lavlavs 's review for:

King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair
2.0
When it comes to romance, I hate the trope of
Spoilerreincarnation
. I find it a lazy excuse to not spend time developing relationships. Adrian and Isolde's relationship was rushed and her immediate acceptance of
Spoiler being the reincarnation of his love
was at complete odds with 90% of the story having Isolde not wanting to be constrained by others' opinions/views of her. But it's a symptom of the larger problem with everything flip-flopping for the sake of plot. Isolde is posited as a feminist hero but views every other woman as a threat. Vampires are faster and stronger than humans but then when Isolde fights them, they don't appear to use the inhuman speed described early on. And the sex scenes weren't even that good. I never want to read
Spoiler "brutal thrust"
again.