Reviews with content warning for Death - The Emperor of Evening Stars

I didn’t know going into this that it would be entirely from Desmond’s POV but I was pleasantly surprised (didn’t know it was a novella or 2.5 book in the series). Although I found it redundant at times reading repeated scenes and words from the first book, I adored getting it from his angle and felt that the writing style was better. For some reason, some of his thoughts felt more poignant, sentences and scenes felt more compelling and it helped shift a few questions into place for me about his past and his fate.

I just found myself more enthralled by things in this book. I think I honestly would have enjoyed the first book better if it was this well executed through dual POV but I get the idea of wanting to build up that mystery around Des and his dark side. I think Thalassa likely wanted readers intrigued by his motives and to get into their romance before bringing in how he felt all those years. I came out of this feeling that he is more multidimensional and layered than I originally thought him to be. Still, this didn’t do anything to move the needle on the mystery with the Thief of Souls but nevertheless, I enjoyed this

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kaadee's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Obsessive (hot)

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bangiebangs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Here we get the Bargainer's backstory, including the events of books 1+2 from Des' perspective. It's an interesting view that completes some of the world building, though it does have odd pacing as it jumps around the events of the previous books quite a bit (spanning hundreds of years).

Overall enjoyable. Warning that the old "you are a teenager, I am hundreds of years old, we are mates but I am trying to wait before we get sexual" is described in great detail here. It feels like an attempt to alleviate the inevitable cringe that comes when a mate is underage/very young. For me, it kinda works, but the facts remain: he is having heavily sexual thoughts about a character that is 16 when they meet, even if he doesnt act on them. If that bothers you, be warned.

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