hollanddavis's reviews
880 reviews

 

Too often historical romances feel like a contemporary romance in a trench coat (or should I say double breasted frock coat?), but Suzanne Allain has a way of keeping the reader in the nineteenth century. Between the stuffy short-sighted relative, the blushing beef steaky cousin, the bumbling dandy, and not finding out Lord Brooke's first name until the last chapter, everything feels properly rom-comy.

Elizabeth Knowelden absolutely killed this audiobook. 10/10 recommend. I could listen to her read the phone book. Scratch that. I could listen to her read Dune, and that's saying something.

On vibes alone, this book was a mashup of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Notebook (2004) and I, Tonya (2017). Relationships were messy. Drama was laid bear. Ice was skated to the fullest. I personally like my books more rom-com than rom-dram, so it was a more tense than I usually go for, but I don't regret reading it.

I loved how the audiobook was actually set up like a tell-all documentary with multiple voice actors and a main narrator. It brought the story to life and kept all of the characters in order in a way a single narrator wouldn't have as quickly. I definitely recommend waiting for the audiobook if you have the chance because it 100% enhances the experience.

My thoughts in no particular order:

1. Xaden and Violet are like those seagulls from Finding Nemo. Half of this book was just the two of them going “Mine. Mine. Mine” 
2. Yarros has officially beaten Cassandra Clare for “Most Characters Squeezed Into One Book”, and I can’t even remember half of them.
3. Considering they’re in the middle of a war, I find everyone’s tendency to ignore orders and do whatever they want concerning
4. Anyone interested in becoming a diplomat should read this book so they know exactly what NOT to do when interacting with foreign governments. 
5. It would’ve been more impactful if she’d actually died (you know who I’m talking about)
6. Xaden and Violet are literally so horny all of the fucking time
7. Xaden’s whole “I’ll kill anyone who looks at you” schtick is overdone, gives me the ick, and is terrible for fostering a healthy (or at least nontoxic) work environment. You can’t threaten everyone and tongue your girlfriend in public and expect people to respect you. 

There’s more, but I want to stop thinking about this book.

I know it’s YA (so this might seem redundant), but this felt very high school. Between the friend drama, forbidden romance in a friend group, and unnecessary love triangle, I never once forgot that these characters were children. I will give them this, I learned more about Dungeons and Dragons reading this book than I’ve learned in the last 27 years.

I didn’t love this book, but I also wasn’t the target demographic. So I’ll settle with 3 stars. This was a book about high schoolers, dealing with high school problems, in a YA book, so I shouldn’t be too harsh.

“Strong Silent (and violent) Loners” don’t really do it for me. Especially when their communication is lacking when they finally say something.