ryssaelyse's reviews
71 reviews

I’ll be honest…I reread book 1 (The Sun, The Storm, & the Shadows) before I read this sequel, so that put my review a bit behind. But, there was so much going on in this series that I REFUSED to miss a thing, so it had to take it back one time for the one time. And let me tell you guys…MIKAYLA’S GETTING OUT THE ‘BURBS WITH THIS ONE Y’ALL!! It’s not often that an author who knocks it out the park with their debut, literally outdoes THEMSELVES with their sequel and the way book 2 just does it with such ease is so crazy to me! She came back harder making the plot heavier, the spice spicier, and the banter funnier. And while these aspects could be seen and experienced in book 1, there was so much in book 2 that was also different and that’s impressive to me as a reader but I’m sure it was scary as the author to make that decision though too at the same time. And if there’s ONE thing I’m learning I love and am now requiring in my fantasy books, it’s DIVERSITY!!! I LOVE seeing characters who look like me and have cultural similarities as me! The same way we deserve to take up space in real life, we deserve to take up pages too! I love to see (read) it!

The emotional roller coaster of a ride this book has me on was crazy!! First I’m intrigued by the mystery, then disgusted by the plot, then questioning motives, this book was definitely something… different. Would I read this again? No. Would I recommend this to people into psychological thrillers or horror genres? Absolutely. Was I thoroughly disgusted with characters and questioning why I kept turning the page trying to get answers? You know it! But that’s what made the book what it was. This is DEFINITELY NOT for beginners new to dark, horror, or psychological thrillers. No matter your “limits” in dark reads, know this is WELL past it… but that you’ll keep reading because you “have to know”! It was written really well, too! It would have been one thing to write it in 3rd person, but the author’s choice to write in 1st person just took the story to a whole other level.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Definitely learned my “limit” in reading dark genres while reading this lol. It was extremely well written and the fact the author chose to write in first person just made this dark read that much darker! This is not the kind of read you can read in one sitting/session/go. Not because of its length, but because of it’s….nature, I guess you could say. I definitely enjoyed reading this author’s work but please be advised, READ TRIGGER WARNINGS, as this is NOT FOR BEGINNING DARK READERS. Enjoy!


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First off, if you’re NOT into spicy reads, this is NOT the book for you! Second, if you ARE into spicy reads, make sure you know your spice limits! There is definitely plot to the story, but I will say that there is also a lot of spice: some understandable for the plot and some not so much. The plot of the book is actually what caught my eye and interest. However, the amount of spice did take away from it at times. The concept of this book had a LOT of potential. So much so, that I could easily see a series being made of it and to be honest, I could even see it being a sort of paranormal tv show too! I was excited for the mystery and to learn who/what certain characters were and what their motives are and then as soon as I’d start trying to piece things together, there’d be characters trying to go at it for no reason lol. The author DEFINITELY knows how to write a spice scene, I will give them that! But personally, I’d love to see a more plot-focused project from her with less spice like maybe a dark romance, suspense, or physiological thriller even! Personally, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I genuinely believe she has much more to offer and I hope we get to see her grow as an author on the pages! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The way I stayed up ALL night reading this in one sitting. I was up until about 3/4 AM like I didn’t work at 8AM smh. Now THIS book was dark romance!! “Sugar, spice, and everything nice”…..absolutely not. More like “Took her, spliced ropes, and ice”

No matter many notes you take, how much you highlight, how much you think you know, or how many times you reread something………you’ll NEVER see the ending coming! Never.

This will forever be my #1 favorite book series! The emotional roller coaster this took me on, the amount of tears I’ve shed, the number of times it’s made me throw things across the room…nothing will ever compare! I’ve read MANY books since finishing this series and still have yet to find anything that makes me feel the way this did. This book is 100% a gateway book because you’ll look for this in every book you pick up after for the rest of you life, I swear!