Sass
"I will strive to unlearn the lessons of my childhood and the century since for you."
This story is about Dain developing as a person and overcoming trauma told from the pov of Leah who happens to be his love interest. also there is some plot that can be ignored because it's pretty mid.
all four stars are for Dain, our soft male lead who doesn't know how to handle affection or kindness, and for Dain and Leah actually having healthy communication and being super sweet
★★★★★ “Nazaro started smiling as I walked over, and by the time I crouched down next to him he was looking at me the way flowers greet the dawn.”
♡
- badass female lead that works as a successful dragonslayer
“You know, some people call orgasm the ‘little death,'” I said, my smile sharpening as his eyes darkened with desire. “I'm a dragonslayer, greatwyrm, and I've already accepted the bounty for slaying you. But I'll be kind, and let you pick the method.”
- love me a male love interest that begs and purrs
“I stared at him, my lips parting as he purred for me, the sound rolling and beautiful.”
“I will wear your chains and warm your home and give you eternity. Please just claim me. Let me be yours.”
- the author actually establishes banter and personality before anything sexual
- desperately need more male leads that are written like this, i'm on my knees begging
- it's actually free on the authors website, just google her name and the title and you'll find it
this story was so bad i wish it had been shorter
tbh most of aether's chapters could've been cut because 80% of what he contributed through it was either thinking about how much he wants to fuck jovie or jacking off while thinking about the different ways he wants to fuck her
one star is for the shadow monster trope, the other one for keeping my suffering to only 125 pages
the only thing i enjoyed was amos feeding the crows and the crows following him around campus
this short story felt more like the author summarized an entire novel but it just resulted in the whole thing feeling disjointed
also i can't say how much i hate the trope of sees the person they find hot and immediately gets a boner the way amos described it he was rock hard during every single one of corvin's classes
Contains spoilers
4.5 stars“He tasted of red wine, blood, and audacity.”
Romeo 🤝 me
being whipped for Anita
this was an almost perfect read for me, but it had two tropes i despise with a passion. they were in the last chapter and epilogue (the epilogue is objectively good, just not my cup of tea), so i'll probably skip those if i ever reread the book:
<spoiler>
- first time sex being painful and resulting in bleeding
"Will it hurt?"
(...)
"I will feel uncomfortable"
(...)
His eyelids fluttered closed, and I realized it wasn't pain he was feeling, but pleasure. My throat was tight and i struggled to breath. Bastard. That wasn't fair.
(...)
"I can't wait any longer. Give me your pain if it becomes too much."
(...)
He pulled out of me, disappearing to the bathroom to return with a warm cloth. (...) Streaks of red marred the white material, and I winced.
If i could i'd wipe that chapter entirely from my memory so it doesn't mar my enjoyment of the rest of the story
- the other thing i have a personal feud with is the pregnancy trope, especially when the author gives us a smart and badass female lead like anita. it made sense with the epilogue the author did and anita thankfully remained badass but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially with the awful sex scene in the chapter before it.
the action is over, time to get preggo </spoiler>
2.5 stars - the curse of pretty cover and fantastic sounding summary strikes again
not gonna lie, this will probably be my last Alderson book because i dropped the first one i read and this one i almost dropped as well
the character writing is all over the place, especially in Ernest's case, which was the reason i almost dropped the book.
coupled with the fact that there was zero chemistry between them and their “romance” held zero appeal to me.
the pacing of the story was also an issue, quite drawn out at the start and towards the end it all became very rushed. for how high the stakes of the final battle are it's written absolutely anticlimatic.
the only thing i adored was the little mermaid fairytale aspects sprinkled throughout the story
2,5 stars it's like i was given a tea i like, but it was just the tea bag without any hot water
♡
- the main characters have cool powers in theory (alexandra creating them through writing, them being able to pull emotions and merge into shadows) but we basically only get a summary of most powers instead of seeing them in action
- all three love interests are nice and more importantly, respectful and the interactions between them was probably the most entertaining part of the book
Reasons why Frey is an absolute catch.
He is happy about the little things
“He was alive and awake, his belly full of warm, real food, and he sat across from his heartsong. If only she'd stop scowling at him.”
He has determination
“He didn't need the intricate machines littering her kitchen; just a fire and a will to please.”
He will help in the household
“Somewhere through the days, Frey had changed tactics—and his hunky househusband routine was...working.”
He is smart
Frey was a proud male, but smart males knew when to bend. And when to beg.
He is eager to learn
“She wasn't surprised when he fell down the World War II rabbit hole his second night. He was unimpressed with her lack of knowledge about the merits of different fighter jets.”
He is inexplicably funny.
“Chewing her cheek, she turned back into the apartment, only to find Frey already a step outside her bedroom door, angrily chewing the last of his steak and inexplicably clutching one of her bras.”
between the pacing issues, plotholes, lacking editing and my most hated pregnancy trope, this one and book 3 are the ones i enjoyed the least
on a side note: how the fuck did her uncle know she's pregnant before anyone else? did he regularly steal her chamberpot to do pregnancy tests or what? is he a womb whisperer?
what sort of cock teasing is this? we get told the solution to our problem at the start and then have to patiently wait for what feels like most of the book for the characters to find out. that was so frustrating
on a side note, i'm really not invested in the plot to save the kingdom, kallus can have it for all i care. good riddance
this book felt like a bad medical diagnosis after being at a happy point in your life
what happened?
the pacing and plot was an absolute mess. important plot developments were kept short while less relevant ones got dragged on and on
at some points i honestly thought i accidentally skipped a chapter
the character exploration, which i adored so much in book 2, was nowhere to be found. did our heroin get emotionally botoxed? bc at points it certainly felt like her emotions were flat like a rug when they should be anything but
sadly the last four stars this series will see from me
my favourite part about this book was that the author gave me really complex feelings about pretty much all the characters, since we see them at their best but also at their absolute
worst
what got me excited was that it seemed like the “villains” weren't just evil but did what they thought they had to, ends justifying the means and so on.
edit: that turned out to be an absolute disappointment because they did in fact turn out to be mostly flat villains, so don't get excited
this short form review is for the whole series, but the rating is for this book alone (since it sadly becomes a mess later on)
Book 1
this one sets out with great promises and tropes
book 2
my favourite part about this book was that the author gave me really complex feelings about pretty much all the characters, since we see them at their best but also at their worst
what got me excited was that it seemed like the “villains” weren't just evil but did what they thought they had to, end justifying the means and so on. that turned out to be an absolute disappointment because they did in fact turn out to be mostly flat villains
book 3
this book felt like a bad medical diagnosis after being at a happy point in your life
what happened?
the pacing and plot was an absolute mess. important plot developments were kept short while less relevant ones got dragged on and on
at some points i honestly thought i accidentally skipped a chapter
book 4
the plot holes and pacing issues continue.
can't believe i'm writing this, but it really felt like this series has too many love interests and emotions are falling flat since issues get pushed aside in favour of dealing with another love interest
book 5
i hate the pregnancy trope
sadly my initial interest burned out like a shooting star
♡
- romance author gets abducted by an alien captain to play matchmaker - need i say more? what a great trope
- fl that doesn't behave like an absolute brat? check
- loved the exploration aspect, visiting other planets, although i found that part a bit rushed
- pretty, shiny scales? maybe i'm a magpie bc i like it (if you want more shiny and colour shifting i can rec Spared By The Monster (Mates of Planet 25XA)