Rachel

I spent the entire ending battle scene crying, this book wraps up so beautifully with love horses victory and building the world anew. The friendship and sisterly dialogue is heartwarming and exceptionally portrayed throughout the series. The locations and world of this series were also very clearly painted and understood. Adventure tales were well constructed, characters were imbued with unique and quirky qualities, I want to be part of the friend group too maybe with shadow powers and wings pls #daughterofdarkness. The ‘twists’ in this of Jasira and the warrior women coming for the rescue were obvious, but the fate stone less so for me. I thought maybe it was a time ticker on the end of darkness? So happy our MCs get to fight and flit around as they desire. My one complaint is how every scene w the two MCs once they are alone is just sex, sometimes good, but it got old.

I almost stopped the series before this book and I’m rlly glad I didn’t, good adventures contained in here, the arc of the characters pain to happiness is a phenomenon I’m glad not to have missed. Glad the main characters finally had it out, glad to finally understand what has been going on behind the scenes with the other groups. A good setup for the next books resolution.

This adventure story has intrigued me. I enjoy a heroine who proves everyone wrong. The push and pull between the two MC’s seems so pointless like they fall into bed together every single time but I enjoyed their trek together as their introduction and relationship building. The Malik twist with his subtle smiles and the story of her dagger are bright spots. The camaraderie of the FMC and her shield boys is so well written and precious, excellent depictions of friendship and care. Their journey to become guardians was a highlight for me. The description of the monsters is somewhat confusing to me as I try to picture how they look and their mechanics as well with black tendrils and claws and shadow vision causing but I am also willing to accept they are as they are

Happy to see our main woman improve her skills and her emotional control, felt somewhat bored here in the middle but this was (sadly) saved by the end, my stomach hurts :(

I just kind of feel like why? Everything wrapped up as expected which is nice and there was interesting town drama throughout but this just seems like an unrealistic happy ending where the main character is perfect? As is her relationship and family and besties. I of course agree with the inclusive and feminist messages of the story and learned more about midwifery but don’t get the point

quick romance read, some hot scenes for sure, predictable

I haven't read anything about slavery since elementary school? middle school? It has certainly been awhile. Hearing about what black people were forced to endure and for how long and how those systems are still present today was terrible and valuable and eye-opening. This harrowing comparison of the treatment of subordinates in US, India, and Nazi Germany should incite rage in us all. It's a hard book to read but it's important to know the truth about the nation we live in. Unfortunately caste beliefs are still ever-present in our society and in all of us, but when you are able to describe and detail a problem there is more hope for identifying a solution. Reinforces the belief and truth that what benefits the lowest people in a society benefits us all.

I still hate love triangles. i do enjoy a main character giving in to the evil, her marking her arms though, like i just think she is dumb for doing that and keeping her plan secret seems like an obviously huge mistake, but i supposed that is how you build drama in a book, like it wouldn't be interesting if the main character did something reasonable? alas, i think i will quit here in the series.

I came back for more. Had to see the Grim timeline play out, a necklace that you wear and touch and he shows up? obsessed. I am like not team oro, but i am team secret marriage? felt sort of out of place but also sort of invested in it. confused about the portal stuff and the war? having trouble interpreting who the warmongers are. idk, keep reading if you want

The ruler that had to die was mostly predictable, also love triangles induce stress for me so you know I was disappointed by who she went with at the end. I enjoyed the different curses and kingdoms although sometimes I had a hard time comprehending what was where and some of the explanations of places or happenings didn't make a lot of sense to me.

It's not always that the protagonists of a rom com get to have immense dialogue and interaction like this. I feverishly sped through this. The banter was incredible, the community of people on all sides were plausible and well fleshed out. I'd recommend it as a great beach read. Don't feel particularly compelled to read the second one.

Just did a reread of this to prepare for book 2! The first time I read it I really liked it and totally breezed through it. Love a tough main female protagonist. Upon reading it again, noticed how repetitive the thought processes and angsts were which ultimately felt frustrating. The twists were definitely still exciting and I would still recommend this as a first read, but then maybe don't pick it up again lol.

Reading the experience of someone falling apart and figuring out how to put themselves back together again. Resiliency, love in platonic places, community, humor too. Enjoyed the writing style, very down to earth writing with short chapters making it extremely readable. Found the commentary on organized religion to be extremely insightful having had similar experiences and questions regarding the difference between the stated teachings and the actual practices of some religious groups. Highly recommend, ultimately uplifting.

Wow what a fascinating depiction of the history of plains Indians and of course in particular the Comanche tribe. The intersections of the horse tribe’s way of life and the encroaching American frontier were extremely interesting and oftentimes violent. Competing desires of the different people led to dramatic and bloody encounters. Really enjoyed the detailed descriptions and characterizations of prominent characters involved on all sides of the history. Discussions of forced reservation life also generate a lot of empathy for natives and what they have been forced to endured through displacement and the erasure of the buffalo.

Needed to get a book in, this sufficed for sure, didn’t really buy some of the dialogue at the end, like the bad man’s story seemed unlike what his character would say.. almost vomited at the end hahaha so heed warnings at the start!! Somewhat over done on the lovey dovey for my taste, but some people might enjoy. Like the idea of a long term conquest, heated rivalry energy

A younger me would have appreciated the coming of age aspects of this more but the older me appreciated the history. Both the younger and older me’s would have and did enjoy the quirkiness of and take on the vampire abilities and vulnerabilities. Got my family to read a lesbian vampire book so that was fun too! Also in spite of the plot not pulling me in especially for the female of the current age, I always find myself in awe of Schwab’s writing style - the fluidity and train of thought is so riveting to read.

With the strength of today’s disinformation campaigns and historical event erasure, it is imperative that the experiences and words from firsthand accounts of tragedies are recorded and shared. This book excellently compiles evidence of the day from all primary and secondary participants. The horrors that officers encountered were countless and they faced them so bravely. At a time when ICE recently shot and killed innocent people on the street, the contrast in how these officers refrained from lethally harming insurrectionists and terrorists against the US is especially apparent. Highly recommend if you don’t know a lot about the actual events of the day.

Started getting into it and then I needed to know how it all tied together. Some of the young puppy love interactions were so dramatic but then I remembered feeling and saying similar things when I was in my early twenties. Interesting history anecdotes with Egypt as well that gave some context and educated me about something I didn’t know before.. apt title too I think

A love letter to the desert. Makes you want to frolic and makes you feel nostalgia for a land you never knew

I enjoyed a lot of this book but it seemed to almost be too easy by the end

Slightly confusing at the start with all of the houses etc. but got to where it needed to be

Author’s note is poignant

I enjoyed the book but it felt like the characters were just journeying from place to place for the entire book and I was waiting for them to get somewhere. Recommend continuing to read the series because the storyline is ultimately good and there are interesting paths the characters go down.

Such a beautiful story. The way McBride crafted it and made all of the seemingly dissonant stories of various characters twirl perfectly into one another at the end was wonderful. Justice served. And I loved how it felt like the fourth wall was broken with the author talking directly to us as the reader and directly about americas flaws and the continuance of some of them throughout time. Felt like we were in on something together

This was really beautiful