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offmyredcarpet's reviews
791 reviews
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
3.0
It was fine. Aspects of it were very enjoyable, others not so much. Every paragraph tried hard for humor and felt forced. Definitely reads like a rom com author decided to swap out the MCs with vamps and shifters.
What I liked:
-My favorite trope: the folly of inherent bias
-The very principled MMC
-The FMC’s upbringing that informs her world view and gives her a sad acceptance of her existence.
-That she eventually finds a place of belonging
What I disliked:
-They’re wolf shifters not werewolves. This is a hill I will die on. The latter sounds cool but they are not interchangeable beings.
-There’s so much filler
-Sometimes the dialogue is hard to tell who’s speaking
-Continuity error with regard to shifting
-Convenient plot development at the climax
-The constant sarcasm that is a forced attempt at humor
What I liked:
-My favorite trope: the folly of inherent bias
-The very principled MMC
-The FMC’s upbringing that informs her world view and gives her a sad acceptance of her existence.
-That she eventually finds a place of belonging
What I disliked:
-They’re wolf shifters not werewolves. This is a hill I will die on. The latter sounds cool but they are not interchangeable beings.
-There’s so much filler
-Sometimes the dialogue is hard to tell who’s speaking
-Continuity error with regard to shifting
-Convenient plot development at the climax
-The constant sarcasm that is a forced attempt at humor
Rule of the Aurora King by Nisha J. Tuli
3.0
I think this series is a great story that requires a depth of writing the author doesn’t have yet.
It’s contrived, trite, and there’s an overall feeling of incompleteness. The details that flesh out a story connecting the bigger parts are lacking. And the few details that are dropped feel random and not anchored to anything to give them the weight they were possibly intended to have. There’s nothing to connect them to the moment.
There’s a shocking quantity of similes. Much glaring. Much shivering. It’s repetitive. The MCs have the same 2 or 3 conversations, repeatedly, for the entire book. The FMC has the same inner monologue throughout.
This book is centered around them both being reckless. No one thinks to give her a fake name? While they’re literally hiding under the enemy’s nose? Both of them losing their tempers when they should be discreet?
All of their argumentative interactions feel forced. There’s always some detail left out so they can have a spat over it. I know she’s not to trust the son of her enemy but her way with him comes off petulant most of the time.
The series story is fun, the descriptions of the world beautiful, but overall the writing reads very amateur. I wanted to love it but I just don’t.