foiblesandfiction's reviews
462 reviews

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy!

You know when an author writes a book that feels like a gift?  That's this book.  I love this series so much and cried through the ending.

The mythology and prose is gorgeous.  Truly you have never read such a multitude of creative and lovely ways to describe darkness.  But what impresses the most are the characters and their relationships.

As a woman who was raised not being allowed to be angry, who was raised under the teachings that anger is sin, I love Ren so much.  Ren is angry and fierce and brave, and the consuming love that she has for her brother is heart wrenching.  She's going to stick with me for a very long time.

Also, what a testament that the young adult genre is not just for children.  Like please try to argue that this duology is not absolutely suitable and entertaining for adults.

And - AND! It makes me so excited that young adults get to read this story and these characters.

If you enjoy angry girls and lush mythology, or dark prose from authors like Ava Reid, you're going to love this duology as well.

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy!

I had been so genuinely excited to read this book that it had been on my "most anticipated" list even before receiving an early copy for review.  I mean, c'mon, enemies trying to escape a quarantine zone together? Hell yes. I love a solid quest in a great setting and I could feel the characters' tension from the synopsis alone.

Unfortunately, this story fell flat.  While enjoyable, it also wasn't as exciting as promised - the character development was quite shallow, the quest was quite tame.  I finished the book feeling bored, disappointed, and annoyed at the characters' illogical decisions.  And I haven't thought about it much since.

dnf around 80%

while enjoyable, this book is entirely too long. but, again, enjoyable which is why i almost finished the damn thing before i realized that nothing was going to get resolved and i'd have to read about more horribly written miscommunication throughout the rest of the series.  not worth the time.

idk where i even stopped reading this book but i promise i tried. i got to maybe around 20%? but the writing wasn't for me. the overwhelmingly detailed descriptions were boring; i couldn't care about the colors of anymore furniture.

 dnf at 17%

I'm really enjoying the mystery and atmosphere that's being laid out, but there's little context clues for the historical and cultural references and its becoming more and more unenjoyable. There's entire paragraphs that I'm having a difficult time understanding without researching events and definitions. Maybe I'll try again another time. 

it's cute and all until you notice that the plot of the book is based on some pretty racist themes?

kinda gross. kinda awful.

god, these orcs are like really awful. and not in a redeemable way.

 social media is correct, this book is cozy. and it's also boring. can't bring myself to pick it back up. 

This book was the start of my obsession with all things written by Olivia Riley.  It began when I realized the setting was basically the Hive from Resident Evil, and it has not ended.  In fact, I'm already on a re-read of this book because it makes me so damn happy.

I will readily admit that it perhaps needs some additional editing.  But this in no way takes away from the story telling.

In conclusion, I would like to own a copy in every format possible.