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A review by olivialandryxo
The Death God's Sacrifice by Jenny Nordbak
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Though this book started off promising, somewhere between 25-50% I completely lost all interest I had in either of the two main characters; I really only finished it because I was still vaguely curious about how everything would play out.
And good gods, it was confusing. So much happened in the second half of this book with barely any breathing room. If you asked me to explain it to you, I don’t know if I could—which is bad, considering I finished it less than two hours ago. I’ll give Jenny credit where it’s due—the ideas here are interesting, even if the execution wasn’t great. I think this book’s biggest issue was its length, because 150 pages just was not enough for the plot’s complexity. If this had been a full 300-400 page fantasy romance novel, given proper time to explore the characters’ pasts and traumas, to let them overcome those things naturally, and really build up the stakes of everything going on with the druid… it could’ve been so amazing.
But unfortunately, that was not what happened. And the book as it is now is just… fine. Very fine. Very (I hate to say it, but) forgettable. Sorry not sorry.
And also, the fact that the druid had a Scottish accent, that Jenny wrote his dialogue the way she did and that I’ve been playing a lot of Disney Dreamlight Valley lately… literally the only thing I could think of was Scrooge McDuck. Which is so not a good thing when reading smut. 💀💀💀
(I know that’s not the author’s fault, or the book’s. But still. It happened. And it was really weird.)
And good gods, it was confusing. So much happened in the second half of this book with barely any breathing room. If you asked me to explain it to you, I don’t know if I could—which is bad, considering I finished it less than two hours ago. I’ll give Jenny credit where it’s due—the ideas here are interesting, even if the execution wasn’t great. I think this book’s biggest issue was its length, because 150 pages just was not enough for the plot’s complexity. If this had been a full 300-400 page fantasy romance novel, given proper time to explore the characters’ pasts and traumas, to let them overcome those things naturally, and really build up the stakes of everything going on with the druid… it could’ve been so amazing.
But unfortunately, that was not what happened. And the book as it is now is just… fine. Very fine. Very (I hate to say it, but) forgettable. Sorry not sorry.
And also, the fact that the druid had a Scottish accent, that Jenny wrote his dialogue the way she did and that I’ve been playing a lot of Disney Dreamlight Valley lately… literally the only thing I could think of was Scrooge McDuck. Which is so not a good thing when reading smut. 💀💀💀
(I know that’s not the author’s fault, or the book’s. But still. It happened. And it was really weird.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Sexual content is explicit but entirely consensual. Most other things are marked because the protagonist is an assassin. Death/grief because she lost her sister prior to the story. Drug use is forced; there are two scenes where she’s given an aphrodisiac against her will, though luckily nothing bad happens as a result.