A review by randeh
House of beating wings by Olivia Wildenstein

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.5

I want to preface this review by saying the story was really good and if it wasn't for the terrible FMC I would have given this first book a 4. I'm hoping Fallon will grow on me because right now I can't stand her. Fallon is annoyingly obsessed with the biggest red flag in fictional work and on top of that she's just worldly stupid. She never learns either, her stupidity just continues on for the entire book.

The writing also threw me off a bit. With a fantasy I don't expect words like "meet cute" or even the word "boob", it sounded so out of place.

The positives though, will encourage me to read book 2 and hopefully fall in love with the series. I enjoyed the world of Luce and enjoyed most of the characters. I am #TeamLorcan and I love the entire crow element of this series. I want to explore Fallon's background more and the new Kingdom of Crows.

I had two quotes that I enjoyed from this book:

💬 “‘…and the fragrance of your,’ he lowers his nose to the delicate skin between my earlobe, ‘cunt.’ I break out in goosebumps. Never would I have imagined my body reacting to that skeevy word with anything other than distaste. And yet, from Dante’s lips it sounds downright sensual.” When I first read this I thought, same girl, same. And then immediately hated him after this sex scene.

💬 “Gods, I thought I hated Lorcan but it pales for how I feel about Dante.” And of course after reading this, I once again thought...same girl, same.