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cottagecoeur's review
4.0
There was a bit too much repetition in the FMC trying to force herself not to follow her heart, for too long in the book. Other than that it was great!
sabrena's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
magikspells's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable. I think I liked some of the other ones better. I did appreciate that there were discussions about demons and violence in regards to humans. I find a lot of these urban fantasy series like to explain away the violence like 'he doesn't mean it' or 'that's just how he is' and it's the woman's issue. At least they're honest here about it instead of trying to sugar coat it.
jessdone's review against another edition
3.0
The most disappointing installment of the series, I'd suggest skipping it, but it has the most epic set of scenes at the end of the book.
Everything in this book is back sliding. We don't have any new emotional development. Character revert to more juvenile versions of themselves we've already seen them move past. Conflict the group has already over come is brought back and they are forced to retread old information.
This one was a slog. Every time I thought we would tackle something new, the course immediately changed to be about Piper and her angst, which is not why I was reading the series.
There's a lot of development of side characters that doesn't go anywhere. There's a lot of places where the plot could break off, dive into something new and interesting, but instead chooses to be stunted and boring.
I should have felt like the stakes had been raised to the highest point, with a war about to consume the earth and instead I felt "meh" about the whole thing.
All of that said, there's an amazing ending fight scene and I was amped to see where those developments brought us. I don't think it was worth reading all the way through the book for it. I might suggest skimming until this part or even just reading the last few chapters. Nothing really important happens in most of the book and I feel like most readers could just read the last chapters and lose little extra context.
Everything in this book is back sliding. We don't have any new emotional development. Character revert to more juvenile versions of themselves we've already seen them move past. Conflict the group has already over come is brought back and they are forced to retread old information.
This one was a slog. Every time I thought we would tackle something new, the course immediately changed to be about Piper and her angst, which is not why I was reading the series.
There's a lot of development of side characters that doesn't go anywhere. There's a lot of places where the plot could break off, dive into something new and interesting, but instead chooses to be stunted and boring.
I should have felt like the stakes had been raised to the highest point, with a war about to consume the earth and instead I felt "meh" about the whole thing.
All of that said, there's an amazing ending fight scene and I was amped to see where those developments brought us. I don't think it was worth reading all the way through the book for it. I might suggest skimming until this part or even just reading the last few chapters. Nothing really important happens in most of the book and I feel like most readers could just read the last chapters and lose little extra context.
annettesbookbanter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.0
The character development through the series has endeared me to the FMC, although there are still times her decisions make me want to facepalm.
I have been listening to this whole series on audiobook and the narration is decent but there are times that I do find I don't enjoy it as much as others. The storyline moves along at quite a fast pace and there is plenty of action. The stakes in this one have definitely increased and I am keen to find out how this will end. I really enjoy the found family trope that seems to be in all of Annette's book and this one has been no exception. The urban fantasy meets dystopian vibes of this series has been intriguing. The romance has been a slow burn but I enjoy the dynamics between the MMC and FMC.
I have been listening to this whole series on audiobook and the narration is decent but there are times that I do find I don't enjoy it as much as others. The storyline moves along at quite a fast pace and there is plenty of action. The stakes in this one have definitely increased and I am keen to find out how this will end. I really enjoy the found family trope that seems to be in all of Annette's book and this one has been no exception. The urban fantasy meets dystopian vibes of this series has been intriguing. The romance has been a slow burn but I enjoy the dynamics between the MMC and FMC.
rlstrayer1's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars
THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD HOW IS IT NOT MORE POPULAR EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THESE
THIS is what YA should be like. A female MC who knows and understands her limits...a love interest that has good intentions but still does shitty things...lots of moral grey areas that the characters recognize and understand because guess what? Life itself has lots of grey areas. It's not all black and white and nice and neat. It's messy and unfair and uncertain. For a paranormal, this is one of the most realistic series I have ever read. FINALLY!!
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I'm ready for more Major Health Issues related to this book/series
<3
THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD HOW IS IT NOT MORE POPULAR EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THESE
THIS is what YA should be like. A female MC who knows and understands her limits...a love interest that has good intentions but still does shitty things...lots of moral grey areas that the characters recognize and understand because guess what? Life itself has lots of grey areas. It's not all black and white and nice and neat. It's messy and unfair and uncertain. For a paranormal, this is one of the most realistic series I have ever read. FINALLY!!
---------
I'm ready for more Major Health Issues related to this book/series
<3
bookish_notes's review against another edition
3.0
It took a little while for me to get back into this book because Piper is alone. Again. Seiya and Lyre have been kidnapped and Ash is still recovering in the Overworld. So, it’s just Piper and the Consul apprentices hiding out at an abandoned church while a few ex-Consul members figure out their next move.
Remember how I thought Piper’s dad, Quinn, made a turnaround in the last book because I thought he was distraught at the news that his daughter was dead? Yeah, not so much. Apparently he was just salvaging for documents and not her body in the remains of the Consulate. It’s just so weird? Piper could literally just leave him and I doubt he would notice at this point. Uncle Calder seems more like a father to Piper than Quinn and it’s almost weird that Calder isn’t her dad.
Because not only is Quinn an awful parent, so is Piper’s mom, Mona. I never quite understand her motivations for anything. She hates daemons but seems more accepting of Piper’s daemon friends than Quinn.
I don’t agree with everyone dismissing Mona as “crazy” or “unstable” just because she has different opinions and it seems like a sticky slide into bad connotations surrounding mental illness (which, even the PTSD the draconians and Piper suffered at the hands do Samael are barely addressed).
I’m not a fan of Mona but I will admit that she cares for her daughter, despite leaving her to Quinn all these years without trying for contact.
It is interesting to see more of Piper’s newfound daemon form coming into play and her embracing it rather than shying away from it. I don’t necessarily agree with the book going the route of having Piper ashamed of how she looks as a daemon.
She was fine with the ryujin if I remember correctly, and this reads too much like the struggles of anyone who might find out they’re biracial but I feel like this series really doesn’t address this well at all. There should have been more nuance involved than Ash making a comparison that whether Piper’s hair is up or down, having a daemon glamor is similar. It’s not?
For the most part, I did like Ash and Piper’s scenes together in this book even though their moments were a bit tense at first. The flying scene was great but guess what I wasn’t expecting?? The sex scene (!!!) was unexpected. It’s very much fade to black and if you blink, you’ll miss it, but suddenly jumping from a kiss scene here and there to a sex scene was the last thing I was expecting to happen.
Lyre seemed out of character here compared to what we know about him in previous books. He’s carefree and an incubus and while we learn more about him and his past in the short/novella before this book, Piper still knows nothing about him. For him to go off on Piper to scare her off was uncalled for and I didn’t care for that at all. Sure, leave mysteries for the prequel series but don’t suddenly make us hate him for books in.
There is still a lot of action-packed scenes even though Piper is still relying too heavily on the Sahar and makes me wonder if there’s still a point to the Sahar in this series after all the lying and scheming for everyone to get their hands on it. It doesn’t look like Miysis is entirely too concerned now to get his hands on it and it looks like Samael has wiped his hands of it at this point so I don’t get it.
What’s to come in book five is really all up in the air because I can’t predict where this book is going or how this will all go down. It seems like this is a fight between the Ra and Hades families, with the Gaians and Consulate rendered useless in the storyline. There’s not much point to Piper, Ash, Lyre and the rest of the gang either, if I’m being honest.
What’s left is a fight between the Overworld and Underworld daemons for control of earth and the numbers in the middle just don’t seem large enough to join in a war between two daemon armies, so I guess we’ll just have to see.
Remember how I thought Piper’s dad, Quinn, made a turnaround in the last book because I thought he was distraught at the news that his daughter was dead? Yeah, not so much. Apparently he was just salvaging for documents and not her body in the remains of the Consulate. It’s just so weird? Piper could literally just leave him and I doubt he would notice at this point. Uncle Calder seems more like a father to Piper than Quinn and it’s almost weird that Calder isn’t her dad.
Because not only is Quinn an awful parent, so is Piper’s mom, Mona. I never quite understand her motivations for anything. She hates daemons but seems more accepting of Piper’s daemon friends than Quinn.
I don’t agree with everyone dismissing Mona as “crazy” or “unstable” just because she has different opinions and it seems like a sticky slide into bad connotations surrounding mental illness (which, even the PTSD the draconians and Piper suffered at the hands do Samael are barely addressed).
I’m not a fan of Mona but I will admit that she cares for her daughter, despite leaving her to Quinn all these years without trying for contact.
It is interesting to see more of Piper’s newfound daemon form coming into play and her embracing it rather than shying away from it. I don’t necessarily agree with the book going the route of having Piper ashamed of how she looks as a daemon.
She was fine with the ryujin if I remember correctly, and this reads too much like the struggles of anyone who might find out they’re biracial but I feel like this series really doesn’t address this well at all. There should have been more nuance involved than Ash making a comparison that whether Piper’s hair is up or down, having a daemon glamor is similar. It’s not?
For the most part, I did like Ash and Piper’s scenes together in this book even though their moments were a bit tense at first. The flying scene was great but guess what I wasn’t expecting?? The sex scene (!!!) was unexpected. It’s very much fade to black and if you blink, you’ll miss it, but suddenly jumping from a kiss scene here and there to a sex scene was the last thing I was expecting to happen.
Lyre seemed out of character here compared to what we know about him in previous books. He’s carefree and an incubus and while we learn more about him and his past in the short/novella before this book, Piper still knows nothing about him. For him to go off on Piper to scare her off was uncalled for and I didn’t care for that at all. Sure, leave mysteries for the prequel series but don’t suddenly make us hate him for books in.
There is still a lot of action-packed scenes even though Piper is still relying too heavily on the Sahar and makes me wonder if there’s still a point to the Sahar in this series after all the lying and scheming for everyone to get their hands on it. It doesn’t look like Miysis is entirely too concerned now to get his hands on it and it looks like Samael has wiped his hands of it at this point so I don’t get it.
What’s to come in book five is really all up in the air because I can’t predict where this book is going or how this will all go down. It seems like this is a fight between the Ra and Hades families, with the Gaians and Consulate rendered useless in the storyline. There’s not much point to Piper, Ash, Lyre and the rest of the gang either, if I’m being honest.
What’s left is a fight between the Overworld and Underworld daemons for control of earth and the numbers in the middle just don’t seem large enough to join in a war between two daemon armies, so I guess we’ll just have to see.
readbysloan's review against another edition
4.0
I really do love this series, the only reason I'm not consistently giving it 5* is that the detailed descriptions of fighting are sometimes a bit too much.