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glddstwmn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I feel like there was so much potential for a good story and it was completely wasted.
I enjoyed the basis of the plot and the conflicts I felt made sense to the story line, but good lord, the dialogue is some of the worst I've ever read. Genuinely Ive read ao3 fanfics written better than this. Everytime I started to think the story was getting good or it was redeeming itself, the dialogue ruined it.
Idk how Casteel puts up with Poppy but honestly he is just as insufferable. All the characters personalities are flat, Poppy is "nOt liKe oThEr GiRls", a huge pick-me, and everyone just eats it up??
It took me until a few chapters into this book that there are two guys "Malec/k", I thought she was misspelling the name the entire series. Also both opposing queens names are too similar and it was confusing. These are all side characters that are only talked about we don't really meet them throughout the story so I felt that made it more confusing.
The ending was a cop out, imo. once the twist happened in chapter 46, I just skipped ahead to the last chapter and read from there.
I was really hoping that since they were married now, there would be some good smutty scenes but there was like 3? 4? and they were mid at best.
Tbh, I think I'm avoiding this author from now on.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Sexual content, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
bvanness428'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
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
jennipea382's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
vettechmama3'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Blood, and War
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
infinity7211's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, Torture, and Murder
thelongroadtosanity'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
5.0
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Heart-pounding, gut-wrenching from the first chapter. So much lore, history, and backstory has built up to such a crescendo with an epic conclusion to this book. I am desperate to know what happens next. My heart is not okay. (03/2024)
5 out of 5 stars
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Child death
mari_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War
lysstea'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? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, and Blood
_shreyasharma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and War
melethwi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Rant review because I'm a salty lesbian lmao.
JLA has a nasty habit of shoving massive amounts of information down readers' throats, passing it off as her MC Poppy always having a lot of questions, when the truth is she just sucks at worldbuilding. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention but I truly don't understand what the gods are in this world or what their purpose is. Are they just super powerful magic users??? So confusing. Seems like the rules of magic get bent at JLA's will when she needs something convenient to happen.
Poppy, Casteel, and Rhysand from ACOTAR should get together sometime and dissertate on white feminism. This book has a lot of balls to have a black character named Tawny and then turn around and use "tawny" frequently to describe the dark color of another character's skin, whose name (Kieran) means "dark one." Just ????? What ????? Could JLA not afford a SINGLE sensitivity reader?
I really think these books would work a lot better if they would stop kidding themselves about overdramatic plot and just have the romance. As it stands, we just see Poppy and Casteel willing to kill, kill, and guess what? kill people to get revenge for the other person, but the only interactions we actually see Poppy and Casteel have either have almost no chemistry or their attraction is PURELY physical.
I really, really cannot decide if I want to spend time from my life reading the next book. I kept going this long because I thought Poppy and Casteel might go through some sort of development, but there really isn't much to speak for.
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War
Minor: Trafficking