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idratherbereading542's review against another edition
2.0
- Heroine: Willa
- Harem: Siret, Coen, Yael, Aros, Rome
- POVs Included: Single Female POV (Willa)
- Book Playlist (Curse of the Gods Series Playlist)
- Book Characters Cast: http://bit.ly/3Ci3abl
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)
In the final book of the Curse of the Gods series, everyone is preparing for an inevitable war against Staviti.
It all starts with a party that Pica helps plan to warm the other gods up to her power (which they discover she is a Creation God like Staviti) and try to gain allies.
During the party with the gods, chaos ensues when Willa inadvertently releases all the trapped souls from the banishment cave.
After the panteras help to escort them to their final resting places, a bunch of servers under Staviti’s control attack. In the midst of the attack, Pica kidnaps Willa to a “safe place” (aka prison) to keep her as her daughter forever cause she’s crazy.
Willa tricks Pica into the imprisonment realm, where she ends up actually being happy to go looking for her daughter. While there she meets up with Jakan, who confirms that he is her father, and they formulate a plan to escape together using Crowe’s weapons and the mortal glass.
Once back, they work with the other gods to unblock the waters of Topia that are supposed to be flowing to Minatsol. After they do this, the water causes a bunch of dead and buried dwellers to rise and attack so they start evacuating the outer rings in order to keep people safe.
They finally defeat Staviti by trapping him and Crowe in the death realm via a mortal glass he created and planned to used to gain more power.
Once Staviti is defeated, Willa marries the guys the traditional dweller way and decides to setup a community in Minatsol to live in where the dwellers, sols, and gods can all live together in harmony.
Also her mom and dad (Jakan) reunite and he puts her soul back together using a semanight stone, which somehow turns her into a god.
In the end the power of Topia is spread out now among Topia and Minatsol, creating a balance that both lands were lacking.
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
REVIEW:
Alright. I’m gonna try really hard not to turn this into a rant fest, but honestly no promises.
This series started off really adorable and funny and sweet. It had a slow burn romance with the sweetest group of guys and I loved the relationship Willa had with them. The first two books were so good.
By the third book in the series, the authors turn the focus from the relationship to this whole plot about Willa saving the world. At this point the series becomes more plot driven instead of character driven.
The problem with this is that as the series progressed the side characters (specifically the guys in her harem) became very watered down versions of themselves and are pushed to the background of the story. So you find yourself missing them even though (technically) they’re still there.
The other problem with changing the series from a character driven series to a plot driven series is that the plot is very messy and overly-complicated. There’s so much that happens in each book that it becomes almost too much. The plot seriously lacks focus with all the different side things going on that eventually need to be wrapped up. There’s also plot arcs that are started and then never followed through with (for example, what exactly was Karyn and Dru’s motives? What about the dweller/sol war at Blesswood?).
Another problem with the book/lore is that it’s not consistent. There are parts of the story that are written as they are because they are convenient and not because they fit with the rules of this lore. One example is Jarak dragging part of her mom’s soul to the imprisonment realm because they had a soul bond. If this were the case, then Willa also would’ve dragged part of each of the guys’ souls with her as well, and she didn’t. Another big one is the guys even being alive. Sure, their mom “tricked” Staviti into agreeing to let her have two pregnancies. That’s not to say he wouldn’t have killed or imprisoned them already just like he did with all the other god children. It doesn’t fit except to say that it’s written that way because it’s convenient for the storyline.
By the time this book rolls along we are neck deep in a very convoluted plot for Willa to save the world. The guys have been relegated to one dimensional side characters who have virtually no personality anymore. There is also very little humor like in the first couple of books.
And the sex? Gee don’t get me started on that. Why even bother with it when it’s so bad? When I realized this series wasn’t going to have good sex scenes I resigned myself to that fact and decided to just enjoy the relationship and plot. But the couple of sex scenes included are so bad I just…I don’t even get why they were included at all.
First off, as a reverse harem, they are pretty terrible at sharing. They have to have a sex schedule. And even Yael admits that most of them don’t like to share during the act itself (they prefer to take turns individually). So what’s the point? What a missed opportunity for a reverse harem! The one time she is with all of them at once, it’s honestly the lamest RH sex scene I’ve ever read. It’s basically a sex train. Woohoo. They take turns with her and by the end she’s too tired to even have sex with Coen (who was there the whole time), but he’s cool with it cause they had sex earlier. Seriously? You’re not gonna still have blue balls or anything? I don’t care that you had sex earlier, that’s still gonna be uncomfortable.
Honestly they are all a sweet group, but as a true reverse harem, they’re pretty lame. I’ve read a lot of RH books and this is not a good representation of the genre. Especially since Willa really doesn’t have the stamina required for so many guys sharing her. And they don’t even share her in a way that is natural, but rather forced by rigorous sex schedules and the insane idea that she has to constantly “keep things even” between them. Because nothing says sexy like a sex schedule!
I mean, five guys is too big of a haram in general anyways (I prefer only 3-4 guys or a ménage with 2 guys). But I’ve still seen large RH’s like this do it way better.
Overall I’m just happy to be done with the series and I’m ready to move on to something else. The first two books in the series were great and from there they go downhill as Willa becomes the hero and the guys become her background trophy husbands who barely help defeat the big bad despite supposedly being so powerful, and they hardly even get to have sex with her. The plot is overly complicated and the characters lost their shine by the end of the series. Sad, but true. Ready to move on!
- Harem: Siret, Coen, Yael, Aros, Rome
- POVs Included: Single Female POV (Willa)
- Book Playlist (Curse of the Gods Series Playlist)
- Book Characters Cast: http://bit.ly/3Ci3abl
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)
In the final book of the Curse of the Gods series, everyone is preparing for an inevitable war against Staviti.
It all starts with a party that Pica helps plan to warm the other gods up to her power (which they discover she is a Creation God like Staviti) and try to gain allies.
During the party with the gods, chaos ensues when Willa inadvertently releases all the trapped souls from the banishment cave.
After the panteras help to escort them to their final resting places, a bunch of servers under Staviti’s control attack. In the midst of the attack, Pica kidnaps Willa to a “safe place” (aka prison) to keep her as her daughter forever cause she’s crazy.
Willa tricks Pica into the imprisonment realm, where she ends up actually being happy to go looking for her daughter. While there she meets up with Jakan, who confirms that he is her father, and they formulate a plan to escape together using Crowe’s weapons and the mortal glass.
Once back, they work with the other gods to unblock the waters of Topia that are supposed to be flowing to Minatsol. After they do this, the water causes a bunch of dead and buried dwellers to rise and attack so they start evacuating the outer rings in order to keep people safe.
They finally defeat Staviti by trapping him and Crowe in the death realm via a mortal glass he created and planned to used to gain more power.
Once Staviti is defeated, Willa marries the guys the traditional dweller way and decides to setup a community in Minatsol to live in where the dwellers, sols, and gods can all live together in harmony.
Also her mom and dad (Jakan) reunite and he puts her soul back together using a semanight stone, which somehow turns her into a god.
In the end the power of Topia is spread out now among Topia and Minatsol, creating a balance that both lands were lacking.
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
REVIEW:
Alright. I’m gonna try really hard not to turn this into a rant fest, but honestly no promises.
This series started off really adorable and funny and sweet. It had a slow burn romance with the sweetest group of guys and I loved the relationship Willa had with them. The first two books were so good.
By the third book in the series, the authors turn the focus from the relationship to this whole plot about Willa saving the world. At this point the series becomes more plot driven instead of character driven.
The problem with this is that as the series progressed the side characters (specifically the guys in her harem) became very watered down versions of themselves and are pushed to the background of the story. So you find yourself missing them even though (technically) they’re still there.
The other problem with changing the series from a character driven series to a plot driven series is that the plot is very messy and overly-complicated. There’s so much that happens in each book that it becomes almost too much. The plot seriously lacks focus with all the different side things going on that eventually need to be wrapped up. There’s also plot arcs that are started and then never followed through with (for example, what exactly was Karyn and Dru’s motives? What about the dweller/sol war at Blesswood?).
Another problem with the book/lore is that it’s not consistent. There are parts of the story that are written as they are because they are convenient and not because they fit with the rules of this lore. One example is Jarak dragging part of her mom’s soul to the imprisonment realm because they had a soul bond. If this were the case, then Willa also would’ve dragged part of each of the guys’ souls with her as well, and she didn’t. Another big one is the guys even being alive. Sure, their mom “tricked” Staviti into agreeing to let her have two pregnancies. That’s not to say he wouldn’t have killed or imprisoned them already just like he did with all the other god children. It doesn’t fit except to say that it’s written that way because it’s convenient for the storyline.
By the time this book rolls along we are neck deep in a very convoluted plot for Willa to save the world. The guys have been relegated to one dimensional side characters who have virtually no personality anymore. There is also very little humor like in the first couple of books.
And the sex? Gee don’t get me started on that. Why even bother with it when it’s so bad? When I realized this series wasn’t going to have good sex scenes I resigned myself to that fact and decided to just enjoy the relationship and plot. But the couple of sex scenes included are so bad I just…I don’t even get why they were included at all.
First off, as a reverse harem, they are pretty terrible at sharing. They have to have a sex schedule. And even Yael admits that most of them don’t like to share during the act itself (they prefer to take turns individually). So what’s the point? What a missed opportunity for a reverse harem! The one time she is with all of them at once, it’s honestly the lamest RH sex scene I’ve ever read. It’s basically a sex train. Woohoo. They take turns with her and by the end she’s too tired to even have sex with Coen (who was there the whole time), but he’s cool with it cause they had sex earlier. Seriously? You’re not gonna still have blue balls or anything? I don’t care that you had sex earlier, that’s still gonna be uncomfortable.
Honestly they are all a sweet group, but as a true reverse harem, they’re pretty lame. I’ve read a lot of RH books and this is not a good representation of the genre. Especially since Willa really doesn’t have the stamina required for so many guys sharing her. And they don’t even share her in a way that is natural, but rather forced by rigorous sex schedules and the insane idea that she has to constantly “keep things even” between them. Because nothing says sexy like a sex schedule!
I mean, five guys is too big of a haram in general anyways (I prefer only 3-4 guys or a ménage with 2 guys). But I’ve still seen large RH’s like this do it way better.
Overall I’m just happy to be done with the series and I’m ready to move on to something else. The first two books in the series were great and from there they go downhill as Willa becomes the hero and the guys become her background trophy husbands who barely help defeat the big bad despite supposedly being so powerful, and they hardly even get to have sex with her. The plot is overly complicated and the characters lost their shine by the end of the series. Sad, but true. Ready to move on!
jmchivers's review against another edition
3.0
So after finally finishing this series I have to admit I was hooked from book one. However, after finishing all six books, I am sadly disappointed in the whole story plot. They were hilarious, easy, and quick reads but if you are looking for a semblance of depth, look elsewhere. The first 3 books were good but as I finished the series, the plot got old very quickly.
lavendermarch's review against another edition
4.0
This was an okay ending to the story. It was more serious (and so less funny) than the others. I also thought that it didn't flow as well. The end was good, and I liked the marriage scene. Willa's parents were pretty interesting, and the party was good. I don't really like Pica, but did feel bad for her. Overall, I did like it, but not as much as the others. I could see Willa's growth from book one. The Abcurses are amazing! I do agree that they lost some of the heterogeneity that they had before - they're very homogenous now (like way more similar) which is a bit annoying. 4 stars (bumped like half a star up because I do love the series).
lysh_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
guardyourhonor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Series review: As a reverse harem reader, it's impossible to not have heard about this series. And having finally read it, I don't fully understand the hype. I enjoyed it! I thought Willa was often genuinely funny, though I think many readers will be annoyed by her antics. I liked the guys, I liked the concept of the world, I liked the general story. I liked it! But I wouldn't hold it up as a pinnacle of the genre. Though I mostly found Willa to be funny (I still chuckle over the swimming scene) her personality does mostly boil down to "clumsy and sassy" and the men are literally named for their one defining character trait. The plot gets unnecessarily convoluted in some places. Ultimately, I liked it but it's not outstanding.
ceena's review against another edition
3.0
Full series review:
Where to start with this one...
When I first started this series I was new to the world of RH books. I ended up LOVING the first few books, but then I just... stopped? I feel like the concept is a good one, and while some of it is super trope-y, I was still able to find humor in it and like what was going on. But, my feelings fell apart when I started to actually think about what I was reading.
The romance is one of the better parts of this book, though. While there is insta-acceptance into their tight-knit group, the romance and sexy times takes time to build.
All the guys have at least one defining personality trait. They all act pretty similar about every thing, but that one trait kept them separate in my mind. Most of the side characters are pretty undeveloped and fit the mold they are needed. I think my favorite character was Emmy... until book 4. I mean, she still might be my favorite, but I really disliked what happened with her and her relationship.
I think what happened, is I started disliking how disorganized Willa is and how she does things. Please don't run around naked as a way to get back at your guys-- that makes no sense to me! Why do you have to keep getting into awkward situations?? Things kept happening around her and being done for her sake --- I don't know, maybe I just got tired of her and truly she isn't that bad??
Look all in all, I'm sorry I don't like this more than I do considering how much I liked it starting out. I had to skim most of the last book because I was just. Done. It is such a popular series in the genre though that I would still recommend it to people. Not my last, but I see the appeal -- I did for most the series enjoy it too!
Where to start with this one...
When I first started this series I was new to the world of RH books. I ended up LOVING the first few books, but then I just... stopped? I feel like the concept is a good one, and while some of it is super trope-y, I was still able to find humor in it and like what was going on. But, my feelings fell apart when I started to actually think about what I was reading.
The romance is one of the better parts of this book, though. While there is insta-acceptance into their tight-knit group, the romance and sexy times takes time to build.
All the guys have at least one defining personality trait. They all act pretty similar about every thing, but that one trait kept them separate in my mind. Most of the side characters are pretty undeveloped and fit the mold they are needed. I think my favorite character was Emmy... until book 4. I mean, she still might be my favorite, but I really disliked what happened with her and her relationship.
I think what happened, is I started disliking how disorganized Willa is and how she does things. Please don't run around naked as a way to get back at your guys-- that makes no sense to me! Why do you have to keep getting into awkward situations?? Things kept happening around her and being done for her sake --- I don't know, maybe I just got tired of her and truly she isn't that bad??
Look all in all, I'm sorry I don't like this more than I do considering how much I liked it starting out. I had to skim most of the last book because I was just. Done. It is such a popular series in the genre though that I would still recommend it to people. Not my last, but I see the appeal -- I did for most the series enjoy it too!
book_reviews_only's review against another edition
4.0
WHAT I LIKED:
This is it.. The last book of this series. I hate to see it ending but it is ending (mostly) how I thought it would. I have grown to love and miss the sections where Willa can hear her mother's muddled and confusing thoughts. she is the perfect character to break up any tension that seems to be building. I found myself laughing out loud to this book. Turning someone into a pig and being absolutely horrified at what you did and trying to undo it while everyone around you is doubled over with laughter as the pigs tun around screaming.. it was written so well I couldn't do anything but laugh at the situation. Willa finally coming to a conclusion on who her father is an what her power is, went perfectly hand in hand.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The ending... I understand that the evil was defeated in the least disastrous way possible so that life would go on perfectly for everyone, but shouldn't there have been a loss of some kind? I just found it all too easy and to simple of an ending.
OVERALL / RECOMMENDATION:
This will forever be one of my favorite series to read and I can totally see myself coming back and reading a second time. Just so that I can relive every moment once more.. I recommend this book to fantasy and reverse harem lovers. Who doesn't want to be spoiled by five delicious Gods.. ;)
This is it.. The last book of this series. I hate to see it ending but it is ending (mostly) how I thought it would. I have grown to love and miss the sections where Willa can hear her mother's muddled and confusing thoughts. she is the perfect character to break up any tension that seems to be building. I found myself laughing out loud to this book. Turning someone into a pig and being absolutely horrified at what you did and trying to undo it while everyone around you is doubled over with laughter as the pigs tun around screaming.. it was written so well I couldn't do anything but laugh at the situation. Willa finally coming to a conclusion on who her father is an what her power is, went perfectly hand in hand.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The ending... I understand that the evil was defeated in the least disastrous way possible so that life would go on perfectly for everyone, but shouldn't there have been a loss of some kind? I just found it all too easy and to simple of an ending.
OVERALL / RECOMMENDATION:
This will forever be one of my favorite series to read and I can totally see myself coming back and reading a second time. Just so that I can relive every moment once more.. I recommend this book to fantasy and reverse harem lovers. Who doesn't want to be spoiled by five delicious Gods.. ;)
deliciouslycarnalcourtships's review against another edition
4.0
As a conclusion of the series, this book was pretty good. It wrapped up a lot of question left remaining in the other books.
Basically it's a perfect "happy ending"... if you're into that?