Emaan
This was not near as bad as people had suggested, it wasn't a one star read nor was it a 5 star read. To me, it was about 3 stars. It was interesting enough to keep my attention but it was certainly very far from being a favourite of mine.
I completely understand why she couldn't end up with Grim but the thing that makes zero sense is why she HAD to end up with Oro. It was unwarranted and will cause many more issues in the future. Isla couldn't even kiss Oro without thinking about Grim, she hears Grim in her sleep and thinks about what he has said to her.
Everything Grim did was terribly selfish but he was also brainwashed by Aurora while being blinded by his love for Isla. I feel bad for him because of this but that doesn't excuse him not talking everything through with Isla before going through with his plan. Isla understood why he did what he did and still condemned him.
Oro is a pain, don't like the guy. To me he is just a grumpy 500 year old whose whole existence included searching for a damned flower. Him falling in love with Isla made zero sense. There was no chemistry between them and most of their conversations were superficial. He knew she was lying to him yet still somehow “liked” her. Then there's the fact that she told him she was powerless, I bet that made him over the moon for who knows what reason.
Like Oro compared to Grim in terms of their love for Isla, none made sense mostly because we don't know much about Isla and Grims past. But it makes sense much more than with Oro. If I could say anything about it, it would have been that Grim was totally accepting of Isla's lack of power probably mostly because she was part Nightshade, even powerless. He loved her enough to goade her into beating him, to protect her, and to make sure she knew nothing was wrong with being powerless at all. And in that case their love makes sense, it was likely built on equality and mutual respect while Isla constantly knew she was lesser than Oro in practically everything. She may have lacked power but I'm almost 100% certain that Grim didn't care about that because of her physical strength.
This was such an adorable, and kind of emotionally demanding, book. It was a surprise, taking a darker and more matured turn from Divine Rivals. Iris grew up, Roman had his fair share of battling and scars.
In the end, with all their pain, they ended uo together just as they had wanted.
Shoutout to Forest and Prindle, underrated lovelies. I wish they had longer lives but their end was so beautiful, if death could be described as such.
4.5 stars!
4.5 stars!
This book reeled me in straight away, the action happening at the start was so fast-paced I just had to continue. The pace began to slow as soon as Dianna got caught, but it was comfortable.
The whole book was amazing and the ending was so confusing. But I liked that even more (I was not okay, it was 2am and my analysis of the ending was a mess).
But yes, 2nd book of 2024 and my favourite so far (doesn't really say much so far but it'll still be one of the best at the end of the year
This book took a different turn to the first. Alessa and Dante were pretty much split for the most part of the book, where something caused one or the other to hold back.
The plot was a lot more different, with a new issue arising and focusing more on Dante's pov instead of just Alessa's. This was a refreshing switch which made the book feel like a standalone.
The ending was so powerful, turning a game into something so expansive, something so worrying. All while giving us a happy ending.
4.5 stars seems like a good number.
I have just spent like half an hour trying to quench any tears that could fall so I didn't cry on the bus. I hate how Patroclus never got any peace for like a year, I hate Achilles' bratty child. Like you're twelve, go sit down and play with some toys or something. I loved Thetis' arc once she spent time with Patroclus and looked into his memories and finally realised what Achilles spent most of his life trying to tell her.
I most of all love how this book was written, it gave us the childhood of Patroclus and then moved into his friendship with Achilles that morphed into something more, finally ending on irony. While Patroclus was never meant to amount to anything, he did in a way. He killed the 2nd best warrior on the Trojan side and took up Achilles' role perfectly until the unavoidable. He was the one in the prophecy, the best of the Myrmidons.
Achilles was numb to death, utterly numb until he saw Patroclus and then he was fed on revenge. He was never meant to be a killer, not all warriors are it seems. His mortality, his love, was enough to hold him back until it was the only driving force. But then, here comes the ironic part, it was prophecised that he would die yet he didn't want to until Patroclus died. Once Hector was killed, he fought only to die.
I feel ruined, it's like this distinct heartbreak. Not one that makes you outright cry, but one that leaves your soul torn in two. Roman's love for Iris is one in a million, such a rarity that one could only hope to find. He was dying and anguished yet still pushed on, trying to crawl his way to Iris.
I always figured this book would be sad but my imagination didn't quite give sadness a dark picture like this. Like Iris, I don't know if I would have preferred Roman dying or being taken by the enemy. Both seem really unwarranted for a boy, very barely a man, who loves a girl for her words and her sweet heart. But, in the end, Roman has been taken so it is possible to see this as a second chance for him.
About the rest of the book, the first 50 or so pages were a bit of a drag. Then the whole story ramped up, its for that reason I rate it 4.5 stars rather than 4 or 5 stars. It lacked the whole feeling that I get with 5 star reads but it was pretty close after the beginning.
Can I just give a special mention for Roman Kitt, he is an upstanding love interest. For sure one of the best.
EDIT: I think my brain has recovered from the info dropping from JLA. I think I prefer this series over Blood and Ash, even though they aren't largely different with similar characters but opposing situations. I just wish that JLA could have been more creative than just recycling Poppy and Casteel to create Sera and Nyktos, even if she swapped some of the characteristics around. But, anyway, with trying to put FBAA in the back of my mind I would give this 4 stars at most. At least, until my mind changes
I feel like my brain has been over-fed information, like I cannot even begin to think why JLA would info drop and leave us on a cliff-hanger like that. I'm far too shocked to even come up with anything but this. I'll give my brain 12 hours to go haywire and then I'll formulate something more understandable.
I can safely say that this book was good but Rin went from antihero to a whole villain less than half a book. She took up Altan's plans and made them worse. She claims to have given herself to the Phoenix freely but I feel as though the Phoenix has more planned now that he has a puppet of his own choosing.
4 and a half years later and I've read this book again. The author is so creative with her writing, even at almost 18 I can find that her language is so universal. And obviously, the ending, that ending was pain again and I don't know what to say about it other than the fact that it took all my strength to stop myself from crying. I just love this book.
I'm so happy to have been able to read this. I never would have known it exists unless I looked into it some more.
It reminded me of Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalo ever so slightly, with a fmc who fought against the bounds of society to become a medical professional.
I think I should thank Dana for Hazel, maybe she will teach me to not give up my dreams just yet. I just have to take an unconventional route to get to where I want, Mechanical Engineering in the UK and then apply to medical schools anywhere that would see me as a viable option.
But about the actual book, I'm so happy that it ended the way it did. I do wish that there could have been more, more for Jack and Hazel in the sense that they could undo the effects of the tincture but I guess we can't all have what we want. Now they will just live a happy, youthful life with each other until Hazel discovers the way to undo the tincture. They may have a different happy ending but it's one everyone can agree will lead to happiness.
I don't even know what to put for this just yet, even rating it is hard so I need to slowly reread it and take the words in. I finished this at 2am so that explains where my head was at in the moment.
I love the ending but everything that came before has me a bit confused, I wish there were more Jacks chapters. It was very counter-intuitive having a memory-less Eva with a majority of the chapters and then a weak Apollo with the next. Jacks would have been the suitable character to focus on and he should have fought for Eva more since she did most of the fighting in tbona. I wished we saw more of Jacks, his presence seemed very fleeting and he disappeared very quickly.
Then there were the plot holes, why was Eva such a big target for murder? Yes, she was Jacks' ally but she completely lost her memories. In that sense she was never in cahoots with Jacks, so was it just an excuse for moments with Jacks? It seemed as if the story was jumping around a lot, Eva could never actually catch a break AND she never saw Kristoff even though she was meaning to. Time only ever slowed when Eva was with Jacks in the Cursed Forest and all other moments with him after, as well as her moments with LaLa. Whenever Apollo was around, it was as if time sped up so much.
Now, I wish this book were longer, even 500 pages would have been enough to complete the book well. But I can't fault Stephanie creating a happy ending for Jacks and Eva, in which their only antagonist got himself sealed off into a tree.
3.5 stars for now!
That ending, what was that? Both were abducted by people who would rather them die than live? I can't believe Livia's family and friends ambushed Erik like that. Imagine if their own daughter was with him and they killed her.
AND the part I really wanted to bring up, Larsson. Villain era. Hell, the guy has wreaked havoc everywhere but I'm not surprised to find out he was the one that caused all of this, it doesn't surprise me at all. I had a feeling when they abducted Livia and he said something about playing the Ever King when Livia fell under the sea fae song. It just struck me as odd that he would say such a thing when he could tell Livia didn't care about who fulfilled her desire. It was a massive giveaway put so far forward it probably would never have gotten picked up if I didn't find it odd.
Anyways 3.5 stars
This is one of those books, those that will teach you that you are seen in the world. Even if you are only seen by 1, 10 or hundreds of people.
It's not exactly the best book but it's one that falls deep into you, seeps into your brain and burrows there because you relate to it all so much. It reminds me of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue in that regard. Both were entirely remarkable, they were so creative and both Addie and Effy are so similar although one made a bargain and the other was a child desperate to escape death after being left.
This book is imprinted in my brain, possibly even my heart and that's enough for me to rate it 5 stars
Merged review:
This is one of those books, those that will teach you that you are seen in the world. Even if you are only seen by 1, 10 or hundreds of people.
It's not exactly the best book but it's one that falls deep into you, seeps into your brain and burrows there because you relate to it all so much. It reminds me of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue in that regard. Both were entirely remarkable, they were so creative and both Addie and Effy are so similar although one made a bargain and the other was a child desperate to escape death after being left.
This book is imprinted in my brain, possibly even my heart and that's enough for me to rate it 5 stars