MeowMeow

Lovely story. I loved the hero and heroine – both were wholesome and so sweet to each other (THANK YOU for no/little angst because the two actually communicate PROPERLY. I am sick unto death of couples fighting all the time). Zylar is a breath of fresh air in a subgenre dominated by alpha jackasses, and I really enjoyed his character. He is so gentle and kind. Also, I loved Beryl. I loved her accepting attitude and her adaptability – she is NOT freaking out for half the book or doing dumbass things or spitting snarky comments to everyone like someone with no control, thank goodness! Snaps the dog was cute.

Only thing I wish was that we could have seen more of the trials instead of skipping quite a few stages; that was a little disappointing! But this story is one of the best SF romances, with actual good writing and not just scene after scene of sex, sex, sex like in a lot of other books in the genre. This is a favorite and a keeper. I'm going to re-read this for sure, and there are very few books I re-read (considering how many other books I have TBR).

Thanks to the RomanceBooks subreddit for constantly bringing this book up as a recommendation for SF romance! This really hit the spot!

I absolutely hated Jade by the end of Chapter 7. She's a whiny, shitty, stupid brat with a really crappy attitude. Reading about her wanting to “bitch out” the very people who rescued her, and then yell and scream and just act stupid ... holy molasses, get a damn grip and stop acting like a toddler having a tantrum. Writing was okay, I guess, but why the heck would I want to read what is supposed to be an alien sci-fi romance if the aliens were just HUMANS BUT MORE BEAUTIFUL? How unimaginative can you get??

Dear main character, please learn to have more self-respect and to view yourself with more self-worth. Loser-jackasses can look like they're fine to date when you're desperate, so maybe try working on improving yourself instead of wanting to settle with whatever person comes along.

I knew I should've known better than to be taken along on certain people's hype train about this book. Uninteresting, shallow, stupid characters, flat villains, and an equally ‘eh' storyline that is just ... boring. The main character pissed me off with how much of a horrific dumbass she was, and all her glares/grumbles/whining/complaining/snarky comments are just cringe-inducing (apparently we're meant to find her funny or endearing or strong, what in the actual EFF). As an Asian person of similar ethnicity to the writer as well as the characters in this book, I sometimes want to have stories that feature those “like me” but I do NOT want them written with such amateur skill. It's fucking embarrassing.

Makes your heart ache in a good way.

The thing that bothers me most about this book is the sheer idiocy of everyone, most especially Toby. The other thing I realized that bothered me most about book 1 and book 2 is the fact that I just don't have much respect for her.

She spends the entire book running around clueless, talking to people and doing nothing, while saying (over and over and OVER again), “I'm doing my best.” Really, Toby? REALLY?

Why the hell is everyone in her life falling all over themselves to fawn over her? I can't believe Sylvester or the Luidaeg or Tybalt could be THAT stupid. October Daye is an unpleasant, “I think I'm baddass (but actually I'm not)” asshole who does detestable things. Like kissing a married guy, for one. Being dumb, for another. Being absolutely obnoxious (for no reason) and running her mouth – and yes, yes, I know that it's a “feature” of urban fantasy to have a shit-talking “sassy” heroine who doesn't know when to STFU, but it gets extremely annoying. They're never as badass as they try to come off, and not funny either. I suppose I could kind of forgive this series seeing as it's older, but damn.

If it weren't for everyone saying that the series gets “so much better” (my skepticism rises), then I would be done with this one.

This is the kind of book that quietly slips inside of you, simultaneously stealing your heart and warming your soul. Gentle and profound, beautiful, full of despair and hope and brilliance. Absolutely wonderful.

I just like the characters too much to stop even though the story/plot has been quite boring and uninteresting for a few books now. :/

Very disappointed because the book description piqued my interest. The book is basically someone recalling events to a cleric. That took all the intensity and all the urgency out of the story. How wonderful and thrilling would it have been if we could have read about the events while they were happening, all the twists and turns and political machinations? Then again, I guess the story itself didn't have much meat to it so it would probably wouldn't have worked, but I'm still sorely disappointed that we got this lukewarm retelling rather than a novel of fantastic politic intrigue. It would have been nice to marvel at the intellect and wit of a character who must navigate a pit of enemies.

So lovely. I wasn't sure I would like it at the start, but Eleanor won me over and I just wanted all the best for her. It made me think of things that happened during my own childhood, and though remembering them wasn't exactly lovely, it brought my connection to Eleanor closer – and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I wasn't alone. There was someone (even if fictional) who shared similar memories. We understood each other.

This cover doesn't do the book justice. The story was lovelier than I thought it was going to be.

Wholesome and sweet, and yet I cry every volume. Love this series so much.

First contemporary romance in a very long while where all the characters – besides antagonists, of course – were lovely and likeable. Quite heartwarming, and deals with some complex issues in a sensitive way that felt right to me (I've experienced similar things as the main character and reading this book was a trip down memory lane that made me feel uneasy but it also made me feel seen). The story had the right balance of sweetness, light, and seriousness, all wrapped up in a calm, warm hug. I will be checking out Beth O'Leary's other books.

Wholesome and tear-inducing.

Hello Cliches, my old friend... I've come to talk to you again.

Girl finds out she has magic, a prince tells her she's special, and it turns out she's the first one in 150 years to have her kind of magic. Of course. Plus, she has a lifelong magical bond with said prince, and every guy falling in love with her too...

A trope-filled book would still be a fun read if the writing worked. But this particular novel needed a couple more rounds of edits, because the writing is pretty amateurish and reads like a first draft. Stilted dialogue, a plot that's just a boring mess, cliche after cliche ... ugh.

This is beautiful.

There was a note that this was “professionally edited” ... unfortunately, the author should probably fire and/or not hire that so-called editor he used, because there were so many errors still left in –using the word ‘of' instead of ‘off' or things like ‘an victory' or ‘onto to' ... SO MANY MORE! Dear author, if you paid actual money for this to be “professionally edited” then you got scammed, no doubt about it.

Amateurish writing that was at least better than the crap that the LitRPG genre comes out with (I know they're different subgenres, just comparing). The plot was okay, I suppose, though there were numerous points I found myself rolling my eyes, especially toward the end.

The only thing going for this novel is the nice cover. That's it. You get the beginnings of “just okay” world building which quickly become something like ‘baby's first historical fantasy' level of cringe, characters who are not well-fleshed out and are just plain boring, and a plot that limped along ... ugh. So disappointing and frustrating.

I agree with lots of others who mentioned that this is YA fantasy masquerading as adult fantasy. All the angst, eye-rolling cringe, and even the love triangle is all there. I love me some YA but don't freaking mislead!!

This book is more memoir than training guide. Though, seeing the controversy surrounding Millan and his methods, I suppose that's probably a good thing.

I love Maud but the person who always steals the show for me is little Helen. I want more books with Helen in them :)

• Disjointed worldbuilding (let's throw everything and the kitchen sink in there, why not? ugh...)
  
  - One-dimensional characters, and Gary-Stu levels of “the main character is so important and special and awesome”
  
  - Some things are overexplained while others aren't explained enough
  
  - Tons of things happen and there's lots of action, but I found myself completely bored
  
  - Not up to the hype (certain people on the Fantasy subreddit have been constantly singing the book's praises).

Why. Just, why. A billion pages of yawning backstory/flashbacks, 50 pages of actual stuff furthering the plot from Book 1. I am so disappointed. I won't be bothering with book 3 :(

Intricate plot that weaves multiple plot threads together, lovely prose, great characters who are worth rooting for.

I am done with this series. Annoying characters, yet again “haha let's anger everybody and make bumbling mistakes and just be stupid” ... I think my time is better spent reading other, more deserving books. Reading the reviews for the rest of the books, I'm glad I decided to stop here.

Warm, coming-of-age type of story featuring characters who are likeable and not whiny. T. Kingfisher has become one of my favorite authors these past couple years due to her skill with characterization.