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299 reviews
Skin of a Sinner by Avina St. Graves
The first half of this book had me hooked, I couldn't put it down for the life of me and could only think of getting to the next chapter. But once the flashbacks ended, so did the momentum.
Roman/Mickey was really unhinged, jfc.
When we were first introduced to him as a child, I thought he would grow up to be this intelligent guy, but the more I read, the more he felt like a hothead who just couldn't think beyond his bloodlust.
Bella was clearly his oxygen, and he devoted his entire life to her. All his (non-violent) selfless and romantic acts stole my heart and had me swooning to the stars.
I felt for Bella and empathized with her struggles, but I couldn't fully connect with her. She acted immature and selfish, constantly blaming Roman for all her shit without trying to see things from his perspective, when he for all his faults, has been the only constant in her life, completely providing for her while she seemed ungrateful. Her hot and cold attitude got tiring pretty fast, but I'm glad those letters opened her eyes. She desperately needs therapy and a happy, carefree life. Both of them do.
I wasn't a fan of their sex life. The degradation kink really felt out of left field, theirs was never that dynamic. Him also fingering her for the first time after not having seen her for 3 years, after having just killed her foster family, was one of the many wtf moments of this book.
I'm giving this a higher rating solely for the grip it had on me initially. The pacing of the book felt as manic as Roman did.
3.0
”He feels like cocoa in the winter and the first sign of color in the fall. And when I'm around him, I feel like sangria in the summer and daffodils in the spring.”
The first half of this book had me hooked, I couldn't put it down for the life of me and could only think of getting to the next chapter. But once the flashbacks ended, so did the momentum.
Roman/Mickey was really unhinged, jfc.
When we were first introduced to him as a child, I thought he would grow up to be this intelligent guy, but the more I read, the more he felt like a hothead who just couldn't think beyond his bloodlust.
Bella was clearly his oxygen, and he devoted his entire life to her. All his (non-violent) selfless and romantic acts stole my heart and had me swooning to the stars.
I felt for Bella and empathized with her struggles, but I couldn't fully connect with her. She acted immature and selfish, constantly blaming Roman for all her shit without trying to see things from his perspective, when he for all his faults, has been the only constant in her life, completely providing for her while she seemed ungrateful. Her hot and cold attitude got tiring pretty fast, but I'm glad those letters opened her eyes. She desperately needs therapy and a happy, carefree life. Both of them do.
I wasn't a fan of their sex life. The degradation kink really felt out of left field, theirs was never that dynamic. Him also fingering her for the first time after not having seen her for 3 years, after having just killed her foster family, was one of the many wtf moments of this book.
I'm giving this a higher rating solely for the grip it had on me initially. The pacing of the book felt as manic as Roman did.
Broken Rules by I.A. Dice
2.0
2.75 ★
I finished this with mixed feelings. The story had real promise with a lot of potential, but the narrative felt more like an intriguing draft than a well-rounded, polished work.
Despite feeling like the pacing created an erratic reading experience at times and the foreseeable plot twist, Layla's role as an unreliable narrator added a layer of intrigue. I appreciated how Dice wanted readers to doubt their instincts.
While I enjoyed Layla and Dante, I couldn't fully connect with them. Their relationship was too based on insta-lust and lacked real depth and substance beyond Layla’s insecurities and daddy/mommy issues.
I didn’t like Dante's machismo and how he undermined other women’s worth by their choices in clothing/personal style to establish Layla as better. Totally unnecessary. It only added to Layla’s annoying portrayal as a pick-me girl. I also strongly disliked his use of the term “retard”, there are better language choices. It’s really not hard.
Given this is Dice’s first book, I understand the Wattpad vibe, which is why I wish this had had a better editor. But, despite its flaws, I still ate this up and am curious enough to continue reading. My need for closure demands I know how it ends.
┏━━━━ ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ━━━━┓
1. Broken Rules — 2.75 ★
2. [b:Broken Promises|61313788] — tbr
┗━━━━ ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ━━━━┛
I finished this with mixed feelings. The story had real promise with a lot of potential, but the narrative felt more like an intriguing draft than a well-rounded, polished work.
Despite feeling like the pacing created an erratic reading experience at times and the foreseeable plot twist, Layla's role as an unreliable narrator added a layer of intrigue. I appreciated how Dice wanted readers to doubt their instincts.
While I enjoyed Layla and Dante, I couldn't fully connect with them. Their relationship was too based on insta-lust and lacked real depth and substance beyond Layla’s insecurities and daddy/mommy issues.
I didn’t like Dante's machismo and how he undermined other women’s worth by their choices in clothing/personal style to establish Layla as better. Totally unnecessary. It only added to Layla’s annoying portrayal as a pick-me girl. I also strongly disliked his use of the term “retard”, there are better language choices. It’s really not hard.
Given this is Dice’s first book, I understand the Wattpad vibe, which is why I wish this had had a better editor. But, despite its flaws, I still ate this up and am curious enough to continue reading. My need for closure demands I know how it ends.
┏━━━━ ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ━━━━┓
BROKEN DUET
1. Broken Rules — 2.75 ★
2. [b:Broken Promises|61313788] — tbr
┗━━━━ ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ━━━━┛
Broken Promises by I.A. Dice
2.0
2.5 ★
I can forgive a lot of things, but not a boring book.
If I had a physical copy of this, I would tear it apart and burn it page by page for the amount of repetitive, mind-numbingly dull inner monologues I had to endure.
Layla is a dumb cunt who has almost zero redeeming qualities, and she doesn't deserve Dante.
Also, how the fuck was her missing finger never mentioned again, not once???
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
1. [b:Broken Rules|61293088] — 2.75 ★
2. Broken Promises — 2.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
I can forgive a lot of things, but not a boring book.
If I had a physical copy of this, I would tear it apart and burn it page by page for the amount of repetitive, mind-numbingly dull inner monologues I had to endure.
Layla is a dumb cunt who has almost zero redeeming qualities, and she doesn't deserve Dante.
Also, how the fuck was her missing finger never mentioned again, not once???
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
BROKEN DUET
1. [b:Broken Rules|61293088] — 2.75 ★
2. Broken Promises — 2.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
Rule of a Kingdom by Rina Kent
3.0
Bring him to his knees Aurora.
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
0. Rule of a Kingdom — 3 ★
1. [b:Reign of a King|61038788] — 2.75 ★
2.[b: Rise of a Queen|61038793] — 3.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
⟡ KINGDOM DUET⟡
0. Rule of a Kingdom — 3 ★
1. [b:Reign of a King|61038788] — 2.75 ★
2.[b: Rise of a Queen|61038793] — 3.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
Rise of a Queen: Special Edition Print by Rina Kent
3.0
3.5 ★
This was infinitely better than [b:Reign of a King|61038788].
Firstly, I wasn't bored, which shouldn't be a standard to applaud, but given how I struggled with the previous book, I'm counting it as a win. I genuinely cared about the characters and the plot, but most importantly, I finally felt Jonathan and Aurora's connection and love for one another. Where it used to come off as forced, it now seemed very organic.
I feel justified in my earlier dislike of Margo. Ever since she badmouthed Alicia to Elsa, I've held a grudge against her.
Poor Alicia, she had such a sad and painful life. I'm glad Aiden finally got the closure he needed.
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
0. [b:Rule of a Kingdom|54832253] — 3 ★
1. [b:Reign of a King|61038788] — 2.75 ★
2. Rise of a Queen — 3.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
"What if you can't find me?"
"What if I disappear?"
"Then I'll burn the world that forced you to disappear and resurrect you from its ashes."
This was infinitely better than [b:Reign of a King|61038788].
Firstly, I wasn't bored, which shouldn't be a standard to applaud, but given how I struggled with the previous book, I'm counting it as a win. I genuinely cared about the characters and the plot, but most importantly, I finally felt Jonathan and Aurora's connection and love for one another. Where it used to come off as forced, it now seemed very organic.
I feel justified in my earlier dislike of Margo. Ever since she badmouthed Alicia to Elsa, I've held a grudge against her.
Poor Alicia, she had such a sad and painful life. I'm glad Aiden finally got the closure he needed.
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
⟡ KINGDOM DUET⟡
0. [b:Rule of a Kingdom|54832253] — 3 ★
1. [b:Reign of a King|61038788] — 2.75 ★
2. Rise of a Queen — 3.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
Reign of a King: Special Edition Print by Rina Kent
2.0
This was kinda meh overall. I was mostly bored until the 70% mark. It's not necessarily bad, it's just not very good either.
Tbh, Aurora and Jonathan's connection felt kinda forced and too lust-based. My attention tended to gravitate more towards Layla and Harris every time they were in a scene.
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
0. [b:Rule of a Kingdom|54832253] — 3 ★
1. Reign of a King — 2.75 ★
2.[b: Rise of a Queen|61038793] — 3.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
Tbh, Aurora and Jonathan's connection felt kinda forced and too lust-based. My attention tended to gravitate more towards Layla and Harris every time they were in a scene.
┏━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┓
⟡ KINGDOM DUET⟡
0. [b:Rule of a Kingdom|54832253] — 3 ★
1. Reign of a King — 2.75 ★
2.[b: Rise of a Queen|61038793] — 3.5 ★
┗━━━━ ⋆ ⋅ ☼ ⋅ ⋆ ━━━━┛
Ruthless Empire: Special Edition Print by Rina Kent
3.0
I.. Well… What have I just read ??
Let me just share what I enjoyed before diving into my rant about all the wtf moments in this book. Rina finally walked us through a timeline of everything that happened in the previous books from Silver and Cole's perspectives—not just that but since their childhood. I've been wishing for this storytelling aspect in previous books, and I finally got what I wanted.
I'm genuinely curious about what Silver and Cole actually talk about because all their interactions seemed to revolve around fucking each other. I really wished we could have felt a deeper connection instead of being told that their pain brought them together. Yes, it’s an important aspect of themselves but it’s just that, one aspect. They lacked dimension as a couple.
Silver surprised me in how much more complex she turned out to be. I was expecting her to be colder and more calculated, just owning her bitchiness. I wasn't expecting her to be so emotionally burdened. Honestly, her parents really sucked, and her mom shouldn't have been a mother at all. If my dad remarried on my 18th birthday, I would have poisoned the wedding cake.
Silver endured emotional abuse her entire life, especially with Helen in the end and the dynamic of her and Cole’s relationship. She didn’t deserve to have so many burdens at that age, I feel sorry for all the suffering she had to live through. Despite it all, I can't forgive her for being a bully, I feel for her pain but it doesn't excuse her behavior. But I am glad she grew up and took responsibility for her actions, or at least that's what we're told to believe.
Cole can't catch a fucking break in the parents department either, though his beat Silver's in the fucked-up category. No wonder he's a—is it psychopath or sociopath?
I really despised how he just let Elsa beat Silver and was so passive throughout the years (oh, and Aiden can rot for letting it happen while he thought she was pregnant). If a man tied me up and left me in the trunk of a car, he'd wake up in pieces.
I really had to control myself through all the "baby killing" discourse. Idk but if this was a self-insert, please educate yourself on the topic of abortion before preaching this nonsense. Or maybe it's just Silver's views on the topic, a consequence of being the child of Torie parents who lead the Conservative Party. Probably both. Either way, the approach to the topic was shit.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
0. [b:Cruel King|61291687] — 2.75 ★
1. [b:Deviant King|61169515] — 3 ★
2. [b:Steel Princess|61169516] — 2 ★
3. [b:Twisted Kingdom|61169514] — 2.75 ★
4. [b:Black Knight|61182020] — 4 ★
5. [b:Vicious Prince|61238883] — 4 ★
6. Ruthless Empire — 3 ★
7. [b:Royal Elite Epilogue|62854738] — 5 ★
┗━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┛
Let me just share what I enjoyed before diving into my rant about all the wtf moments in this book. Rina finally walked us through a timeline of everything that happened in the previous books from Silver and Cole's perspectives—not just that but since their childhood. I've been wishing for this storytelling aspect in previous books, and I finally got what I wanted.
I'm genuinely curious about what Silver and Cole actually talk about because all their interactions seemed to revolve around fucking each other. I really wished we could have felt a deeper connection instead of being told that their pain brought them together. Yes, it’s an important aspect of themselves but it’s just that, one aspect. They lacked dimension as a couple.
Silver surprised me in how much more complex she turned out to be. I was expecting her to be colder and more calculated, just owning her bitchiness. I wasn't expecting her to be so emotionally burdened. Honestly, her parents really sucked, and her mom shouldn't have been a mother at all. If my dad remarried on my 18th birthday, I would have poisoned the wedding cake.
Silver endured emotional abuse her entire life, especially with Helen in the end and the dynamic of her and Cole’s relationship. She didn’t deserve to have so many burdens at that age, I feel sorry for all the suffering she had to live through. Despite it all, I can't forgive her for being a bully, I feel for her pain but it doesn't excuse her behavior. But I am glad she grew up and took responsibility for her actions, or at least that's what we're told to believe.
Cole can't catch a fucking break in the parents department either, though his beat Silver's in the fucked-up category. No wonder he's a—is it psychopath or sociopath?
I really despised how he just let Elsa beat Silver and was so passive throughout the years (oh, and Aiden can rot for letting it happen while he thought she was pregnant). If a man tied me up and left me in the trunk of a car, he'd wake up in pieces.
I really had to control myself through all the "baby killing" discourse. Idk but if this was a self-insert, please educate yourself on the topic of abortion before preaching this nonsense. Or maybe it's just Silver's views on the topic, a consequence of being the child of Torie parents who lead the Conservative Party. Probably both. Either way, the approach to the topic was shit.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
⟡ ROYAL ELITE SERIES⟡
0. [b:Cruel King|61291687] — 2.75 ★
1. [b:Deviant King|61169515] — 3 ★
2. [b:Steel Princess|61169516] — 2 ★
3. [b:Twisted Kingdom|61169514] — 2.75 ★
4. [b:Black Knight|61182020] — 4 ★
5. [b:Vicious Prince|61238883] — 4 ★
6. Ruthless Empire — 3 ★
7. [b:Royal Elite Epilogue|62854738] — 5 ★
┗━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┛
Twisted Kingdom: Special Edition Print by Rina Kent
2.0
2.75 ★
This would've been way better as a duology. Without the endless, repetitive filler chapters, Aiden and Elsa's story could've been more captivating.
Gotta hand it to Rina, though—she still has me in a chokehold, and I love how easy it is to forget the outside noise and dive into her world.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
0. [b:Cruel King|61291687] — 2.75 ★
1. [b:Deviant King|61169515] — 3 ★
2. [b:Steel Princess|61169516] — 2 ★
3. Twisted Kingdom — 2.75 ★
4. [b:Black Knight|61182020] — 4 ★
5. [b:Vicious Prince|61238883] — 4 ★
6. [b:Ruthless Empire|61238880] — 3 ★
7. [b:Royal Elite Epilogue|62854738] — 5 ★
┗━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┛
This would've been way better as a duology. Without the endless, repetitive filler chapters, Aiden and Elsa's story could've been more captivating.
Gotta hand it to Rina, though—she still has me in a chokehold, and I love how easy it is to forget the outside noise and dive into her world.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
⟡ ROYAL ELITE SERIES⟡
0. [b:Cruel King|61291687] — 2.75 ★
1. [b:Deviant King|61169515] — 3 ★
2. [b:Steel Princess|61169516] — 2 ★
3. Twisted Kingdom — 2.75 ★
4. [b:Black Knight|61182020] — 4 ★
5. [b:Vicious Prince|61238883] — 4 ★
6. [b:Ruthless Empire|61238880] — 3 ★
7. [b:Royal Elite Epilogue|62854738] — 5 ★
┗━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┛
Steel Princess: Special Edition Print by Rina Kent
2.0
The rating mirrors this book's usefulness, but honestly, giving it 2 stars is overly generous.
I'm really fucking tired of the same, endlessly repetitive plot. If they go through another breakup in [b:Twisted Kingdom|61169514], I might just lose it. Who am I kidding? They will, and so will I.
Rina, stop romanticizing assault. It's repulsive.
PS: wtf is going on with Elsa’s “special food”? Let the girl eat her ice cream in peace, damn it.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
0. [b:Cruel King|61291687] — 2.75 ★
1. [b:Deviant King|61169515] — 3 ★
2. Steel Princess — 2 ★
3. [b:Twisted Kingdom|61169514] — 2.75 ★
4. [b:Black Knight|61182020] — 4 ★
5. [b:Vicious Prince|61238883] — 4 ★
6. [b:Ruthless Empire|61238880] — 3 ★
7. [b:Royal Elite Epilogue|62854738] — 5 ★
┗━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┛
I'm really fucking tired of the same, endlessly repetitive plot. If they go through another breakup in [b:Twisted Kingdom|61169514], I might just lose it. Who am I kidding? They will, and so will I.
Rina, stop romanticizing assault. It's repulsive.
PS: wtf is going on with Elsa’s “special food”? Let the girl eat her ice cream in peace, damn it.
┏━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┓
⟡ ROYAL ELITE SERIES⟡
0. [b:Cruel King|61291687] — 2.75 ★
1. [b:Deviant King|61169515] — 3 ★
2. Steel Princess — 2 ★
3. [b:Twisted Kingdom|61169514] — 2.75 ★
4. [b:Black Knight|61182020] — 4 ★
5. [b:Vicious Prince|61238883] — 4 ★
6. [b:Ruthless Empire|61238880] — 3 ★
7. [b:Royal Elite Epilogue|62854738] — 5 ★
┗━━━━━ ⋆⋅ ☼ ⋅⋆ ━━━━━┛