Grace

This book is a classic. Having said that, it is important to keep in mind the following:

-Ideas put in the book are hardly compatible with today's views (religiously, familiar, even in gender matters)

-Pacing and events considered important back then may be boring or irrelevant today

-Writing style is different from modern writing

All of the above may be obvious to some but I wanted to put them as a reminder for all who read this review.

Now, even considering the points above, and having read Jules Verne, who is contemporary of Bram (yeah, different genres but still gives an idea of what was considered interesting back in late 1800s), to me this book was ok, boring at times and very entertaining at others.

I wish it wasn't as repetitive, and the foreshadowing was quite obvious (like I was screaming "Lucy is turned!", "Mina is targeted!", "He hypnotized them!") By the time the characters deducted what was happening my reaction was like "you don't saaaaay! What gave it away, like the last 50 pages or so?" Especially since they were supposed to be documenting and sharing everything around half the book forward, so they were supposed to be on the same page at all times...

I think the scene that just kept my eyes rolling was when Jonathan saw Mina paler by the day, weaker... and his deduction was that her state was due to her affliction for not being included in the men's conversation instead of what was obvious -she was attacked by Dracula... like come on... really dude?

The pacing was very slow as well, and not to mention the dialogues with some locals or seamen with weird accents that just made the whole thing completely hard to understand, let alone to follow.

So overall I rate it with 🌟🌟🌟 because it is not as bad, I still wanted to know what was going to happen and how they were going to end it all, even if at times I lost interest and will to go on. I'm glad I got through it, though, I think it was worth it, just maybe not a re-read for me.

I wanted to enjoy this one, especially because the first book was really good. Unfortunately it was lacking so much that was already built or set up in TSATWON:

1. First of all: I understand Oraya was in a difficult situation emotionally, like she saved her lover and lost her father, became an heir and a prisoner all the same day... so yes, it was too much to process (both father and lover lied to her...), but for how she was raised and how she'd fight against vampires to save humans I expected her to give a fight nonetheless... and instead she chose to play the prisoner role.
2. I agree Raihn also had a performance to maintain to keep Oraya alive, and I appreciated how he gave some tells so we can know it was part of the performance... but it really bothered me how easy he trusted everyone having lived with other vampires for 200 years... what was that experience worth for if he was being that naive? "Alliance" as an excuse is BS, so no plot there. And the worst: How many times did he need to say or think "There she is"?
3. Mische... I LOVED her in the first book, her bright personality is everything, but here she is completely off. I can't imagine facing your abuser. That must be traumatic. But there is something that just doesn't make sense to me in how she was written, I don't know if that's just me...
4. Lilith and Vale, I was eager to read more of them after Six Scorched Roses, but Lilith was just the excuse for setting the "big plot" (the wedding), and Vale was.... I couldn't even picture him as the "third best general, now turned the first best", it wasn't enough of him to see that...
5. Simon and Septimus weren't as challenging as we were led to believe, I was a bit disappointed, there was a really good idea but the execution was a bit lazy 😞

Overall I felt the book was way too long for the story, it had too many dialogues and they weren't even adding to anything... also I saw too much repetition, like "The she is", "Fear is a recollection of physical whatevers " and describing over and over the details of the Wings or the Heir marks.... also apparently Oraya's cheeks were the first thing the enemies were thinking on slashing because she got them every time she battled with someone... it was a bit discouraging for me to keep reading because it was tiring.

The part I enjoyed though is Vincent's past,trying to have is POV and understanding why he didn't kill Oraya when he found her... I swore he had made Oraya the god blood item evwryone was looking for, so it would have been SO meaningful and THAT would have been a very interesting plot to follow.

So yes, I liked the first book, LOVED the Six Scorched Roses (definitely getting that one in paperback) but this one felt lazy, unedited in many ways and too long.

I loved the story, the characters, the setting... Lilith is such a badass even if she doesn't know it.

Points I LOVED:

1. This is the first FMC I've read that is not in her late teens (she's 30) making it very relatable.
2. She struggles to connect with people, which is something very real and common
3. Although she cares a lot, she just cannot express in a warm way that... her love language is caring and finding the cure for both her sister and Adcova
4. She is a woman of science, which is something not commonly represented so I appreciated that so much
5. And as a woman of science she doesn't rely on magic, nor is waiting for a knight in shining armor to come and solve her problems, she takes action even if it endangers her because she knows no one is coming to save the day
6. She represents very well how moms behave: taking great care of others before taking care of herself. I'm not saying that's OK, just that it is well-depicted
7. She saves the MMC
8. She saves the day

Points that kept ot from being 5 stars:

1. Same as with Serpent & the Wings of Night, the world-building falls a bit short, maybe a map and an introduction to the mythology, some context on what is going on so we can place it on the timeline within the series before getting too ahead in the story, this would help a lot

If you enjoy a strong, "common" and in her thirties FMC this is the book for you.

🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

I loved the story, the characters, the plot, the romance... pff I couldn't put it down!

I enjoyed this book way more than I expected, especially having a strong FMC. I loved the romance, not cheesy, it also had its evolution. And Oraya's development in terms of becoming as powerful was very inspiring, to not give up even when odds are against you or that the world taught you it is impossible.

I took half star out just because I needed more world-building, a map to understand where every kingdom was, the places, distances, politics, the reason the trial took place (it is stated as something that happens every century to honor Nyaxia, as a ritual, and you learn some of Nyaxia's trial-from which the Kejari is based on- along the way but there's just something vague about it).

I would only advice to beware of some trigger points:

• Blood (like a lot of it)
• Forced s*x
• M*rder
• Enslavement

Other than that to me it is an amazing read and totally recommend 👌🏻

I was postponing this book for far too long, that I regret it. It was so good, much better than I thought it would be.

Maybe I would have liked more world-building, to me it was lacking, but the story was so good and the writing... chef's kiss, that it didn't matter that much to me.

Yes it felt like Beauty and the Beast was a major inspiration for this book, at times there were parallelisms, but I think SJM explored the curse with a very interesting twist to it, and how it all unraveled was beautifully executed.

Like many, I too had my doubts in the beginning, like it didn't make much sense, but I knew there had to be more to it and when it happened I really enjoyed it.

Now I'm off to the second book because I need a follow-up!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
It was a bit slow the first half but then the story unraveled in a marvelous, mind-blowing way. I just have to start ACOWAR right away!

It is more of the cotidianity after Under the Mountain, yes there are some secrets revealed and I love the banter between Feyre and Rhys, and the last half was stunning, brilliant, and sets everything in motion for ACOWAR (I just read a few chapters)... but I find the first half way too long to get to that point. Some bits are moved fast-forwardly but others are -to me at least- unnecessarily very detailed or repetitive.

It would have been a 5 star if not for this, it took me way too long to want to put the book up again and continue my reading, couldn't get past 10 pages at once for the first half. I even started and finished another one in parallel to keep me motivated, ended up choosing to finish that other book instead lol...

Maybe once I get to ACOWAR I will find those bits necessary or, at least, making sense. I have learned after the end of this book that SJM doesn't leave crumbs without a purpose, so... I am open to be amazed and change my mind ✨️