Scan barcode
A review by katyanaish
Gypsy Truths by Kristy Cunning
4.0
I honestly loved this series, and I'm sure I'll read it again and again.
It is a complicated story with a lot of detail, and there are parts of this last book that felt a little choppy ... but my feeling is that that is because there was just SO MUCH detail to reveal that my brain got a little whirly.
I loved finally discovering Violet's truths, and I loved even more that it wasn't what I thought - it seems like it is becoming a rare things for stories to really land a well-earned (by which I mean well set up, instead of totally out of left field) twist like that.
I also think it was a little choppy because the author would abruptly cut from things she wanted to keep secret from us for a little while longer. I feel like that maybe went on a little more than it should have, which is where the narrative started to feel like it was hiccuping.
That all said, again, I loved it. Violet was every bit as awesome as I wanted her to be - after a few nervous moments - and I was really thrilled that the guys didn't pull some dumb crap at the last minute. And I'm glad that, when all is said and done, Violet is still Violet. She gets to live the life that will make her happy, and I'm really satisfied with that.
There are some open-ended bits here - minor threads, honestly - that make me wonder if Kristy Cunning is planning to come back to this world and these characters. The fact that she opened the door a crack there at the end gives me hope, anyway.
Edit to add: Glancing through reviews, I see a whole lot of whining that this book wasn't out sooner, and it surprises me. Book 1 of this series was published Dec 2018. This book - book 6 - was published end of Aug 2019. That's a whole lot of writing - and GOOD storytelling - coming to readers super fast. Oh noes, you had to wait from book 5's mid-April 2019 release until end of August for book 6!!!! How fucking entitled and spoiled are people nowadays, seriously? No wonder so much stuff coming out right now is repetitive tropes glued together and crapped out, if people are so impatient that 4 and a half months between books is too much. FFS, people.
Re-read Sept 2019
You know, the first time through, the bit at the end where the guys "punish" her ... it didn't sit well with me. I have to say it sat even less well on the re-read, to the point where I could barely get through it. It feels like they are whining man-babies salvaging their ego, and I don't like that they are rewarded for manipulating her. I honestly think Violet lets them get away with way too much shit. And I'm not particularly thrilled that the entire monster world still treats her like the Alpha's pretty, brainless pet. This book is a fabulous conclusion to the series ... if you just skip that chapter. Because fuck all of them.
Another quibble: Arion is far and away my favorite, but he never gets equal treatment. His claiming of her was a nothingburger (even Violet thinks so), and then he doesn't even get alone time with her when Emit and Damien both had her for DAYS during their claiming. No, instead he's sharing her for this dumb punishment, and Damien deliberately and directly fucks with him ... after which Arion gets treated - by Vance AND Violet - as if HE is the problem. Fuck that, fuck Damien in particular, and fuck Vance and Violet for treating Arion as if he is so much of a constant problem.
This is the second series of hers that I have LOVED, and then really really really struggled with the ending on - her Four Horseman series is AMAZING, but the ending is total shit. *sigh* At least with this one, the ending to the story lands - who Violet is, how she handles the final conflict - but the resolution with her guys is just not okay. It has a power dynamic that makes me really uncomfortable because it is rooted in lies and manipulation. How do any of these people ever trust each other enough to have a real relationship? From what I can see, they never ever will. That's disappointing.
It is a complicated story with a lot of detail, and there are parts of this last book that felt a little choppy ... but my feeling is that that is because there was just SO MUCH detail to reveal that my brain got a little whirly.
I loved finally discovering Violet's truths, and I loved even more that it wasn't what I thought - it seems like it is becoming a rare things for stories to really land a well-earned (by which I mean well set up, instead of totally out of left field) twist like that.
I also think it was a little choppy because the author would abruptly cut from things she wanted to keep secret from us for a little while longer. I feel like that maybe went on a little more than it should have, which is where the narrative started to feel like it was hiccuping.
That all said, again, I loved it. Violet was every bit as awesome as I wanted her to be - after a few nervous moments - and I was really thrilled that the guys didn't pull some dumb crap at the last minute.
Spoiler
Yes, I'm thinking of Talbot's dumb plan to steal her monster with utterly unreliable blood magic. I don't trust that guy at all.There are some open-ended bits here - minor threads, honestly - that make me wonder if Kristy Cunning is planning to come back to this world and these characters. The fact that she opened the door a crack there at the end gives me hope, anyway.
Edit to add: Glancing through reviews, I see a whole lot of whining that this book wasn't out sooner, and it surprises me. Book 1 of this series was published Dec 2018. This book - book 6 - was published end of Aug 2019. That's a whole lot of writing - and GOOD storytelling - coming to readers super fast. Oh noes, you had to wait from book 5's mid-April 2019 release until end of August for book 6!!!! How fucking entitled and spoiled are people nowadays, seriously? No wonder so much stuff coming out right now is repetitive tropes glued together and crapped out, if people are so impatient that 4 and a half months between books is too much. FFS, people.
Re-read Sept 2019
You know, the first time through, the bit at the end where the guys "punish" her ... it didn't sit well with me. I have to say it sat even less well on the re-read, to the point where I could barely get through it. It feels like they are whining man-babies salvaging their ego, and I don't like that they are rewarded for manipulating her. I honestly think Violet lets them get away with way too much shit. And I'm not particularly thrilled that the entire monster world still treats her like the Alpha's pretty, brainless pet. This book is a fabulous conclusion to the series ... if you just skip that chapter. Because fuck all of them.
Another quibble: Arion is far and away my favorite, but he never gets equal treatment. His claiming of her was a nothingburger (even Violet thinks so), and then he doesn't even get alone time with her when Emit and Damien both had her for DAYS during their claiming. No, instead he's sharing her for this dumb punishment, and Damien deliberately and directly fucks with him ... after which Arion gets treated - by Vance AND Violet - as if HE is the problem. Fuck that, fuck Damien in particular, and fuck Vance and Violet for treating Arion as if he is so much of a constant problem.
This is the second series of hers that I have LOVED, and then really really really struggled with the ending on - her Four Horseman series is AMAZING, but the ending is total shit. *sigh* At least with this one, the ending to the story lands - who Violet is, how she handles the final conflict - but the resolution with her guys is just not okay. It has a power dynamic that makes me really uncomfortable because it is rooted in lies and manipulation. How do any of these people ever trust each other enough to have a real relationship? From what I can see, they never ever will. That's disappointing.