jeminijem's review against another edition
3.0
This is a great popcorn read for anyone who LOVES YA books and is looking for something a bit more graphic in the sex department. If you're looking for a stereotypical YA Twilight/Harry Potter/50 Shades of Gray mash up, this is going to be FANTASTIC for you.
As for the rest of us... eh, depends on how much you enjoy wasting time on empty popcorn reads. There was a serious lack of depth and description and an absence of reason which bothered me because I wanted to think harder about this world building than the author was allowing. The way the school ran just doesn't seem realistic for any natural order world.
Also, The sex kind of threw me for a loop as I know this is suppose to be "New Adult" but the characters all read like they were around 14 at the oldest, which is part of why I wasn't totally in love with this book; it was weird when I imagine everyone as teens and then they start going at it around 60%. Firia being the worst of the acts too young for her age offender while being pretty Mary Sue at the same time.
and the biggest offense that really really made me mad was the abusive nature of the relationship between Firia and Varuj. There is alpha male, and then there is abusive and controlling. I will give kudos to the fact this didn't have a happy mushy stereotypical paranormal romance ending.
***I received a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.***
As for the rest of us... eh, depends on how much you enjoy wasting time on empty popcorn reads. There was a serious lack of depth and description and an absence of reason which bothered me because I wanted to think harder about this world building than the author was allowing. The way the school ran just doesn't seem realistic for any natural order world.
Also, The sex kind of threw me for a loop as I know this is suppose to be "New Adult" but the characters all read like they were around 14 at the oldest, which is part of why I wasn't totally in love with this book; it was weird when I imagine everyone as teens and then they start going at it around 60%. Firia being the worst of the acts too young for her age offender while being pretty Mary Sue at the same time.
and the biggest offense that really really made me mad was the abusive nature of the relationship between Firia and Varuj. There is alpha male, and then there is abusive and controlling. I will give kudos to the fact this didn't have a happy mushy stereotypical paranormal romance ending.
***I received a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.***
literarygeorge's review against another edition
2.0
Full review at For Your Literary Pleasure
This book truly befuddled me. At first it seemed like I was reading typical YA fantasy and I was totally okay with that. But the further the story got the more it changed until suddenly I felt like I was reading a demon fetish erotica. I was startled by how different the beginning was to the end. Firia is apparently set on becoming the most powerful sorceress despite her human origins. We meet her summoning Varuj, an extremely powerful demon who sports an exceptional "endowment" which is emphasized many times. I admit to laughing at a few of the excessive descriptions. Firia is focussed and with the help of the demon gets into a Magic Academy. Once there she gets into the swing of things only to get hooked on sex and suddenly her determination and focus go bye bye.
Varuj is a oddity. I thought he was simply a misunderstood demon who truly has a heart of gold but then he goes all crazy with possessive rage and spouts mine mine mine. At that point I was convinced he was solidly a "bad guy." He manipulates Firia, stole her father's soul, rapes her best friend, physically and mentally, and then encourages a plot to kill Firia and Mae'lin. Firia never catches on which is unfortunate but whatever right? She gets her demon lover. By the end of the book I still wasn't sure what Varuj's motivations were because I couldn't quite believe he loved her and being with Firia for power went out the window when she lost focus.
The poor third wheel Mae'lin is the sweetest elf man. He's good, kind, honorable and pretty much Prince fucking Charming but he doesn't measure up to forceful demon lover Varuj so he gets dumped. No joke. He's the best guy ever and Firia leaves him because of monster equipment Varuj has well, monster equipment. At the end I didn't even know if Mae'lin was alive, what happened to him - that's how little consideration his character got!
The ending was not satisfying and left more questions than answers. It reads like YA fantasy had a car accident with demon porn and the only thing I was certain of was that I didn't like any character but Mae'lin. I thought maybe it was part of a series but it's not so... yeah. Confusion is the prevailing thought here - utter confusion.
xxx Literary George
This book truly befuddled me. At first it seemed like I was reading typical YA fantasy and I was totally okay with that. But the further the story got the more it changed until suddenly I felt like I was reading a demon fetish erotica. I was startled by how different the beginning was to the end. Firia is apparently set on becoming the most powerful sorceress despite her human origins. We meet her summoning Varuj, an extremely powerful demon who sports an exceptional "endowment" which is emphasized many times. I admit to laughing at a few of the excessive descriptions. Firia is focussed and with the help of the demon gets into a Magic Academy. Once there she gets into the swing of things only to get hooked on sex and suddenly her determination and focus go bye bye.
Varuj is a oddity. I thought he was simply a misunderstood demon who truly has a heart of gold but then he goes all crazy with possessive rage and spouts mine mine mine. At that point I was convinced he was solidly a "bad guy." He manipulates Firia, stole her father's soul, rapes her best friend, physically and mentally, and then encourages a plot to kill Firia and Mae'lin. Firia never catches on which is unfortunate but whatever right? She gets her demon lover. By the end of the book I still wasn't sure what Varuj's motivations were because I couldn't quite believe he loved her and being with Firia for power went out the window when she lost focus.
The poor third wheel Mae'lin is the sweetest elf man. He's good, kind, honorable and pretty much Prince fucking Charming but he doesn't measure up to forceful demon lover Varuj so he gets dumped. No joke. He's the best guy ever and Firia leaves him because of monster equipment Varuj has well, monster equipment. At the end I didn't even know if Mae'lin was alive, what happened to him - that's how little consideration his character got!
The ending was not satisfying and left more questions than answers. It reads like YA fantasy had a car accident with demon porn and the only thing I was certain of was that I didn't like any character but Mae'lin. I thought maybe it was part of a series but it's not so... yeah. Confusion is the prevailing thought here - utter confusion.
xxx Literary George
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