Take a shot every time this woman holds back tears, jesus christ. 

My pitch to you:

Plot twists felt obvious but I am nonetheless hooked 

I had a great time reading this book. I went in blind besides knowing that the premise is Hunger Games meets the Bachelor and that explanation did not disappoint. 

It was a great start to the series and it's making me want to pick up the next one immediately. The first few chapters were rough, content-wise and it is definitely rated R, but the mystery had me turning the pages quickly. There are so many Easter eggs and clues that I feel like I have some great theories about what will happen next. I love books like that! 

Excellent first book in a series and it gets better and better with each book. You won’t want to put this series down!

What to expect:
✅ Fae
✅ Fated mates
✅ Dual perspective
✅ 🌶️ (1.5)
✅ Hidden identity 
✅ Is it all that it seems?
✅ Incomplete series (Book 4 releases 11/26/24)

I enjoyed this book! I liked the bachelor / deadly competition vibe and the FMC Lor came with a good dose of female rage. Despite this, I feel like this book didn’t quite hit the spot I thought it would. 

The action throughout the book was fast-paced and the trials were exciting, but I feel like nothing happened to advance the actual plot of the series, and it was confusing at some points. It was mentioned throughout the book that Lor didn’t understand why she had been taken and placed in the Trials, but right at the end she announced that she did have a secret, but she didn’t tell us what that secret was! I do think that the rest of the series will be good when we get to explore the deeper plot and all the secrets that have been foreshadowed are revealed.

Like I said before, I really like Lor, and we all know I love a bit of female rage, but we didn’t really get to see that rage when it mattered. Again, I hope we get to see more in the coming books. Her story was heartbreaking though, and I’m excited to see her character develop even more.

Gabriel gave me conflicting feelings throughout the book. I kept hoping for some redemption, but as soon as he got the chance to get some, he acted like a complete ass again and it infuriated me! Lor’s relationship with him is something I’m hoping to see develop in the next book.

We don’t really know too much about the other main characters yet, and I’m looking forward to learning more about them. In the next book, I hope to have some questions answered and I’m hoping that we get to see the cunning, powerful character that Lor has the potential to be.

Gods, it's finally over! Well, that was terrible, honestly, some really fucked up intersection of Hunger Games, Selection & ACOTAR. I struggled incredibly hard by the time it ended, oh my goodness.

Lor wasn't that terrible, by the way, although one would think that prison years would make a person distrustful, weak and maybe a little unpredictable, both mentally and physically, but not her. That would be fine, but the fact that she was so terribly naïve (after all of that!) is not. She keeps saying she doesn't need anyone, etc., but she's still helping others — which no sane person would do. I can't figure her out — and I honestly don't want to — but I liked that she had an animalistic rage and a willingness to act. Either way, this martyr role went terribly wrong for her. Atlas, I knew — I felt — that we were going to get another Tamlin, even with a not-so-big change lol. A red flag for everyone, another toxic alpha male that no one needs. When it comes to Nadir, I can't decide what the hell he's doing or who he's having what relationship with, to be honest. He has a goal — an infinitely vague and unnecessary goal — that he pursues like a hound, but I cannot figure out why he does it, and I honestly don't care why he (and everyone else) needs Lor so much. Of the other characters, Gabriel was surprisingly quite tolerable with his duality, but I didn't like him either. Maybe it was Halo who grew a bit close to my heart. 

The love story (can I even call it that?) was just so out of the blue that I shook my head. There was no chemistry between them, as if we were trying to put a stone and ice together — there are similarities, but not much. (And by the way, it seems okay to spread your legs the very first time after being raped and abused repeatedly for years at the first opportunity???? What the hell was that??? Who writes such a thing??)

The plot was horribly messed up. No beginning or end, everything was so tuggy and still too fast (a bit counterproductive, but I can't say it any better) all at once. The author should have spent a lot more time and energy building the world (I never thought I'd say that, lol) and leaving eroticism in the background for once in a lifetime. Otherwise, the pace was quite good - not the best, but still not so bad. The wording was fine, although I read it on my mother tongue, so I can't add much. And the end; What was that? I felt the author tried – unsuccessfully – to add a Rhysand rescue expedition (why I don't know) so that if it had fairies, it wouldn't miss the ACOTAR reference. It made no sense or any use. 

Overall, there are no gods that would make me volunteer to continue this series, that was more than enough (maybe even a lot) for a lifetime.

PS: that map was terrible.