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A review by status_meh
A Duet with the Siren Duke by Elise Kova
adventurous
emotional
funny
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? Yes
3.5
I love Elise Kova's books, and especially the Married to Magic series. But this is probably my least favorite in this series. I was actually really excited for this book, despite it taking me a year to get around to reading it. I've always loved mermaids/sirens since I was young (what young girl isn't?). Not to mention, I've been playing Love and Deepspace where my favorite is a merman.
But I just wasn't super into this book. It wasn't bad, and it's kind of hard to describe what exactly I didn't enjoy. I think that the main character having to loose all her memories, especially of her ex was pretty cheap and I'm not sure, I guess a lot of it felt kinda pointless. Plus I felt this book had a lot more abstract ideas which was hard for me to picture.
I think the book had it's good sides. I think the characters are pretty likable, and the plot is pretty interesting. I just can't get over the her loosing her memories, especially since they continued a sexual relationship while she forgot everything . Not to mention the ending where they both became Gods, just wasn't very satisfying to me .
On a more lighthearted note, I think my biggest complaint, and what bummed me out the most, was that there was no mermaid sex. Like, I don't read books for the smut, it's not what I enjoy the most, but how are you going to have a monster/supernatural romance with a literal merman, and they only have sex when both in human form. That was kind of a huge disapointment. Mainly because one of my biggest questions going in was "how is this going to work physically? how do merfolk even reproduce?". So the whole merfolk actually only have sex in human form, on a magical love island felt both silly and like a let down lol.
Overall, it definitely wasn't bad, I think it was good, just not my preference. I'm super excited for the last book in this series, I've already ordered a copy and will probably read it in October.
But I just wasn't super into this book. It wasn't bad, and it's kind of hard to describe what exactly I didn't enjoy. I think that
I think the book had it's good sides. I think the characters are pretty likable, and the plot is pretty interesting. I just can't get over the
On a more lighthearted note, I think my biggest complaint, and what bummed me out the most, was that there was no mermaid sex. Like, I don't read books for the smut, it's not what I enjoy the most, but how are you going to have a monster/supernatural romance with a literal merman, and they only have sex when both in human form. That was kind of a huge disapointment. Mainly because one of my biggest questions going in was "how is this going to work physically? how do merfolk even reproduce?". So the whole
Overall, it definitely wasn't bad, I think it was good, just not my preference. I'm super excited for the last book in this series, I've already ordered a copy and will probably read it in October.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Death, Sexism, and Alcohol