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A review by bookitallaway
The Divine and the Cursed by J.E. Reed
5.0
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. This was such a fun book to read. Closed door romance, but exceptional world building and character development. Second book coming at the end of this year as of this review and I cannot wait!
There's angsty steam, close proximity, miscommunication but not in the typical way. Arianna our MFC and General Rion, our MMC, meet under dubious circumstances. She pretending to be someone she's not as a slave, hiding her powers, and he is the enemy that her kingdom has been fighting against, also hiding his true agenda and would not do well if he found out the true identity of our MFC. What starts out as hate quickly grows into more affection and truths that both sides have been told and believed are blurred and not entirely true. The character development was really well done for this book and I'm really looking forward to book 2 so I can dive further into my favorite people. Arianna is strong, smart and king and while she does need some saving, she isn't the damsel in distress type. Rion is the typical big bad, possessive male, but he's also not written in a way that leaves a bad taste in your mouth either. I cannot recommend this book enough, and to say more I think would give away too much of the storyline/plot.
There are some trigger warnings to be aware of, although I think they are more cautionary than trigger warnings. Slavery, violence, war, kidnapping, etc, but READ them for yourself and decide.
Will they or won't they succumb to a forbidden bond? Enemy of my enemy is my friend right? Opposites attract or are they too different? Will they survive? Who is the true enemy?
Spice: 1/5 (not that it's bad, just non-existent/closed door)
Plot: 5/5
Character Dev: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
There's angsty steam, close proximity, miscommunication but not in the typical way. Arianna our MFC and General Rion, our MMC, meet under dubious circumstances. She pretending to be someone she's not as a slave, hiding her powers, and he is the enemy that her kingdom has been fighting against, also hiding his true agenda and would not do well if he found out the true identity of our MFC. What starts out as hate quickly grows into more affection and truths that both sides have been told and believed are blurred and not entirely true. The character development was really well done for this book and I'm really looking forward to book 2 so I can dive further into my favorite people. Arianna is strong, smart and king and while she does need some saving, she isn't the damsel in distress type. Rion is the typical big bad, possessive male, but he's also not written in a way that leaves a bad taste in your mouth either. I cannot recommend this book enough, and to say more I think would give away too much of the storyline/plot.
There are some trigger warnings to be aware of, although I think they are more cautionary than trigger warnings. Slavery, violence, war, kidnapping, etc, but READ them for yourself and decide.
Will they or won't they succumb to a forbidden bond? Enemy of my enemy is my friend right? Opposites attract or are they too different? Will they survive? Who is the true enemy?
Spice: 1/5 (not that it's bad, just non-existent/closed door)
Plot: 5/5
Character Dev: 5/5
Overall: 5/5