Soup
Why are we pretending that without modern medicine no one can recognize starvation as a cause of illness? Why tf are they misogynists but queer people are totally cool for some reason? Wtf does the prince even do from a professional standpoint other then let men fuck him against his wishes because its tradition that he give out “royal favors”? And why tf is it divine mandate for the ruling king to have anorexia?😭 Also I've seen nothing about how the kingdom feels about lesbians!?
(DNF)
I loved it! It was simply fun to read. Its so queer, it's funny, it had high stakes and action that I look for in fantasy. It felt really well balanced which I've found really hard to come by in romantic fantasy. The author clearly loves the genre and gave the worldbuilding and magic the attention it deserves while still having a fair share of romance (and smut). It has a vibrant supporting cast that took up just enough space to have personalities and involvement in the plot while still being focused on the main couple. Absolutely diabolical that as of now we don't know when the next one is coming out cause I'm so excited to continue the series!
An absolute clusterfuck with a lot of intentions and terrible structure. I love the Idea of this. At the heart of it there really is an interesting story of life and class constantly separating two men who love eachother chaotically. HOWEVER, it has incredibly weird pacing especially towards the end. It has enough historical inaccuracies that even I was able to immediately spot, (dude its 1894 you are NOT supposed to know what tectonic plates are). It has a tendency to beat the metophorical Dead Horse (which Blake would no doubt appreciate). Part of what really bothered me was there was seemingly no care for the historical era its set in, or the fantasy aspect at the center. It's like the author was trying to make it more than One Thing, but clearly didn't actually care about any other elements besides the romance. ALSO DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON THAT ENDING! Anyway what this really needs is more experience on the author's part and a significantly better editor.
Fucking stab me next time, it'll hurt less. No but seriously this is my third time reading this book and I keep coming back to it despite how painful it can be. He's written loss so thoroughly in a way that can only come from deep familiarity. I first read this 3 years ago and have yet to find any interpretation of the afterlife as human as this. He balances the humor, sorrow, anger, joy, and chaos of life and death. I cannot imagine how painful this must have been for him to write, but I do think it'll continue to bring hope to people living with their grief for a long time.
“If you came here. If you stayed. We'd drink tea and talk, and one day I'd tell you that I loved you. That I couldn't imagine my life without you. You made me want more than I ever thought I could. Such a funny little dream”
The main reason my rating isnt higher is it was VERY repetitive in both the word choices, but also its core messaging. Like listen I like a cute cliche, however you have a limit for how many times you can say found family is important with nearly identical phrasing without pissing me off. It had a lack of subtlety and subtext which made me feel like it didn't trust the reader. I also really wish the fantasy aspect was done better. This would have worked better as regular fiction retelling the myth using metophor and themes. Like listen I adore contemporary fantasy but it just did not seem necessary for his character or interesting for the world building at large.
Anyway I never wanna read the words wrecked, undone, or shadows ever again :)
I love the premise of dragon harvesting scavengers, it felt unique and interesting without spending too much time and exposition on the logistics which is great for the fast paced easy reading that this is.
My biggest issue is it needed more depth, some of the most plot significant scenes felt super rushed and lacked any emotional reactions behind them.
I wish the supporting cast got more attention cause their dynamics seem fun but fall flat with not enough scenes and focus to back it up.
Last is the sex scenes were not great. (tbf I've read worse but who amongst us hasn't?). This is more subjective, but I just didn't like their dialogue, a lot of their conversation felt awkward and forced, and honestly a lot of their chemistry in general just wasn't my vibe.
Although this is technically plot heavy its not really important, we're just throwing around an evil wizard and his himbo knight for the love of the game. I love their stupid banter so deeply. Even if it wasn't the most consistently structured or paced it's still funny and bizarrely absurd. Their relationship was incredibly unserious so if you want a romance with emotional weight this is definitely not that, it mostly consisted of comedic flirting and unjustified devotion, but my man Cameron is a weird guy so I won't question his loyalty too much. Justice for my girl Domitia tho
Well I finished it so that says something! No cause the premise is so fun, like underground witch community with a romance between 2 guys on opposite sides of a centuries old feud? How could I say no I love family drama. Unfortunately the execution wasn't great, it had some pretty repetitive writing, inconsistent pacing with both the plot and the relationship development. I do appreciate that they truly despised eachother, but them getting to the point of NOT hating eachother seemed kinda lazy and convoluted to me. AND I WILL BRING UP THE ENGAGEMENT. Listen usually ending in an engagement is not a huge deal, its a bit annoying for me personally but it's also just part of the genre, HOWEVER YALL AREN'T EVEN 20 AND HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR WHAT, 6 months? That was so unnecessary 😭
Exactly as advertised, which is unhinged multiverse doppelganger smut. Suprisingly really funny? Incredibly entertaining and unique, like genuinely shocking plot twists along with the predictable ones. It did drag on for longer than necessary, and there is absolutely no reason I can think of for bon jovi to be such an integral part of this book 😭. Also wdym they're just a couple now even tho they have the same face and name and I'm just supposed to believe no ones gonna ask questions? The moral of the story tho is that gay love really can pierce through the veil of death and save the day <3
It's basically just generic YA fantasy repackaged for adult audiences by making them slightly older and throwing in a couple sex scenes that feature Twilight levels of property destruction. She is The Most Special Chosen One to ever exist and is absolutely insufferable about it. Xaden is shockingly not worse than her, but that's not to say he's not horrible in his own special way <3. And btw when I say a couple of sex scenes I really do mean a couple. This is NOT a smut heavy book they're just unbelievably horny in a weird repressed way even though everyone around them is constantly fucking, GIRL JUST GO GET LAID YOU YEARNING LOSER. Anyway fuck all these people, justice for my man Liam, and I'd rather read from the dragons perspective.
2 stars is purposefully a tad ungenerous, (only by a little), cause as it turns out I'm a spiteful bitch <3
This is about a middle aged man leaving his island to save his daughter after her abduction. Mostly though it's him reckoning with responsibilities he wasn't raised for after being chosen as ruler following his lovers death. I particularly enjoyed the human and dragon dynamics, both historically and personally, it felt new and unique compared to other dragon novels I've read in the past. I liked seeing his perception of his relationships, past and present, change throughout the book. I do wish there was more about him and his daughter zinny. Still the characters and their dynamics felt grounded and complex for the genre. Ultimately this was a cute quick fantasy adventure that was fun to read.
