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spicycronereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read the fourth book in this series first as it was part of a giveaway. I loved that this first one focused on Una and Killian as I had already liked her character. Una is a great MC - strong, smart, brave. Her and Killian’s love story was unexpectedly sweet. I liked this one much better than the fourth one, and it has me rethinking some of the things that I didn’t love about the fourth in light of events and characterizations in this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
starlit_pathways's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Homophobia and Medical content
coraotf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I laughed so much, but also felt feelings. Killian J’s so dumb, but he ended up being the endearing kind of dumb. Una was very much a girl crush. She deserves every good thing and I love her. I want to see all her girls fall in love (though I am a bit worried about Mari’s age gap situation), especially Kennedy. Kennedy was my favorite of the side characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Pregnancy
Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
noellelovesbooks's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings: Sexual situations, ableism, violence, sexism, misogyny, sexual assault, sexual harassment, child abuse, transphobia, toxic relationships, and domestic violence.
Mention of: rape, death of parents, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, eugenics [in the form of killing anyone considered weak or "damaged", and captivity.
I instantly liked Una and her personality and wanted to punch Killian where it hurts 😤
The pack history was interesting, angering but interesting...and you don't find many shifter books where mated pairs sleep with other people...so that was something I wasn't expecting.
Loved that Una constantly challenged Killian and didn't back down from his BS...which was A LOT. haha Really wish he'd done more groveling tbh 😤
Overall it was a fun read and I'll most likely be checking out the rest of the series 💜
Mention of: rape, death of parents, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, eugenics [in the form of killing anyone considered weak or "damaged", and captivity.
I instantly liked Una and her personality and wanted to punch Killian where it hurts 😤
The pack history was interesting, angering but interesting...and you don't find many shifter books where mated pairs sleep with other people...so that was something I wasn't expecting.
Loved that Una constantly challenged Killian and didn't back down from his BS...which was A LOT. haha Really wish he'd done more groveling tbh 😤
Overall it was a fun read and I'll most likely be checking out the rest of the series 💜
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Rape, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
This book had absolutely NO BUSINESS BEING THIS GOOD.
This title, this cover, this concept? None of it looks like a book I would like and yet - I stayed up way past my bedtime finishing it. The pacing is great and the characters are so so so realistic (lol yes, I am saying that about wolf shifters, fated mates, magic and uhhhh…knots).
Anyway, if you need me I’ll be busy making this series my whole personality.
👍🏻Recommended!! If you love groveling and modern fantasy with gripping plots and incredible tension? This is for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
stealingourhearts's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
FAN 👏🏻 FREAKIN’ 👏🏻 TASTIC 👏🏻
6 STARS!!! I absolutely loved this book. I’m so annoyed with myself for waiting so long to read it even though everyone kept telling me how awesome it was. TBH - it was the cover. *sigh* Fated mates, shifters, hate to love? Disability rep and all that groveling?? YES PLEASE 🙌🏻
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥.5
Paranormal romance
Wolf shifters
Fated Mates
Disability rep
Hate to love
⚠️TW: discussion of rape/sexual assault/child abuse/domestic abuse
6 STARS!!! I absolutely loved this book. I’m so annoyed with myself for waiting so long to read it even though everyone kept telling me how awesome it was. TBH - it was the cover. *sigh* Fated mates, shifters, hate to love? Disability rep and all that groveling?? YES PLEASE 🙌🏻
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥.5
Paranormal romance
Wolf shifters
Fated Mates
Disability rep
Hate to love
⚠️TW: discussion of rape/sexual assault/child abuse/domestic abuse
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
now_booking's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This was a unique sort of shifter romance where instead of being a mate-or-nothing sort, the alpha, Killian, rejects his fated mate, Una, initially (for really no good reason, let’s be honest) and spends the rest of the book groveling to get her back. I overall liked it and thought I’d was good, but I’m also not feeling like it’s my favourite shifter romance I’ve ever encountered. It was well-written and despite the beginning I liked how the author managed to write Killian back from an absolute a-hole to someone I actively liked. Una also came into her own in this story which was nice. Sometimes in these stories when one character has a huge character growth arc, the other character is kind of forgotten, but Una also came into her own in confidence and assertiveness throughout this book and that was a pleasure to read. I think some of the character transitions from beginning to end seemed to pop out of nowhere but this was good and I would read the next book happily. The secondary characters really popped and I’m curious about so many potential couples here. Not much diversity, but there is a gender non-conforming potential story lurking in this world (maybe in a future book) that I think would be really innovative for shifter romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
cluckieduck's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
As I branch out from my typical genres, I believe this is my first “rejected mate” trope. While I enjoyed the setup in the beginning and most of the story up to ~75%, once I finished there’s just something…meh about it.
I enjoyed both leads and the dual POV narration. Una is a spunky lead, just trying to keep a low profile while she works towards her independence outside of being a ‘lone female reject.’ Her and ‘her girls’ are a lovely breath of fresh air in this pack ruled by strength. Killian gives a first impression as a big, dumb, brutish Alpha, but there’s more than meets the eye, especially once we’re treated to some heartbreaking flashbacks that really flesh out his character. They’re also both pretty darn funny - I found myself chuckling out loud at times, especially once Killian starts trying to win Una back.
I definitely wasn’t expecting how much of a slow-burn this story would be. The language is so crude, with so much sexual imagery and tension right from the get-go, but the actual romance between the two leads takes a loooong time to get going. Not necessarily a bad thing, what with Una giving the big ol’ FU to Killian for the initial mate rejection, just not what I was expecting!
Anyways, perhaps once I get a few more of this trope under my belt I may feel differently. I’m moving onto book 2 right away, and I do think I will give this a re-read at some point.
I enjoyed both leads and the dual POV narration. Una is a spunky lead, just trying to keep a low profile while she works towards her independence outside of being a ‘lone female reject.’ Her and ‘her girls’ are a lovely breath of fresh air in this pack ruled by strength. Killian gives a first impression as a big, dumb, brutish Alpha, but there’s more than meets the eye, especially once we’re treated to some heartbreaking flashbacks that really flesh out his character. They’re also both pretty darn funny - I found myself chuckling out loud at times, especially once Killian starts trying to win Una back.
I definitely wasn’t expecting how much of a slow-burn this story would be. The language is so crude, with so much sexual imagery and tension right from the get-go, but the actual romance between the two leads takes a loooong time to get going. Not necessarily a bad thing, what with Una giving the big ol’ FU to Killian for the initial mate rejection, just not what I was expecting!
Anyways, perhaps once I get a few more of this trope under my belt I may feel differently. I’m moving onto book 2 right away, and I do think I will give this a re-read at some point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
_isabel_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Well, that was a delightful (and brief) foray into M/F romances. I stopped reading non-queer books a while back, but after reading several glowing reviews on bookgram (and also because I could never resist a good ol' grovel-fest romance), my reader brain wanted to give this novel a try. I loved it, needless to say.
I absolutely adored Una: she's a fantastic protagonist, complex and a bit damaged, afraid but still very protective, a badass at heart, fierce and vulnerable at the same time. I think one of the reasons I stopped reading M/F was because I felt I never could measure up to how powerful and beautiful some of the female protagonists were and it made me feel insecure: although I won't be coming back to the genre on a regular basis, I now feel like I definitely have to find more romances like this, where the heroine is contradictory and realistic, imperfect but lovable and admirable, a definitely not one of those beautifully inhuman superwomen. I also absolutely adored all the other female characters: Annie and Mari were wonderful and Kennedy? I'll be forever praying she gets her own novel because I. LOVED. HER. SO. MUCH.
Killian, our hero, was a bit more difficult to like: he's tough and okay, yes, hot. But he's also a walking, talking caveman stereotype and I kept waiting for somebody to beat some sense into him. He eventually gets over himself and slowly, but surely, he starts acting less like an asshole. And yes, even though I still wanted to kick him near the end, all the groveling was absolutely glorious. And I loved how helplessly wrapped around Una's finger he was: the epilogue was *chef's kiss* peak comedy and romance.
All in all, this was a delightful romance: addicting and somewhat angsty, romantic and steamy and so, so satisfying. Definitely recommended.
I absolutely adored Una: she's a fantastic protagonist, complex and a bit damaged, afraid but still very protective, a badass at heart, fierce and vulnerable at the same time. I think one of the reasons I stopped reading M/F was because I felt I never could measure up to how powerful and beautiful some of the female protagonists were and it made me feel insecure: although I won't be coming back to the genre on a regular basis, I now feel like I definitely have to find more romances like this, where the heroine is contradictory and realistic, imperfect but lovable and admirable, a definitely not one of those beautifully inhuman superwomen. I also absolutely adored all the other female characters: Annie and Mari were wonderful and Kennedy? I'll be forever praying she gets her own novel because I. LOVED. HER. SO. MUCH.
Killian, our hero, was a bit more difficult to like: he's tough and okay, yes, hot. But he's also a walking, talking caveman stereotype and I kept waiting for somebody to beat some sense into him. He eventually gets over himself and slowly, but surely, he starts acting less like an asshole. And yes, even though I still wanted to kick him near the end, all the groveling was absolutely glorious. And I loved how helplessly wrapped around Una's finger he was: the epilogue was *chef's kiss* peak comedy and romance.
All in all, this was a delightful romance: addicting and somewhat angsty, romantic and steamy and so, so satisfying. Definitely recommended.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
diandra_s's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence