How is this simultaneously the most boring and second most insulting book I may have ever read? Who knows. Maybe it's born with it, maybe it's the clear lack of editing.

Review to come probably.

Oh look a review. I'm not going to go over a lot of details and quotes because I did that a LOT in the readthrough on tumblr (warnings for a LOT of discussion of sexual assault and rape) but this review does devolve into a little bit of a rant.

I went into this with very low expectations. In fact, this book sat on my 'no' shelf for probably a year or two due to authorial behavior. I read it because a friend could get ahold of it and, admittedly, because it was on sale.

My expectations were met. As I said above in my placeholder review, this novel was somehow simultaneously incredibly boring and just as insulting. Happily it was an adult novel, so I don't have to talk here about explicit sex scenes (violent of sexual) being included in YA, which is a nice change of pace.

(this was the moment I realized I hadn't eaten anything and a, needed to go to the grocery store, b, needed to eat something prior, and c, learned that my car battery died. The yoghurt, like this novel, was bland and disappointing. The grocery store, like this book's ostensible theme, simply didn't happen.)(all that to say, I lost my train of thought but I'm leaving that part in)

Anyway. It's hard to be upset at this, not because it contains merit in basically any fashion (the Perfect White Societally Advanced Atlantians vs Shadowy Cabal of Evil Leaders Who Take Children To Literally Eat Them basically guarantees that this book is trash. I thought we all knew blood libel and antisemitism are bad! Apparently not Armentrout with an E!) but because the book was so deeply boring. I found myself floating above it, looking down on its many and varied casually included isms (aforementioned antisemitism, general racism, lots of sexism, etc) and easy perpetuation of conservative sex myths (having sex with a man if you are a woman is giving him everything, if you don't fight off an assailant successfully you actually secretly wanted it to happen, men know that women saying no really means they're saying yes, THE FUCKING HYMEN MYTH which I admit yoinked me down to earth for half a second) from a great distance.

"Wow," I thought blandly. "I thought this shit was at least supposed to be subtle these days."

It was not subtle.

You add to all that the weird idea that having sex = living and not having sex is a joyless existence, and honestly it's no surprise these books are so popular.

I said it. I's blatant ripoff of Sarah J Maas' blatant ripoff of Anne Bishop did it zero favors, too. (the cycle continues? Adult fantasy series ripped off to make YA fantasy series which is in turn ripped off to make another adult fantasy series: how the turn tables I guess. How do I know Armentrout with an E didn't rip off Anne Bishop herself? Look me in the eye and tell me this wasn't a clear cash grab based on current trends meant to capitalize on Sarah J Maas' popularity. Look me in the goddamn eye. Also please take into consideration Armentrout with an E's documented history of shady piggybacking off other authors for profit, up to and including this pseudonym)

But I'm used to all that! I know more than I want to know about individual and group author behavior due to my friends, and I spend a not insignificant time reading books that market themselves as girl power and feminism and having Strong Female Characters while failing at those stated objectives and gleefully incorporating FANTASTIC amounts of racism!

I mean, I survived two tiger's curse novels. I've read so much 60s, 70s, and 80s sci-fi. I've read Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City. Your girls has read all of 50 Shades and Twilight and god help me a BUNCH of Sanderson and Goodkind and their ilk and oh yeah I live in this society.

So while it is indescribably sad to me that the sexism, racism, antisemitism, complete lack of queer characters except in one aside designed to titillate Poppy, classism, sex myths, etc are so commonplace that they have become boring background noise, the fact remains that Hawke constantly assaulting Poppy, refusing to use her name except as a sort of treat for behavior he thinks is good, and gaslighting her into thinking it's all because she secretly wanted it is just expected by now. I'm gonna comment on it, because leaving it uncommented upon would imply that I didn't think anything was wrong with it, but yeah. Usually it's just dressed up a little more nicely, but this is just... normal.

Let us, then, shortly discuss something slightly different: the rumor that this novel had no editor.

Basically it boils down to this: I can believe it. The number of grammatical mistakes, incorrect commas, weird as fuck edging on incorrect dialogue tags, incorrectly used words, tangents into dialogue/internal monologues in the style of Clueless without the self awareness or in fact understanding of The Point, general lack of competence from any of the characters or indeed consistency or logic in the world, let alone any consistent theme or even distinguishable plot, gives this rumor credence.

And to be fair, I don't trust Armentrout with an E as far as I can throw a semi-truck in any sort of professional capacity, so that does make believing this extremely easy.

Anyway. As always, read this if you want. If your want better written suggestions though, here are a few!

The first two novels in His Fair Assassin, by Robin Lefevre!
The Remnant Chronicles, by Mary E Pearson!
The October Daye Series (ongoing), by Seanan McGuire!
The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski!
An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson!

And if you want stuff Exactly This Flavor for obvious reasons even if I don't care for them...

The Black Jewels series and others, by Anne Bishop!
A Court of Thorns and Roses series, by Sarah J Maas!
The Dark Swan Series, by Richelle Meade!

Oh also I asked somebody else for some assistance and she suggested...

A Touch of Darkness, by Scarlett S Clair!
The Bridge Kingdom, by Danielle L Jensen!

(I haven't read these last two recs though)