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It *might* deserve better, but I'm honestly too tired by the mediocrity of Fantasy series that become so popular on Instagram and social medias to care about giving a faithful rating.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴/𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴?

(This was read in the context of a buddy read, and sadly, it didn't make it any better)

I've seen this series so often, recommended in so many posts, 𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺/𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴, that I immediately assume it was Fantasy Young Adult but, boy was I wrong. I bought the book for a buddy reading, then I read the plethora of trigger warning and still, it didn't prepare me 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡.

I'm not one to shy away from difficult and triggering topics, on the contrary, it's super interesting when it's well done. I'm not even sure that "Dark Fantasy" truly defines that Trainwreck of a book. It somehow managed to make Twilight, 50 Shades and The Cruel Prince seem good in comparison.

300 pages of abuse, sexism, violence, Stockholm Syndrome, physical and emotional manipulation and rape. Only THEN a semblance of a story begins but at that point, that's honestly far from being good or interesting enough to 1) make the 300 pages of abuse worth it and 2) make me want to read the rest of the series.

I know the other books have received better reviews, but I can't... care. I don't care about the characters, especially not Auren, I don't care about the plot, the worldbuilding is barely brushed upon...there's nothing inspiring. Nothing happens for most of the book, only hints of magic and a vomiting of misery (yay), and then, bam, we have snow pirates and fantastical creatures and Fae? Someone told me that the author said that book 1 and 2 should be considered as one only book but that feel like cheap excuses for 1) money grab and 2) meh writing.

Oh, the writing. I really wish it had been better because so many people reviewed it as good but it was bad, first-draftish, words felt random and weird choices were made? Why call courtesans "saddles"? It's more degrading than any insult I could think of. And "flesh seller"? (Or whatever it was) Just call Fulke a slaver. So for some reason, the author decided to make these strange choices of vocabulary, but didn't hesitate in using "cunts" and "cocks" *à qui mieux-mieux*! The overall setting appears medieval (strange for a Greek retelling when it could have created a very interesting fantasy worldbuilding, but who cares at that point, eh?) but the dialogues and descriptions are so modern, it was really off-putting, as if the author couldn't decide what she wanted to do this entire book! Greek retelling? Medieval setting? Modern language? Fae? Magic elements sprinkled here and there?

None of the "twists" or "revelations" or "cliffhanger" were... in any way surprising, interesting or hooking.

The amount of "telling" rather than "showing" was quite sad for a published book.

The wannabe poetic metaphors had me rolling my eyes more than once. Here are a couple of gems:

"𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

"𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘗𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴."

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 miserable, triggering, and abuse-desensitising stories are what now seem to be published in Fantasy. Worse: the limits between Young Adult and Dark Fantasy are blurring to the point of dangerous.

I am bitter and tired to read mediocre, uninspiring Fantasy stories that receive so much praise and glory.