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A review by unlimitedhappylife
Of Dreams and Demons by Willow Hadley
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I enjoyed the first book and was hoping that Isla and her men would figure out a way around their communication issue and wanted to see what would happen. Unfortunately, I found this installment disappointing and the only characters I enjoyed and kept me reading were Reule, Caelan, Maalik, and Audun.
Let's start with Allistair, he is a selfish and self-pitying character that made me want to scream. I am assuming the mention of his problems with addiction and his unknown power is supposed to make me sympathize for him and to an extent I do, but it got to a point where I saw him as the toxic friend you need to cut out of your life lest they bring you down with them. I felt like he only cared about Isla because she was his caretaker and put up with his crap.
My next problem was Isla, I did not mind her in the first book, but she started to give me internalized misogyny and pick me girl vibes. The fact that her only friends and people she gets along with, for the most part, are the men she's sleeping with and gay men left a bad taste in my mouth. Then there was a specific scene that really made me dislike her and made any time after that when she was angered by injustice feel disingenuous. She sees the other girls that were taken, one might be as young as seventeen. She notices them looking at one of her mates, and she snaps at them and yells at them to get back to work. The fact that she snapped at this teenager and woman who are basically indentured servants, alone in an unknown world and obviously not living a grand new life as she is, felt wrong. Later she gets pissed when it looks like some guardians have collars around their neck attached to a leash. Which tells me she will only sympathize with people who she doesn't think are competition for her men. She also snapped and disliked Auduns female relatives until she realized that they were relatives. Makes her super insecure and unlikable to me.
Reule, Caelan, Maalik, and Audun were the only saving grace to me. I liked the plot of them learning that not all "dark" creatures are evil, and they might have been misled. The men start to question everything and self reflect on the pain they caused which was interesting and the only reason I might choose to continue the series.
Let's start with Allistair, he is a selfish and self-pitying character that made me want to scream. I am assuming the mention of his problems with addiction and his unknown power is supposed to make me sympathize for him and to an extent I do, but it got to a point where I saw him as the toxic friend you need to cut out of your life lest they bring you down with them. I felt like he only cared about Isla because she was his caretaker and put up with his crap.
My next problem was Isla, I did not mind her in the first book, but she started to give me internalized misogyny and pick me girl vibes. The fact that her only friends and people she gets along with, for the most part, are the men she's sleeping with and gay men left a bad taste in my mouth. Then there was a specific scene that really made me dislike her and made any time after that when she was angered by injustice feel disingenuous.
Reule, Caelan, Maalik, and Audun were the only saving grace to me. I liked the plot of them learning that not all "dark" creatures are evil, and they might have been misled. The men start to question everything and self reflect on the pain they caused which was interesting and the only reason I might choose to continue the series.