The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
saliwali's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Slavery, Sexual content, Cursing, Murder, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
koistyfishy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
3.5 Stars āļø
This is a hard review to write as I need to find a way to articulate that on some levels I ABSOLUTELY loved it and on other levels it frustrated and annoyed me. This book had a tonne of potential to be an absolutely excellent story but in the end it just fell short and ends up at fine. I think what was missing is that final bit of polish or few rounds of editing to just clean it up a bit.
The book starts almost identically to ACOTAR - I mean girl in the woods with a bow and fighting for her and her sister survival. Due to this initial seed of similarity being planted I battled to distinguish the story as something original or bordering on Fan Fiction. There are parts in the plot that read like Alexandria Warwick had a tropic scene she wanted to write and then just dropped it into the plot. Examples of this are: Wren Robin Hooded Boreas's arrow and they share a meal where they have to "feed" each other . We also get a lot of lets go to this place, then this place, then this place.... and it does not have the full cohesion it needs to have to explain why and so ends up seeming like an idea just needed to be on page because she wanted to write it vs the scene has a full purpose.
Overall the story starts off enticing and I wanted to keep reading, but then the story loses the plot. Quite literally. I had no idea what direction the story was going. It became a slow drag with no clear motive or pointed direction.Ā
It does contain tropes that tick all of my boxes
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Marraige
- One Bed/Horse
- Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone
I also really liked the influences of the Greek Mythology surrounding the Four Winds, it was a unique take on an old legend and then twisted to the "Hades" vibes was also something new seen in a typical Hades/Persephone type book.
One thing that was a strange juxtaposition for me is how excellent and then confusing the transition from enemies to lovers occurs. My pet peeve in some enemies to lovers books is that sometimes the characters go too quickly from "I hate you" to "I absolute love you with all my heart". This book had aspects of that but then also had one of the best transitions to lovers I have ever read. There are weird moments where Wren basically a couple of days before wanted to kill him and now she loves him, but there is also a really gradual understanding that develops between Wren and Boreas whilst they move from Enemies to friends to lovers. They started seeking the companionship of each other as friends and then the attractions started slowly bubbling up to slight flirtation to out write flirtation. This transition to me is not often something you see done so well and I really appreciated the time it took for this gradual change to occur.
Wren herself is a weird contradiction. She starts of being explained as this selfless character but makes selfish, stupid and utterly dumb decisions in the book that make her unlikable.Ā
In the end I was left with a tonne of unanswered questions that just confuse me and just things in the plot...that I am like what????
Questions and What Moments:
1) YOU ARE UPSET that he is leaving you unsatisfied because he has to go fight in a war to save his people??
2) Boreas - YOU gave up immortality for a woman I am sure you only love because she reminds you of your dead wife???
3) Who is going to do the whole judgement of souls now????
4) How did Zeph get the darkwalkers to obey him?
3) Why does he need a new wife every 30 years? What happened to the last one - why does he only talk about the one that died 300 years ago
</spoilers>
This is a hard review to write as I need to find a way to articulate that on some levels I ABSOLUTELY loved it and on other levels it frustrated and annoyed me. This book had a tonne of potential to be an absolutely excellent story but in the end it just fell short and ends up at fine. I think what was missing is that final bit of polish or few rounds of editing to just clean it up a bit.
The book starts almost identically to ACOTAR - I mean girl in the woods with a bow and fighting for her and her sister survival. Due to this initial seed of similarity being planted I battled to distinguish the story as something original or bordering on Fan Fiction. There are parts in the plot that read like Alexandria Warwick had a tropic scene she wanted to write and then just dropped it into the plot. Examples of this are:
Overall the story starts off enticing and I wanted to keep reading, but then the story loses the plot. Quite literally. I had no idea what direction the story was going. It became a slow drag with no clear motive or pointed direction.Ā
It does contain tropes that tick all of my boxes
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Marraige
- One Bed/Horse
- Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone
I also really liked the influences of the Greek Mythology surrounding the Four Winds, it was a unique take on an old legend and then twisted to the "Hades" vibes was also something new seen in a typical Hades/Persephone type book.
One thing that was a strange juxtaposition for me is how excellent and then confusing the transition from enemies to lovers occurs. My pet peeve in some enemies to lovers books is that sometimes the characters go too quickly from "I hate you" to "I absolute love you with all my heart". This book had aspects of that but then also had one of the best transitions to lovers I have ever read.
Wren herself is a weird contradiction. She starts of being explained as this selfless character but makes selfish, stupid and utterly dumb decisions in the book that make her unlikable.Ā
In the end I was left with a tonne of unanswered questions that just confuse me and just things in the plot...that I am like what????
Questions and What Moments:
1) YOU ARE UPSET that he is leaving you unsatisfied because he has to go fight in a war to save his people??
2) Boreas - YOU gave up immortality for a woman I am sure you only love because she reminds you of your dead wife???
3) Who is going to do the whole judgement of souls now????
4) How did Zeph get the darkwalkers to obey him?
3) Why does he need a new wife every 30 years? What happened to the last one - why does he only talk about the one that died 300 years ago
</spoilers>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Grief
Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
alyssasaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, War, Addiction, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
2.75
It felt like a mash up of Uprooted and Spinning Silver, both Naomi Novik books. And because I really loved both of those books, it made it hard for me to enjoy this one. Parts of this book didn't even really make sense. Wren getting the shit beat out of her in the ghost town makes sense, since they hate the king so much. But then less than a few weeks later they go to the mid winter festival. And host a party for them at the Citadel. I would not party with people who almost had me drawn and quartered. More technically, the timline felt inconsistent like the author couldn't keep track of the days. But I likes Wren, and I liked Boreas, so it kept me going.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body horror, Grief, Addiction, and War
sarah_br's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
The slowest of slow burns, and so worth it. I didn't want to put this book down, and cannot wait for the next story in the series. Wren is bullheaded and has bite to back up her bark, Boreas is the frosty king with an unsuspected heart of gold.Ā The story is original and grippingĀ (after the "stolen away to be a god/king's bride" trope) , and the romance is a slow, slow burn - but the cute, funny moments and the epiloge we're the best.Ā
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Vomit
cassie12_21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really didnāt like him. She was ok, but I think she could have been more. The smut parts were pretty good, but the plotā¦ā¦
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Grief, Addiction, War, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
nebulasaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
maliap's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Blood, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
jackie_recommends's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Grief
ladymredd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is an interesting mix of genres: a dash of Greek mythology with a sprinkle of Disney, told in a modern āchick litā tone. I enjoyed it much more than I expected.Ā
It was a faster read than I expected at almost 600 pages (I read it in 2 nights.)Ā It dealt with some heavy themes in those pages: alcoholism, grief, self-acceptance, forgiveness. However, it never felt preachy.Ā
I enjoyed finding similarities to familiar stories that served as inspiration, while learning about the main characters. The book is clear from the beginning where itās heading and thereās no great suspense there, so itās more about the journey of how they get there.Ā
That said, I had to knock off a half star or so for the ending. It wasnāt so much HOW it ended, but I felt that it left a lot unanswered and unexplained.Ā Some things felt like they were wrapped up too quickly, like the author was scared of going over 600 pages. After the luxurious journey of the previous ~500 pages, it felt like the last bit was rushed and incomplete.Ā
I donāt know if the author plans a sequel. If so, Iād happily read it. Maybe sheās saving the explanations for that.Ā
It was a faster read than I expected at almost 600 pages (I read it in 2 nights.)Ā It dealt with some heavy themes in those pages: alcoholism, grief, self-acceptance, forgiveness. However, it never felt preachy.Ā
I enjoyed finding similarities to familiar stories that served as inspiration, while learning about the main characters. The book is clear from the beginning where itās heading and thereās no great suspense there, so itās more about the journey of how they get there.Ā
That said, I had to knock off a half star or so for the ending. It wasnāt so much HOW it ended, but I felt that it left a lot unanswered and unexplained.Ā Some things felt like they were wrapped up too quickly, like the author was scared of going over 600 pages. After the luxurious journey of the previous ~500 pages, it felt like the last bit was rushed and incomplete.Ā
I donāt know if the author plans a sequel. If so, Iād happily read it. Maybe sheās saving the explanations for that.Ā
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcoholism
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