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bergha1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Dark Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Dom/Sub dynamic, 3 1/2 🔥
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
barbarianmissy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I enjoy these books cause I find it fun scoping out who is which character from the source material (lion king in this instance) and when I figured out Sara B is Sarabi I cackled furiously. And also seeing some of the plot points mimic the source as well is enjoyable, like shoving Michael/Mufasa off a cliff - very fun. The incessant mention of “be prepared” - iconic. BUT I LITERALLY HATED TRISTAN/SCAR as the main character.
The character Tristan was SO SO SO incredibly narcissistic and viewed himself as a god for some reason? He got everything he wanted in the end even though he tortured his closest friends, his followers, and burned the entire city to the ground??? Like I’m sorry, if you torture me and burn down my home I’m not gonna bow down and give you a friggin crown. He’s one temper tantrum away from slaughtering the whole damned city.
I also don’t believe the two main characters were ever in love either? She was just a possession of his that he owned and he even BRANDED her for gods sake with “Tristan’s property”!!! She is not woody from Toy Story, you idiot. Also he was weirdly obsessed with drinking her BLOOD??? Like I’m #teamedward but Eddie drank it to LIVE, Tristian drank it for kicks. BIG DIFF! The spice was not spicing the way it was supposed to.
Like I understand he got bullied, and is nice to one kid once in a while, and taught you that you like weed, but this man is TOXIC AF SARA B!!!! RUN SARA B RUN!!!!
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
madoreads1's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
colorcrystals's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Abortion, and Pregnancy
allyf21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
vickyz_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
angielee83'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
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Murder
elledanie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War
savage_book_review'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Honestly, if I hadn't been given the heads up I would never have put two and two together. It's only when I'm thinking about it after the fact I can start to see the resemblance, and recognise that this version isn't being told from 'Hamlet's' point of view, which I think is what threw me off. Instead, our lead character, Tristan, takes the part of Claudius; the dark, embittered younger brother with designs on the Crown and all that comes with it. His character is mesmerising, and something straight out of bad boy central casting. He's not my usual visualisation for an MMC, but in this case from the first description of him I could only picture Tom Hiddleston playing him. Which meant that his older brother, King Michael, was of course 'played' by Chris Hemsworth...
The contrast between the FMC, Sara, in this and Wendy in 'Hooked' is quite stark. As mentioned in my review of that book, I found Wendy to be lacking in depth, but that's definitely not the case with Sara. Although ultimately under the influence of various men, she is strong enough to stand as equals amongst them, has her own agency and brings her own ruthlessness to the story. There's no wondering how she can stand by someone with such a dark streak; she matches him perfectly.
With the Never After series comes smut, and these scenes match the tone of the rest of the book. The 'action' is not for the faint-hearted, but sadly I don't think the writing is quite hard-hitting enough to properly convey the dynamics of this part of the relationship. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it's missing something that I can't quite identify that would take it from 'it's a bit warm in here...' to supernova.
However, outside of that the writing and story is as engaging and clever as 'Hooked', if a little more restricted by the setting. Princesses and balls don't quite allow the same scope for exploration of space and character that the seedy underworld of a big city does. But there are some beautiful moments where the author really does weave a spell with her words; particularly in those quiet moments between two characters, whether it be our protagonists, father and son, Prince and pauper. That's where her real skill lies; she allows the chinks of light in a dark character burn bright, and by doing so gives them the humanity they need for the reader to root for them.
And once again there's an extra epilogue for those who subscribe to the author's mailing list! Again, it doesn't really add a whole lot, it's just an excuse for a bit more of the same and the author's way of showing that's she's kept her promise to give the villain his happily ever after, but there's nothing wrong with an extra freebie!
On to the next one!
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Abortion
chelle22's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder