Reviews

3.5 | i have such mixed feelings about this one. for one i think its really impressive that lauren roberts wrote this so young, which is what’s bringing this rating up. idk if im just not feeling romance lately but something about kai and paedyns dynamic left me a little flat. i was honestly so much more interested in kitt and paedyn’s dynamic and i think its because their chemistry was so unexpected. the third act was definitely the weakest part of the book and a little repetitive. HOWEVER, i did find myself caring about the characters by the end and the final act did catch me off guard (i shed a tear bc paedyn has gotten herself into a real hot mess). overall this was a good book, but an IMPRESSIVE debut.

windfeldin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

elficology's review against another edition

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4.0

i just can't believe kai is the one who killed her father all those years ago, i'm devastated. also adena's death killed me a little bit inside, this was just so sad. poor paedyn :(

bribreez's review against another edition

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3⭐️

One of the most talked about books on the internet, and as per usual, I caved in because, I TOO WANTED TO READ IT FOR MYSELF! With a unique world in which people have abilities and are referred to as, the Elites, it seemed like a pretty straightforward plot right? Nope. For Paedyn Gray, she literally wasn’t like the rest because, she was an Ordinary. An Ordinary was someone who didn’t have any powers, and were purged throughout the Kingdom. Living the past couple of years pretending to be an Elite was a dangerous thing Paedyn did in order to survive. On an unexpected day, Paedyn found herself accidentally saving the Prince, a.k.a. Kai, and suddenly she found herself thrown into a world different from her own, and now one of few participants in a dangerous competition comparable to the Hunger Games. With a storyline set within a deadly competition, a fantasy romance background with an enemies to lovers relationship, and more, this had promising elements that I was more than ready to read.

I could see how people would compare this book to having “Hunger Games” elements especially with the whole competition. The world in this book was interesting with the way it was crafted from the different powers people had to people such as, Paedyn who were “Ordinary” and considered a danger to the “Elites”. Paedyn was the type of person who survived by any means necessary from thievery, deception, and fighting skills that helped her along the way. Paedyn was well capable of protecting herself, and by no means a damsel in distress. Nonetheless, it didn’t hurt to have a skillful young man like, Kai to help out occasionally especially during The Trials. Kai and Paedyn came from different backgrounds and yet they still managed to form a unique connection that started off as enemies to…you guessed it, LOVERS!

I’ll admit, at first I went back and forth on whether I wanted to read this book, and finally decided I’d give it a try. Initially I felt like maybe it was just because I was finding my way through the beginning with the set up, and later found some parts interesting. Later on, I think I just realized that maybe this book wouldn’t be it for me. While I’m happy that others enjoyed this book, sadly it just didn’t keep me entertained and I felt no deep connection to the characters. I will say that out of everything in the book, I did like Kai, and the way he was. From what I read, I just hit a point where I got bored and felt no desire to keep reading. As much as I held out to keep pushing to give it another chance, I ended up dnf-ing this book. Maybe for others they’ll like this book, but I just felt nothing, and I mean that in the sense of I felt no emotional attachment to the book whatsoever.

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