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A review by squids_can_read
Cruel is the Light (Library Binding) by Sophie Clark
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
Selene’s whole life has been dedicated to killing demons. Jules life has been dedicated to the same. However, Selene choose this life and Jules was thrown into it. But when demons start to invade Rome and the tides of the war start turning, Selene and Jules are thrown together to try to save everything they love.
I really wanted to love this book. An alternative history where god came to earth and deamons haunt the streets of Rome. But I think that this book falls into the pitfall that many different romantasy books fall into which is a bad balance of romance and plot. Personally, if a book is high stakes, I would rather focus on the high stakes than a budding romance. This book is also being advertised as a young adult book and I don’t think that this is accurate. This book basically feels like an adult romantasy book except the characters are teenagers which a young adult book that does not make.
I also thought that the world-building was a little sloppy. I think that the world is extensive and that the author tried to include bits and pieces of that but focused on the romance instead. The characterization I think also fell victim to the romance focus. We got almost no characterization for any characters besides Jules and Selene and their characterization was focused on their romance.
Overall, if you romantasy that is really romance heavy, I think you’d like this book. If you want to more about the actual world, I would skip this one.
Selene’s whole life has been dedicated to killing demons. Jules life has been dedicated to the same. However, Selene choose this life and Jules was thrown into it. But when demons start to invade Rome and the tides of the war start turning, Selene and Jules are thrown together to try to save everything they love.
I really wanted to love this book. An alternative history where god came to earth and deamons haunt the streets of Rome. But I think that this book falls into the pitfall that many different romantasy books fall into which is a bad balance of romance and plot. Personally, if a book is high stakes, I would rather focus on the high stakes than a budding romance. This book is also being advertised as a young adult book and I don’t think that this is accurate. This book basically feels like an adult romantasy book except the characters are teenagers which a young adult book that does not make.
I also thought that the world-building was a little sloppy. I think that the world is extensive and that the author tried to include bits and pieces of that but focused on the romance instead. The characterization I think also fell victim to the romance focus. We got almost no characterization for any characters besides Jules and Selene and their characterization was focused on their romance.
Overall, if you romantasy that is really romance heavy, I think you’d like this book. If you want to more about the actual world, I would skip this one.