skylover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Pros: Lucien is a ride-or-die fav, he's so witty and reminds me of that enemies to best friends vibe so few characters have with one another. Rhys, while being a tad toxic, was a unpredictable character that added a thrill to under the mountain. The villain was interesting and I enjoyed learning about the lore and other good or evil characters for the worlds.
Cons: Not a fan that most of the romance was borderline abusive or straight up harassment (Rhys LICKING her tears?? Tamlin BITING her neck?? no thanks), Tamlin was the most disinteresting love interest, Feyre was difficult to get behind for the first half of the book, and turning her into High Fae reminded me of Twilight, but instead of waiting 4 books and having arguments with her partner about it, she was just turned without her knowledge or consent. Also not a fan that the plot was kinda giving "can't live without my guy/romantic interest" vibes. Lastly, idk what kinda writing style this was, but it was very repetitive and redundant - if you highlighted your book when the phrases "he (Tamlin) growled", "he (Tamlin or Rhys) gave a lazy smile", Feyre mentioned her newfound love of painting (we get it, you don't hunt so you paint - cool!), random fire being mentioned, or eyes as green as (the forest, grass, emerald jewels, shrek at this point, you name it) - you'd have a very colorful book cause you had to use so many highlighters.
Would recommend to fantasy lovers who know how to get into world building.
Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery
Moderate: Death, Torture, Abandonment, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence
nkmustdie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Classism, Medical trauma, Medical content, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, War, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Stalking, and Torture
dont_look_now'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? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Genocide, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Animal death
jmeier'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? It's complicated
1.5
Spoiler
3/4 of the way through this incredibly slow beauty and the beast adaptation, there's suddenly a hunger games plot? completely bizarre shift. We are also supposed to empathize with a character who threatens sexual assault, and to forgive the torture and murder of a bunch of innocents for the "greater good" . the greater good being the protagonist getting to have sex.Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Kidnapping, War, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Animal death, Colonisation, Drug use, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Kidnapping, Rape, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
pageafter_paige'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
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, War, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Murder, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
ktmcd26's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This beauty and the beast re-telling adds a few extra layers, so as not to be the same exact story in a different setting. I was excited every night to pick up the book and see where the pieces all fit together.
The world was interesting and while I do still have questions that I hope will be answered in the next books, I still thought it was well fleshed out. While definitely setting up the next set of books in the series, I feel as though you could just read this one and have a satisfied ending to the story.
The main character Feyre was compelling. She was strong willed and opinionated, but not in an unrealistic way. Embarrassment, fear, and shame also played a part in her story. However, I really hate the fact that she is nineteen. She feels like a pawn so frequently throughout the book, and I feel if she had another 10 - 15 years on her she wouldn’t have been at such a disadvantage when interacting with the fae. Yes I understand math wise the age difference to the faerie men is insignificant. But no human has ever lived multiple centuries, so they so they read as 30-40 year olds anyway and that math makes a huge difference.
Spoiler
My main complaint of the book is how her and Tamlin fall in love. The power em balance is just too great and her age only highlights the differences. She falls in love with him based on lies, his ability to provide, and his looks. He reveals nothing of his inner thoughts or belief, so there is no demonstration of a deep intellectual and emotional connection. It is all based on what they can get from each other that they can’t get from others. To me this suggests it was not meant to last.The other element that I don’t enjoy about this book is everything related to the real villain of the book feels very contrived and rushed. She was supposed to be exceedingly clever, but that is never demonstrated. Her big riddle at the end was painfully obvious.
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, War, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Torture
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
zc2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Vomit, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Abandonment, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
saskiajva's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Excrement, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
nemyp's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Racism
smoothwoven's review against another edition
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Medical trauma
Moderate: Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, and Gaslighting