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cluckieduck's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I’ve read & loved a lot of monster romance, so was happy to finally delve into the orc world with this one but it just wasn’t for me, unfortunately.
Both MCs were beyond irritating with their miscommunication, trust issues, and whiplash-level “I hate you’s, I love you’s”, yet it all miraculously disappeared when the magical orc peen was whipped out. To me, this fell on the wrong end of a dub-con relationship because it just felt like a way to cram in sooo many sexual encounters without any actual desire or connection between the two. Not enough time was spent on any level of development in their budding romance, yet they didn’t come across as fated mates either so it just left me feeling…why??
Both MCs were beyond irritating with their miscommunication, trust issues, and whiplash-level “I hate you’s, I love you’s”, yet it all miraculously disappeared when the magical orc peen was whipped out. To me, this fell on the wrong end of a dub-con relationship because it just felt like a way to cram in sooo many sexual encounters without any actual desire or connection between the two. Not enough time was spent on any level of development in their budding romance, yet they didn’t come across as fated mates either so it just left me feeling…why??
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Infertility, Confinement, Death, Bullying, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death
cardaisy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I feel like 2.5 is pretty fair for how I feel about this book, but there was also a pretty big gap between reading the first and second half of, so take that as you will
Incredibly readable and weirdly addicting, but boy do I also have some gripes with this book. But, I mean, I finished it? And despite mixed feelings I'm maybe considering reading another one in the series?
I felt pretty sure that I knew what I was getting into when I started, but, well, this was a lot. I will say that Finley Fenn knows how to write some pretty good grovel, the scene at the midway point was 👌, and the one at the end was still good but I could've used more, Jule deserved it
I can't with the humiliation stuff though... aaand the blatant abuse and neglect. And I can't let go of the twist/betrayal at the end because I literally would've been mostly fine with it storywise if he had just told her??? It's a shit situation and was the right move politically and for the greater good and all that, but he couldn't at least loop her in?? Especially after she told him that she loved him and was clearly on board with everything by the end of it? He did at least acknowledge that at the end but still.
Also, I think, as a whole, that this book could've really benefitted by having the MMC's POV as well
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Infertility and Abortion
cpachet's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Good spice, surprisingly deep plot for what I thought I was getting into. Enjoyable and emotional read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
hellotheremaryrose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Pregnancy
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abortion
Minor: Death of parent
bitchbane's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
2 ★’s — this book gave me a lot of big feelings, and not always in a good way.
the premise of this book is that jule, our lovely human mc, is left home unguarded and gets kidnapped by orcs when they attack her home. grimarr, our especially lovely orc mc, decides to take her as his mate in an act of political revenge and whisks her away to orc mountain.
i know this was supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers story but it’s more of an enemies-to-abused-and-abuser story. i’m not at all averse to dark romance, kink, kidnapping, whatever. i’ve read and quite enjoyed books where one mc tortured the other and then they got to know each other and fell in love afterwards. i say this to mean that there’s very little that i think an mc can’t come back from, but abusing someone that you are in a relationship with or have already professed to love is one of those things.
grimarr had a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another. he would whisper sweet promises into her ear about being the best mate for her and how he’s so much better than her husband but then he would turn around and act heinously. he thought that because he didn’t physically hit her like her husband did that he was better, but then he’d say shit like this -
the premise of this book is that jule, our lovely human mc, is left home unguarded and gets kidnapped by orcs when they attack her home. grimarr, our especially lovely orc mc, decides to take her as his mate in an act of political revenge and whisks her away to orc mountain.
i know this was supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers story but it’s more of an enemies-to-abused-and-abuser story. i’m not at all averse to dark romance, kink, kidnapping, whatever. i’ve read and quite enjoyed books where one mc tortured the other and then they got to know each other and fell in love afterwards. i say this to mean that there’s very little that i think an mc can’t come back from, but abusing someone that you are in a relationship with or have already professed to love is one of those things.
grimarr had a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another. he would whisper sweet promises into her ear about being the best mate for her and how he’s so much better than her husband but then he would turn around and act heinously. he thought that because he didn’t physically hit her like her husband did that he was better, but then he’d say shit like this -
“I will bind you and gag you,” his menacing voice said. “I will starve you. I will keep you from the sun for the rest of your days. I swear this, woman.”
they were constantly going around and around in circles. he’d say something horribly messed up, apologize or make an excuse, jule would forgive him (of course,) and then he’d do something again. his mistakes always stemmed from mistreating jule because she didn’t do what he wanted or lying/withholding important information from her. it happened again and again and again. and my issue with that is that he did these things AFTER he claimed to love her and care about her and that's where this crossed the line from dark romance to stockholm syndrome/toxic relationship for me.
and that isn’t even the worst of it. grimarr was far more concerned with maintaining his position of power over the orcs than he was about her happiness and wellbeing. he showed this to be true repeatedly, punishing her for speaking out against him in front of others, making a group punishment when she “dishonors” the orcs,
some of this is explained away with “he had a plan” and apparently jule just didn’t know it, but putting her in a situation where she would feel that distress and didn’t know it wasn’t real is equally bad when he’s continuing to repeat the same mistakes over and over. even through to the end of the book he doesn’t learn.
and that’s not to say that jule is perfect, not by any means. i can sympathize with her actions a lot more because i’m sure she was traumatized to all hell at this point, but she grated on my nerves. there were some elements i loved about her, but she was so inconsistent as a character. she was not particularly brave (which is fine) but she would have these moments that felt out-of-character, like
their relationship was nothing but toxic from beginning to end and i don’t think it was intentional. i think i was meant to be hoping for a happily-ever-after at the end, but i was just hoping she’d escape to themyscira and never have to deal with men or orcs again. where’s wonder woman when you need her?
the writing was pretty good. i picked up a few words i was unfamiliar with and that’s always a welcome bonus. there was a good arc, though the ending was a bit too fast compared to the rest of the novel. some of the language, though, was very repetitive. i’ll be very happy to never hear anyone described as “hale” or “lusty” ever again.
if this book had been sold as a stockholm syndrome trope i probably would have liked it, but i went in expecting a true romance and didn’t get it. i’m not sure if i’m going to continue the series. i’m interested in some of the other orcs but i’m not sure i wanna read a repeat if it’s similar to this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, War, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
this book takes place in the midst of a war between humans and orcs. there are descriptions of war and murder from both sides. the mc, jule, experiences abuse both at home with her husband and by the orc who kidnaps her. she processes grief over her confinement, her situation, and what she has lost on-page.scotcheroo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ok wow I was not expecting to like this book so much. Pretty good writing, good plot with intense emotional struggles for both characters. It was like Pride and Prejudice but with orcs.
Lady Jule is married to an abusive man, Lord Astin Norr. He leaves her in their undefended castle when its well-known orcs are pillaging around. Orcs attack and she sacrifices herself to protect her servants. She is taken to be the mate for Captain Grimarr, an orc who has quickly risen to lead all orcs.
We learn that human woman are unnaturally attracted to orcs in this universe; by their smell, huge orc dicks, and their sweet "honey tasting" buckets of semen. This was the grossest part of this book/series lol. The orcs drip semen when aroused nonstop and by the time they cum, the woman has GEYERS of cum coming out of her. So gross lol.
Jule finds herself attracted to Grimarr and craves him even as she tries to resist, and tries to think how she can plot revenge. However, Grimarr constantly publicly humiliates her and degrades her, treats her like a servant (forcing her to cook for hours nonstop) and then afterwards he threatens to take away her clothes permanently to humiliate her. This is her breaking point and she mentally disassociates from her body. There's a really sad scene where he takes her, and while she bodily gets pleasure from it she is mentally shutdown. This is the breaking point for Grimarr too. He wants a wife who loves him. And this is when he reveals she's 1 week pregnant. Jule realizes the power she has now over them and threatens to self-abort. Grimarr makes her a deal to give him 40 days to do a complete turnaround and treat her like a mate should be treated.
Again, this is erotica so the world building was unexpected. There are only like 1000 orcs left in the realm. I guess all orcs are male?? I guess they need human woman to reproduce. I also didn't fully understand the orc's physical appearances. They had a lot of different races. Some were almost like gray humans, these were the scholars. Some seemed to have shamanic power? Lots of miners. Oh yea they all live underneath this mountain in dark tunnels. That's a point of contention between Jule and Grimarr, she demands to see the sun, to go outside.
Finally we learn Grimarr's backstory. His dad used to lead the orcs but after Grimarr was born he got greedy and started stealing other orc's women. None of his sons survived. There was lots of violence that divided the orcs. Finally Grimarr murdered him for the greater good. Grimarr's goal is to have peace between orcs and men, that's the only way they'll survive. He sends letters to meet with the 3 nearby Lords to broker peace. They sign a treaty but part of the deal is that Lord Norr wants his wife back, Jule. Even though Jule and Grimarr are in love, even though she's obviously pregnant with his orc-son, even though he knows Norr will kill his son and abuse Jule, he agrees (again, the greater good).
Lord Norr immediately horsewhips her in front of ~50 men. But once they're in the carriage, he threatens to stab her in the stomach right there, she stands up to him and asks to let her do it herself and instead kills him. As she's about to be murdered for her cousin Otto to get her land now, Grimarr she's up with a band of orcs to rescue her. They also enforce the peace treaty.
The book ends with 2 human woman have also moved in (the next books in the series) and Jule gives birth to their son, Tenjil, who is prophesized to be an orc king.
We learn that human woman are unnaturally attracted to orcs in this universe; by their smell, huge orc dicks, and their sweet "honey tasting" buckets of semen. This was the grossest part of this book/series lol. The orcs drip semen when aroused nonstop and by the time they cum, the woman has GEYERS of cum coming out of her. So gross lol.
Jule finds herself attracted to Grimarr and craves him even as she tries to resist, and tries to think how she can plot revenge. However, Grimarr constantly publicly humiliates her and degrades her, treats her like a servant (forcing her to cook for hours nonstop) and then afterwards he threatens to take away her clothes permanently to humiliate her. This is her breaking point and she mentally disassociates from her body. There's a really sad scene where he takes her, and while she bodily gets pleasure from it she is mentally shutdown. This is the breaking point for Grimarr too. He wants a wife who loves him. And this is when he reveals she's 1 week pregnant. Jule realizes the power she has now over them and threatens to self-abort. Grimarr makes her a deal to give him 40 days to do a complete turnaround and treat her like a mate should be treated.
Again, this is erotica so the world building was unexpected. There are only like 1000 orcs left in the realm. I guess all orcs are male?? I guess they need human woman to reproduce. I also didn't fully understand the orc's physical appearances. They had a lot of different races. Some were almost like gray humans, these were the scholars. Some seemed to have shamanic power? Lots of miners. Oh yea they all live underneath this mountain in dark tunnels. That's a point of contention between Jule and Grimarr, she demands to see the sun, to go outside.
Finally we learn Grimarr's backstory. His dad used to lead the orcs but after Grimarr was born he got greedy and started stealing other orc's women. None of his sons survived. There was lots of violence that divided the orcs. Finally Grimarr murdered him for the greater good. Grimarr's goal is to have peace between orcs and men, that's the only way they'll survive. He sends letters to meet with the 3 nearby Lords to broker peace. They sign a treaty but part of the deal is that Lord Norr wants his wife back, Jule. Even though Jule and Grimarr are in love, even though she's obviously pregnant with his orc-son, even though he knows Norr will kill his son and abuse Jule, he agrees (again, the greater good).
Lord Norr immediately horsewhips her in front of ~50 men. But once they're in the carriage, he threatens to stab her in the stomach right there, she stands up to him and asks to let her do it herself and instead kills him. As she's about to be murdered for her cousin Otto to get her land now, Grimarr she's up with a band of orcs to rescue her. They also enforce the peace treaty.
The book ends with 2 human woman have also moved in (the next books in the series) and Jule gives birth to their son, Tenjil, who is prophesized to be an orc king.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Violence, Rape, War, Torture, and Murder
unusablebooklore's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
This was my first Orc book. I was heavily influenced via social media. I cannot be mad. This book lived up to all the hype.
Kidnapping of a headstrong Lady MC, sexy mate magic, an unusual take on forced proximity; not to mention the spice. This book excelled in a lot of ways. I appreciated the level of emotion used to help the reader really commit to the cause of the Orc's, not too heavy but just enough to make me want to read the remainder of the series.
My biggest issue was that the MC seemed utterly irrational the first half of the book. It made it difficult to really dig in and like her until the second half. However, her Orc Grimarr was truly excellent.
Kidnapping of a headstrong Lady MC, sexy mate magic, an unusual take on forced proximity; not to mention the spice. This book excelled in a lot of ways. I appreciated the level of emotion used to help the reader really commit to the cause of the Orc's, not too heavy but just enough to make me want to read the remainder of the series.
My biggest issue was that the MC seemed utterly irrational the first half of the book. It made it difficult to really dig in and like her until the second half. However, her Orc Grimarr was truly excellent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Violence
thatfabchick's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I love the writing in the book. With that in mind this author can right some really rude women. I mean the stuff that came out of this women’s mouth I was very very much upset. Like they way she talked to these orcs but would NEVER EVER TALK TO HUMAN MEN THAT WAY. Unacceptable. Also the last 20% is trash, completely threw in a wrench that was unnecessary. Just two toxic people in love. Ugh 😣 .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, War, and Suicidal thoughts
essie__reads's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.5
This review contains spoilers!!!
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The bad: the amount of fluids and descriptions was both unnecessary and uncalled for.
The amount of times Jule describes the orc as ugly and hideous while begging him to fuck her was a bit ridiculous and comical to me as a reader. The amount of time it took for them to actually fall in love was a bit too drawn out in my opinion. The way orcs are exhibitionist and that was not a well-known fact to the humans- I felt like that should have been more well-known.
The good:
I surprisingly loved this book. The author writes beautifully and it had so many themes about discrimination and judgement of those who are different than us, that can be applied to real life. The plo twist near the end was one I genuinely did not expect. The steam was great, and it was consensual sex. Great character development and growth!
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The bad: the amount of fluids and descriptions was both unnecessary and uncalled for.
The amount of times Jule describes the orc as ugly and hideous while begging him to fuck her was a bit ridiculous and comical to me as a reader. The amount of time it took for them to actually fall in love was a bit too drawn out in my opinion. The way orcs are exhibitionist and that was not a well-known fact to the humans- I felt like that should have been more well-known.
The good:
I surprisingly loved this book. The author writes beautifully and it had so many themes about discrimination and judgement of those who are different than us, that can be applied to real life. The plo twist near the end was one I genuinely did not expect. The steam was great, and it was consensual sex. Great character development and growth!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
jburson's review against another edition
DNF'd this earlier this year then picked it back up because it kept showing up on so many monster romance lists. Annnnd DNF'd it again. Maybe if this were pure erotica it would work for me but it's too long and dragging to be trying to be anything but romance & I just couldn't get invested in round after round of humiliation and abuse of the MC with the assumption that at some point I'm supposed to root for her to fall in love with her abuser?? No thanks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Torture, Sexual assault, Confinement, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Slavery, and Bullying