surrah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The world felt extremely shallow, the characters felt like generic versions of other fantasty romance novel characters, and the main love interest was gross. The decisions made by characters didn't always make sense. The plot was choppy and it felt like nothing happened for a majority of the book...other than the main love interest being a creep. Look, I'm all for the desperate love that a lot of characters have in other books, but this was not that. I kept going in the hopes it would get better but unfortunately it did not.
Like other reviews are saying, if you are at all sensitive to SA, abuse, etc. you should not read this.
Like other reviews are saying, if you are at all sensitive to SA, abuse, etc. you should not read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Grief and Death
marippe's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I’m kind of disappointed. I feel like the book started off really strong with potential, and I feel like it was great until we met mmc. After that, the pace really slowed down.
I admire the idea of making a fmc who wants more than what her society demands for her, but as the book went on that message became muddled for me. She wants more than to be sexualised, but the relationship with mmc starts on sexual attraction, with him outwardly and bluntly describing that he wants her and he’ll come to her eventually. A woman can be sexual without being sexualised, but it didn’t feel like empowerment but ownership - something she was against.
The pet name “Little One” is probably one of the worst nicknames I’ve heard. Its very infantising, and really creepy to use in sexual scenes.
I liked how the author described locations and imagery but my issues with the story and lack of connection to any of the characters made it hard for me to enjoy it. I’m just disappointed- I started it thinking it could be a 4.75 at max, but the star score kept falling over the book.
I personally didn’t mind the cliffhanger but it wasn’t too surprising.
I admire the idea of making a fmc who wants more than what her society demands for her, but as the book went on that message became muddled for me. She wants more than to be sexualised, but the relationship with mmc starts on sexual attraction, with him outwardly and bluntly describing that he wants her and he’ll come to her eventually. A woman can be sexual without being sexualised, but it didn’t feel like empowerment but ownership - something she was against.
The pet name “Little One” is probably one of the worst nicknames I’ve heard. Its very infantising, and really creepy to use in sexual scenes.
I liked how the author described locations and imagery but my issues with the story and lack of connection to any of the characters made it hard for me to enjoy it. I’m just disappointed- I started it thinking it could be a 4.75 at max, but the star score kept falling over the book.
I personally didn’t mind the cliffhanger but it wasn’t too surprising.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Murder, War, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny
ninxkr's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
I have never before in my life wished I was the type of person to be able to DNF a book.
This book was a 0.25 ⭐️ for me solely based on the potential it had with the concept of the Veil. Below are the reasons why this book failed to hit the mark for me
The characters
Both the FMC AND MMC are infuriating in their own way.
The MMC is a manipulative gaslighter who loves to coerce the FMC into sexual interactions with dubious consent whenever she as much as has a single thought. The fact that this is the MMC our FMC is made to fall for with her backstory of SA and grooming is baffling.
The FMC is set up to be a wild, intelligent woman longing for nothing but freedom after being groomed all her life. Yet, her actions paint her as an easily manipulated airhead. There was times when I had to put down the book due to the frustration caused by her level of dumbness. Somehow at the same time she knew things she had no business of knowing (not that it helped her figure out anything).
The side characters were written in a way that made you not care for them and noneq of the deaths impacted me (or the FMC, based on the writing).
The pet name
Some pet names in fantasy novels are bad and there's pet names that I would pay to get erased from my memory. Little One falls in the latter category. The use of this pet name feels more predatory and belittling than endearing, especially when used by the MMC when bossing the FMC around or, worse, in a sexual context.
The writing
This was very much a book where things were told to the reader and we were meant to just accept it. No prior hinting at things, showing internal struggles or doubts. When you are told randomly that the FMC is grieving her dead brother without ever having seen any signs of this in her behaviour or thought it simply does not have the impact it is intended to have. Same goes for being told the FMC has doubts about the MMC since his encounter with the cave beast 3 chapters before the end when this doubt had not been mentioned in her internal monologue at all since said encounter.
The dialogue is tediously bad. In a 420 page book there was maybe about 5 pages worth of actually meaningful dialogue. It becomes tedious to read when every conversation between the MCs ends in the MMC either making explicit sexual remarks or straight up coercing her into sex.
Overall the events, thoughts and dialogues seem disconnected from one moment to the next.
The pacing
The book starts off pretty strong with the worldbuilding and the fall of the Veil but quickly turns into 300 pages of the MCs wandering about the woods without much happening at all. They literally just walk around. The pace picks up a little bit when they meet the Resistance but once they go out on the mission to find the Marked towards the end of the book things feel incredibly rushed and there is no space left to explore what is really happening. Which brings me to ....
The plot twist at the end
The twist at the end had potential to be good if it wasn't all but spelled out about halfway through the book already. From the moment we met the MMC it was clear to me this was the fae mate the FMC had been running from. There is foreshadowing and there is spoiling the twist long before it's meant to be revealed.
I am usually a person who feels the need to finish a series once I have started it but after reading the first book I feel absolutely no rush to purchase the next book (if ever).
This book was a 0.25 ⭐️ for me solely based on the potential it had with the concept of the Veil. Below are the reasons why this book failed to hit the mark for me
Spoiler
The characters
Both the FMC AND MMC are infuriating in their own way.
The MMC is a manipulative gaslighter who loves to coerce the FMC into sexual interactions with dubious consent whenever she as much as has a single thought. The fact that this is the MMC our FMC is made to fall for with her backstory of SA and grooming is baffling.
The FMC is set up to be a wild, intelligent woman longing for nothing but freedom after being groomed all her life. Yet, her actions paint her as an easily manipulated airhead. There was times when I had to put down the book due to the frustration caused by her level of dumbness. Somehow at the same time she knew things she had no business of knowing (not that it helped her figure out anything).
The side characters were written in a way that made you not care for them and noneq of the deaths impacted me (or the FMC, based on the writing).
The pet name
Some pet names in fantasy novels are bad and there's pet names that I would pay to get erased from my memory. Little One falls in the latter category. The use of this pet name feels more predatory and belittling than endearing, especially when used by the MMC when bossing the FMC around or, worse, in a sexual context.
The writing
This was very much a book where things were told to the reader and we were meant to just accept it. No prior hinting at things, showing internal struggles or doubts. When you are told randomly that the FMC is grieving her dead brother without ever having seen any signs of this in her behaviour or thought it simply does not have the impact it is intended to have. Same goes for being told the FMC has doubts about the MMC since his encounter with the cave beast 3 chapters before the end when this doubt had not been mentioned in her internal monologue at all since said encounter.
The dialogue is tediously bad. In a 420 page book there was maybe about 5 pages worth of actually meaningful dialogue. It becomes tedious to read when every conversation between the MCs ends in the MMC either making explicit sexual remarks or straight up coercing her into sex.
Overall the events, thoughts and dialogues seem disconnected from one moment to the next.
The pacing
The book starts off pretty strong with the worldbuilding and the fall of the Veil but quickly turns into 300 pages of the MCs wandering about the woods without much happening at all. They literally just walk around. The pace picks up a little bit when they meet the Resistance but once they go out on the mission to find the Marked towards the end of the book things feel incredibly rushed and there is no space left to explore what is really happening. Which brings me to ....
The plot twist at the end
The twist at the end had potential to be good if it wasn't all but spelled out about halfway through the book already. From the moment we met the MMC it was clear to me this was the fae mate the FMC had been running from. There is foreshadowing and there is spoiling the twist long before it's meant to be revealed.
Spoiler
I am usually a person who feels the need to finish a series once I have started it but after reading the first book I feel absolutely no rush to purchase the next book (if ever).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Murder, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence
shan_lou's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
lousnewchapter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent
cady_sass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Someone said this book is what you would get if you told an AI to write a fantasy romance, and that’s about all I can say. It’s certainly not very good, the dialogue is cringey and unnatural and there’s zero character development. There just… no depth. But I didn’t HATE it. And now I have to read the sequel *sigh*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Torture, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, and War
emmacartlidge's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Toxic relationship
chaotic_hyperactive's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Blood, Murder, Gore, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Grief, and Torture
enchanted_reader32's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was difficult for me to finish, I'm not gonna lie. It started out mostly decent and ended up being overly sexual. The relationship didn't contribute anything to the plot and a lot of the story went missing because of these parts. (Also, very disfunctional relationship. I would've broken this guys' nose and run like hell at any point during this book.) I kept wondering if people really talk like that and wishing that I hadn't read certain parts. A lot of pages, I just skipped.
The male MC kept calling his love interest Little One, which is kind of disturbing as that is something you call your child. In the last few chapters I heard way too many variations of the sentiment "I will not be owned by a man" to a point where I thought the character might have been overly-obsessed. Through some parts of the book, when they made references to drinking blood, they lost me. Overall the trigger warnings didn't lie.
There were a few good quotes and a few good moments of solid humor or cameraderie. Maybe this book just wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean you won't love it. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
.
⚡️Trigger warnings (as listed in the book):
•Religious purity culture
•Verbal and physical abuse
•References to grooming behaviour & assault of a minor by an authority figure
•Ritualistic sacrifice
•Suicidal thoughts & ideation
•Graphic violence
•Graphic sexual content
The male MC kept calling his love interest Little One, which is kind of disturbing as that is something you call your child. In the last few chapters I heard way too many variations of the sentiment "I will not be owned by a man" to a point where I thought the character might have been overly-obsessed. Through some parts of the book, when they made references to drinking blood, they lost me. Overall the trigger warnings didn't lie.
There were a few good quotes and a few good moments of solid humor or cameraderie. Maybe this book just wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean you won't love it. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
.
⚡️Trigger warnings (as listed in the book):
•Religious purity culture
•Verbal and physical abuse
•References to grooming behaviour & assault of a minor by an authority figure
•Ritualistic sacrifice
•Suicidal thoughts & ideation
•Graphic violence
•Graphic sexual content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Blood
c45p1n's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
k i’m making a list
- this book is literaly acotar’s doppelgänger (derogatory) (in regards to the characters)
- very predictable
- ends on a cliff hanger (is part of a trilogy)
- tropes: fae & faeries, fated mates/soulmates, gods, betrayal, one bed trope (sorta? more of a cling-to-each-other-for-body-heat type of one bed), death is a trope., magic, strangers to lovers, (idk how to describe it but) surviving together, i hate everyone but you (male mc), grumpy x grumpier, again (bc there is so much) character death, um yeah. can’t think of anything else, OH “who did this to you” trope ON BOTH SIDES, yeah that’s abt it
- OH: it felt like a video game in the sense that you had to complete a goal and talk to someone and then just be in stasis for the rest of the story, like just the middle 150 pages were nothingness but the FMC & MMC flirting and traveling with nothing actually happening in that chuck of time.
- same with the beginning sorta. it was just 1) the veil shattered, 2) XXX & FMC ran away, 3) 50 pages later they meet the MMC, 4) battle against the enemies, 5) the middle where literally nothing plot-heavy happens til chapter 28
- pretty smutty tbh, not amount-wise but kink-wise
- i’m honestly kinda stumped on what to rate this but i think i’m gonna split it up then find the average and do it from there but you can just use these rates for generality
- plot: 4/10; characters: 7.5/10; smut: 7/10; monologue: 5/10, dialogue: 7/10; world-building: 8/10; fae history explanation: 8/10 (there was a glossary), character likeability: 8/10
- using my 200 dollar calculator, the mean is ≈ 7 so that’s like a 3.25 in my mind
Spoiler
literally everyone died except the main character and love interest💀- idk why but kinda reminded me of the hunger games
- read TWs before reading the book fs !!!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Violence, Sexual content, and Cursing
Moderate: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, War, Sexual assault, and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent and Religious bigotry