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el_catimi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
j_j_catcrazydragon's review against another edition
4.0
3.5⭐️
This was definitely an improvement over the first.
While it was till rather randomly progressing, it moved better.
The author spends too much time on irrelevant scenes, like everyone having tea, conversations with staff. They just don’t need the spelled out dialogue, it doesn’t move the story.
The big fight scenes are stuffed with page after page of detail, with us knowing ‘exactly’ how it will end.
Biggest issue however is the FMC intelligence.
One part awesomely smart, next part oblivious, slow, dense. The author makes her smart, or dense depending on what fits, according to the stories desired outcome.
It’s obvious, ridiculous, and lacking character believability and continuity!
However.
Humour improved this book, despite the night mares absence (a big disappointment). Still doesn’t take enough advantage of the animals, sadly.
Regardless, it’s an engaging story, enjoyable, and easy to read.
A little shallow and obvious at times, but I’m still glad I read it.
Don’t hope for satisfaction romantically, it’s weak and insubstantial.
It seriously needs a good editor to point out the flaws, consistency gaps, and add depth to sections … and this would be a 5⭐️ Story.
Intend to keep reading. Seriously want to find out the answers and reach story completion.
I WILL believe it gets better
This was definitely an improvement over the first.
While it was till rather randomly progressing, it moved better.
The author spends too much time on irrelevant scenes, like everyone having tea, conversations with staff. They just don’t need the spelled out dialogue, it doesn’t move the story.
The big fight scenes are stuffed with page after page of detail, with us knowing ‘exactly’ how it will end.
Biggest issue however is the FMC intelligence.
One part awesomely smart, next part oblivious, slow, dense. The author makes her smart, or dense depending on what fits, according to the stories desired outcome.
It’s obvious, ridiculous, and lacking character believability and continuity!
However.
Humour improved this book, despite the night mares absence (a big disappointment). Still doesn’t take enough advantage of the animals, sadly.
Regardless, it’s an engaging story, enjoyable, and easy to read.
A little shallow and obvious at times, but I’m still glad I read it.
Don’t hope for satisfaction romantically, it’s weak and insubstantial.
It seriously needs a good editor to point out the flaws, consistency gaps, and add depth to sections … and this would be a 5⭐️ Story.
Intend to keep reading. Seriously want to find out the answers and reach story completion.
I WILL believe it gets better
nuv's review
1.0
I DNF’d for two main reasons.
1. Though the first book was fun, the second book didn’t really build up its predecessor. The conflict in the first book was basically the same. It was boring and there’s no reason for me invest my time reading it if I’m getting more of the same.
2. Wtf is this romance?? Like how did the MC go from being indifferent about their marriage so suddenly being so into her. We got chapters from his POV but it went from “hahahahaha silly half fae, she’s so quirky” to “I would die for her, she’s so special and unique”. Also - unpopular opinion, but if you need multiple character POVs to show relationship development and it still makes no sense, then maybe you just did a poor job at showing relationship development.
Prob will not pick back up.
1. Though the first book was fun, the second book didn’t really build up its predecessor. The conflict in the first book was basically the same. It was boring and there’s no reason for me invest my time reading it if I’m getting more of the same.
2. Wtf is this romance?? Like how did the MC go from being indifferent about their marriage so suddenly being so into her. We got chapters from his POV but it went from “hahahahaha silly half fae, she’s so quirky” to “I would die for her, she’s so special and unique”. Also - unpopular opinion, but if you need multiple character POVs to show relationship development and it still makes no sense, then maybe you just did a poor job at showing relationship development.
Prob will not pick back up.
abookapothecary's review against another edition
4.0
loved it, kinda felt a bit slow at moments, classic 2nd book in a trilogy, i’m still hooked
stormwalls's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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? Yes
3.5
greystory's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This probably could have been 4 stars but I'm taking off for Rigel.
The minor characters all continued to be great, even amazing, in this book. I adored Skye, Indigo, Chase, even Lady Chrysanthe, all of the animals, and more! Their interactions here were great and added a lot to the story. Character development and growth? Awesome.
The plot! I felt like for all of the struggles they went through over the course of the book, everything wrapped up way too easily and the fae court agreed far too readily at the end. It didn't make sense. The buildup to that ending was lacking. There were hints and pieces there for sure but there was a gap between the progress they were making and the jump to cooperation.
On the flipside, the plot thread about Leila's artifact was painfully obvious to the point of being kinda low-key frustrating that characters weren't figuring it out. Once it finally came to fruition, it felt anti-climactic because of how long it had been dragged out.
Rigel: BORING. Bruh. I love me a good assassin. A stoic, quiet, dark and brooding character. A shadowy, mystery man. Rigel is supposed to be all of these but I think Shea misunderstood the assignment. He is constantly described as if he is these things but we also don't see much of it besides him rarely speaking or appearing out of the shadows. Ooookay. But that's.. it. Name me literally any other fact about Rigel besides his weapons or that he's an assassin. Literally anything. You can't! Because there isn't anything! He's not a mystery, he's a shell!
There is NO DEPTH to Rigel AT ALL. Literally every minor character has more character depth and growth than Rigel. Indigo's donuts in one scene had more personality than Rigel. That is especially sad given he's a main character and there are MULTIPLE chapters from his POV!
He's not even given the benefit of being hot. He's described constantly as being attractive but what the hell does he look like? Who knows? But his outfit is described in detail every time he makes an appearance. Shocker: it's black.
So with all of that in mind, let's move on to the next point: the romance. WHAT romance, you might ask? How can there be a romance with an empty void of nothingness? (to be fair, I'd read that monster romance and it would be better than this, so maybe that's not a good analogy) Anyway - How can you love NOTHING? Well, somehow, our otherwise perfectly great FMC Leila "falls in love" with Rigel despite him having the personality and depth of a saltine.
There is zero anything to love about Rigel and no true signs of affection or care from him for most of the book. There are times he plays along with Leila trying to rile up the rest of the fae court but we only see any kind of private moment (And therefore any kind of actual, REAL emotional or physical intimacy between them) like ONCE the whole book. Unless Leila is truly super delulu as the kids say these days (delusional), what on earth is she going off of with her feelings?? With what she had to work with, I could see some growing affection, sure, but in love with? Honey, no. Girl, love yourself. Show some self care.
Misc Notes I wrote to myself that are spoilery:
I feel so bad for that hydra. It deserves a much bigger lake! Like damn, it sounds like that thing barely has enough room to lay down, poor thing. :(
"But if the infighting is such a problem, does that mean my original scheme to stop the Courts from playing all these stupid power games could actually solve the problem? Is it really like one of those kids shows where the answer to the quest is ‘the friends we made along the way’?"
YES! OBVIOUSLY! THAT'S BEEN THE CLEAR MESSAGE THIS WHOLE TIME DAMNIT WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS IS TAKING A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WORTH OF ENERGY TO RUB TWO BRAIN CELLS TOGETHER TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION FFS
The minor characters all continued to be great, even amazing, in this book. I adored Skye, Indigo, Chase, even Lady Chrysanthe, all of the animals, and more! Their interactions here were great and added a lot to the story. Character development and growth? Awesome.
The plot! I felt like for all of the struggles they went through over the course of the book, everything wrapped up way too easily and the fae court agreed far too readily at the end. It didn't make sense. The buildup to that ending was lacking. There were hints and pieces there for sure but there was a gap between the progress they were making and the jump to cooperation.
On the flipside, the plot thread about Leila's artifact was painfully obvious to the point of being kinda low-key frustrating that characters weren't figuring it out. Once it finally came to fruition, it felt anti-climactic because of how long it had been dragged out.
Rigel: BORING. Bruh. I love me a good assassin. A stoic, quiet, dark and brooding character. A shadowy, mystery man. Rigel is supposed to be all of these but I think Shea misunderstood the assignment. He is constantly described as if he is these things but we also don't see much of it besides him rarely speaking or appearing out of the shadows. Ooookay. But that's.. it. Name me literally any other fact about Rigel besides his weapons or that he's an assassin. Literally anything. You can't! Because there isn't anything! He's not a mystery, he's a shell!
There is NO DEPTH to Rigel AT ALL. Literally every minor character has more character depth and growth than Rigel. Indigo's donuts in one scene had more personality than Rigel. That is especially sad given he's a main character and there are MULTIPLE chapters from his POV!
He's not even given the benefit of being hot. He's described constantly as being attractive but what the hell does he look like? Who knows? But his outfit is described in detail every time he makes an appearance. Shocker: it's black.
So with all of that in mind, let's move on to the next point: the romance. WHAT romance, you might ask? How can there be a romance with an empty void of nothingness? (to be fair, I'd read that monster romance and it would be better than this, so maybe that's not a good analogy) Anyway - How can you love NOTHING? Well, somehow, our otherwise perfectly great FMC Leila "falls in love" with Rigel despite him having the personality and depth of a saltine.
There is zero anything to love about Rigel and no true signs of affection or care from him for most of the book. There are times he plays along with Leila trying to rile up the rest of the fae court but we only see any kind of private moment (And therefore any kind of actual, REAL emotional or physical intimacy between them) like ONCE the whole book. Unless Leila is truly super delulu as the kids say these days (delusional), what on earth is she going off of with her feelings?? With what she had to work with, I could see some growing affection, sure, but in love with? Honey, no. Girl, love yourself. Show some self care.
Misc Notes I wrote to myself that are spoilery:
"But if the infighting is such a problem, does that mean my original scheme to stop the Courts from playing all these stupid power games could actually solve the problem? Is it really like one of those kids shows where the answer to the quest is ‘the friends we made along the way’?"
YES! OBVIOUSLY! THAT'S BEEN THE CLEAR MESSAGE THIS WHOLE TIME DAMNIT WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS IS TAKING A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WORTH OF ENERGY TO RUB TWO BRAIN CELLS TOGETHER TO COME TO THIS CONCLUSION FFS
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
niatonie's review against another edition
4.0
I was getting a little irked by the constant failure of Leila to recognize the blatantly obvious issue with her little prism artifact. I mean, it was so obvious at times and she didn't even think to make the connection!
I also feel like we need more of Rigel. There is so much we don't know about him, so it was a little hard for me to connect with him and his feelings sometimes (but don't get me wrong, I love his character). I get the feeling that we'll see more of him in the 3rd book considering the end of this one.
I also feel like we need more of Rigel. There is so much we don't know about him, so it was a little hard for me to connect with him and his feelings sometimes (but don't get me wrong, I love his character). I get the feeling that we'll see more of him in the 3rd book considering the end of this one.
djacknurse's review against another edition
3.0
The first book was really interesting with learning about the Fae world. Unfortunately, it's losing steam in this one with pretty much the same stuff happening. I think author stretched it for a trilogy. Romance part is VERY juvenile.
mandi7mm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty and Violence