Reviews with content warning for Violence - Bride

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

7 reviews

readwithria's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I’m not going to lie, when I heard that Ali Hazelwood was writing omegaverse paranormal romance I was a little skeptical. But Bride surprised me in a really good way.

The first ~13% of the book definitely felt a little fanfic-y, but once I got to the meat of the story the writing significantly improved. I’m hoping that that’s the section that got the most work between ARC distribution and publication.

The little bits of species science stuff was pretty interesting, the steam and the spice were WORKING for me, and the cultural differences between species were pretty well developed. I also really liked the characters, and (hopefully) look forward to seeing more of them in potential future books.

Despite the beginning feeling a little silly, I read this book in one sitting. I will never doubt Ali Hazelwood again. 4.5 stars

Thank you the Berkley Romance for the ARC and the opportunity to leave a voluntary, honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Content Warnings

intensej's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Thank you to Edelweiss for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Misery Lark is the daughter of a powerful Vampyre councilman. She grew up as the Vampyre collateral and was sent to live in the human world for several years. The Vampyres have upheld an alliance with humans, and her presence as a collateral was meant to ensure that each side did not start a war. Since the Vampyres are allied with the humans, the nearby Weres are outnumbered. Misery's father pushes her to marry Lowe Moreland, Alpha of the Weres. Misery is trying to find out what happened to her human foster sister that disappeared, and she only agrees to marry Lowe because she believes he has the answers about her best friend's disappearance. Misery cannot understand Lowe's strange behavior around her. She tries to make the best of her situation, but there are assassination attempts and pack fighting that threaten her future.

I loved this book and basically finished it in one sitting. It had the perfect amount of angst, worldbuilding, a marriage of convenience trope, and smut. The sex scenes were super spicy, so fair warning to readers. Hazelwood purposefully used the word "knot" in her dedication instead of "not," so I thought to myself, "Is the werewolf character going to have a penis knot? No way." But Ali Hazelwood went ALL IN on the penis knot trope, and it was magnificent. The ending of this book sets up a future book involving other characters. I cannot wait to start reading the next book set in this universe. (A sequel has not been announced yet, but I am hoping there is confirmation soon!) I thought that the spelling of vampyre with a "y" instead of an "i" was distracting, but I quickly got over it. I thought that some of the miscommunication and denial between Misery and Lowe went on for a bit too long, but the payoff in the end was worth it. Hazelwood manages to do something original and new with vampires and werewolves. In this world, weres that are lucky enough to meet their mate will know immediately by sight and smell. Hazelwood basically has written an alpha/omega fanfiction with vampires and werewolves, and I am here for it. Fans of Patricia Briggs and Anne Bishop will love this book.

Content: graphic sex

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chronicallybookish's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense

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

5.0

Baby’s first OmegaVerse!
So this was… an experience
I can genuinely say I’ve never read anything like this. I’ve kind of always known Omegaverse wouldn’t be for me, and even as tame as this was, this book definitely cemented that fact in my mind—however, it is Ali Hazelwood and everything Ali Hazelwood writes I will surely become obsessed with.
I am so in love with her writing and her characters, and I was curious to see how that would translate into world building. The world in this book is sort of our world, in the sense that cities had the names of cities and they had modern technology and some pop culture references, and yet it was wholly distinct in that the geopolitical atmosphere revolved around interspecies relations, countries didn’t seem to exist the way they do in our world, and of course, Vampyres and Werewolves exist. The worldbuilding was a little muddied in terms of real world vs fictional aspects and the why and how of what was the same or different, however I really enjoyed the politics of the world and how Ali explored the science of Weres and Vampyres.
I also absolutely adored Misery—although it took me ages to get over her name because why would you do that—as a character and narrator. She was voicy, relatable, and far too easy to love. She had so much depth and drive and I felt completely sucked into her head the entire time I was reading. Characters who come off as frosty and closed off but are actually the world’s biggest softies are my personal cryptonite—and seeing her interact with Ana? I was obsessed and read their scenes with a huge smile on my face.
I enjoyed Lowe as a hero, though he didn’t feel quite as strong as the heroes in Love, Theoretically or Check & Mate. Though he was far from a cardboard cut out, I still felt he could have used a little more depth to his character outside of Alpha.

The spice in this book is definitely way beyond anything in any of Ali Hazelwood’s previous books. Not only does it venture into the realm of knotting, but there were a lot more scenes than there have been in any of her prior work. The omegaverse aspects didn’t work for me, but I definitely think that’s a personal preference thing. I have no understanding of the trope (genre?), but I do think this is a pretty mild iteration of it. There are some discussions and semi-vague descriptions of knotting, but nothing more than that. I definitely won’t be picking up any OmegaVerse books in the future—with the exception of anything Ali writes. She will always be the exception.
This book ended in such a way that makes me think that there will be further installments in this world (Ali also confirmed she has another paranormal romance coming in 2025 at her recent Seattle event) and I’m actually really looking forward to it. I really enjoyed this world and these characters and would LOVE to see more of them in the future!
I truly just adore everything this woman writes and I was grinning like a fool and laughing out loud throughout the entire book.

Content Warnings

meganpbell's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

One thing about me: I’ll devour anything Ali Hazelwood has on offer, and as a sci-fi/fantasy reader, I was enthralled by her debut paranormal romance! Can an arranged marriage turn into fated mates between a lone vampire and her Alpha were husband? This giddily scentsual, deeply knotty romance had me by the throat, all the while licking my chops from a satisfying backdrop of fantasy world building, political intrigue, and mystery. This one’s a feast for loyal fans and a welcome banquet for the new ones Bride is sure to sire!

Content Warnings