Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Peaches & Honey: These Immortal Truths

This was so beautifully written. I loved how real history was woven into this fairytale like story. The romance definitely felt like a minor part of the story but I also didn’t mind that? It was beautiful watching Anna navigate the world that I didn’t totally miss it but it seems like it will be a bigger part of book 2 so I’m definitely looking forward to that!

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stephanieluxton's review

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adventurous inspiring reflective medium-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

3.25

This book starts wayyyy in the past when after committing an act of kindness and selflessness on behalf of a stranger, Anna is given the gift/curse of immortality by a shapeshifting God. The story then follows her experiences through centuries of living a life in which the only thing that is constant is comings and goings of the immortal god who bestowed the gift.

I don't remember exactly how I heard fo this book but I was a huge fan of Addie LaRue and this book sounded like it had similar themes (although its really not the same at all).

I didn't love this book but it wasn't bad. I think the issue with this book is that it's a difficult concept to write. It's very hard to capture the essence of one's experiences, relationships, the good, and the bad over like 800 years in less than 400 pages. The book is dry. I think in order to write this story in a way that packs the emotional punch it deserves, it would have had to be a really long book. And I would have been okay with that. This book does a lot more telling than showing and I so wish that wasn't the case because it could have been more epic than it was. This book is also largely PG13 and I think it should have been darker. I think the dark parts should have been grittier. I think the romance parts should have been spicier (disclaimer: I am not a hardcore smut reader but this is one of the rare cases that I think more spice would have added a lot to the story). I do love the direction that the book takes in the end though. I am looking forward to what will progress in book 2.

I am not sure exactly how I feel about the characters. Anna's main personality trait is that she cares too much and is very self conscious of her vitiligo. I wish we got to experience a bit more of her fears, challenges, and relationships. We get some, obviously, but I want to dig into it more.
Khiran is an interesting concept but I felt like he was devoid of personality at times. Sometimes he feels like Howl from Howls Moving Castle and other times he is just bland. I imagine we will learn more about him in book 2. I also would like to know more about Eira and Silas. Backstories would be fun and it's very possible we will learn more in book 2.

The theme of the book wasn't totally clear. It had themes of kindness, selflessness, and treating individuals with respect. There's some back and forth between seeing immortality is a gift or a curse and I wish we dove into that a bit more. Anna seems to just be sailing through time and every hurdle is but a small speedbump. Not much has a serious emotional impact in this book because the reader breezes through the events so quickly that they don't have enough time to care fully. I found myself not being afraid when Anna was in a scary situation because she's immortal. The pain she feels isn't describes vividly enough for me to feel it with her.

I think this story would be better as a tv series than in book format. I also feel like the author gave it her best shot. Clearly I just wanted this book to be 900 pages long so I could have the level of detail and emotional damage I wanted. And writing a 900 page book sounds like a lot of work, so it's fine. It's still worth reading. I will be reading the sequel when it's released.

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ingrid6's review against another edition

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

5.0

I loved the travel through different time periods and events, and inclusion of real historical figures and cultures/mythology. As I creeped towards the end of the book I honestly felt a little bit of panic, because I felt like I just hadn’t gotten to know our main characters enough, despite seeing their experiences throughout centuries. I wish I’d gotten more about the characters themselves- rather than just the events. Based on the advertising, I was expecting more romance and I do really wished it had that.

Editing: sometimes a book sticks with you and this is one of those- giving it a higher rating because I haven’t felt as swept up in a book as I did in this one in a long time.

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