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A review by bunnerz
Second Glances by Kelsey Soliz
3.0
Update: I re-skimmed the new version of the book in the omnibus [b:Hemlock Academy: The Complete Series|59765044|Hemlock Academy The Complete Series (Hemlock Academy, #1-4)|Kelsey Soliz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638819923l/59765044._SX50_.jpg|94130456] - the only difference I could tell was an additional ridiculous epilogue from a flower fairy's POV which was completely unnecessary and not anything that needed to be read. My original rating and comments below still stand.
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I gave the first book a slight pass on the insta-love and clumsy world-building, but the second book really didn't start off well, with an immediate forgiveness on the part of the FMC Gabriella. The whole harem really don't communicate very well, and everything falls in place a little too easily for all of them.
Character development was still pretty lacking for a second book, and with Gabriella already having at least 5 mates with barely any backstory on most of the men, I didn't think we were going to learn much more of them at this rate, even in future books. The council and the whole battle with Night monsters was thrown in chaotically without much integration with the whole original academy setting. Gabriella becoming the spokesperson for also swung out of the left field from nowhere and surprised me. For an academy full of supernaturals, we didn't really get much details about classes other than football - power-wise, other than Gabby using her bodysmithing abilities, the most I saw was Grey needing blood regularly. We barely got any actual shifting, smoke magic, or whatever other powers the other men had (which also was not explained much).
This book had quite a lot of typos, and I had issues with world consistency, like the whole - sometimes the men and Gabriella would get the weird hit, and other times they were completely sane. The inconsistency with pacing of intimate relations with each of the men was also weird - sometimes she wanted to hold off like a shy virgin, other times she just went ham.
The smut was hot, but the relationships were very shallow. However, even with all the issues, I'm still curious to check out the next book in the series.
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Ratings - abandoned series:
#1 First Addition: ★★★★☆
#2 Second Glances (this book): ★★★☆☆
#3 Three to Find: ★★☆☆☆
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I gave the first book a slight pass on the insta-love and clumsy world-building, but the second book really didn't start off well, with an immediate forgiveness on the part of the FMC Gabriella. The whole harem really don't communicate very well, and everything falls in place a little too easily for all of them.
Character development was still pretty lacking for a second book, and with Gabriella already having at least 5 mates with barely any backstory on most of the men, I didn't think we were going to learn much more of them at this rate, even in future books. The council and the whole battle with Night monsters was thrown in chaotically without much integration with the whole original academy setting. Gabriella becoming the spokesperson for
Spoiler
the goddess and stripping conduit powers from othersThis book had quite a lot of typos, and I had issues with world consistency, like the whole
Spoiler
high after sex with GabriellaThe smut was hot, but the relationships were very shallow. However, even with all the issues, I'm still curious to check out the next book in the series.
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Ratings - abandoned series:
#1 First Addition: ★★★★☆
#2 Second Glances (this book): ★★★☆☆
#3 Three to Find: ★★☆☆☆