Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Savage Fae

there was more development and insight concerning the other characters which i always love but gareth's chapters almost got too interesting. considering it's balancing a romantasy with a murder mystery side plot i was just getting super impatient with the murder mystery part so i couldn't enjoy the romance as much as i did in the first book. the romantic drama was still fun but it got a little too OTT at moments, even for me, so i ended up skimming some of those scenes. i liked the 'new' antagonist (in that i found that whole thing super interesting) but it's another part of the story that stole my attention for most of the book and i kept waiting for more to happen there. i'm assuming it will get more focus in the next book but this kind of anticipation in a murder mystery is killing me i need answers!! it feels like so much happens but also nothing at all and it's still somehow addictive to read.

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kotahlotah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Another amazing series from this sister duo. I’m totally hooked on this fantasy, romance, mystery series. I can’t wait to read the next one!

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inkdrinkers's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-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

5.0

Like water on a circuit board - my brain is fried after finishing this book.

Savage Fae picks up where we left off with Dark Fae. Elise Callisto is deep into her investigation into the sudden death of her brother, Gareth, and unfortunately a large part of the investigation deals with her growing closeness to all four kings of Aurora Academy: Leon, Dante, Ryder, and Gabriel. With personal feelings warring with new information come to light, the lines begin to blur between friend, foe, and something more.

My frantic texts after I finished this book: "HELP I JUST FINISHED SAVAGE FAE. I'M SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER." friends: "HOW YA FEELING" me: "NOT GREAT BESTIES" I believe this could serve as my five star review, but as I'm a benevolent reviewer, I'll give you a run down of all my screaming in a concise a manner as I can manage.

FIRSTLY, let's talk about Elise and how she's my favorite character in the entire world. Barring none, I love this woman more than I think I've loved any book characters in a really long time. Not only does she absolutely have no moral hinderance to beating people up in bathrooms and snooping to get the information she needs - but the raw scenes in this novel legitimately had me crying for twenty minutes at a time. I had to put my book down. I had to go take a shower until I stopped crying. I do not know what the sisters put in these books, but whatever they did just absolutely cut me to the quick. I adore the way the grief is handled in this series, Elise's struggles with Gareth's death feel so raw and real that I found myself brought to tears multiple times. I'm seeking compensation for future therapy sessions.

SECONDLY, I was struck so dumb by the ending of this book I was flabbergasted, I was tongue-tied, I was unable to type and told said friends, "I'm about to write the slopsloppiest five star review" and you know what, here it is, in all it's slopsloppiest glory. I don't think I can ever recover from the men in this series. LEON? Absolutely enthralled by this giant protective lion himbo man. DANTE? Whisper sweet nothings to me in Italian you absolutely wonderful dragon man. RYDER??? I don't even want to begin to UNPACK my love for this twisted basilisk pent up on rage and pain, again, my therapist probably needs a therapist. And finally, sweet, horrifically back and forth GABRIEL who in one second makes me want to throw punches and the next swoon into his big tattooed arms. I'm down bad, I can't function.

This is the point where I should string a sentence together and tell you why this is five stars, and to be totally transparent it comes down to the fact I feel like this is one of the best grief representations I've personally found in fiction in a while. There's a reason I sobbed for twenty minutes after one scene and had to take a break - there's also a sincere reason I love the way that Elise is written. She's not weak for her grief, but she's also reminded that feeling it doesn't make her any less strong than she's proven time and time again. It's like running a finger over a scar and feeling a jolt like it's never fully going to heal and I love that this book with the silly half-shirtless man on the cover can do that to me.

That is all, I'm going to start Vicious Fae and I guess scream at you all when that one's done.

Content warnings: sexual content (throughout in various forms, visions, and a very steamy locker room scene), violence, gore, and gang violence warning (this is present throughout but very prominent 80% onward), bullying (poor Eugene), parental emotional abuse, implied assault/rape (*see below), alcohol use, drug addiction, sex work, and again, probably more, but I'd say the writing took the content from the first book and turned the dial up.

*SEE BELOW: There is a repeated situation that is consensual but implied to be non-consensual by multiple characters. There is an element of coercion and authority that plays into the messy nature of this relationship and while it was hinted in the first book, you get explicit scenes showing it's dubiously consensual nature in this book. If this is a problem for you, please tread with caution. The scenes are between a student and teacher.

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