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kenna13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment
thebookwormmedic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Holy shit, that was something unexpected.
This book took me through twists and turns I could not even think of. The romance and the banter was amazing but I loved that I was easily able to get back into the world after it being months since I finished Powerless.
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment
sherlene_06's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Can I just say, how did we go a whole book without them kissing, and suddenly, in Reckless, all they do is just that? Their first kiss was so underwhelming and left field—it sort of made me cringe. I was thrown off and didn't feel like reading the rest, but I was in too deep already. (Your Honour, it's Malakai Azer's fault).
But Lauren Roberts is pretty good at writing professions of love, descriptive paragraphs, and romantic scenes. So many parts made me want to just underline the shit out of them if only I had the physical copy. I felt that the writing style this time was much more repetitive though, and I did encounter a few spelling and grammatical errors so I don't know what that was about.
And I get that the entire book was based on the word 'Pretend,' but it was just odd. If someone kissed me like that and said, "Pretend," I'd whack them in the face. But ok. Honestly was about to throw a tantrum if it was said one more time-
and. KITT WHAT THE HELL MAN? Also... Calum..? Is he.. evil? And why is Calum suggesting this diabolical idea to Kitt? Ugh. but KAI AZER. You shall get your beauty. (Lauren Roberts, he better.) On that topic, Kai's monologue at the end felt weird because they spent the entire book in the fricking outskirts of Ilya hating on each other, making out for pretend-sakes and whatnot, Kai dragging her to all that pain just to let her go... I don't know man, kinda weird. Oh, and the ending felt a bit rushed too, like Roberts was trying to meet the word count of some essay or whatever.
* sigh * I'm in TOO deep. And with that ending, those god-forsaken 6 words that Kitt uttered, yea. I have to read the next book for certain.
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Minor: Abandonment
kaitlynnnng's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Per usual, Kai had be giggling and kicking my feet. I love that man!
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gore, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide
coffiend's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
It made the world feel smaller, like the only consequence of a long-built rebellion trying to make a stand against a tyrant king is that now one girl is going to be in some nebulous form of trouble. Maybe she'll be sentenced to death, maybe she'll fall in love. Read along as she crosses some indeterminate length of desert to find out! (Spoiler: it's love)
There's very little (if any) character growth and nothing really changes in the grand scheme of things until the end, and even that felt underwhelming.
This book made me retroactively like Powerless... less.
Also, making out in a sewage drain will never be hot.
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse and Abandonment
hjb_128's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
esterslibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
cnannery19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
notfastreader_14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexism