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kaikai1618's review against another edition
3.0
Good enough for doing work. Entertaining and easy to follow as long as you aren't thinking too hard. Not good enough to distract you.
However I had some major issues with this book.
This book has the typical "I'm not like other girls", "chosen one", and "love triangle between two hunky dudes who like her for some reason" vibes going on. And that's fine. We've seen it before and I'm reading this as a look into the past of when I loved books like that.
Still, the more you look into the weird age gaps and topics that stray into new adult and adult age range, the weirder the romantic interactions between the characters become. I really think the main character should have either been aged up, or her love interests aged down. Though, considering how juvenile Piper could be, I think the latter. If it's a fantasy book, I'm confused as to why the author would make a sheltered 17 year old girl's romantic interests, one very touchy (but dismissed) 27 year old and one broody 22-23 year old. That's really really weird. It's not mentioned in the book, but it's something I found in an interview. Without knowing this, the relationships might seem fine to the average reader. It's just that the more I read, and the more Piper and her sex life and virginity kept being brought up, the more uncomfortable I became.
I can't help but feel like our main character has been thrown into a story pretending she's this badass fighting girlboss when convenient, while mostly having her trust and rely on men around her that she doesn't have much reason to trust. And I can indulge in some suspension of disbelief where it's fun to imagine being a person between two super hot guys and it's not that deep. However, I also think Piper is given a backstory that continues to emphasize her sexuality as a teen girl?? And ultimately, this seems to be used to rile up the men loyal to her and give her trauma just to kinda throw it in there as "depth". This way of writing tactlessly about virginity and sexuality is something that I hope the author's stories have outgrown as we've become more aware of critiquing books aimed for young adult audiences unnecessarily sexualizing their characters.
I'm a fan of paranormal and fantasy romance. I enjoy it a lot, but I also think we can do better. I like a lot of the story and I find the world building straightforward. Clearly the author can write a palatable fantasy book, so let's do away with some of these unnecessary parts please.
Audiobook note: the narrator has a nasaley voice that becomes even more so in random parts. It didn't help the book at all. I got used to it, but I don't recommend the Jorjeana Marie narrated version.
However I had some major issues with this book.
This book has the typical "I'm not like other girls", "chosen one", and "love triangle between two hunky dudes who like her for some reason" vibes going on. And that's fine. We've seen it before and I'm reading this as a look into the past of when I loved books like that.
Still, the more you look into the weird age gaps and topics that stray into new adult and adult age range, the weirder the romantic interactions between the characters become. I really think the main character should have either been aged up, or her love interests aged down. Though, considering how juvenile Piper could be, I think the latter. If it's a fantasy book, I'm confused as to why the author would make a sheltered 17 year old girl's romantic interests, one very touchy (but dismissed) 27 year old and one broody 22-23 year old. That's really really weird. It's not mentioned in the book, but it's something I found in an interview. Without knowing this, the relationships might seem fine to the average reader. It's just that the more I read, and the more Piper and her sex life and virginity kept being brought up, the more uncomfortable I became.
I can't help but feel like our main character has been thrown into a story pretending she's this badass fighting girlboss when convenient, while mostly having her trust and rely on men around her that she doesn't have much reason to trust. And I can indulge in some suspension of disbelief where it's fun to imagine being a person between two super hot guys and it's not that deep. However, I also think Piper is given a backstory that continues to emphasize her sexuality as a teen girl?? And ultimately, this seems to be used to rile up the men loyal to her and give her trauma just to kinda throw it in there as "depth". This way of writing tactlessly about virginity and sexuality is something that I hope the author's stories have outgrown as we've become more aware of critiquing books aimed for young adult audiences unnecessarily sexualizing their characters.
I'm a fan of paranormal and fantasy romance. I enjoy it a lot, but I also think we can do better. I like a lot of the story and I find the world building straightforward. Clearly the author can write a palatable fantasy book, so let's do away with some of these unnecessary parts please.
Audiobook note: the narrator has a nasaley voice that becomes even more so in random parts. It didn't help the book at all. I got used to it, but I don't recommend the Jorjeana Marie narrated version.
magikspells's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a little confused why this book got a lot of heat when people loved the first series. I felt like it was a good jumping off point and a lot of fun. Of course it's YA, but so was the other series? I don't get it, I think people are just mad about them building Ash a love interest.
I thought this was a lot of fun, I already have the next book.
I thought this was a lot of fun, I already have the next book.
jessdone's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great book. Excellent pacing, a bunch of fun characters, and a great balance of a main characters who "know" information and who are clueless so that exposition can be dropped on the reader.
There are a ton of fighting action scenes that are all really well written.
The book is full of fully explored well defined emotions and the stakes in the book feel high and desperate.
The portrayal of deamons was intriguing and unique. I enjoyed all the backstory and interactions between mundane and magical.
The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the whole premise of consuls and Piper's desire to be a consul. She's super violent and always escalating every situation, but in the beginning she's training to be a consul, a profession meant to de-escalate situations, a position that should predominate with non violent techniques. Piper doesn't seem to know any non violent techniques, it's ludicrous that we're meant to believe she's training for this position and lived around others esposing those ideals. She's a terrible consul and there's no way I can support her maintaining that kind of position.
This means a large part of the drama, Piper's desire to get back to a normal life, doesn't fit for me. She feels right at home in the middle of the action and the drama. I constantly thought "why would you want to go back to normal, this is better suited for you." But it's a small quibble considering this is a fairly long series and we already know Piper won't go back to normal. It's probably no surprise a teen isn't that self aware and that the reader may have more insight into her than she has into herself.
It's not a "thinking" book with a lot of deep themes, but it's a very fun ride with characters you want to go on an adventure with. Highly recommend.
There are a ton of fighting action scenes that are all really well written.
The book is full of fully explored well defined emotions and the stakes in the book feel high and desperate.
The portrayal of deamons was intriguing and unique. I enjoyed all the backstory and interactions between mundane and magical.
The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the whole premise of consuls and Piper's desire to be a consul. She's super violent and always escalating every situation, but in the beginning she's training to be a consul, a profession meant to de-escalate situations, a position that should predominate with non violent techniques. Piper doesn't seem to know any non violent techniques, it's ludicrous that we're meant to believe she's training for this position and lived around others esposing those ideals. She's a terrible consul and there's no way I can support her maintaining that kind of position.
This means a large part of the drama, Piper's desire to get back to a normal life, doesn't fit for me. She feels right at home in the middle of the action and the drama. I constantly thought "why would you want to go back to normal, this is better suited for you." But it's a small quibble considering this is a fairly long series and we already know Piper won't go back to normal. It's probably no surprise a teen isn't that self aware and that the reader may have more insight into her than she has into herself.
It's not a "thinking" book with a lot of deep themes, but it's a very fun ride with characters you want to go on an adventure with. Highly recommend.
whosevita's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
Honestly I think Annette Marie is cursed with bad blurbs and misleading covers bc while the cover looks like a 2014 wattpad story, this is one of the best books I have read in 2021.
Not only the characters are amazingly developed, the lore is as well. And without being to convoluted. There was no info dumping yet by the end of the book I had a strong grasp on the magic system and the world building.
And GOD I hope this books end with a poly relationship. That is the only correct way to resolve a love triangle. THEY BETTER END UP TOGETHER.
and the spice scenes were very pg YET SO HOT. Some moments had me chocking on my cerial. And uhmm the sexual tension between the three mc's
Honestly I think Annette Marie is cursed with bad blurbs and misleading covers bc while the cover looks like a 2014 wattpad story, this is one of the best books I have read in 2021.
Not only the characters are amazingly developed, the lore is as well. And without being to convoluted. There was no info dumping yet by the end of the book I had a strong grasp on the magic system and the world building.
And GOD I hope this books end with a poly relationship. That is the only correct way to resolve a love triangle. THEY BETTER END UP TOGETHER.
and the spice scenes were very pg YET SO HOT. Some moments had me chocking on my cerial. And uhmm the sexual tension between the three mc's
katyanaish's review against another edition
3.0
So ... I had no idea this book was YA when I started, and being totally upfront here: YA is not my thing AT ALL. That's not to say that all of it is bad, but when I do take a stab at YA, 90% of it is just not my cuppa. Overly angsty melodrama and TSTL crap are my big buttons in stories, and YA tends to be saturated with it. This one definitely is. Honestly, I knew in the first chapter - when the heroine explains that she's splitting time between school and training - that I should just back away. But I have a reaaaaaaaaally hard time quitting books / series that I've started. Some part of me just HAS to know the ending once I've started a story - there are very, very, very few books on my DNF list. For my own self-preservation, I wish I was better about that.
That said, I didn't hate this. I'm giving it 2.5 stars.
As always, I'm curious about the world, the backstory, etc. I just really struggle with some of the melodramatic sections. Fortunately, while there are a couple TSTL moments - - they don't dominate the story. That said, I don't particularly like any of the characters. Piper and Lyre are okay. Ash has his great moments, and his horrible moments. Her parents are both psychotic assholes with their own agendas and seem like they give zero fucks about her. All the other characters are 2-dimensional and generally evil... and the few that seem like they maybe aren't evil are only because we haven't yet learned enough about them to see their evil agenda, probably.
I'm going to poke at the next one, and see if it gets its shit together. This is because, as I stated above, I have a horribly hard time walking away from a story without knowing the ending. But meh. My expectations are really low.
That said, I didn't hate this. I'm giving it 2.5 stars.
As always, I'm curious about the world, the backstory, etc. I just really struggle with some of the melodramatic sections. Fortunately, while there are a couple TSTL moments -
Spoiler
and why in fuck is she carrying that stone on her, rather than hiding it?!I'm going to poke at the next one, and see if it gets its shit together. This is because, as I stated above, I have a horribly hard time walking away from a story without knowing the ending. But meh. My expectations are really low.
rlstrayer1's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
Omg
This book almost gave me a damn heart attack
RTC
---------
I'm still living in the world of Red Winter, but this is by the same author so maybe it will keep me from drowning in the book hangover that is quickly taking over my life.....
Omg
This book almost gave me a damn heart attack
RTC
---------
I'm still living in the world of Red Winter, but this is by the same author so maybe it will keep me from drowning in the book hangover that is quickly taking over my life.....
books_or_chaos's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
annettesbookbanter's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This is the first time I struggled to get into a book by Annette Marie.
I listened to the audiobook and honestly I wasn't the biggest fan of the narrator for this series, she wasn't bad but I just didn't feel she voiced the FMC as well. I absolutely loved the Guild Codex Universe and so decided I would go and read the other books Annette has released. Don't get me wrong this book is still a good urban fantasy read, reasonably fast paced, lots of action, interesting concept and magic system, but for some reason I struggled to get into this book as much as the others.
I didn't find the FMC as likeable as the FMC from her other series I have read, she was more judgemental I think, somewhat like the FMC from the Unveiled series, who I also didn't like as much. I did enjoy the MMCs and some of the other side characters. I also enjoyed the take on the magic system and also how the society works. There is a little romance (forbidden) but not a lot, which aligns with her other series as they tend to be slow burn.
I plan on continuing the series as I am intrigued as to where it will go and also because I plan on reading the other series related to it.
I listened to the audiobook and honestly I wasn't the biggest fan of the narrator for this series, she wasn't bad but I just didn't feel she voiced the FMC as well. I absolutely loved the Guild Codex Universe and so decided I would go and read the other books Annette has released. Don't get me wrong this book is still a good urban fantasy read, reasonably fast paced, lots of action, interesting concept and magic system, but for some reason I struggled to get into this book as much as the others.
I didn't find the FMC as likeable as the FMC from her other series I have read, she was more judgemental I think, somewhat like the FMC from the Unveiled series, who I also didn't like as much. I did enjoy the MMCs and some of the other side characters. I also enjoyed the take on the magic system and also how the society works. There is a little romance (forbidden) but not a lot, which aligns with her other series as they tend to be slow burn.
I plan on continuing the series as I am intrigued as to where it will go and also because I plan on reading the other series related to it.