stillmuseum's review against another edition
The writing is not good enough to sustain the pain and frustration these characters are being put though.
Also, this is a series and in no way will I be reading the rest of the books.
Also, this is a series and in no way will I be reading the rest of the books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Slavery
Moderate: Rape
yasmine1998's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Murder
marianettie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
2.0
I read this as part of my owl crate monthly reads. If it wasn't for that, I probably would have put this down pretty quickly. It's a dark fantasy that takes place in modern times- which means that we are placed in a world with fae, vampires, werewolves, and the imprisonment and black market slavery of them, but at the same time there are references to iPhones and the dark fairy castle is filled with high-end security cameras. It felt like the author was trying too hard to make this book too many things that it fell flat and empty. Maybe I don't like "dark fantasy" or maybe I just don't like the romanticization of abusive characters. They wanted me to feel pity and love for a man who let his "mate" get whipped in front of him. Save yourself the mental health and just read something else honestly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Death, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Misogyny, and Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual violence
18soft_green's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Oooookay, I'm going to be honest. This book was interesting. Even while hating the characters and even the plot, I was entertained. I'm even going to listen to the second book. But I'm pretty sure I'll hate that one just as much as I hate this one. But, because I am a generous reviewer, I will tell you why I dislike this book so much. So you know if you'll hate it or not. Some things that erk me don't erk you, so maybe you'll like it.
First off, I hate how it's narrated. The story is told from the main character's, Fortuna Sworn's, point of view. We're stuck listening to her thoughts and feelings about the situations around her. She makes jokes and is incredibly sarcastic. This in itself is fine. I love a sarcastic narrator. Percy Jackson and Jude Duarte are great! Fortuna isn't funny sarcastic. She's just awful. She's the kind of sarcastic that teen girls who paint their nails black and write tragic Tumblr posts that romanticize mental illness type are sarcastic. She's the worst! I hated her as soon as the book started. I wish her harm. She's this way because of trauma, of course, so it makes sense to some degree. Everyone handles trauma differently and some people cope by being the worst person in every room they enter. At least she knows she's awful. But unfortunately, her thinking that she's awful is supposed to make us think she's humble. My therapist, when I was sixteen, explained the difference between humility and low self-esteem to me. Self-hatred/low self-esteem is not humility, it's just hating on your self. Humility actually doesn't center you, it is focused on others. Fortuna tells us that her brother is a good person and from what we see of him in the book, I can't state that she's wrong. But I can't say she's right either. She is also always judging other people! Always. She doesn't give them the benefit of the doubt, she just states outright that they are suspicious, that they are evil, they are selfish, they are gross, they are weak, and like, honey, I know we're in the faery court and faeries aren't kind and fuzzy but if you're using half your brain it wouldn't make sense if they were because they literally aren't human so their priorities CAN'T line up with ours! It isn't natural for their brains! But she does it anyway and the author seems to be on her side which is also weird. Fortuna's tragic past is tragic, I'll give her that. There are like, two times when she does a nice thing, and then she's like, yeah, because it's the right thing to do, and compassion is good when in her soul, she's the worst. She thinks so highly of her character compared to faeries and like, does Sutton know that Fortuna is a hypocrite?
Next is the romance if you can call it that. Actually no, next up is how fucking stupid Fortuna is. She is so fucking,, she couldn't add ten plus ten if the numbers appeared in two different places. Collith says things in intense moments like, "I can't lose you again," and "when I knew you before" and she doesn't think about it? And she's like, "he sees my real face and is still sexually attracted to me," and doesn't think that might mean something? And then she overthinks every nice thing he does for her because he CAN'T be a good person because he's a FAERY and FAERIES ARE EVIL! She's so stupid!
Also, she fell in love with her only friend - who is a person she made up in her dreams - whom she named Oliver. She wanted to screw that relationship over with romantic love and sex? And you can be like, love isn't a choice, and to some degree that is true. Most often it can be controlled. But Jesus fuck, woman! Sutton doesn't seem to understand that romantic love and sex can be separate experiences, like they don't always go hand in hand. To be clear, she made Oliver up as a child and they grew up together and fell in love and idk why, but that makes me feel icky. Apparently, a thing about Nightmares, which is a fantastical creature that Sutton made up, is that people will project the face they most desire onto the Nightmare and what the fuck is that? Sutton can do whatever she wants but I'm judging this choice. It feels like sex fantasy and not storytelling. (Collith see's Fortuna's real face btw, in case you weren't convinced that they need to be together and Fortuna isn't the most idiototic idiot to exist in her own story, also Collith is the most beautiful creature she's ever laid eyes on).
Anyway, why the hell is everyone so sexy? Faeries are supposed to be fallen angels which is actually interesting (I think Tread of Angels did it better but the concept is still there) so it makes sense that they'd be beautiful. But explain why Fortuna is beautiful and why is Oliver beautiful, why is Damen beautiful, and why is that random and basically only Black girl, who was in the beginning of the story, beautiful? Not everyone needs to be beautiful! Jesus CHRIST! Does Sutton know that bodies are allowed to just be bodies?! And sexual attraction has nothing to do with aesthetic pleasure. Why are the faeries beautiful by today's modern standards? If they've been here for thousands of years and were gorgeous to the people of that time then shouldn't they be more work muscular and not defined muscular and shouldn't their faces be rounder and their hair curlier? Shouldn't they be browner?
I don't like how Sutton did "diversity". The only gay people were bad guys or in pain, except the diner moms who were only in the first quarter of the story at most. There were no trans people and homosexual people were characterized as overly sexual and violent. Her little brother is co-dependent and abused by his "lover" so idk if he is canonically queer or not. Not only has Sutton wrapped the plot around queer pain but she also made that pain self-inflicted. And she handled that abuse horribly! Domestic abuse isn't easy at all and the way that Fortuna treated her brother, the victim, was so selfish and arrogant. I just want everyone to know that ridding a victim of their abuser does not solve the problem! She isn't suffering honorably because Damen doesn't like her anymore; she has caused him more pain! The most important thing in helping victims of domestic abuse is listening to them! Fortuna should have stayed near Damen and talked to him to help him see her perspective instead of invalidating his experience. God! I hate! hate! hate! this story! People of color were basically non-existent. When they were they were not important characters. Basically they were the decorative rugs of the story. Except for the Indigenous appropriation...
Next, Sutton used a Native American mythologic monster in her book like it's the boogie man and not something that is actually very sacred to Native American spirituality/culture and handled it like a twelve-year-old on Wattpad and I just think that's inappropriate and worth canceling her over.
The things that are coded to be desirable in the story are wheird! Taunt muscles (does Collith work out? why is he so ripped, his job requires a lot of sitting), scars, not talking much, tall, can control Fortuna, has power, is separate from society, is in emotional/mental pain. IDK guys, it looks like internalized misogyny to me. Instead of getting rid of objectification entirely, why not just reverse its tendency and treat men like sexual objects? And to be clear, they're only sexy when they have some sadness in the background. White feminism at its finest!
Rating the names > Fortuna Sworn 0/10, Collith 1.5/10, Damen 3/10, Oliver 2/10, Lourie 6/10.
In conclusion: 1.75/5. Would not recommend this story to anyone ever. I hate it. It is trash. I mean, it's interesting because the pacing is good but that's the only good thing about it.
First off, I hate how it's narrated. The story is told from the main character's, Fortuna Sworn's, point of view. We're stuck listening to her thoughts and feelings about the situations around her. She makes jokes and is incredibly sarcastic. This in itself is fine. I love a sarcastic narrator. Percy Jackson and Jude Duarte are great! Fortuna isn't funny sarcastic. She's just awful. She's the kind of sarcastic that teen girls who paint their nails black and write tragic Tumblr posts that romanticize mental illness type are sarcastic. She's the worst! I hated her as soon as the book started. I wish her harm. She's this way because of trauma, of course, so it makes sense to some degree. Everyone handles trauma differently and some people cope by being the worst person in every room they enter. At least she knows she's awful. But unfortunately, her thinking that she's awful is supposed to make us think she's humble. My therapist, when I was sixteen, explained the difference between humility and low self-esteem to me. Self-hatred/low self-esteem is not humility, it's just hating on your self. Humility actually doesn't center you, it is focused on others. Fortuna tells us that her brother is a good person and from what we see of him in the book, I can't state that she's wrong. But I can't say she's right either. She is also always judging other people! Always. She doesn't give them the benefit of the doubt, she just states outright that they are suspicious, that they are evil, they are selfish, they are gross, they are weak, and like, honey, I know we're in the faery court and faeries aren't kind and fuzzy but if you're using half your brain it wouldn't make sense if they were because they literally aren't human so their priorities CAN'T line up with ours! It isn't natural for their brains! But she does it anyway and the author seems to be on her side which is also weird. Fortuna's tragic past is tragic, I'll give her that. There are like, two times when she does a nice thing, and then she's like, yeah, because it's the right thing to do, and compassion is good when in her soul, she's the worst. She thinks so highly of her character compared to faeries and like, does Sutton know that Fortuna is a hypocrite?
Next is the romance if you can call it that. Actually no, next up is how fucking stupid Fortuna is. She is so fucking,, she couldn't add ten plus ten if the numbers appeared in two different places. Collith says things in intense moments like, "I can't lose you again," and "when I knew you before" and she doesn't think about it? And she's like, "he sees my real face and is still sexually attracted to me," and doesn't think that might mean something? And then she overthinks every nice thing he does for her because he CAN'T be a good person because he's a FAERY and FAERIES ARE EVIL! She's so stupid!
Also, she fell in love with her only friend - who is a person she made up in her dreams - whom she named Oliver. She wanted to screw that relationship over with romantic love and sex? And you can be like, love isn't a choice, and to some degree that is true. Most often it can be controlled. But Jesus fuck, woman! Sutton doesn't seem to understand that romantic love and sex can be separate experiences, like they don't always go hand in hand. To be clear, she made Oliver up as a child and they grew up together and fell in love and idk why, but that makes me feel icky. Apparently, a thing about Nightmares, which is a fantastical creature that Sutton made up, is that people will project the face they most desire onto the Nightmare and what the fuck is that? Sutton can do whatever she wants but I'm judging this choice. It feels like sex fantasy and not storytelling. (Collith see's Fortuna's real face btw, in case you weren't convinced that they need to be together and Fortuna isn't the most idiototic idiot to exist in her own story, also Collith is the most beautiful creature she's ever laid eyes on).
Anyway, why the hell is everyone so sexy? Faeries are supposed to be fallen angels which is actually interesting (I think Tread of Angels did it better but the concept is still there) so it makes sense that they'd be beautiful. But explain why Fortuna is beautiful and why is Oliver beautiful, why is Damen beautiful, and why is that random and basically only Black girl, who was in the beginning of the story, beautiful? Not everyone needs to be beautiful! Jesus CHRIST! Does Sutton know that bodies are allowed to just be bodies?! And sexual attraction has nothing to do with aesthetic pleasure. Why are the faeries beautiful by today's modern standards? If they've been here for thousands of years and were gorgeous to the people of that time then shouldn't they be more work muscular and not defined muscular and shouldn't their faces be rounder and their hair curlier? Shouldn't they be browner?
I don't like how Sutton did "diversity". The only gay people were bad guys or in pain, except the diner moms who were only in the first quarter of the story at most. There were no trans people and homosexual people were characterized as overly sexual and violent. Her little brother is co-dependent and abused by his "lover" so idk if he is canonically queer or not. Not only has Sutton wrapped the plot around queer pain but she also made that pain self-inflicted. And she handled that abuse horribly! Domestic abuse isn't easy at all and the way that Fortuna treated her brother, the victim, was so selfish and arrogant. I just want everyone to know that ridding a victim of their abuser does not solve the problem! She isn't suffering honorably because Damen doesn't like her anymore; she has caused him more pain! The most important thing in helping victims of domestic abuse is listening to them! Fortuna should have stayed near Damen and talked to him to help him see her perspective instead of invalidating his experience. God! I hate! hate! hate! this story! People of color were basically non-existent. When they were they were not important characters. Basically they were the decorative rugs of the story. Except for the Indigenous appropriation...
Next, Sutton used a Native American mythologic monster in her book like it's the boogie man and not something that is actually very sacred to Native American spirituality/culture and handled it like a twelve-year-old on Wattpad and I just think that's inappropriate and worth canceling her over.
The things that are coded to be desirable in the story are wheird! Taunt muscles (does Collith work out? why is he so ripped, his job requires a lot of sitting), scars, not talking much, tall, can control Fortuna, has power, is separate from society, is in emotional/mental pain. IDK guys, it looks like internalized misogyny to me. Instead of getting rid of objectification entirely, why not just reverse its tendency and treat men like sexual objects? And to be clear, they're only sexy when they have some sadness in the background. White feminism at its finest!
Rating the names > Fortuna Sworn 0/10, Collith 1.5/10, Damen 3/10, Oliver 2/10, Lourie 6/10.
In conclusion: 1.75/5. Would not recommend this story to anyone ever. I hate it. It is trash. I mean, it's interesting because the pacing is good but that's the only good thing about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Death, Classism, Physical abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Gaslighting, Death, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Grief, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Addiction, Misogyny, Ableism, Abandonment, Injury/injury detail, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Confinement, and Drug use
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
it's giving acotar but actually entertaining and the main character vaguely has some common sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Animal cruelty and Cannibalism
_ava_summer_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Slavery, and Death of parent
Moderate: Physical abuse and Abandonment
I thought it was really good! It was quite entertaining and Fortuna did develop a little bit over the course of the book. The trials were shocking and fun to watch her overcome. However, there are a lot of things I’m still confused about, which I’m sure they’ll go into in the next couple of books in the series.sammyfitz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Kidnapping
withywoods's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
My rating isn't fair, perhaps. For books of this genre, maybe Fortuna Sworn is above average. I wouldn't know.
I was tempted to keep a list of all the things that made me scoff and roll my eyes and just sigh with exasperation. But I didn't. So let me just say that this book's biggest problem is the protagonist. I wanted her to fail. She's just odious. I like the idea that she sees her work pals as her little found family when you know that they'd be better off without her sarcastic ass dragging the mood down constantly. Abrasive, mercurial to a fault, HORNY AS A DOG (my God what was WITH her constant horniness?!) and just plain idiotic most of the time, Fortuna made this book about ten times worse than it might otherwise have been. Make up your mind, woman – are you ready to jump this man's bones or do you hate him, hate him, never want to date him? By the third or fourth lengthy description of Collith's appearance, we had a preface of "I've never had a chance to look at him properly before now". Honey, what?! Ogling this "male", your "mate" is ALL you've been doing!
Anyway, the reason I can't read books where "romance" (let's be honest, here, it's just plain smut at points) is the main theme is that there's never very strong plot, worldbullding and characterization. All cheeky little things that I tend to enjoy in my fiction. But what you will get is loads of "and now his dick was hard". Right now? When he's being attacked? And he's surrounded by others? Unlikely. Apologies to anyone reading this review and thinking "Yeah, that's the whole point of the genre". Fair enough, but it clearly doesn't work for me.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS, PROBABLY
Buried under the POV of the world's most tiresome protagonist and the paper-thin cast of characters is a vaguely intriguing plot. Just about. Does anyone want to know who or what Oliver is, exactly? Because spending time with Fortuna's mental sex doll would otherwise be very bleak, if his plot and purpose don't amount to anything more. And who would've thunk that the character only Fortuna interacted with was visible only to her?! I am in pure disbelief and will never recover from this groundbreaking discovery. Is there really more to Sutton's world to warrant further reading? Perhaps. Check in with me next year, when the nights draw long and the temperature plummets and I once again lose all sense and reason, and reach for another trashy and easily devoured book. Maybe the next in the series is what I'll reach for. If I can remember one bland character from the next, or why I should care about Fortuna's motives, or or or.
Note that even this review is tainted – influenced by Sutton's overwrought writing, mean-spirited, aiming for a banterous tone but just sounding petulant. I need my mental space to be clean once more. May the next read be a good one.
I was tempted to keep a list of all the things that made me scoff and roll my eyes and just sigh with exasperation. But I didn't. So let me just say that this book's biggest problem is the protagonist. I wanted her to fail. She's just odious. I like the idea that she sees her work pals as her little found family when you know that they'd be better off without her sarcastic ass dragging the mood down constantly. Abrasive, mercurial to a fault, HORNY AS A DOG (my God what was WITH her constant horniness?!) and just plain idiotic most of the time, Fortuna made this book about ten times worse than it might otherwise have been. Make up your mind, woman – are you ready to jump this man's bones or do you hate him, hate him, never want to date him? By the third or fourth lengthy description of Collith's appearance, we had a preface of "I've never had a chance to look at him properly before now". Honey, what?! Ogling this "male", your "mate" is ALL you've been doing!
Anyway, the reason I can't read books where "romance" (let's be honest, here, it's just plain smut at points) is the main theme is that there's never very strong plot, worldbullding and characterization. All cheeky little things that I tend to enjoy in my fiction. But what you will get is loads of "and now his dick was hard". Right now? When he's being attacked? And he's surrounded by others? Unlikely. Apologies to anyone reading this review and thinking "Yeah, that's the whole point of the genre". Fair enough, but it clearly doesn't work for me.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS, PROBABLY
Buried under the POV of the world's most tiresome protagonist and the paper-thin cast of characters is a vaguely intriguing plot. Just about. Does anyone want to know who or what Oliver is, exactly? Because spending time with Fortuna's mental sex doll would otherwise be very bleak, if his plot and purpose don't amount to anything more. And who would've thunk that the character only Fortuna interacted with was visible only to her?! I am in pure disbelief and will never recover from this groundbreaking discovery. Is there really more to Sutton's world to warrant further reading? Perhaps. Check in with me next year, when the nights draw long and the temperature plummets and I once again lose all sense and reason, and reach for another trashy and easily devoured book. Maybe the next in the series is what I'll reach for. If I can remember one bland character from the next, or why I should care about Fortuna's motives, or or or.
Note that even this review is tainted – influenced by Sutton's overwrought writing, mean-spirited, aiming for a banterous tone but just sounding petulant. I need my mental space to be clean once more. May the next read be a good one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery
lemon_illua's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fortuna Sworn is the first book of 4 (so far) & is a quick & interesting read. Great for fantasy romance lovers, definitely check trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Injury/injury detail, Gaslighting, and Gore
ka_ke's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I could not put this book down. It’s perfect for those who love ACOTAR but perhaps want something a little darker. The spice is mild, but I feel like it amps up in book 2. Fortuna Sworn is a beautiful character with fully personality. Do not trust Collith.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts