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meg53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Abandonment
Minor: Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
lee_s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Kidnapping, and Abandonment
loveat1stwrite's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Blood, and Abandonment
Minor: Confinement, Racism, Car accident, and Death of parent
ceruleanseas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War
julianacosta_01's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
tab_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
bergha1998's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Fantasy Romance, Fated Mates, Opposites Attract, 4 🔥
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
lauramparis's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Death and Kidnapping
krys10reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment
wardenred's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
“A mate is . . .” The cicadas quiet. We can only hear the waves, gently lapping into the night. “Who you are meant for. Who is meant for you.”
“And this is a uniquely Were experience that differs from Human high schoolers writing lyrics on each other’s yearbooks before heading to separate colleges . . . how?”
It took me a hot minute to get used to the writing style, and then every time I came back to the book after a break in reading, there was a brief period of readjustment, as well. I wouldn’t call the prose bad by any means, just challenging to get into somehow. Still can’t quite put a finger on why—maybe it’s just an ESL thing on my part.
At the beginning, I was really fascinated by the sci-fi-ish spin on the typical urban fantasy races. However, alas, that worldbuilding began to gradually fall apart past the first few chapters. There were minor details I’d question even if the existence werewolves and vampires was vaguely explained by magic, but the attempt at a more science-y bend made them even more grating. For example, there’s a point in the book when it’s stated that, unlike vampires (sorry, Vampyres), the werewolves (sorry, Weres) don’t stand out to humans at all at a glance. Like, excuse me? They have green blood? They’ve been stated to blush green? They probably have green-tinted nails, mouths, conjunctivae etc? Sounds pretty damn noticeable to me. Though there’s also a scene late in the book that mentions a Were character’s lips being dark red after kissing, so idk what I’m supposed to think here. These details are small, but what with them clashing with how the worldbuilding was presented at the beginning, they kept taking me out of the narrative.
As for the story itself, I really, really liked the political plot. The bigger picture that led to Misery and Lowe’s arranged marriage, the inner struggles withing the Were community, how it all tied together with Serena’s disappearance, all of it was simply delicious. I loved every twist and reveal… up until maybe the final part where
The same theme continues with the romance, I guess: all cool up until a certain point. Misery herself was a great narrator whose sense of humor and reaction to trauma and abandonment I found pretty relatable. Lowe didn’t grip me that much, but he had his moments, and overall I liked the dynamic these two head and how their relationship progressed. But then we got to the obligatory third act break-up, which took the form o
Despite all my complaints, there were enough fun moments here to make me want to check out more of the author’s books. I also kind of hope for a sequel about Misery’s twin brother, because he’s easily my favorite character in this whole story, and he’s had such a cool arc despite only showing up on page a handful of times!
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Medical content, and Kidnapping