poppyspicyreads's review against another edition
5.0
The wait for this book was so amazingly worth it. Never before have I woken up at 5am to read 12 chapters before work, and then taken so many bathroom breaks to keep reading I'm sure everyone thinks I have a UTI
krisalexcole's review against another edition
It would be a dream if the darkly line by the bookish box came out with a special edition set of this series.
zoeyreif's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
beereina's review
4.0
Read to me by Alexa
🌶️🌶️🌶️ - I’ve read 4 of the 6 monstrous series books and this one is probably the most adventurous. I mean….. monster sex is adventurous but this one probably deviated most from human couplings.
This was really good! I’m shallow and I took one look at the fan art of Seraph and said nope…. Don’t want to read about this ugly monster getting it on….
But it had such good reviews and I was in the only book slump…. So begrudgingly I picked this up and I’m so GLAD I did! If you’re a fan of the series Seraph in Lilac are definitely favorite couple contenders. I love Danny and Wyn most, but Seraph and Lilac might be a close second.
Okay so Seraph is kept in a cage after he was saved from Collector Mary, this book picks up right after Moth and Charlie head out to save Cat. Seraph is in pain and out of control. He spends most of his time screaming, growling, and thrashing. Lilac, the camp’s resident protector, takes on the burden of watching Seraph at night once his cage has to be moved outside the camp’s walls. It is during these nightly watches that Lilac get to know another side of Seraph and love blooms.
That’s the gist. Now why this story is so good!
So again….. Seraph is not attractive by any traditional measurement. He’s got leathery skin, too many eyes, a mouth full of large sharp teeth, long gangly limbs, and seriously interesting genital anatomy. Romance is almost always written with conventionally attractive descriptors. Even romance featuring monsters. They tend to have ripped bodies, other worldly beauty, super human strength, hell…. They even smell or taste good…… Seraph is leathery, gangly and smells earthy…. But YET……. Lilac’s unwavering devotion to Seraph is written in such a way that you find yourself thinking…. Are his many eyes beautiful?
I’m paying such a huge emphasis on Seraph’s outward appearance because even by Monster standards…. He’s weird. And pretty much everyone except for Lilac thinks of Seraph as an “it” or an animal. Then add in his mindless screeching and thrashing and Seraph is not your ideal MC in any romance. But Lily Mayne did such a good job of creating a complimentary character in Lilac. And it’s Lilac’s point of view that really allows us to first see beyond Seraph’s outward appearance and behavior, and then… as their bond grows… to even appreciate that stuff too.
Lilac doesn’t love Seraph despite the stuff I described. Nope, he loves Seraphs many eyes, his leathery skin, his earth scent, and his long limbs.
I feel like I’m rambling and clearly I’m NOT a writer because I don’t think I’ve dd one a great job of conveying why this is so good, but basically this was a really sweet story and I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. The love between these characters was palpable and super compelling. Seraph has a back story that’s essential to the plot. But really this was about Seraph and Lilac finding eachother and it was done perfectly.
If I reread this will easily get moved to 5⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️ - I’ve read 4 of the 6 monstrous series books and this one is probably the most adventurous. I mean….. monster sex is adventurous but this one probably deviated most from human couplings.
This was really good! I’m shallow and I took one look at the fan art of Seraph and said nope…. Don’t want to read about this ugly monster getting it on….
But it had such good reviews and I was in the only book slump…. So begrudgingly I picked this up and I’m so GLAD I did! If you’re a fan of the series Seraph in Lilac are definitely favorite couple contenders. I love Danny and Wyn most, but Seraph and Lilac might be a close second.
Okay so Seraph is kept in a cage after he was saved from Collector Mary, this book picks up right after Moth and Charlie head out to save Cat. Seraph is in pain and out of control. He spends most of his time screaming, growling, and thrashing. Lilac, the camp’s resident protector, takes on the burden of watching Seraph at night once his cage has to be moved outside the camp’s walls. It is during these nightly watches that Lilac get to know another side of Seraph and love blooms.
That’s the gist. Now why this story is so good!
So again….. Seraph is not attractive by any traditional measurement. He’s got leathery skin, too many eyes, a mouth full of large sharp teeth, long gangly limbs, and seriously interesting genital anatomy. Romance is almost always written with conventionally attractive descriptors. Even romance featuring monsters. They tend to have ripped bodies, other worldly beauty, super human strength, hell…. They even smell or taste good…… Seraph is leathery, gangly and smells earthy…. But YET……. Lilac’s unwavering devotion to Seraph is written in such a way that you find yourself thinking…. Are his many eyes beautiful?
I’m paying such a huge emphasis on Seraph’s outward appearance because even by Monster standards…. He’s weird. And pretty much everyone except for Lilac thinks of Seraph as an “it” or an animal. Then add in his mindless screeching and thrashing and Seraph is not your ideal MC in any romance. But Lily Mayne did such a good job of creating a complimentary character in Lilac. And it’s Lilac’s point of view that really allows us to first see beyond Seraph’s outward appearance and behavior, and then… as their bond grows… to even appreciate that stuff too.
Lilac doesn’t love Seraph despite the stuff I described. Nope, he loves Seraphs many eyes, his leathery skin, his earth scent, and his long limbs.
I feel like I’m rambling and clearly I’m NOT a writer because I don’t think I’ve dd one a great job of conveying why this is so good, but basically this was a really sweet story and I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. The love between these characters was palpable and super compelling. Seraph has a back story that’s essential to the plot. But really this was about Seraph and Lilac finding eachother and it was done perfectly.
If I reread this will easily get moved to 5⭐️
tinkcourtney's review against another edition
5.0
What a wild ride! I’ve been anxiously waiting for Lilac and Seraph, because I couldn’t even wrap my mind around how everything would work out. It kept me riveted from start to finish (and crying a time or two, but also chuckling… I loved seeing all the previous characters here!). We get backstories on both Lilac and Seraph, and get to see how their connection grows into a fiercely protective love. I was very satisfied with how everything turned out. I love this series so much!
colbiecam's review against another edition
5.0
The perfect story for Lilac
I knew I was going to love Lilac’s story from the bits of him we’ve seen in the other novels, but I couldn’t have anticipated how much I would love it. Seraph and Lilac are the perfect tortured souls together and their pieces fit in every way. I think I’ve just found my new favorite beastie/human coupling!
I knew I was going to love Lilac’s story from the bits of him we’ve seen in the other novels, but I couldn’t have anticipated how much I would love it. Seraph and Lilac are the perfect tortured souls together and their pieces fit in every way. I think I’ve just found my new favorite beastie/human coupling!
charidabelle's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
molslibrary's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
seraph and lilac's story broke my heart and man, i cried so much for seraph. he broke my heart and yet, it pieced back together again when he and lilac worked as one so they could try and help him.
tiasclockworkprincess's review against another edition
5.0
Another absolute banger of a book, Lily Mayne is my queen through and through
littlebookterror's review
slow-paced
2.0
Cannot believe this boring story was stretched to fill over 460 pages.
Lilac put it best - this was just random? His feelings for Seraph came out of nowhere and grew at an alarming pace. I did not care for their romance which is a shame since it's the genre. Their dynamic was not for me and even the "I will kill anyone who hurts you" scenes left me cold.
There is no internal conflict and no external conflict. Nothing really happens, and I was not invested in their relationship so even the sex scenes were tiresome.
I am also not a fan of the fact that Mayne keeps retelling part of previous books from a new POV without adding anything to the storyline. Or the fact how surface-level her attempts are at writing diverse characters, in this case, the queer half-Japanese protagonist - I'd wished she'd just rather not. And I could have done without "there are bad/speciest/misogynistic people in camp" for what feels like the third time.
I also did not like how Nun's character was used in the second half - entirely unnecessary and Lilac was being an ass.
Lilac put it best - this was just random? His feelings for Seraph came out of nowhere and grew at an alarming pace. I did not care for their romance which is a shame since it's the genre. Their dynamic was not for me and even the "I will kill anyone who hurts you" scenes left me cold.
There is no internal conflict and no external conflict. Nothing really happens, and I was not invested in their relationship so even the sex scenes were tiresome.
Spoiler
Why did we make such a big deal about the injections when there was no drawback once they stopped? I hate that this was simply a non-issue in the end and not the plot I was hoping for. On that note, I found it harder to suspend my beliefs that Seraph/Luke could have been created with just a little mix of monster DNA and be changed that much. I was hoping for an actual monster and not a human transformed into one.I am also not a fan of the fact that Mayne keeps retelling part of previous books from a new POV without adding anything to the storyline. Or the fact how surface-level her attempts are at writing diverse characters, in this case, the queer half-Japanese protagonist - I'd wished she'd just rather not. And I could have done without "there are bad/speciest/misogynistic people in camp" for what feels like the third time.
I also did not like how Nun's character was used in the second half - entirely unnecessary and Lilac was being an ass.