ★
9. [b:Darkest Sins|199599389] - tbr
10. [b:Sweet Prison|199599389] - tbr
11. TBA - Arturo & Tara
12. TBA - Mystery Couple
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
This story had potential, but its execution fell flat. Alessandro’s cluelessness about the abusive dynamics between Ravenna and her husband was frustrating and made him seem dumb for a supposed black ops operative. Any woman would have immediately recognized the signs of control and manipulation, yet Alessandro remained oblivious for far too long. Shouldn’t pattern recognition be an integral part of his training?
His constant thoughts of killing Ravenna for revenge were repetitive and nonsensical, especially after discovering she was trapped in an abusive situation and trying to escape. His fixation on revenge felt shallow and lacked critical thinking, killing her wouldn’t have hurt a man like Rocco. Instead, “stealing” her and humiliating him—exposing his toxic jealousy, inferiority complex, and fragile masculinity—would have been the most effective way to damage what he values most: his social standing. Honestly, Alessandro’s lack of brains made him less attractive.
His indecision about committing to Ravenna felt like a forced attempt to drag out the plot, making him seem more foolish than conflicted. Meanwhile, Ravenna’s sudden infatuation with him felt rushed and lacked depth, likely driven by her desperation to escape her abusive circumstances—falling for the hero figure and clinging to someone who could offer safety and protection.
The stakes were low, and the plot never developed beyond a mediocre premise. The book promised an angsty revenge fantasy with complex characters, but what we got was a shallow, half-baked narrative that failed to deliver on its potential, especially with Alessandro being hyped up in the previous books. Worst of all, I was bored. Often.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ⟡ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
PERFECTLY IMPERFECT
1. [b:Painted Scars|60881793] - 3 ★
2. [b:Broken Whispers|61047552] - 3.5 ★
3. [b:Hidden Truths|61153578] - 4 ★
4. [b:Ruined Secrets|61161170] - 5 ★
5. [b:Stolen Touches|61210821] - 2.75 ★
6. [b:Fractured Souls|63916515] - 4.5 ★
7. Burned Dreams - 2.5 ★
8. [b:Silent Lies|184470846] - 3.5 ★
9. [b:Darkest Sins|199599389] - tbr
10. [b:Sweet Prison|199599389] - tbr
11. TBA - Arturo & Tara
12. TBA - Mystery Couple
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛