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hemmel_mol's review against another edition
1.0
I could not tell apart all those characters and what they did 200 years ago.
I read to relax, not to memorize facts for a history exam.
I read to relax, not to memorize facts for a history exam.
mousegoddess's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'll be honest, this one was a slog for me because of how much I disliked Gareth. The author put in tragic backstory and so on, but I just kept disliking him. I liked the rest of the story so finally managed to finish, but it was a struggle. Character will probably annoy others less.
jenlouisegallant's review against another edition
3.0
My least favourite out of the series. I like Niall's character but Garrett was so bitter, angry and negative in general. While he 'changed' at the end and I like him better, it decreased my enjoyment of the first part of the book. Wasn't a huge fan of all the lying at the beginning either. I did like seeing all the characters together again though, and how things came together in the end.
layla87's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this, and I think I liked it more because of Joel Leslie's narration. The number of voices he used, and the range, was phenomenal.
I liked seeing everyone in the book...From David and Alun to Mal and Bryce and even the Faerie Queen and Amon.
I liked the plot and how it was all wrapped up.
What I wanted more of was the relationship between Niall and Gareth. For a 200 year seperation, after both of them thought the other dead, I wanted more of them. More angst, more devotion and poning, more everything really.
All in all, it was ok, but I expected more.
I liked seeing everyone in the book...From David and Alun to Mal and Bryce and even the Faerie Queen and Amon.
I liked the plot and how it was all wrapped up.
What I wanted more of was the relationship between Niall and Gareth. For a 200 year seperation, after both of them thought the other dead, I wanted more of them. More angst, more devotion and poning, more everything really.
All in all, it was ok, but I expected more.
mxsallybend's review against another edition
3.0
Lies, mistaken identity, and (especially) amnesia make for an artificially conflicted romance that just does not work for me. The only thing I hate more than the hero-loses-their-powers trope is the hero-loses-their-memory trope, especially when it is fake.
teresab78's review against another edition
3.0
I had issues
While it all worked out in the end, I didn’t like the lies. So many lies. How can a relationship built on lies be forgiven or survive? I mean, I get why they occurred, but they carried on too long. That being said, I enjoyed seeing all the other characters and I liked the plot of trying to save faerie.
While it all worked out in the end, I didn’t like the lies. So many lies. How can a relationship built on lies be forgiven or survive? I mean, I get why they occurred, but they carried on too long. That being said, I enjoyed seeing all the other characters and I liked the plot of trying to save faerie.
ellelainey's review against another edition
3.0
Book – Bad Boy's Bard (Fae Out of Water #3)
Author – E.J. Russell
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 301
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, dual character
Would I read it again – Unlikely.
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Fae, Contemporary, Romance
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
It's never a good sign when a book makes me angry before I even read it. Let me quickly explain – when I read and fell in love with book 1 in the series, I marked books 2 and 3 for my instant-buy list. I wanted to follow these brothers through their trials and the series, because I loved book 1 so much. Therefore, when both books appeared on Netgalley, I didn't bother to read the blurbs. I just knew I had to continue with this series. Now, I'm a little sad that I did, because it seems that book 1 is the anomaly. It's the only book of the series that I love and would willingly re-read in the future.
Why?
I'm so seriously, super disappointed that Niall's existence is revealed in the blurb. I suspected the big secret of who he was and why he'd been spirited away back in book 2, but there was no confirmation, not even a whisper of it being true that would make it okay to be exposed the way it is in the blurb for book 3. It was still a huge mystery and, now, before I even sit down to read book 3, I already know everything about why and how he disappeared and who he is, because it's not only in the blurb on Goodreads and Amazon, but it's in the blurb at the beginning of the book. And, since I read everything from front cover to 'The End' (including skimming for anything relevant after that point) I read the blurb. And I wish I hadn't. If I'd wanted to know the big reveal before I even started, I would have skipped to the end.
I was hoping for a big reveal, a huge emotional journey that Niall and Gareth could go on together, as they fell in love again, even just to see Gareth's reaction to Niall being alive and well. I didn't want to be told, in the blurb, before I even crack the book open, the entirety of Niall's story. It makes me far less interested to read the book and go on this journey with them. In fact, it makes me think that Gareth deserves better than Niall, so puts me off reading the book that will inevitably have them falling for each other again. Just knowing how deeply Niall betrayed and deceived Gareth makes me not want to go any further than reading the blurb.
Honestly, between you and me, I had hoped for the whole hurt/comfort thing. I had hoped that Gareth would stumble upon the truth of where Niall had been held captive all this time, used his Bard gifts to rescue him from the big bad, and it would be all broken/hurt Niall being comforted/saved by Gareth, who had to finally pull up his big-boy pants and be an adult, rather than the whiny teenager he'd been until now. Instead, what I got was a cocky/arrogant piece of snark who had put Gareth in the position to get hurt in the first place, showed little remorse for 90% of the book and still got his happily ever after, because instead of growing up and getting a backbone, Gareth laid himself down as a mat to walk on and told Niall to go ahead because it was his honour to roll over and be used. Not what I'd wanted or expected from a supposed romance story.
In truth, the blurb also caused another issue for me. It built upon an uneasy feeling that book 2 had already given me, but which I'd overlooked for the simple fact that I thought it was limited to Mal and Bryce's relationship, which already had some iffy topics. However, the blurb for this book reminded me that the Fae are excelling at lying and manipulating to get their way. I find it increasingly disturbing how easily it comes to them and how the author decides to portray that within their relationship. I let it slide in book 2, because of the Master/slave relationship – despite the fact that the balance of power really did feel off kilter – but I'm not sure I can let it slide here. The Fae have gone from wondrous, lazy, politically focused creatures who happen to be gorgeous and do nothing worthwhile to something much darker and more dangerous than they had ever been in book one. They manipulate others at every turn, are quick to be judgmental and prissy, yet never stop to question anything worth questioning. In fact, David is the only character in this entire series who makes sense to me and thinks like I do.
I have to admit, that because of that, I feel like my interest in this series has plummeted. Book 1 is the golden jewel of the series, book 2 was passable if you closed your eyes and squinted through the Master/slave stuff, but I'm now beginning to wonder if this author is for me. I don't like to have the entire book ruined – a plot that I've waited 2 books to find out about – by having every detail I'd want to “see” for myself laid out in the blurb as though it didn't matter. Well, it mattered to me. I wanted to be surprised, to read about it happening as Gareth discovered it, to go on that journey with him and discover it on my own, not be told in a simple two paragraph description. For me, having it so blatantly exposed like that made half of the story utterly pointless.
Niall is a completely unlikeable, unrelatable character. I found him utterly reprehensible and I don't care how badly he was tortured or for how long, because he can never make up for what he did or who he is, or the fact that he shows little remorse for it. Not only did he treat Gareth despicably, but he was more than willing to let all of Faerie implode, with his own brother and Gareth's two brothers inside it, all because he was too chicken to speak up and confess that he was a habitual, compulsive liar with absolutely no decency. He was so afraid of losing Gareth that he was willing to sacrifice everyone in Faerie, and Faerie itself, just to keep his secret.
Well, I'm sorry, but I'm a Scorpio and we don't forgive. Ever. So I spent half the book not caring or all that interested in the tentative relationship between Niall and Gareth, because I didn't want it to go anywhere. I knew it was inevitable that Gareth would forgive the unforgivable and that Niall would be redeemed, because the author wrote him that way. It was obvious from the start, with all those many, many excuses and reasons the author gave to try to make Niall more relatable, more sympathetic, but it just didn't work for me. I had no interest in forgiving him from the outset and it left me feeling lukewarm about the entire book. Niall was just utterly selfish for 80% of the book. It was only in the smallest of places that he showed any redeemable qualities whatsoever and they were so fleeting that it didn't change my mind about him in the least.
Gareth, the poor soul, was railroaded. I didn't want him to forgive Niall or get him back. I hoped he'd have spine enough to keep his distance and admit that he deserved better, but again, the author did a bang up job of making him out to be part-villain for the first two books, probably so that he and Niall would be better matched for each other. The way Gareth was continually used as a source of anger and discontent between the Kendrick brothers throughout the series meant that he'd made mistakes of his own and we, the readers, were supposed to equate the forgiveness his brothers offered him to the fact that Niall deserved forgiveness, too. But, I read it differently, I guess. Gareth's actions are perfectly understandable, to me, and to his brothers, because he was heartbroken and a prejudice was bred in him by his experiences from early youth. Niall has no such excuse – he willingly and knowingly went into his deception of Gareth and only grew a conscience when it concerned himself.
I also have to admit that I find it disturbing that the Seelie (or the author?) view rape as the only torture device known to man (Fae). It's used continually throughout the series as a threat, consequence and torture whenever the bad guys are around. The only deviation was when Niall was being punished and he was whipped instead. It reads so much like it's okay to threaten a character with rape, but that a main character would never be a main character if they'd actually gone through it. Yes, it's abhorrent, but it's treated with a strange kind of untouchable quality that means it's okay to threaten that it will happen, but if it ever did, either the author or the characters would never know how to handle it. I can't really put it into words, but there's a really strong sense throughout the series that it's a suitable threat, but it can never, ever happen.
I was a bit frustrated that we've been told in both previous books that people can't lie to David or Bryce without discovery, yet Niall does it persistently. He is never once caught out, until he's willing to reveal himself. I found it really off-putting and wasn't sure if it was some unexplained loophole or just a huge plot gap.
Besides the few editing/grammar issues I spotted throughout, I began to get really irritated by the constant use of “mate”, “oi” and “boyo”. To be honest, I presumed these were part of Mal's character, not a generalisation for both Mal and Gareth, who use them frequently, as does Niall. The more I read them, the more these brothers don't read Welsh. These three phrases are more Scottish or Irish than Welsh, in my experience, which totally goes against their heritage and the supposed American backdrop of the story.
I also had an issue with Gareth's logic – or rather, lack thereof. I get that he was happy to see Niall again, but there is no logic in the world that would reason an amnesia victim entering a relationship with someone who claimed to be their boyfriend, willingly. Most would question everything they were told by someone who had such a claim, not to mention they would definitely not seduce and willingly jump into bed with the person claiming to be their long lost love. That part alone should have woken Gareth up to Niall's lies, but so should the million other things that at least gave David and Bryce some pause, even if they weren't smart enough to put the pieces together themselves.
Overall, the scenes were short, constantly chopping and changing between Niall and Gareth, usually to show the same events through both eyes, which became a little laborious after a while. The story plot itself was thin and I really didn't like Niall, at all. He had a thousand chances to tell the truth – in the past and in the present – yet he never took them. Instead, he knowingly left Gareth to suffer, well aware of what he'd been through and what it would do to him, just because he was too scared to tell the truth and face the consequences. The fact that the author had to use flashbacks to show any kind of chemistry between them just says it all, really. The relationship was so thin that nothing, for me, could save it. Not even having the ray of sunshine that is David and Alun back, or seeing Bryce and Mal again, could fix what was wrong, here.
As someone who is disabled, I also have to mention the seriously disappointing theme of “cure the disability” within this series. In book 1, I loved that although it could be and was cure, David didn't want that other than for Alun's mental health. He didn't want to cure him as much as help him deal with a very painful condition. In book 2, I was marginally pleased that Mal “chose” not to cure his own disability, then disappointed when it was cured for him as some sort of “reward” for making the right choice. Here, again, Gareth's mental instability over losing Niall was the lynchpin of the entire story – everyone wanted to cure Gareth of his depression and, it was cured by Niall's return to his life, with no consequences, no treatment, no nothing. Alun and David were the only ones who even considered treatment of the kind that would actually be beneficial.
The ending was left open for another book, though I've read that the author doesn't intend to write one in this trilogy. In all honestly, even if they did, I wouldn't read it. However, I've heard that they're contemplating writing side stories about other characters, and I won't be reading them, either. I've learned my lesson. Book 1 is as far as this series will go, for me. I won't be re-reading any of the others in the future.
~
Favourite Quote
This isn't really my favourite for a good reason, but because Gareth finally questions Niall the way he should have in the beginning. He finally sees what should have been obvious all alone.
“Niall straightened his shoulders. “This isn’t about you and me anymore, Gareth. This is about Faerie. About my brother and yours. About all Celtic fae, greater and lesser. If you’re the man I’ve always believed you to be, you don’t have a choice.”
The anger shrieked through Gareth like a banshee wind. What of the man I’ve always believed you to be? Where is he? Gareth knew the answer: nowhere, because he’d never existed. But, Goddess, I want him back.”
Author – E.J. Russell
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 301
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, dual character
Would I read it again – Unlikely.
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Fae, Contemporary, Romance
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
It's never a good sign when a book makes me angry before I even read it. Let me quickly explain – when I read and fell in love with book 1 in the series, I marked books 2 and 3 for my instant-buy list. I wanted to follow these brothers through their trials and the series, because I loved book 1 so much. Therefore, when both books appeared on Netgalley, I didn't bother to read the blurbs. I just knew I had to continue with this series. Now, I'm a little sad that I did, because it seems that book 1 is the anomaly. It's the only book of the series that I love and would willingly re-read in the future.
Why?
I'm so seriously, super disappointed that Niall's existence is revealed in the blurb. I suspected the big secret of who he was and why he'd been spirited away back in book 2, but there was no confirmation, not even a whisper of it being true that would make it okay to be exposed the way it is in the blurb for book 3. It was still a huge mystery and, now, before I even sit down to read book 3, I already know everything about why and how he disappeared and who he is, because it's not only in the blurb on Goodreads and Amazon, but it's in the blurb at the beginning of the book. And, since I read everything from front cover to 'The End' (including skimming for anything relevant after that point) I read the blurb. And I wish I hadn't. If I'd wanted to know the big reveal before I even started, I would have skipped to the end.
I was hoping for a big reveal, a huge emotional journey that Niall and Gareth could go on together, as they fell in love again, even just to see Gareth's reaction to Niall being alive and well. I didn't want to be told, in the blurb, before I even crack the book open, the entirety of Niall's story. It makes me far less interested to read the book and go on this journey with them. In fact, it makes me think that Gareth deserves better than Niall, so puts me off reading the book that will inevitably have them falling for each other again. Just knowing how deeply Niall betrayed and deceived Gareth makes me not want to go any further than reading the blurb.
Honestly, between you and me, I had hoped for the whole hurt/comfort thing. I had hoped that Gareth would stumble upon the truth of where Niall had been held captive all this time, used his Bard gifts to rescue him from the big bad, and it would be all broken/hurt Niall being comforted/saved by Gareth, who had to finally pull up his big-boy pants and be an adult, rather than the whiny teenager he'd been until now. Instead, what I got was a cocky/arrogant piece of snark who had put Gareth in the position to get hurt in the first place, showed little remorse for 90% of the book and still got his happily ever after, because instead of growing up and getting a backbone, Gareth laid himself down as a mat to walk on and told Niall to go ahead because it was his honour to roll over and be used. Not what I'd wanted or expected from a supposed romance story.
In truth, the blurb also caused another issue for me. It built upon an uneasy feeling that book 2 had already given me, but which I'd overlooked for the simple fact that I thought it was limited to Mal and Bryce's relationship, which already had some iffy topics. However, the blurb for this book reminded me that the Fae are excelling at lying and manipulating to get their way. I find it increasingly disturbing how easily it comes to them and how the author decides to portray that within their relationship. I let it slide in book 2, because of the Master/slave relationship – despite the fact that the balance of power really did feel off kilter – but I'm not sure I can let it slide here. The Fae have gone from wondrous, lazy, politically focused creatures who happen to be gorgeous and do nothing worthwhile to something much darker and more dangerous than they had ever been in book one. They manipulate others at every turn, are quick to be judgmental and prissy, yet never stop to question anything worth questioning. In fact, David is the only character in this entire series who makes sense to me and thinks like I do.
I have to admit, that because of that, I feel like my interest in this series has plummeted. Book 1 is the golden jewel of the series, book 2 was passable if you closed your eyes and squinted through the Master/slave stuff, but I'm now beginning to wonder if this author is for me. I don't like to have the entire book ruined – a plot that I've waited 2 books to find out about – by having every detail I'd want to “see” for myself laid out in the blurb as though it didn't matter. Well, it mattered to me. I wanted to be surprised, to read about it happening as Gareth discovered it, to go on that journey with him and discover it on my own, not be told in a simple two paragraph description. For me, having it so blatantly exposed like that made half of the story utterly pointless.
Niall is a completely unlikeable, unrelatable character. I found him utterly reprehensible and I don't care how badly he was tortured or for how long, because he can never make up for what he did or who he is, or the fact that he shows little remorse for it. Not only did he treat Gareth despicably, but he was more than willing to let all of Faerie implode, with his own brother and Gareth's two brothers inside it, all because he was too chicken to speak up and confess that he was a habitual, compulsive liar with absolutely no decency. He was so afraid of losing Gareth that he was willing to sacrifice everyone in Faerie, and Faerie itself, just to keep his secret.
Well, I'm sorry, but I'm a Scorpio and we don't forgive. Ever. So I spent half the book not caring or all that interested in the tentative relationship between Niall and Gareth, because I didn't want it to go anywhere. I knew it was inevitable that Gareth would forgive the unforgivable and that Niall would be redeemed, because the author wrote him that way. It was obvious from the start, with all those many, many excuses and reasons the author gave to try to make Niall more relatable, more sympathetic, but it just didn't work for me. I had no interest in forgiving him from the outset and it left me feeling lukewarm about the entire book. Niall was just utterly selfish for 80% of the book. It was only in the smallest of places that he showed any redeemable qualities whatsoever and they were so fleeting that it didn't change my mind about him in the least.
Gareth, the poor soul, was railroaded. I didn't want him to forgive Niall or get him back. I hoped he'd have spine enough to keep his distance and admit that he deserved better, but again, the author did a bang up job of making him out to be part-villain for the first two books, probably so that he and Niall would be better matched for each other. The way Gareth was continually used as a source of anger and discontent between the Kendrick brothers throughout the series meant that he'd made mistakes of his own and we, the readers, were supposed to equate the forgiveness his brothers offered him to the fact that Niall deserved forgiveness, too. But, I read it differently, I guess. Gareth's actions are perfectly understandable, to me, and to his brothers, because he was heartbroken and a prejudice was bred in him by his experiences from early youth. Niall has no such excuse – he willingly and knowingly went into his deception of Gareth and only grew a conscience when it concerned himself.
I also have to admit that I find it disturbing that the Seelie (or the author?) view rape as the only torture device known to man (Fae). It's used continually throughout the series as a threat, consequence and torture whenever the bad guys are around. The only deviation was when Niall was being punished and he was whipped instead. It reads so much like it's okay to threaten a character with rape, but that a main character would never be a main character if they'd actually gone through it. Yes, it's abhorrent, but it's treated with a strange kind of untouchable quality that means it's okay to threaten that it will happen, but if it ever did, either the author or the characters would never know how to handle it. I can't really put it into words, but there's a really strong sense throughout the series that it's a suitable threat, but it can never, ever happen.
I was a bit frustrated that we've been told in both previous books that people can't lie to David or Bryce without discovery, yet Niall does it persistently. He is never once caught out, until he's willing to reveal himself. I found it really off-putting and wasn't sure if it was some unexplained loophole or just a huge plot gap.
Besides the few editing/grammar issues I spotted throughout, I began to get really irritated by the constant use of “mate”, “oi” and “boyo”. To be honest, I presumed these were part of Mal's character, not a generalisation for both Mal and Gareth, who use them frequently, as does Niall. The more I read them, the more these brothers don't read Welsh. These three phrases are more Scottish or Irish than Welsh, in my experience, which totally goes against their heritage and the supposed American backdrop of the story.
I also had an issue with Gareth's logic – or rather, lack thereof. I get that he was happy to see Niall again, but there is no logic in the world that would reason an amnesia victim entering a relationship with someone who claimed to be their boyfriend, willingly. Most would question everything they were told by someone who had such a claim, not to mention they would definitely not seduce and willingly jump into bed with the person claiming to be their long lost love. That part alone should have woken Gareth up to Niall's lies, but so should the million other things that at least gave David and Bryce some pause, even if they weren't smart enough to put the pieces together themselves.
Overall, the scenes were short, constantly chopping and changing between Niall and Gareth, usually to show the same events through both eyes, which became a little laborious after a while. The story plot itself was thin and I really didn't like Niall, at all. He had a thousand chances to tell the truth – in the past and in the present – yet he never took them. Instead, he knowingly left Gareth to suffer, well aware of what he'd been through and what it would do to him, just because he was too scared to tell the truth and face the consequences. The fact that the author had to use flashbacks to show any kind of chemistry between them just says it all, really. The relationship was so thin that nothing, for me, could save it. Not even having the ray of sunshine that is David and Alun back, or seeing Bryce and Mal again, could fix what was wrong, here.
As someone who is disabled, I also have to mention the seriously disappointing theme of “cure the disability” within this series. In book 1, I loved that although it could be and was cure, David didn't want that other than for Alun's mental health. He didn't want to cure him as much as help him deal with a very painful condition. In book 2, I was marginally pleased that Mal “chose” not to cure his own disability, then disappointed when it was cured for him as some sort of “reward” for making the right choice. Here, again, Gareth's mental instability over losing Niall was the lynchpin of the entire story – everyone wanted to cure Gareth of his depression and, it was cured by Niall's return to his life, with no consequences, no treatment, no nothing. Alun and David were the only ones who even considered treatment of the kind that would actually be beneficial.
The ending was left open for another book, though I've read that the author doesn't intend to write one in this trilogy. In all honestly, even if they did, I wouldn't read it. However, I've heard that they're contemplating writing side stories about other characters, and I won't be reading them, either. I've learned my lesson. Book 1 is as far as this series will go, for me. I won't be re-reading any of the others in the future.
~
Favourite Quote
This isn't really my favourite for a good reason, but because Gareth finally questions Niall the way he should have in the beginning. He finally sees what should have been obvious all alone.
“Niall straightened his shoulders. “This isn’t about you and me anymore, Gareth. This is about Faerie. About my brother and yours. About all Celtic fae, greater and lesser. If you’re the man I’ve always believed you to be, you don’t have a choice.”
The anger shrieked through Gareth like a banshee wind. What of the man I’ve always believed you to be? Where is he? Gareth knew the answer: nowhere, because he’d never existed. But, Goddess, I want him back.”
mischlama's review against another edition
3.0
Hab ich in einem Tag gehört, vielleicht hat es mir deswegen auch nicht so gut gefallen, wie die anderen Teile, weil ich irgendwann nicht mehr alles super gut mitgekommen habe.
shaekin's review against another edition
4.0
I'm never a huge fan of novels that start with someone lying to someone else, and we all know it's going to come out, and everyone is going to be pissed about it. But that said, I still really liked this book, and the series. The ending leaves me hoping there's more in the series, I'd definitely read them.
loulou87's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this, and I think I liked it more because of Joel Leslie's narration. The number of voices he used, and the range, was phenomenal.
I liked seeing everyone in the book...From David and Alun to Mal and Bryce and even the Faerie Queen and Amon.
I liked the plot and how it was all wrapped up.
What I wanted more of was the relationship between Niall and Gareth. For a 200 year seperation, after both of them thought the other dead, I wanted more of them. More angst, more devotion and poning, more everything really.
All in all, it was ok, but I expected more.
I liked seeing everyone in the book...From David and Alun to Mal and Bryce and even the Faerie Queen and Amon.
I liked the plot and how it was all wrapped up.
What I wanted more of was the relationship between Niall and Gareth. For a 200 year seperation, after both of them thought the other dead, I wanted more of them. More angst, more devotion and poning, more everything really.
All in all, it was ok, but I expected more.