Reviews

You ever read a story that’s so mid, you’re like ok I get it I’m bored I can’t take it anymore? That’s why I DNF’d in the end. Jude and Mack don’t have enough chemistry for them to be constantly avoiding one another due to worries about strengthening the witch familiar/shifter mate bond with intimacy. And the worldbuilding was beginning to grate on me.

So how’d we get here…

Jude is a witch with electric powers from the city. He discovered his powers accidentally, and he’s still learning what he can do with them. The Council decides he’s a risk to outing the paranormal community, so they force him to prove himself by investigating a cow killer.

Mack is a bear shifter from a small town with a big problem. He’s never had the opportunity to be his true self around people since he’s always the only paranormal around.

Jude and Mack’s instant connection—decided by Fate—is pretty basic, but it gets the job done. They have a decent back and forth going, with the mutual pining on just the right side of tense since neither of them want to make the witch familiar/shifter mate bond any stronger but they also can’t deny the chemistry. Both of them have resigned themselves to having the bond eventually broken by the Coven, even if deep down neither of them want to.

It’s just that the pacing is so fucking slow when it’s just the One Not-External Problem on repeat until it gets stale. And then there’s other issues, like when Mack says “I meant it when I said I won’t submit to you. I don’t bottom.” I don’t appreciate when submission and bottoming are synonymous.

But the real annoyance is the mechanism for the witch familiar/shifter mate bond. Forming the bond is decided by Fate. But also witches go around forcing bonds on shifters for power. “History was littered with the corpses of what witches called familiar gone bad and what shifters called witches gone mad.” So is it Fate or no? If Jude and Mack have a real Fated bond, then shouldn’t they be more concerned about their destinies? And then there’s the Coven, which has the power to break bonds. I guess witches would need a group of higher-ups to break a coercive bond, but that also means they can break truly Fated bonds as well. That feels like too much power for them to wield. Especially since it’s evident from the start that corrupt assholes exist in the Coven. Especially when Jude’s research brings up how

if the Coven finds out a shifter was bonded against their will, then the witch is stripped of their powers… but also it’s possible to steal a witch’s power through the exact same ritual. I don’t need to finish the book to know the Coven wants Jude to fail so they can steal his powers.

Fundamentally, if witches have the ability to override something that should come from destiny, then I feel like it’s not given enough weight in the narrative. Too many implications that are a byproduct of a story needing tension for the plot to go, and I’m so Booooored.

Content Warnings

novel_nomad's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

paulipaula's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

petra_reviews_mm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Interesting characters and world, but the romance is more HFN.

The suspense was a great way of establishing the world and the characters. The push and pull was a fresh take in fated mates paranormal romance... but, honestly? I wished we saw more of the MCs in their happy and accepting stage. The spicy times are not frequent (like 3 scenes?... though retrospectively it is just enough, though not too long) but really hot and well done. There was also a little bit of some trauma and struggles to feel loved and accepted. The shifter character was more fledged out because we also see him interacting with other characters who are in no way involved in the plot. And I appreciate that.

Will definitely continue the series as they seem to be different from each other while being in the same series of familiars and their witches.

books_sunshine_and_chocolate's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

cozmyer's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

hopeamarsu's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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