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things100's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
bashsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
That said, the conflict was weak at some points and strange at others. And the ending definitely felt quite rushed - Aurora dealt with her shit FAST.
Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol and War
-Comamachteldv's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and War
icy_queen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
trussell12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
vivivi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Slowly revealing more of themselves to each other, learning that they are more than what they show on the surface. It was good.
I wish there was more. The ending just happened. Not much fuss in this one.
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
bangiebangs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
As for the story, Aurora here gets even more depth than in the previous book, and I really like her character. It's quite obvious from the start that she wouldn't go through with her initial plan. Malone doesn't work as well for me, mainly because she is presented as a very withdrawn character, somebody always in control, and the idea that she would fall in love in the space of three days just doesn't work for me.
Plus, this book (maybe more than others?) suggests that a Dom always knows what their sub wants, better than the sub themselves. That they all read body language super well, and have this magical ability to know everything about their play partners. This might be true in longer relationships, but suggesting this would happen between people who dislike each other or don't know each other is problematic - and makes these stories a little harder to really get into for me. Probably a pet peeve, and all in all, it probably also makes sense to clean your palate (so to speak) between installments and not read all six in a row (as I did).
For the series overall I would say 4*, and high smut count. You definitely get all kinds of combinations and group scenarios here.
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, and Death of parent
fatkidatheartreads's review
3.75
the last book in this series has been very entertaining. i am definitely going to be rereading this in the near future.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
jackiepreston's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
olivialandryxo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Now that I’ve finished Queen Takes Rose, I’m extremely conflicted. I love Aurora to pieces, don’t get me wrong, and I might have a not-so-small crush on her. I’d go so far as to call her one of my favorite KR protagonists, up there with Persephone, Tink, Meg and Ursa.
But Malone. She’s the one I don’t get. I respect her, for sure—I always respect ambitious, powerful women. And I’m usually not bothered if they’re “bad people” either. Morally grey women are hot. Usually. In this case, though, I found Malone obnoxious and very difficult to like. I know she’s based on Maleficent, so she’s not supposed to be nice. I get that, that’s fine. I just really don’t like the way she treated Aurora. I’ve gotten used to Dom/sub relationships from reading so many KR books, so it’s not that. Not exactly. More like, it has to do with how far she took it. The whole “you can’t speak unless I tell you to” thing, even outside of scenes??? Excuse me??? How the hell is that sexy???
[Update: I’ve been informed that this can happen in Dom/sub relationships, and apparently some find it very sexy. My ace is showing. Carry on.]
Moving on. I do my best to suspend my disbelief, at least to some extent, when reading smut; I’m not here for plot or world-building or morals. I’m here for smut. I’m here for the relationship, and I’m down for just about anything. That being said, I could not get behind this ship, no matter how hard I tried. Rant incoming in the spoiler tag.
I was really hoping this would be my favorite, but honestly, it’s closer to the opposite. I settled on 3.5 stars because that’s what I gave Desperate Measures, and the two books are about on the same level for me. Neither of them are bad books. I just… I don’t know. This is very much not the review I thought I’d be writing for this book. Much confusion. Very sadness.
One positive thing: I loved seeing Aurora and Allecto’s friendship, and I loved seeing the way Hades cared for Aurora. It’s not really a father-daughter relationship, considering he’s her employer at a sex club—and they might’ve scened together at some point?? maybe?? I can’t remember—but it was still very sweet. <3
Although I won’t lie, I’m salty I was teased with getting to see Tink and Meg and then didn’t actually get to. Not a single cameo from any of my faves. Rude. :(((
This review is basically just me ranting and criticizing the book, but it wasn’t bad. I did like it. I just didn’t like it anywhere near as much as I’d hoped I would, unfortunately.
Final series ranking:
- A Worthy Opponent
- The Sea Witch / Learn My Lesson
- The Beast
- Queen Takes Rose / Desperate Measures
Representation
- nearly full cast of queer, polyamorous and/or polysexual characters
- Black protagonist
- sapphic protagonist (Malone is the only one that’s not polyam, that I know of)
- sapphic main couple (f/f)
- nonbinary Māori side character (uses they/them)
- Black side characters
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Aurora’s mom was in a coma for a long time, living only on life support, and at the start of the book, Aurora decides to cut off the life support. She’s grieving the loss of her mom, and also the person she thought her mom was while alive.