stateofiction's reviews
628 reviews

It took me a long time while reading to figure out what was not clicking. there is nothing inherently wrong with this book, it's funny and it's romantic. the issue, however, is that there is not much else. I get not wanting to essentially write the first book again, but there was very little murder in this book about a contract killer and a "multiple deleter" searching for the man who is threatening their families. and honestly there isn't even much searching. this was just a rom-com with the occasional glittery death, but that wasn't what I was signing up for. overall, not a bad book, but a bad sequel

the author's note at the beginning said this book is for the feint of heart and from that I knew I was about to get some good cozy vibes

THIS is enemies to lovers. everyone else pack it up you aren't even in the same realm. I won't ever be able to read a book labeled enemies to lovers again. it just won't compare. shit, the antagonists in other books don't even have the level of hate these two baddies have for each other

okay I had SUCH A BLAST with this book. the pace was breakneck in a good way, where every time the characters got vaguely comfortable another one would die. and maybe I'm dumb but I did not guess who the butcher was so when the reveal happened I was quite shocked.

I will say I wish there were about 20 more pages and felt the ending to be a little abrupt, but it didn't really affect my enjoyment

couldn't express how little I cared

single dad cowboy romance? consider my haws yeed

was this book particularly original? no it's a fantasy romance centered around trials. however, it's a trope I eat up almost every time, and this book was no exception. I had such a good time with this one, especially since it is so slowburn and focused on the plot before we get into the romance. I purchased the sequel immediately after finishing so I will certainly be continuing with this series

I am so brave (dnfing a book with less than 100 pages left). I just cannot bring myself to care. I took a look at some reviews and I know that I am stopping right before all the things happen, but general consensus is that if I didn't care before I'm just gonna be confused and now care now and I'd rather not do that

Yeah no. I wanted to get farther to see the horror aspects, but this beginning was just so bad that I couldn't. 

One thing that was a me problem was how aggressively magician this story was. I didn't realize it was gonna be like that and I don't like it.

Now turning it back on the book, there was no reason for it to be written like that though. I saw a review saying these immature adult characters were just H*rry P*tter ripoffs and god were they (and the vibes of the world too, damn). If I wanted to read transphobia, the fan fiction, I have other options.

I don't know anything about this author, but I can tell you that they are NOT British (neither am I but not the point). These characters speak like they're in a cartoon and it was unbearable. I'm all for making fun of Europeans, but making the characters say bs like "That's scrumptious!" "Having a jolly good time govna" (paraphrasing bc I stopped reading this like 10 days ago and idc to go back) in full seriousness was actually the worst.

Almost all of this book I wasn’t enjoying it from a craft perspective. This book simply doesn’t work on its own. 

I am aware of the reader's note at the beginning and yes I read it, but it excuses the book just as much as saying "no offense" before insulting someone does. Also, it only suggests reading Twisted Love before this, but if you don't read it there's no point in reading this. If you don't know what I mean, the first huge chunk of this book is set during the same time as Twisted Love, and instead of telling the story normally, it just glosses over certain parts if they were already told in TL. *TL Spoilers* Like the kidnapping scene taking up all of a page and a half in this one? How lame that was important!

Another thing that does not stop once we get past part one is the egregious time skips. They completely ruin the development of this romance. Within a paragraph there will literally be a time jump and all of a sudden the characters are closer. Hey, I didn't get to see that! It is the laziest way to write a romance, which is insane because Ana Huang is typically good at writing romantic developments from the other books I've read from her. In my opinion, this style would have been better had it been a contemporary fiction and not a romance, but there just wasn't enough there for me to say to put the romance on the back burner.

Oh boy should I have dnf'd once I realized how much these time skips weren't working for me........

*SPOILERS*

....... because I wouldn't have had to learn that they are fucking cousins!!!!! What the hell is this??? I take a look at this high average and these reviews talking about how Rhys and Bridget are the favorite couple in the series and I feel insane. You guys are gaslighting me! "We're cousins but here's a loophole" is NOT doing what you think it's doing! Seek help if you liked this.