epictegan 's review for:

Firebird by Juliette Cross
1.0

I have previously really enjoyed “Wolf Gone Wild” from this author, the cover was beautiful, and it was covering a fantasy version of Rome- it all sounds great and right up my alley. HOWEVER- this book made me feel sad and just awful and depressed- it was not an enjoyable read at all. The violence against women was too much and too detailed. I don’t care what anyone says, the MMC was abhorrent. Watching these horrific events but doing nothing because they have a plan?…yea no. He was directly responsible for the deaths of sooooo many people while claiming he isn’t a monster…um no he is seriously f@;ked up. Just because there are other more terrible people doesn’t make him better. “He’s just doing the best in the society he’s in” - BS One has to do a lot of mental gymnastics to make this “love story” not disturbing and disgusting.
The power dynamics are super problematic. I suspect it’s possible that this concept could work but it does NOT here. I’m so disappointed as I really thought this author would do better. It depresses me what constitutes “romance” here. I need a palette cleanser book ASAP.