Reviews

Ignited by Steffanie Holmes

tamura's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

jaclynb29's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this series as a whole but I found the last book to drag a bit. I am glad I pushed through though as it had a satisfying ending. Overall an enjoyable series.

tipsymermaid's review against another edition

1.0

Zero stars. Do not read and especially do not listen. The audiobook narrator is terrible, I never want to listen to a person swallow and certainly not directly into my ear, she must have done this 100 times in the first 30 minutes. This book is stupid and racist. There is no back story, the characters have zero depth, weird stuff happens and no one questions it and it's not explained, not even in the other books. Hazel FMC is annoying and does not "punch back" even when one girl calls her dreads a rats nest that probably has insect eggs in it.

lindsaygrace444's review against another edition

2.0

I’m not totally convinced that I’m not in a coma right now and this book was an elaborate concoction of my brain so bizarre and nonsensical in hopes that it might propel me to wake to escape it. The only way I know that I’m not is because even my dreams make more sense than this did.

lunelis's review against another edition

4.0

This final book is what I had wanted from the previous three books. It had the intrigue and action and mystique that had been lacking in previous installments, proving the author can write really well and do something worthwhile. I actually liked this final installment a lot. Makes me kind of sad that the first few books didn't match up, but at least this finale has made me a lot more open to reading the author's future work.

I just hope she abandons things like trying to have white girls in dreads who get bullied for dreads.

One of the things I raised in my prior review was addressed again. I'm putting my thoughts under a spoiler warning since it deals with a plot point the author keeps unknown for so long.

Spoiler

So, in book #3 we learn that Hazels' mom was sleeping with her best friend, Dante, who was 17 and that he, in turn, was drawn to her. Which is gross of the mom and also really awful because she went after the guy her daughter loved. This book acknowledges that it was statutory rape and wrong. We also learn that Hazel's mom was a CSA survivor, which is offered for why she wanted to be with Dante at all, but I did like that the author isn't like "because of trauma she did nothing wrong and we should totally forgive her" but rather went with the grayness of it, acknowledging that the action was wrong but that the perpetrator wasn't a heartless monster, but someone who was dealing with their trauma in an inappropriate way. It's nice that a few pages were dedicated to this. I wasn't like, a huge fan of Hazel's like "I saw them in heaven and they forgave me and said they were sorry for hurting me the way they did" scene only because it's just... too convenient as a way for Hazel to not have to learn to forgive herself, since right up til the end she was very much "I did wrong, I need to be punished or I'll never get past this" but, I'll give the book a pass because it's still nice to see everything addressed.

Unlike the last three books, this one does have a much more descriptive sex scene, pushing it even farther into the realms of NA content. There's the usual warnings for drug use, mentions of rape/statutory rape, descriptive sex scenes, violence, murder, etc. We also have animal death in this one; the killing isn't shown and the scene where the animal is discovered isn't overly graphic, but I wanted to mention it because I know animal death/gore/etc. is one of the things I heavily dislike in my books. I didn't find the scene upsetting or anything personally.

The eventual fix to one of the plot points that had been sort of a "uh-oh, how are we getting around this?" seemed really sudden but, not necessarily out of nowhere, and by this point getting a worthwhile ending was a little higher on the priority list than seeing it take more pages and conflict to resolve, so I'll let it slide. The story has most of its loose ends wrapped up nicely with a good epilogue, so the journey has a satisfying conclusion.

Coming off the end of this book and series, I don't have anything else that's coming to mind to write about, so I'll close it off by saying I don't regret picking up this series. The first few books didn't wow me, but I wouldn't be against more from this author and find that her take on the bully romance/reverse harem/rich kid prep school genre was really interesting and sets this series apart from a lot of others by working in a supernatural element.

westcoastwords's review against another edition

5.0

Holy... wow

Where do I even freaking begin?!?!

From the very beginning this series has been totally different and unexpected. The buildup has been crazy.

Each book brought more questions than answers.

The conclusion was Epic. I was convinced the ending wasn't actually going to happen.

Bravo Steff. Bravo

rebelsbutterfly's review against another edition

5.0

The final showdown!!!

Hazel and the boys prepare for the final showdown with their parents as the final quarter plays out in the last book in the series. Will they all survive? Will Hazel have to leave her kind behind to keep her promise? Cw: mention of sex, mildly graphic. Pregnancy. Mention of child abuse in the past and description of some abuse. Murder, not graphic.

zenreadergirl's review against another edition

3.0

This series... It was a fun read, but so over the top. When we started, our heroine was 17. Her descriptions of living "in the hood" were kind of funny. With her dreads. She also likes her stereotypes. GBF, anyone? She explains it away by him telling her he acts stereotypical on purpose, but still. I get the feeling the author was writing quite a bit out of her element. The last novel got preachy. Despite all this, I enjoyed the series.I

And now I am curious how someone naturally smells like opium.

lakellyreal's review against another edition

3.0

Estuvo bien, excepto que...
.
.
.
Spoiler...
Literalmente todo el final fue una conveniencia, la protagonista no sufre por sus acciones y hasta lo último todavía tiene sus poderes, se queda con los 3 reyes, lo de la entidad alienígena lo revolvieron muy fácil al igual que la directora loca, y pensaba que era una trampa porque literalmente todo les salía bien, solo para llegar al epílogo y darme cuenta que faltaron muchas cosas por aclarar y por resolver.
Al menos fue entretenido, algo divertido y perfecto si quieres leer algo de harem reverse y poliamor.

melissa125's review against another edition

3.0

This series has been fun to read and if you want a fantasy/paranormal story with the romance turned up a little (obviously the reverse harem element) this might be a good place to start. The ending wasn’t mind blowing but I had fun all the same

3 stars