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nlc197's review
adventurous
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Violence
liz4119's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
kaseybereading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I guessed all of the major plot twists so that’s why I’m giving it a 3.5. It was still a really good read and I enjoyed it! But I wasn’t as shook as I could’ve been.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
ashlightgrayson's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I didn't know I was in the mood for an urban fantasy until I picked up this book. As usual, Armentrout does a great job making likeable and interesting characters. We are quickly introduced to The Order, an organization that trains fae hunters for a salary. I took a quick liking to the main character, Ivy. She is sometimes reckless, but she is also a loving friend and someone who is competent in her line of work. Her relationship with Tink was my favorite in the book. Tink is definitely my favorite character. He drives Ivy up a wall but you can also tell that they truly care about each other as friends and he serves as a great companion for her. The story had a good balance of great humor which let me as a reader get to know the characters better through the humorous situations. As far as the romance between Ivy and Ren, I think they "fell in love" a bit quickly. However, I think this is more because the story is told through Ivy's perspective and she is still in the stage of infatuation with Ren. Also, they do spend more time together than an average dating couple would because of their work. In addition to this, their lives are consistently in danger because of their job. I assume that it's kind of like in the military where people get together really fast. Since for a lot of people like that their lives are often in danger they have a need for stability, which they often find through serious romantic relationship. So, in context, it makes sense.
Plot wise, there is a point in the story where there is a traitor in The Order and I feel it was pretty easy to figure out who it was, so there wasn't much of a sense of mystery there. Same goes for the big reveal in the story. I'll refrain from going into details because spoilers. It didn't take away from the fun of the story, though. In general I'm pretty good at predicting twists in stories, but this one was also a bit obvious by the middle. Again, nothing that made the book less enjoyable.
On another note, I think the world building could have used some more work and fleshing out. As cool as the idea of a bunch of fae hunters is, I was left with questions such as who funds the Order? All of the fae hunters are paid a salary, a decent salary at that based on the descriptions we get of Ren and Ivy's apartments respectively. I would think that they have to have some structure as to how all of that is being paid for. I wouldn't necessarily need a super detailed explanation. My theory is that they probably have sponsors who are aware of the threat the fae pose to the human world and therefore help them maintain this very organized structure within the Order. This is never actually addressed in the story, however, and I feel like it would have helped me become more immersed and suspend my disbelief a bit better if it had. Another gripe I had was that all fae are thought to be evil by the Order and members are expected to kill any fae on site. That just reads really unrealistic to me. Obviously there are fae creatures such as Tink, who is a brownie, who are harmless (unless you talk to Ivy about his use of her Amazon Prime account). It seems like an unreasonable blanket statement to consider an entire people evil and a threat. It doesn't really leave much space for nuance and it seems a bit strange that this isn't questioned much by any characters except for maybe Ivy. The more questionable thing here is that it is clear that there are other fae like Tink who are against the ways of the ruling class in the fae world. If there is an opposition for the fae ruling class, and if the Order has been around for quite some time, why does the Order not know about these dissenting fae? Why have they not worked out an alliance with these dissenting fae to work together to fight against the rulers of the fae world? It doesn't seem very clear and I think that could have been made into a very strong plot point. This is still the first book, however, so I'm going to ride this out to see if maybe any of this is addressed in future books.
Despite some issues with world building, the story has characters that I love a lot and shows a lot of potential for further world and character development in the sequels. I'm excited to keep reading. A really easy urban fantasy to get into if you're in the market.
Plot wise, there is a point in the story where there is a traitor in The Order and I feel it was pretty easy to figure out who it was, so there wasn't much of a sense of mystery there. Same goes for the big reveal in the story. I'll refrain from going into details because spoilers. It didn't take away from the fun of the story, though. In general I'm pretty good at predicting twists in stories, but this one was also a bit obvious by the middle. Again, nothing that made the book less enjoyable.
On another note, I think the world building could have used some more work and fleshing out. As cool as the idea of a bunch of fae hunters is, I was left with questions such as who funds the Order? All of the fae hunters are paid a salary, a decent salary at that based on the descriptions we get of Ren and Ivy's apartments respectively. I would think that they have to have some structure as to how all of that is being paid for. I wouldn't necessarily need a super detailed explanation. My theory is that they probably have sponsors who are aware of the threat the fae pose to the human world and therefore help them maintain this very organized structure within the Order. This is never actually addressed in the story, however, and I feel like it would have helped me become more immersed and suspend my disbelief a bit better if it had. Another gripe I had was that all fae are thought to be evil by the Order and members are expected to kill any fae on site. That just reads really unrealistic to me. Obviously there are fae creatures such as Tink, who is a brownie, who are harmless (unless you talk to Ivy about his use of her Amazon Prime account). It seems like an unreasonable blanket statement to consider an entire people evil and a threat. It doesn't really leave much space for nuance and it seems a bit strange that this isn't questioned much by any characters except for maybe Ivy. The more questionable thing here is that it is clear that there are other fae like Tink who are against the ways of the ruling class in the fae world. If there is an opposition for the fae ruling class, and if the Order has been around for quite some time, why does the Order not know about these dissenting fae? Why have they not worked out an alliance with these dissenting fae to work together to fight against the rulers of the fae world? It doesn't seem very clear and I think that could have been made into a very strong plot point. This is still the first book, however, so I'm going to ride this out to see if maybe any of this is addressed in future books.
Despite some issues with world building, the story has characters that I love a lot and shows a lot of potential for further world and character development in the sequels. I'm excited to keep reading. A really easy urban fantasy to get into if you're in the market.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
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