emmylux7's review
2.0
I received a free download of this book from Netgalley. This is an honest review, all opinions are my own.
Despite giving this book a 2 star rating, I did find a couple things enjoyable. Most of the characters were fairly likable, if severely one dimensional. Except for maybe Torra, I liked her a lot. Which sucks cause she's not in it till practically the end. The romance was decently paced, at times, I guess. Unfortunately that's where my positives end.
My main grievance with this book is Martin's ability to create a timeline; or lack of one. I still have no idea how long the original journey at the start of the book took. My guess is 2 months? Literally one sec Delilah was chatting w/ her doppelganger Elizabeth & then the next they were more than a month in & being kidnapped. It's like the author hit the fast forward button on her own book.
Same can be said about Delilah's trek to reach our antagonists castle. One chapter said that she would be there in 3 days & stay for a wk (?). Once arriving it's stated she would have to marry Mackenzie the next day. Next chapter opens up w/ Kaid moping about how she's been gone for 3 days already?! Then a messenger waltz's in to tell him about the speedy marriage taking place the same day he's moping...?! Long story short Delilah never marries Mac. The POV switches back to D & she's still swinging single on the same day... I think? WHO KNOWS? I doubt the writer could tell us. Are you keeping track of the what cause I give up.
Speaking of long story... that's what this is. A very freakin long story; for no real reason. The only real "action" (?) happens at the end. And trust me it wasn't as climactic as you were made to believe it would be. Lord Mackenzie is one of the least frightening antagonists I've read. Except for the "Murdering all of Kaid's people" backstory which is constantly being beaten into your skull throughout the book.. Him killing off Elizabeth felt so unnecessary; if you're gonna do that make me care for her character early on. That's like rule #1 in the how to write good characters handbook. As stated above we meet her for maybe 2 pgs, then we never see her again until she's dead.
Unless you count that brief moment of 'oops we've all been poisoned, silly Leasa' as action/suspense then what do I know. Spoilers it barely lasted 5 pages; if that. Also the fact that she never gave in to her training & took control of the situation w/ Kaid & Donnan (what kinda name is that?) sooner. I get maintaining her guise as Elizabeth because she wants to prove she can handle herself in the field. But after the 4th time of her thinking about revealing her identity, then second guessing herself, only to stick to the "No I'm a regal stoic lady" plan got really frustrating really fast.
If this proved anything it's that Delilah isn't as competent as Slyvi, nor the author has claimed her to be. She's been in training for what 5 yrs & this is what she has to show for it? I think she should go back to the training grounds for a few more yrs and get back to me. This exaggeration of D's talents as a 'warrior' made me severely question what Kaid saw in her, beyond the fact that she was hella fine & nice. Same can also be said about the "romantic hero" of the saga. Beyond the almost PTSD subplot that fizzled out super fast, & that he liked to draw... there wasn't anything remarkable about him.
By the 25th chapter mark I was reading about 10% of every word & skimming the rest. I very nearly DNF'd this book on multiple occasions. Part of me kinda wishes I did. Which is upsetting cause I really liked the premise this book setup. And the execution of those ideas are very important when writing, & this was far less than satisfactory. It was such a slog to get through. And the fact that this is the 2nd book in a series is a double whammy of bad. This was not a great introduction to this author, & this shall prolly be my last.
Despite giving this book a 2 star rating, I did find a couple things enjoyable. Most of the characters were fairly likable, if severely one dimensional. Except for maybe Torra, I liked her a lot. Which sucks cause she's not in it till practically the end. The romance was decently paced, at times, I guess. Unfortunately that's where my positives end.
My main grievance with this book is Martin's ability to create a timeline; or lack of one. I still have no idea how long the original journey at the start of the book took. My guess is 2 months? Literally one sec Delilah was chatting w/ her doppelganger Elizabeth & then the next they were more than a month in & being kidnapped. It's like the author hit the fast forward button on her own book.
Same can be said about Delilah's trek to reach our antagonists castle. One chapter said that she would be there in 3 days & stay for a wk (?). Once arriving it's stated she would have to marry Mackenzie the next day. Next chapter opens up w/ Kaid moping about how she's been gone for 3 days already?! Then a messenger waltz's in to tell him about the speedy marriage taking place the same day he's moping...?! Long story short Delilah never marries Mac. The POV switches back to D & she's still swinging single on the same day... I think? WHO KNOWS? I doubt the writer could tell us. Are you keeping track of the what cause I give up.
Speaking of long story... that's what this is. A very freakin long story; for no real reason. The only real "action" (?) happens at the end. And trust me it wasn't as climactic as you were made to believe it would be. Lord Mackenzie is one of the least frightening antagonists I've read. Except for the "Murdering all of Kaid's people" backstory which is constantly being beaten into your skull throughout the book.. Him killing off Elizabeth felt so unnecessary; if you're gonna do that make me care for her character early on. That's like rule #1 in the how to write good characters handbook. As stated above we meet her for maybe 2 pgs, then we never see her again until she's dead.
Unless you count that brief moment of 'oops we've all been poisoned, silly Leasa' as action/suspense then what do I know. Spoilers it barely lasted 5 pages; if that. Also the fact that she never gave in to her training & took control of the situation w/ Kaid & Donnan (what kinda name is that?) sooner. I get maintaining her guise as Elizabeth because she wants to prove she can handle herself in the field. But after the 4th time of her thinking about revealing her identity, then second guessing herself, only to stick to the "No I'm a regal stoic lady" plan got really frustrating really fast.
If this proved anything it's that Delilah isn't as competent as Slyvi, nor the author has claimed her to be. She's been in training for what 5 yrs & this is what she has to show for it? I think she should go back to the training grounds for a few more yrs and get back to me. This exaggeration of D's talents as a 'warrior' made me severely question what Kaid saw in her, beyond the fact that she was hella fine & nice. Same can also be said about the "romantic hero" of the saga. Beyond the almost PTSD subplot that fizzled out super fast, & that he liked to draw... there wasn't anything remarkable about him.
By the 25th chapter mark I was reading about 10% of every word & skimming the rest. I very nearly DNF'd this book on multiple occasions. Part of me kinda wishes I did. Which is upsetting cause I really liked the premise this book setup. And the execution of those ideas are very important when writing, & this was far less than satisfactory. It was such a slog to get through. And the fact that this is the 2nd book in a series is a double whammy of bad. This was not a great introduction to this author, & this shall prolly be my last.
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