kaylameaux's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
cady_sass's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
That said, I’m now 3 books and approximately 2100 pages into this series and I have QUALMS. Questions. This isn’t a knock on this book in particular but at the fact that having read this much there are some things that should be addressed by this point. Definite spoilers below, but at this point in the series you should already know all these things.
1. Hudson and Jackson (and presumably others???? Again, no idea) are centuries old. Why are they NOW, at 200+ years old, graduating high school? Surely there is a plot device that could explain this but it hasn’t been written. Normally it’s a high-school-forever plot line, due to being immortal and never aging and moving around forever etc, but this is a school for paranormal that they haven’t been attending for 200 years. WHY????
2. We are dangerously close to being “no plot, just vibes”. You might say “but so much is happening!” and you would be correct, but when it comes to fantasy some of the pillars of the genre are world building and magic systems and we get NONE of either. Some people are fine with this, I get it! But I want to understand this universe, I want to understand the factions, I want to understand the magic. 2100 pages of content and you can’t throw us a bone? :(
3. The spell/ritual that Lia tried to perform in Crave (yes I realize that was 1400 pages ago) still has not been explained. What exactly was she doing and why was it going to work? How did she find Grace at all let alone kill her parents? What about Grace is it that was the ONLY thing that would make it work, the gargoyle thing, the mate thing, something else? It does stand to reason that this could still be explained, but I the fact that everyone just accepted (seemingly) that Lia could and would bring Hudson back and never asked “how” is baffling to me. You can just bring people back from the dead? They should be more concerned about this.
3. The writing is just… not great. Has this stopped me from reading? Absolutely not. But it needs to be addressed. Just because a book is deemed YA doesn’t mean you have to write it like one. This HAS gotten marginally better with each book but it’s still very elementary.
4. This will be an unpopular opinion (probably) - I find myself questioning both the spice level and the violence/gore detail and the appropriateness for a young audience. As an adult, I read this and want more spice. The scenes are so unsatisfying in the way they are written, but they are written that way because it’s not adult fiction. The violence is vivid and grotesque, you feel those visuals deeply. So I find myself wondering if, even as it’s currently written, if it’s a little too much for a tween reader? Maybe not. But there’s a difference between 12 and 17, and my mom certainly wouldn’t have let 13 year old me read this.
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Classism, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Murder, and War
maddie_rae_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
In Book 3 (Covet) we get to see Grace’s struggles of separating her love for Jaxon and her love for Hudson and figuring out what they mean to her and how. I love that even though there is a mating bond, she isn’t just some love-sick girl for her mate-it’s an earned respect and admiration.
We get to visit different creatures and expand this paranormal world from Katmere. Grace’s powers grow and hints of her origins start filling in the blank puzzle pieces of who she really is. Looking forward to delving more into that in Court (Book 4).
I also love seeing how the other paranormals start sharing their dislike of the Vampire King and it gives me hope that more will rally when the time comes to really take him down.
Lots of questions keeping us on edge for Court! What’s the string for? Will the Giants play a part in helping Grace? Who is “She”? Will Jaxon and Flint end up together after everything?
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
joannecatherine's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content
sindakhelekwen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, War, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cursing, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
cheseliz's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
amylynn44's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, and Violence
goldengirlbookclub's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Violence