emmirosereads's reviews
390 reviews

*Probably more accurately. 2.5*

I have so many mixed feelings about this book and really don't know if I loved it or hated it. 😂 The first half of this book was just rough. I thought it was just weird and overall terrible but the kind of terrible that's just amusing and makes you want to continue on. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The second half and ending of this book was much better I will say which makes me want to bump the rating higher. For being a Hades and Persephone retelling you would think there would be a lot more interaction and relationship growth between the two but nah.

The writing in general was pretty rough, characters were ehh and most of the time the story was ehh. Despite all that I'm trash for Hades and Persephone retellings and so I'm intrigued enough to read the other books. 😂

I enjoyed this so much more then Ship Breaker! To me The Drowned Cities was so much more interesting and action packed. Not only was the story more interesting but I found out main characters so much more interesting. They had such a deeper background and purpose and I really enjoyed that. This definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me wanting more.

*Updated full review*

If you know me you know that I absolutely adore fairy tales and a good fairy tale retelling. Allerleirauh is no exception. This is a retelling of a Grimm Brother's fairy tale that I actually have not heard of or read. Because of that I can't really compare if one is better or if this does the original justice. From an outside view I can tell you that this book was beautiful and in my opinion very well done.

This book does deal with some darker subjects like abuse, rape, and incest. Which, I will admit, made me wary to read the book, but this story is so much more than that. Ultimately this is a story of healing, hope, love and I'll agree with other reviewers in saying it's a coming of age story. I was so drawn in from page one and I felt all of the emotions. Princess Aurelia has gone through some pretty horrific stuff, and when she finally escapes she's badly effected and terrified as anyone would. I think Chantal Gadoury did a terrific job at portraying Aurelia's trauma in an accurate way. From the fear of trusting others, to the feeling of guilt and shame and finding all the little things that she could have done differently. The healing process didn't feel rushed and wasn't portrayed as instantly being fixed when she meets Klaus or even being fixed by Klaus at all. Of course he helps her to heal and to realize what she wants and needs to do, but ultimately she saves herself and that's beautiful.

I loved Princess Aurelia as a character! I wanted to weep for her in the beginning of the book through her neglect, and everything that was done to her by both her mother and father. I was so scared for her when she was scared and realizing who her father truly was and what she must now do. Scared for her as she made her escape, in the process damaging everything she once knew and finding Lord Crestwood and Prince Klaus and coming into this new life. I so desperately wanted to wrap her up and comfort her through every moment of her healing journey. I also felt so much joy for her when she finally tells Klaus everything, admitting her love for him and the ultimate defeat of her father. She was beautiful and I so desperately want to see more of her story and journey with the Prince. I of course adore Klaus and all of the other characters in this book as well and the part each of them played in helping Aurelia. They each showed their support and love in each of their own ways and I just thought that was beautiful.

I adored the epilogue that we got as well. It made me so giddy to hear about their wedding and marriage and their happily ever after. I was almost proud of her when she let go of that final piece of her old life and old self. The beautiful writing of this book just makes it all the more better.

This review was quite a mess I'm sure, but hopefully I got my point across. This was an overall beautiful story and I can't wait to read more from Chantal Gadoury.

I'm so sad that I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would. I was so excited and it had so much potential but I was just struggling to get through it. overall, it just fell flat and was pretty boring. There were a lot of parts that I did enjoy but not enough to give it a higher rating. I did think the writing was gorgeous and I just loved the imagery. I also loved the world building and to me Skane was just as gorgeous. I also really loved the ending and thought the whole thing was really beautiful but at the same time it felt really rushed and over way too fast. I don't know, I'm just sad I didn't love it. 😭

Maybe 4.5? I'm not entirely sure. This was s very interesting book and I enjoyed it! It definitely left me feeling a little sad. It was a little hard for me to read at first and I was kind of confused who was who and what was going on but once the story picks up you figure everything out.

Yeah, I did not like this book and just ended up DNFing it and reading the SparkNotes for the last like 6 chapters. I'm sorry to all of you who loved this book, it just wasn't for me! 🙈 I just felt it was overall really boring and everyone except Anne annoyed the heck out of me. I mean Captain Wentworth was okay later in the book but still.