frootea's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Child death, Vomit, Suicide, Violence, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Blood, and Body horror
taryn_g's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Death, Murder, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Confinement
Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Death of parent
zanazy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Spoiler
My Favorite Couple: Sera and Daddy Nyktos are the best written couple in this series. Yes, it helps we know they get a somewhat, TBD happy ending, but I still learn a lot and am left wondering how we get from where we are now, to where they are in the main story timeline. As a couple, their love for each other, because YES Nyktos loves Sera is goals. I was all Cas who after ASITE, but this went deeper. We learn more about why Nyktos denied Sera when he was first summoned, and we get to see into the past deal that inevitably intertwines their fates. There are scenes were you get all the warm feels, and there are some heartbreaking, world shattering scenes too. Daddy Nyktos loves fiercely but he has a few moments were the truth would have spared a lot of tears and loves that get frustrating. Biggest gripe is that they each don’t see clearly or refuse to admit how they truly feel to each other.
Our Lead: Sera is complex, imperfect, and a badass. She gives me hope and it’s her flaws that make her so much more relatable and likable than Poppy. For reals…. There is a lot of character growth for her in this book and seeing her form true friendships and feelings for those around her is beautiful. Sera, Nektas, Reaver, and Jadis are just the best.
The Story: To sum it up, not a lot happens to advance us closer to where we are in the main storyline so in that sense, I was let down.
Spoiler
Sera remains a mortal as of when this ends.Overall, Daddy Nyktos and Sera, along with their court of Gods and Draken save this book from being a total filler book. Truly, if you want to read the parts that advance the story, read only the last 5 chapters. Definitely could have been edited better and likely combined with the next book in this timeline, especially since we know where this relationship and the major players end up as of TWOTQ.
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, and War
Minor: Murder, Slavery, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
plsnotanotherdamselindistress's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
This world is the one true escape. This book has made me feel every emotion I have. I felt it deeper than I thought I could feel a book story and I fear I am never going to find a book that gets to me as much as this devastatingly beautiful world did.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, Physical abuse, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide attempt
michaela_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This story started off slow and I felt like they were having a lot of sex (don’t get me wrong I love shut), but there wasn’t much plot development. It did pick up in the last half and once that happened I had a hard time putting the book down. The ending kind of snuck up on me and I felt left a lot of plot lines and points open that I thought would be resolved but I guess that’s because there’s going to be another book lol so I’ll just wait to find out! Overall it was a good story and plot with a twist at the end I wasn’t expecting, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death of parent, Infidelity, Death, Animal death, Grief, War, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Slavery, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Murder, Body shaming, Confinement, and Cursing
balancethebooks's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
hapalyn'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Cursing, Gore, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Child death, Death of parent, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Torture
symabee's review against another edition
3.75
I'll start with what I liked about this installment in the FBAA/ASITE series:
- Nyktos and Sera are the embodiment of enemies to lovers, and you just can't beat that.
- Slowly piecing together the connections between the past and present is really satisfying.
- The spice is 🔥
- Plenty of conflict and character development
- Sera is unambiguously plus-sized and still badass
What I didn't like:
- The use of modern words and phrases is starting to get annoying. It pulls me out of the story and disrupts the flow. One character actually said "I nope'd out of the chamber" 🤦🏻♀️
- There are so many side characters (primals, gods, godlings, etc) That I honestly can't keep track of who is who, their titles, and what they look like. People would die, and instead of being upset I thought "who was that again?"
- SO REPETITIVE. Things I'm tired of hearing:
•I don't know why but her use of the word 'clamped' got on my nerves (it's used 16 times in the book) if I heard "my mouth clamped shut" or "pressure clamped my chest" one more time I was going to lose it.
•"Are you reading my emotions?" IT'S OBVIOUS NYKTOS IS READING YOUR EMOTIONS SERA, YOU DON'T HAVE TO ASK EVERY FIVE MINUTES.
Graphic: Death, War, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts
moonpotter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Murder, Suicide attempt, and Rape
ka_ke's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Classism, and Colonisation