akjd77's review
5.0
I haven't written a review in a REALLY long time but this book.. I had to. The characters, the world, the relationships. Everything about this book just spoke to me and I am ecstatic that I still have 2 more books in the series to read.
see_sadie_read's review against another edition
2.0
I found this book to be a disappointment. It's unfortunate too, because it has (or suggests it has) so many elements I love. I'm attracted to well drawn covers (not the horrid CG things so many authors use, but actual art) and this one has a very pretty cover. Fantasy. Check. Demonic possession. Check. Moral ambiguity. Check. A threesome. Check. Strong, dangerous men. Check. Looking at it from the outside, I really should have loved this book. But I just didn't and I didn't half because of objective quality reasons and half because I don't like the type of book it turned out to be.
Let me clarify. On the objective side, I found the writing and dialogue very stiff. There was no natural progression of feelings between the men. It's not insta-love or insta-lust, but from one page to the next they went from disliking in one case and hating in another (remember there are 3 of them) to lust and then almost immediately to love. And these are men who generally claim not to be able to love. One won't allow it because of his demon, another has been trained not to feel emotion and the last puts his duty first, so love is not an option. But they all fall hard and fast. Even homosexuality being illegal and a three-way relationship being socially unheard of weren't hurdles to them.
For three otherwise emotionally closeted men, they all spewed unfathomable amounts of open praise and adoration. It felt out of character for the men presented. In fact, none of the characters are particularly consistent, often acting in ways that they shouldn't according to their character, as described. Yarrow was especially bad about this.
Ages were never defined. I needed this information since Duncan is said to be older and looks on Yarrow and Sasha as almost boys. This is a tad disturbing since Yarrow, who I'm guessing is in his late teens, maybe early twenties (but I'm leaning toward teens) lost a lover named Rini, who he consistently describes along the lines of 'my Emiri boy.' And since Yarrow's history shows underage sex isn't off the table in the book, I started imagining Rini as a tween. (It kind of squinked me out.) But also, I just needed to know how to visualise the men—teens, young men, middle-aged, old. It left my imaginings of them vague at best.
The three-man relationship often felt awkward. Scenes built for two were stretched to include a third and it felt a bit like a wobbly wheel. I didn't even find the sex scenes, as written, erotic.
The world-building, while elaborate didn't make a lot of sense. The multitude of goddesses worshiped by a strictly patriarchal society. A vague history that forbade mages to rule, but no real depth to it. No placement of mages in the society at large, meaning I had no understanding of the magic system. No placement of demons (if that's what Yarrow has) in the pantheon, so no way to understand it's existence, etc.
On the more personal side of things, I'm not into those books where characters constantly tell one another how wonderful, special, beautiful, sexy, amazing, important, awe-inspiring, handsome, enticing, smart, strong, loyal, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc they are and that is exactly what most of this book is.
For one, people, especially men, don't tend to be so effusive so it NEVER feels natural and believable. Two, it's cringe-worthy. I can't tell you how many times I just plain rolled my eyes at this book. Three, it's repetitive. Four, it ruins a sex scene. Five...five, gag. It just makes me gag and there was just so darned much of it. I don't like it in general. I sure don't like it from men I've been told are (or have previously been) absolutely, 100% not the sort of men to engage in such conversations and declarations.
Lastly, I didn't like the book's ending. So, for another reader this book might be a hit. It was not for me.
Let me clarify. On the objective side, I found the writing and dialogue very stiff. There was no natural progression of feelings between the men. It's not insta-love or insta-lust, but from one page to the next they went from disliking in one case and hating in another (remember there are 3 of them) to lust and then almost immediately to love. And these are men who generally claim not to be able to love. One won't allow it because of his demon, another has been trained not to feel emotion and the last puts his duty first, so love is not an option. But they all fall hard and fast. Even homosexuality being illegal and a three-way relationship being socially unheard of weren't hurdles to them.
For three otherwise emotionally closeted men, they all spewed unfathomable amounts of open praise and adoration. It felt out of character for the men presented. In fact, none of the characters are particularly consistent, often acting in ways that they shouldn't according to their character, as described. Yarrow was especially bad about this.
Ages were never defined. I needed this information since Duncan is said to be older and looks on Yarrow and Sasha as almost boys. This is a tad disturbing since Yarrow, who I'm guessing is in his late teens, maybe early twenties (but I'm leaning toward teens) lost a lover named Rini, who he consistently describes along the lines of 'my Emiri boy.' And since Yarrow's history shows underage sex isn't off the table in the book, I started imagining Rini as a tween. (It kind of squinked me out.) But also, I just needed to know how to visualise the men—teens, young men, middle-aged, old. It left my imaginings of them vague at best.
The three-man relationship often felt awkward. Scenes built for two were stretched to include a third and it felt a bit like a wobbly wheel. I didn't even find the sex scenes, as written, erotic.
The world-building, while elaborate didn't make a lot of sense. The multitude of goddesses worshiped by a strictly patriarchal society. A vague history that forbade mages to rule, but no real depth to it. No placement of mages in the society at large, meaning I had no understanding of the magic system. No placement of demons (if that's what Yarrow has) in the pantheon, so no way to understand it's existence, etc.
On the more personal side of things, I'm not into those books where characters constantly tell one another how wonderful, special, beautiful, sexy, amazing, important, awe-inspiring, handsome, enticing, smart, strong, loyal, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc they are and that is exactly what most of this book is.
For one, people, especially men, don't tend to be so effusive so it NEVER feels natural and believable. Two, it's cringe-worthy. I can't tell you how many times I just plain rolled my eyes at this book. Three, it's repetitive. Four, it ruins a sex scene. Five...five, gag. It just makes me gag and there was just so darned much of it. I don't like it in general. I sure don't like it from men I've been told are (or have previously been) absolutely, 100% not the sort of men to engage in such conversations and declarations.
Lastly, I didn't like the book's ending. So, for another reader this book might be a hit. It was not for me.
scarlett_r_90's review
3.0
This was fairly good, and the three main characters were defined and sweet in their interactions with one another. For some reason though, I just didn't take to it too much. It was alright, but not one of those reads that you can't tear yourself away from.
see_sadie_read's review
2.0
I found this book to be a disappointment. It's unfortunate too, because it has (or suggests it has) so many elements I love. I'm attracted to well drawn covers (not the horrid CG things so many authors use, but actual art) and this one has a very pretty cover. Fantasy. Check. Demonic possession. Check. Moral ambiguity. Check. A threesome. Check. Strong, dangerous men. Check. Looking at it from the outside, I really should have loved this book. But I just didn't and I didn't half because of objective quality reasons and half because I don't like the type of book it turned out to be.
Let me clarify. On the objective side, I found the writing and dialogue very stiff. There was no natural progression of feelings between the men. It's not insta-love or insta-lust, but from one page to the next they went from disliking in one case and hating in another (remember there are 3 of them) to lust and then almost immediately to love. And these are men who generally claim not to be able to love. One won't allow it because of his demon, another has been trained not to feel emotion and the last puts his duty first, so love is not an option. But they all fall hard and fast. Even homosexuality being illegal and a three-way relationship being socially unheard of weren't hurdles to them.
For three otherwise emotionally closeted men, they all spewed unfathomable amounts of open praise and adoration. It felt out of character for the men presented. In fact, none of the characters are particularly consistent, often acting in ways that they shouldn't according to their character, as described. Yarrow was especially bad about this.
Ages were never defined. I needed this information since Duncan is said to be older and looks on Yarrow and Sasha as almost boys. This is a tad disturbing since Yarrow, who I'm guessing is in his late teens, maybe early twenties (but I'm leaning toward teens) lost a lover named Rini, who he consistently describes along the lines of 'my Emiri boy.' And since Yarrow's history shows underage sex isn't off the table in the book, I started imagining Rini as a tween. (It kind of squinked me out.) But also, I just needed to know how to visualise the men—teens, young men, middle-aged, old. It left my imaginings of them vague at best.
The three-man relationship often felt awkward. Scenes built for two were stretched to include a third and it felt a bit like a wobbly wheel. I didn't even find the sex scenes, as written, erotic.
The world-building, while elaborate didn't make a lot of sense. The multitude of goddesses worshiped by a strictly patriarchal society. A vague history that forbade mages to rule, but no real depth to it. No placement of mages in the society at large, meaning I had no understanding of the magic system. No placement of demons (if that's what Yarrow has) in the pantheon, so no way to understand it's existence, etc.
On the more personal side of things, I'm not into those books where characters constantly tell one another how wonderful, special, beautiful, sexy, amazing, important, awe-inspiring, handsome, enticing, smart, strong, loyal, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc they are and that is exactly what most of this book is.
For one, people, especially men, don't tend to be so effusive so it NEVER feels natural and believable. Two, it's cringe-worthy. I can't tell you how many times I just plain rolled my eyes at this book. Three, it's repetitive. Four, it ruins a sex scene. Five...five, gag. It just makes me gag and there was just so darned much of it. I don't like it in general. I sure don't like it from men I've been told are (or have previously been) absolutely, 100% not the sort of men to engage in such conversations and declarations.
Lastly, I didn't like the book's ending. So, for another reader this book might be a hit. It was not for me.
Let me clarify. On the objective side, I found the writing and dialogue very stiff. There was no natural progression of feelings between the men. It's not insta-love or insta-lust, but from one page to the next they went from disliking in one case and hating in another (remember there are 3 of them) to lust and then almost immediately to love. And these are men who generally claim not to be able to love. One won't allow it because of his demon, another has been trained not to feel emotion and the last puts his duty first, so love is not an option. But they all fall hard and fast. Even homosexuality being illegal and a three-way relationship being socially unheard of weren't hurdles to them.
For three otherwise emotionally closeted men, they all spewed unfathomable amounts of open praise and adoration. It felt out of character for the men presented. In fact, none of the characters are particularly consistent, often acting in ways that they shouldn't according to their character, as described. Yarrow was especially bad about this.
Ages were never defined. I needed this information since Duncan is said to be older and looks on Yarrow and Sasha as almost boys. This is a tad disturbing since Yarrow, who I'm guessing is in his late teens, maybe early twenties (but I'm leaning toward teens) lost a lover named Rini, who he consistently describes along the lines of 'my Emiri boy.' And since Yarrow's history shows underage sex isn't off the table in the book, I started imagining Rini as a tween. (It kind of squinked me out.) But also, I just needed to know how to visualise the men—teens, young men, middle-aged, old. It left my imaginings of them vague at best.
The three-man relationship often felt awkward. Scenes built for two were stretched to include a third and it felt a bit like a wobbly wheel. I didn't even find the sex scenes, as written, erotic.
The world-building, while elaborate didn't make a lot of sense. The multitude of goddesses worshiped by a strictly patriarchal society. A vague history that forbade mages to rule, but no real depth to it. No placement of mages in the society at large, meaning I had no understanding of the magic system. No placement of demons (if that's what Yarrow has) in the pantheon, so no way to understand it's existence, etc.
On the more personal side of things, I'm not into those books where characters constantly tell one another how wonderful, special, beautiful, sexy, amazing, important, awe-inspiring, handsome, enticing, smart, strong, loyal, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc they are and that is exactly what most of this book is.
For one, people, especially men, don't tend to be so effusive so it NEVER feels natural and believable. Two, it's cringe-worthy. I can't tell you how many times I just plain rolled my eyes at this book. Three, it's repetitive. Four, it ruins a sex scene. Five...five, gag. It just makes me gag and there was just so darned much of it. I don't like it in general. I sure don't like it from men I've been told are (or have previously been) absolutely, 100% not the sort of men to engage in such conversations and declarations.
Lastly, I didn't like the book's ending. So, for another reader this book might be a hit. It was not for me.
scarlett__r90's review
3.0
This was fairly good, and the three main characters were defined and sweet in their interactions with one another. For some reason though, I just didn't take to it too much. It was alright, but not one of those reads that you can't tear yourself away from.
knutsoel's review against another edition
It was not well thought through, plus not well executed
coty9816's review
4.0
Great story. I hope the author will give us more soon. Why did it take Sasha two days on horseback to go five miles to Taran's camp??
mearias's review
2.0
TL;DR So this book was super long for no discernible reason. The "love" story isn't really compelling and I skipped a whole lots of pages.
I honestly am more intrigued by Yarrow and the thing inhabiting his body, and will continue to read for this alone. Otherwise, it was just meh.
I honestly am more intrigued by Yarrow and the thing inhabiting his body, and will continue to read for this alone. Otherwise, it was just meh.
currawong's review
3.0
Was pleasantly surprised to find out that the protagonists ended up in a poly relationship towards the middle of the book. It doesn't really stand out as a story however and while I liked the characters I do have to admit the characterisation was a little confusing at times and flat.
The plot twists were pretty obvious and plain and some of the conversations felt somewhat stilted, the characters kept explaining things that we and the other characters already knew and a lot of what was said by them should have just been told to us directly by the author instead (no one speaks in paragraphs that much, please).
Basically: if I wanted to read something of the same genre I'll just pick up a George R.R. Martin book next time but it was cute at times (and I bought the first 4 books at once so now I have to finish the series anyway).
The plot twists were pretty obvious and plain and some of the conversations felt somewhat stilted, the characters kept explaining things that we and the other characters already knew and a lot of what was said by them should have just been told to us directly by the author instead (no one speaks in paragraphs that much, please).
Basically: if I wanted to read something of the same genre I'll just pick up a George R.R. Martin book next time but it was cute at times (and I bought the first 4 books at once so now I have to finish the series anyway).
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