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_alyssar_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
bookishflower's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
*SPOILERS*
I hate writing reviews of books I didn’t like, but these are my thoughts.
This series had potential, but was stunted by character assassinations, unexplained changes in character arcs and an anticlimactic ending.
The first offender is Rhen. While being the primary and successful love interest, he is a walking (and flying) red flag who goes from being untrustworthy and unlikable to outright cruel and torturous with little explanation or reason beyond unnecessary plot tension. (Also, the comparisons to Tamlin that could be made are well founded).
This is made worse by Grey being x100 times more likeable than Rhen in the first 2 books at least. But, again, his character is tainted the moment he rejects Harper and throws their friendship and development down the drain. I was rooting for Zo to end up with Harper in the end.
Speaking of Harper, the strength, stubbornness and fire she shows in the first book disappears the moment you close the last page and instead we get a passive character who defers to Rhen and is sidelined. What’s worse is how her bravery and headstrong attitude that praised her as a “[princess by spirit and not birth]” before, becomes twisted into a weakness and easy dismissal by other characters and the plot.
If the books explored the trauma and ptsd the characters face more and reflected on how this changed their characterisation I might have been more invested, but instead we are offered little to no explanation with a finale attempting to balance somewhere between ya and adult and succeeding with neither.
While book 2 was mostly filler and travelling, it was saved by the introduction of a new romance plot and repartee between characters. Unfortunately, book 3’s filler and posturing about war does not redeem itself but falls flat on its face. War? Never comes. Brotherly tension? Just needed to be locked in a room face-to-face to resolve. Overpowered enchantress? Gone. The true nail in the coffin for me though was the surprise pregnancy trope, I was done after that.
This series had its moments and potential, but unfortunately the combination of an anticlimactic finale and character assassination made it disappointing.
I hate writing reviews of books I didn’t like, but these are my thoughts.
This series had potential, but was stunted by character assassinations, unexplained changes in character arcs and an anticlimactic ending.
The first offender is Rhen. While being the primary and successful love interest, he is a walking (and flying) red flag who goes from being untrustworthy and unlikable to outright cruel and torturous with little explanation or reason beyond unnecessary plot tension. (Also, the comparisons to Tamlin that could be made are well founded).
This is made worse by Grey being x100 times more likeable than Rhen in the first 2 books at least. But, again, his character is tainted the moment he rejects Harper and throws their friendship and development down the drain. I was rooting for Zo to end up with Harper in the end.
Speaking of Harper, the strength, stubbornness and fire she shows in the first book disappears the moment you close the last page and instead we get a passive character who defers to Rhen and is sidelined. What’s worse is how her bravery and headstrong attitude that praised her as a “[princess by spirit and not birth]” before, becomes twisted into a weakness and easy dismissal by other characters and the plot.
If the books explored the trauma and ptsd the characters face more and reflected on how this changed their characterisation I might have been more invested, but instead we are offered little to no explanation with a finale attempting to balance somewhere between ya and adult and succeeding with neither.
While book 2 was mostly filler and travelling, it was saved by the introduction of a new romance plot and repartee between characters. Unfortunately, book 3’s filler and posturing about war does not redeem itself but falls flat on its face. War? Never comes. Brotherly tension? Just needed to be locked in a room face-to-face to resolve. Overpowered enchantress? Gone. The true nail in the coffin for me though was the surprise pregnancy trope, I was done after that.
This series had its moments and potential, but unfortunately the combination of an anticlimactic finale and character assassination made it disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
malloryfitz's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy
leahsbooks's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really struggled a lot with this book. Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog gets a special shout out for making me laugh and giving me someplace to vent, as well as being an amazing buddy read partner.
There seems to be this tragic pitfall in some YA books where toxic relationships are romanticized. And as much as I want to say that this series doesn’t fall into that trap, it clearly does. Rhen has an awful tendency to try and control various aspects of the lives of people around him (see: controlling where/when Harper goes, what Grey was able to do, and withholding the truth from the people around him “for their best interest”). But when someone doesn’t tell him the truth immediately, he flips out and throws tantrums like a toddler. Over the course of the series, his character arc gave me whiplash. In book 1, he was the villain, but it was easy to explain his actions as a result of the curse. In book 2, he was freed from the curse, and was still a villain without any excuse other than the fact that this is who he is. But in book 3, it felt like the author was trying so damn hard to redeem him, and I just wasn’t having it. He was so far beyond redemption in my opinion, and for a lot of the story, he continued to engage in the behaviors that made him a villain. A person isn’t going to become a hero without a massive turnaround, and this book just wasn’t it. It kind of felt like reading ACOTAR where SJM would have tried redeeming Tamlin at the end.
“I kept the truth from Harper because I wanted to keep her safe. I did not want her to recklessly risk her life on my behalf. She keeps the truth from me because she does not think I can handle it.”
Harper just seemed stuck to me. Part of what I loved about her was her spunky nature and the way that she never held back what she thought. Over the course of this book and staying with Rhen, it felt like she was fading away. She only spoke up one time, and then was shocked about it. I got that she was stuck between a guy that she loved (even if it wasn’t a healthy relationship at all), and a guy who used to be her friend, that her brother sided with. But in her quest to find peace, it seemed like she was giving up on who she used to be as well.
On the other side, in Syhl Shallow, Grey and Lia Mara are dealing with a completely different dynamic. Lia Mara is learning how to step out of the shadow of her mother and sister, and become her own person. She’s also trying to completely change how her country is ruled. Rather than relying on a foundation of fear and brutality, she’s trying to develop a foundation based on something true to her values. However, this isn’t exactly going over big. Especially not with Grey by her side, with his magical abilities that are a source of fear in her country.
“‘I think it will not be easy to have power shift from a woman like Karis Luran, who held her throne by violence and fear, to a woman like Lia Mara, who seems to value compassion and empathy.’”
And Grey is trying to further refine his own powers while learning how to lead an army of people who fear and distrust him. All at the same time as he is developing the sweetest relationship with Lia Mara. I loved seeing how their relationship was so radically different from that of Rhen and Harper, since it was built on mutual trust, honesty, and focused on building each other up. This book really focused on the sensitive side of Grey, which we generally don’t get to see as much.
The ending felt rushed. There were loose ends all over the place, and I ended up with more questions that I expect to have at the end of a series. It basically felt like there should still be another book forthcoming. While I enjoyed reading it, the chapters with Rhen felt as though they dragged. He wasn’t a character that I found intriguing or cared about anymore, and seeing Harper try to justify Rhen’s actions by blaming Grey was the final straw for me. This would have definitely been rated lower if not for Grey and Lia Mara, who absolutely carried this entire book. I’m still partial to Tycho, and I really enjoyed Noah and Jake even more that usual in this story. But Grey has always been the star of this series in my eyes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Death of parent
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