A review by thelongroadtosanity
Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight

dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There is a lot to be said about this book, so let me try and keep it as brief as possible. 

The spice was there, and though I heard a lot of people saying the book has the same scenes over and over again, I personally thought that they were not repetitive and had a decent variety. Just please make sure to read the trigger warnings before starting this book. 

One of the things I didn't like was the timeline in the story. It felt that things were happening faster, only to reveal that 1 week had gone by. Definitely think the timeline could have been adjusted to fit the plot a lot better. 

Speaking of which, the plot in this book is very minimal in my opinion. I could have done with more depth and more intrigue. I wanted more plot and less "I'm a badass" from Roxy. Halfway through the book it just feels like it switched directions completely and then focuses solely on her and her emotions and how she is finally accepting her role with the Vipers. I am there for the self-acceptance, but it was just constantly thrown at the reader to the point where it got very annoying towards the end. I also was NOT a fan of this epic battle/conclusion at like 65-70% of the way through the book with incredibly long and drawn out happy ending scenes. 

The writing wasn't the worst I've read, but it definitely isn't the best. Towards the end, it really started to annoy me when Roxy begins to sound like an angsty teen. I also got really tired of hearing Roxy say repetitive things like "the vipers venom is in me" and "I am a badass viper queen". Just please stop, once was enough. 

Despite these shortcomings, I do have to admit I was drawn in from the start of this. I liked the differences in the Vipers and their conflicting personalities. Their backstories were tragic (perhaps a little too tragic) but I liked how they mostly stayed in character and didn't change too terribly much after acknowledging their feelings. Towards the last 10% of the book I did mostly skim over the 'happy ending'. This book was wayyyy longer than it needed to be, and should have been stopped at 400 pages instead of about 600. (02/2024)

3 out of 5 stars 

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