A review by lovepotion
Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

The third installment in the Dark Olympus series was a let down for me. The set up had me very intrigued, but as we more into the story, the plot fell flat. 

Robert spends a lot telling and not showing in her novels- each new issue in the Dark Olympus series we get a better understanding of the world building and social dynamics. It’s book three, and I’m still wondering how there is a barrier in Olympus and why their citizens can’t leave. 

We have a couple outsiders join the cast and I have no understanding how they cross the barrier. 

There is a scene where Zeus tells Helen that the barrier is falling, but not much information beyond that. Why is it falling? How is it? Give us more. Maybe we will get answers in book four.

Throughout the novel, our characters are competing as the title as Ares in a series of tournaments. Three different tournaments to determine one winner. The action scenes were so poor, I had such a hard time visualizing the tournament scenes. It felt the author squeezed an over abundance of action verbs into a sequence and called it a day. 

I get that this is a romance and an erotica piece of fiction, but this novel would be so much stronger if it was fully fleshed out to its potential. The tournament scenes could have been thrilling, but yet they only lasted a few pages. I felt like author rushed through writing this one, if she really down, and made the work longer. I would have like to see it similar to Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire’s tournament scenes. 

Or, instead of doing three tournaments, find a way of narrowing it down to perhaps one? And have that scene a little more longer and dramatic. I felt like both of those ideas would have worked better. 

Helen- is our FMC is the prize not to be won. She fighting for her own hand. (I don’t know why, but her energy reminded that scene in that Disney movie, Brave) she is rich girl and wants the prove to the world that she is a lot stronger than she looks. Maybe this is just me, but I’m starting to see a lot of Roberts FMC (in the Dark Olympus Series) all feel a little similar. We have a woman who looking for independence and is trying to escape some kind of arrange marriage, while sticking it to the a family relative and the society of the Thirteen. 

Achilles- He was cocky, arrogant, and someone who is way too proud of himself. At times he is hypocritical- (however I didn’t hate this at much because, him being hypocritical was very discussed) he was very much the “brawn” of the team. 

He was very much the hot headed and impulsive player in the group, but I didn’t necessarily hate him. Actually I kind of enjoy the flavor he brought into the group. The different energy he had with both Patroclus and Helen was kept me turning the pages. He was soft and gentle to one and hot and a tease to another. 

Patroclus- I felt like he was the most underdeveloped out of the three. We did get a back story out him, which was interesting. But beside him being the brain of the team and being more of gentler side. There wasn’t much about him. He didn’t share the same ambitious as Achilles or Helen. I don’t really know his own personal ambitions beside helping Achilles. To be honest, he was labeled not much more as Achilles’ boyfriend. 

As the three of them together, I needed more development. I feel like ending was a little abrupt, especially since there was no epilogue. There was a lot of jealousy between the group and it just didn’t seem like it didn’t come to a conclusion. 

We keep going over and over with the same repetitious dialogue of the issue of if Helen and Achilles became Ares and how that would affect their relationship. I know Robert can be repetitious, but this seem to drone on and on. If we had less of same dialogue and more a development the actual plot, this would be a stronger book. 

The smut in the one may be my personal favorite so far. I will commended the author on that. 

There was references or information that called back from the previous novel that wasn’t rehash properly. There was no proper reminder how this information came about. Such as Helen reminding Eros she owes her a favor from Electric Idol. Robert does not remind the author as to why he does. 

Overall, the plot idea was definitely there. I wish the author had slow down and prioritized executing more of a plot and then reiterate the same dialogue over and over again. 




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