A review by oxfordcommas91
Bride by Ali Hazelwood

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This reads a bit like twilight for adults, which isn’t off the bat a terrible thing. Hazelwood makes a respectable go at her first romantasy but it ultimately misses a lot of what makes both a good romcom and a good fantasy. The enemies to lovers romance plot felt incredibly weak - there wasn’t much tension or build up so it was hard to feel invested in the main characters’ romance. On the other side of things, the author gives us a half hearted attempt at world building that leaves a lot to be desired. A good fantasy needs time and more pages than Hazelwood was willing to dedicate here, which is fair, but you lose some of the intrigue. The plot kept my attention enough, and while some of the fantasy may have felt teenage-like, the romance and spice were decidedly rated R. There was smut a plenty in this one.
I don’t regret reading it, it was certainly entertaining and witty at times, but I’m not sure I’ll go out of my way to recommend it to others, either.
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