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booksalacarte's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Fantasy
Unwilling-hero FMC
POC
Allies to lovers
Mystical creatures
Secret history
He falls first
I was so excited to get the ARC for this book. One that I had seen rave reviews for all over tiktok. Unfortunately the story didn’t quite live up to the hype. The idea of following a strong, black, anti-hero, who winds up being roped into a quest to save the day is a fun one, I just didn’t know if I was supposed to read it as a satire or not. The medieval vibes with modern duologue and slang didn’t fit as nicely as I had hoped. I cringed at the literal Hamilton lyrics quote.
I found so much of the sincere moments were cut by random jokes or the FMC almost breaking the 4th wall with breaking down Fantasy or romance novels and comparing her quest to them. I wanted to take it as tongue in cheek, but it happened so often that it wasn’t silly. It was annoying.
I really loved the realistic moments, like a mom calling her kids by the wrong names, the changing of minds about captivity and slavery… But the pacing inconsistencies took away from the potency of the statements. While I liked the sentiments of having the heavy topics present, they seemed so out of place in this rom-com fantasy
The world building was barely there and what was there was so slap-dash that much of it was sidelined bad dialogue and rushed plot.
The open door spice scenes were meh. I just didn’t enjoy the two main characters because they were inconsistent. Things were cheesy and surface level.
I wanted to like this. But I just didn’t.
Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for an Advanced eRrader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol
lovejasmine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
God, I SO wanted to love this. The premise was so exciting and fun and, like ... a black, curvy, female protagonist of a fantasy book?? Since when does THAT happen?!
I just ... the writing wasn't great. Being fully honest, it was bordering on bad. The whole thing had an air of 2012's 'Oh my GOD I'm soooo RANDOM' which made me cringe, and the author seems to have a blatant disregard for commas and their brilliant uses.
I very quickly fell in love with Fallow, which was unfortunate, as when it got to the NSFW scenes we learned that demons don't really have a word for 'consent' - which was played off as hot, but just made me feel kinda weird.
That all being said, it was funny, and oftentimes charming, and not an unenjoyable book. I'm definitely disappointed because, even without all the hype, I wouldn't have been happy with this book - but as it stands, my quest to find a fun, hot, hilarious and diverse fantasy book continues.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
analenegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I like that it was clearly set in Fantasy South Louisiana, as someone from South LA.
The Worldbuilding was fun for the most part.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
emmylux7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
but when the phrase "balls deep in my pussy" is used I have to tap out.
also jealous I don't live in a world where a guy can etch a symbol next to his penis to render his swimmers dead.
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
light bdsm, questionable consenttheirgracegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Vomit
Minor: Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
From the inside of the book: "This book contains light BDSM, dub con, violence, mentions of sexual violence (no rape or sexual assault occur. It is mentioned in conversation.), and sexually explicit that could trigger certain audiences."