Review by rika_readsanyway - Fearless

rika_readsanyway 's review for:

Fearless by Lauren Roberts

2.75

adventurous sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

the first 60% is basically boredom dressed up in a fantasy wig and pretending it's plot. i kept reading only because, let's face it, i'm here for the romance. and oh, the romance delivers. because men who YEARN and men who would DIE for love? yes, take my heart and take my money. yearning is so back, people! and kai? peak yearner! and lovesick fool writing love letters with handwriting so pretty it should be framed.

"now, please entertain me, darling. i'm bored. what am i to do if not count your freckles?”

AHHHH. i can’t. i can’t. i can’t. every time he called her "pretty pae" and "darling", my heart melted and my blood sugar spiked because of how sweet he was.

but the plot? yeah, meh. i fell asleep twice.

as a finale, this book had so much potential. the centuries of oppression as the main conflict could have been dark, dramatic, and political when it delivered right. but it never explored the issues of racism and politics with the depth they deserved. i mean, is it not how it's usually done in other fantasy books? they always have too much high stakes and complicated plot arcs. but here, we got no war, no big drama. nada. just endless yearning. again, fine by me, because the story is character-driven —almost like cozy and chill in a cute way with forbbiden tension--, but the writing itself still wasn't great.

and writing? many sentences didn't make sense logically (poetic and beautiful, maybe). i tried reading them carefully, picturing the scenes in my head, and... i still had no idea what the author was actually describing.

don't tell me about the plot twists. ugh. they were so random and too convenient that they felt shoved in just to wrap everything up. the rest 30% had me laughing and yelling at the book for how ridiculous it sounded that i even stopped feeling bad for THAT ONE CHARACTER. seriously, he got done SO DIRTY.

plus, the trials were so easy they might as well have come with participation trophies. lol. big fillers for me, and way too much plot armor for paedyn.

this book is 600 pages long but i can read fast so i thought i could blitz it in like 2 or 3 days. but it took me longer than that because it was such a slog.

so yeah. 2.75 stars. love the romance, tolerate the rest. i forgive the author given that she's incredibly still so young and trying. but my honest opinion? i think she should stick to writing romance. maybe jump to commercial YA or NA romance for future works. cause paedyn & kai are the only reason i kept reading this series. but leave the epic quests and magic politics to anyone else who can do better. my sanity (and my eyeballs) will thank you.

bottom line: i read this series for paedyn & kai, and that's exactly why i survived. everything else? not so much.

Content Warnings