Masha

Enjoyed it more than I expected. This convinces me to read more of Rebecca Ross books. I will continue with Divine Rivals since this supposed to be the foundation/prequel of the series.

DNF at 50%-ish, I tried to finish it because this + the sequel are one my bookclub June's read and everyone in the club seems to love it so much 💔

Yeah really sorry I can't, I just can't stand Raeve at all. It gets to the point that I wish I can cut her tongue or even her vocal chord because of her inability to stop being snarky for a moment and shut her mouth up. Why is her initial thought when seeing a man is cutting his genital? Even when that man is just simply existing 😭 I don't know maybe this type of FMC is just not for me. I found her insufferable, a very strereotypical edgelord. She is also the type that act first think later and that most of the time doesn't end well but hey no worries, the MMC exist to always get her out of trouble and clean her mess anyway.

Essie deserves better. Someone who actually, ACTUALLY care about her.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Raeve supposed to be an assassin? Isn't assassin supposed to be stealthy, silent, calculated, strategic, and careful? Isn't assassin supposed to kill their target quick and leave no mess? I don't know maybe my definition of assassin is outdated and today assassin just mean edgy murderer.

Still the world building is pretty great, I don't like the changing terms like day to dae, grandma to grandmah or grandpa to grandpah (wtf lmao) simply for the sake of making new words. But I must say I really like the elemental deities and the dragons. So, world building is probably the strongest aspect of the book. But sadly, it cannot be carried by horrible characters 💔

Sad I really want to like it, I really want to connect with the romantasy community and relate with people in the bookclub. But yeah I don't know, it's just not for me I guess. I don't understand the hype. Good title wasted on a not so good story.

I need a break from romantasy perhaps, I will look and pick up some classic epic fantasy in the meantime 🫠

Absolutely beautiful book, it's an actually good romantasy. Love is treated as something precious and powerful. The relationship between the characters are build with care and thought.

I will come back later and update this review since I need time to process and recover.