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celestepaed's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
The only way I can describe this book is: convenient. The main female character is infuriating in the way she constantly chooses to do things that seem antithetical to her goals only to switch at the last second with the only logical action for the situations she puts herself in. I can’t even call it a bait and switch bc there’s no baiting. I think I have diagnosable whiplash from the amount of abrupt turns the author makes.
I should have stopped reading once I realized this book reads like an AO3 Wednesday alternative universe 18+ fanfic but unfortunately the fact that the FMC does ultimately make the right decisions kept me going and I have to live with the fact that I’ll never get the past five hours of my liked back.
My biggest complaint (which the fact that the FMC isn’t the worst part about this book), is that the underlying mystery plot is so vague that it seems like a secret to even the author for most of the book, only to be figured out at the last second. The FMC arrives at Everbound late in the semester with an implied ulterior motive but her true purpose is hinted at with about as much strength as the fruit flavor in a can of la croix. The FMC spends a majority of the book denouncing her fated partners but were never given a valid reason as for why since its heavily reliant on her supposed ulterior motive that we also aren’t given an opportunity to understand. And even then, denouncing is a loose term since she indulges in their pestering (despite claiming the obvious) and caves immediately once they apply the slightest bit of pressure (which even they point out), only for her to throw her next to nonexistent character growth out the window when one of her love interests throws in a miscommunication arc to cover up his own implied character flaw that’s only hinted at once. At that, the love interests themselves are annoying at best, a recipe for physical and emotional abuse at worse. They immediately attempt to take control of the FMCs life for her “protection” but they’re so focused on getting in her pants immediately since that’s seemingly the norm in this world without even bothering to get to no her as a person first. Their only redeemable quality is that they respect her physical bodily autonomy when it becomes clear that physical touch terrifies her but that also doesn’t stop some of then from detailing what they would like to do to her in an attempt to gain her favor. What’s unfortunate is that it works. I want to make it clear that these people would end up in a lengthy court battle with more than possible jail time if this relationship existed in the real world and that is CONCERNING.
This is the kind of book where all the action and plot will come in the sequel so my advice to people looking to read this book would be to save yourself some time and just wait for that book to come out bc you really won’t be missing out on anything.
I should have stopped reading once I realized this book reads like an AO3 Wednesday alternative universe 18+ fanfic but unfortunately the fact that the FMC does ultimately make the right decisions kept me going and I have to live with the fact that I’ll never get the past five hours of my liked back.
This is the kind of book where all the action and plot will come in the sequel so my advice to people looking to read this book would be to save yourself some time and just wait for that book to come out bc you really won’t be missing out on anything.
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Rape
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