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werewolfhooligan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
it's been a while since ive read such a dense political fantasy, and this book was like a breath of fresh air. i'm kind of obsessed with it. it was even like a fun challenge to try to parse the pieces of language that we were given without context (though it wasn't as fun trying to remember the names of a ton of characters that ultimately didn't reoccur often enough to justify the effort, or even speak, in some cases). the socio-political environment in the aida felt very monolithic, but i can't fault an author for wanting to write about a social utopia, and it didn't bother me, even if it did feel a little strange. i found the central relationship very sweet, and with just how much happened and happened and just kept happening i could almost forget that they'd only known each-other for about a week! i'm not complaining when i say that this was utter chaos; it just was, undeniably, a book where the hits never stopped coming. i was on the edge of my seat; i was kicking my feet and giggling; i was gasping with shock and awe; i was scrutinizing the clues. a book of all time, frankly, and i love it to death.
as 4 the ending...
what do you meeeaann it was the younger sister (name omitted bc i forgot how to spell it and don't want to check) in a country where women can inherit, her family is in a cold war over naming their successors to avoid hurt feelings, and the brother she's seemingly so threatened by is plainly terrible with politicking????? like is she stupid??? 😫 i knew that the inheritence thread would be involved, but i had hoped that it would be somebody acting in her interest, at least. like, girl be so serious 💀 i thought i was being so smart picking up on all of the times tar raeki didnt catch the suspect or arrested somebody personally or mentioned trying to enforce some element of security that other people just Wouldn't Maintain. that's on me, i guess, but i was looking for clues when meadows just wasn't giving me any
after the big reveal i was disappointed, but hopeful that the next forty-some pages could bring it back, and I'm happy to report that they did. the confrontation felt as satisfying as it could, after... you know, the bit that felt stupid, and the last punch of action was just the surge of adrenaline it needed to wrap up. overall a really wonderful book, even if i wish it had ended differently, and i'll be picking up the sequel!
as 4 the ending...
after the big reveal i was disappointed, but hopeful that the next forty-some pages could bring it back, and I'm happy to report that they did. the confrontation felt as satisfying as it could, after... you know, the bit that felt stupid, and the last punch of action was just the surge of adrenaline it needed to wrap up. overall a really wonderful book, even if i wish it had ended differently, and i'll be picking up the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, and Suicide attempt
terranstorm's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It's the two leads that made this work: their emotional connection, handling each other gently, and some of the very important relationships and friends too (I LOVE both Markel and Liran). I appreciated that Vel and Cae communicated and that the plot did NOT revolve around them hurting each other needlessly (despite plenty of opportunity to hide or misunderstand). Mostly external enemies, and when it's their own fears that hold them back, they talk about it. Refreshing. It made the romance sweet and delicious and easy to love.
So clearly I had a lot of fun reading this, but the plot was fairly repetitive. An awkward mix of unexplained deaths and palace pageantry, where it seems like the same things keep happening over and over again? I toughed it out and the plot aspects got tighter in the last quarter, the finale worthwhile. The writing overall is a bit plodding and sometimes drags on, leaving me wondering why the scene hadn't already ended, and the magic was... thin. Sometimes I don't mind that but in this case it was a bit draining.
Better to focus on the romance aspects than the plot/fantasy elements. The romance was very good.
So clearly I had a lot of fun reading this, but the plot was fairly repetitive. An awkward mix of unexplained deaths and palace pageantry, where it seems like the same things keep happening over and over again? I toughed it out and the plot aspects got tighter in the last quarter, the finale worthwhile. The writing overall is a bit plodding and sometimes drags on, leaving me wondering why the scene hadn't already ended, and the magic was... thin. Sometimes I don't mind that but in this case it was a bit draining.
Better to focus on the romance aspects than the plot/fantasy elements. The romance was very good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
aliseonlife's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
scarlett_oloan's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
buggy3411's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5. Interesting plot, loved the characters and the romance-my only complaint is that I had the hardest time following who is who with many people sharing the same titles.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
umi_no_tenshi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, and Violence
tragicgloom's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury
lyndsea22's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed the main characters, but I feel like the side characters could have been more developed. Also the pacing was intense. I think it would have made more sense if the book took place over a month or so, but it was a week, which felt rushed. I did enjoy the romance and focus on healing, but it was quick for the events that happened for people to have recovered to the point they did. There is an author's note at the beginning warning about the sensitive topics, but the first one is quite early, so it's important to be prepared going in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Blood
pixelateddragon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters and the world building were interesting and well-written, and the voice acting in the audio book was absolutely amazing.
I loved the contrast of the queer-normative country with the more typically "medieval European"-esque one and how this was expressed and talked about in the text. (Loved the nonbinary representation btw!)
I knocked off a few points for how graphic the sexual assault was, I won't say it's existence wasn't important to further the conflict of the story but I felt it was in more detail than it needed to be to get the point across. Mind the trigger warnings!!!
And the plot was relatively interesting but a bit predictable, I guessed the twist pretty much as soon as the first attack happened & the MC was introduced tothe ML's sisters & the inheritance situation but it wasn't disappointing.
I loved the relationships between characters especially the platonic & familial ones, they were dynamic and felt so real.
I ended up skipping the sex scenes so I can't really comment on them, because they always ended up playing when I was trying to eat in public (and I didn't bother to go back to them because I'm not terribly fond of having sex narrated to me in general 😅).
But overall the book was pretty enjoyable with a dynamic and rich world and characters with beautiful prose & audio narration but, it was a bit heavy handed and more explicit than needed with a few of the more 'traumatic' parts of the story (& the relationship was a bit rushed, but it's a romance book and that is typical of the genre so I can't complain too much on that), and the mystery was a bit predictable.
I loved the contrast of the queer-normative country with the more typically "medieval European"-esque one and how this was expressed and talked about in the text. (Loved the nonbinary representation btw!)
I knocked off a few points for how graphic the sexual assault was, I won't say it's existence wasn't important to further the conflict of the story but I felt it was in more detail than it needed to be to get the point across. Mind the trigger warnings!!!
And the plot was relatively interesting but a bit predictable, I guessed the twist pretty much as soon as the first attack happened & the MC was introduced to
I loved the relationships between characters especially the platonic & familial ones, they were dynamic and felt so real.
I ended up skipping the sex scenes so I can't really comment on them, because they always ended up playing when I was trying to eat in public (and I didn't bother to go back to them because I'm not terribly fond of having sex narrated to me in general 😅).
But overall the book was pretty enjoyable with a dynamic and rich world and characters with beautiful prose & audio narration but, it was a bit heavy handed and more explicit than needed with a few of the more 'traumatic' parts of the story (& the relationship was a bit rushed, but it's a romance book and that is typical of the genre so I can't complain too much on that), and the mystery was a bit predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Torture
readsforlove's review against another edition
4.5
My first question is why are more people not talking about this amazing book? I found it on Audible recs of all places after searching for a similar book to A Taste of Gold and Iron and was quickly swept away. Velasin and Caethari are ... wow. Like. This book is the arranged marriage trope, and while being an asexual makes this concept feel truly straight from a horror novel, the tenderness with which it happened in this book was just so so good. I'm having trouble finding words. They were each so tender and sweet and kind to each other, and there was no unnecessary drama, which I'd honestly been expecting. While things were by no means easy between them, they each went into the situation with grace, care, and honesty, despite there being ample opportunity to create drama. But they were both so refreshingly mature and sweet about everything, it makes me want to dive right back in for a reread from cover to cover.
Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through.
Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously.
Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through.
Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity and Vomit