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lexysbookcorner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
“She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine. And I can feel myself drowning.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✨slow burn
✨enemies
✨human magic
✨competition
✨who did this to you?
Guys, I have mixed feelings about this 😭 Lauren’s writing was wonderful and I truly love the characters, but the plot and world building? 😬 I had such high hopes for this book bc there has been so much hype, but it’s not quite there for me.
Let’s talk about what I enjoyed first! Her writing style was lovely and definitely kept me wanting to read more. There was so much tension between the MCs and the trials so I wanted to find out more. The side characters were super cute (Lenny, Adena, and Jax have my heart ❤️), but I wish we saw more of them. Is the story original? Not really. But do I care? Also no!
Our main characters were literally everything! They both deserve 5 stars just for their personalities.
“Are you going to sleep?”
“Oh, darling, I’m already dreaming.”
Paedyn is the classic, stabby fmc who doesn’t take shit from anyone (love that for her) 🤭 this girl has it rough for sure. She has to pretend to be psychic bc she is an Ordinary, which is punishable by death, while living in the slums and stealing for survival. She’s a determined gal and makes it work though 😌 seriously, I love her and she deserves the world.
“I was lonely in a way that I imagine the stars to be, observed by everyone yet too far to truly be seen.”
Kai is my man 😮💨✋ he’s a morally grey, cocky prince who kills for the crown. Listen, I know he’s a murderer, but he can do no wrong, okay? I felt so friggin bad for him when we learned his backstory 😭😭 like no one hurts my baby and gets away with it 😤 this man has the biggest soft spot for paedyn and I was here screaming and kicking my feet over it!
“She’s confusing, captivating, and we’re completely wrong for each other in all the right ways.”
I lovedddd the romance (crumbs🥲) between paedyn and Kai. The banter was 🤌 and Kai was melting my heart with the things he said to paedyn. However, this was like really slow slow burn. I’m all for slow burn, but I wasn’t really expecting it here. Idk I just really expected more romance between the two of them. I mean the cover of the book literally says “destined for each other” but all we really got was some banter and their lips touching and now they’re enemies again🥲
“If I am to be her enemy, I want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me.”
I also wish we could’ve seen more world building. I’m used to less intense world building in romantasy, but there is just not enough info provided on these trials. Points are brought up at one point with no explanation on how they tie into the trials? How does one even win? And WHY ARE THERE TRIALS IN THE FIRST PLACE?? Why would you want the elites killing each other when you kill ordinaries to protect the elites?? I do not understand at all. It felt like this was trying to be the hunger games so much 😭
I’m also just really unimpressed with the plot. It’s written like a romantasy, but again, theres just a lot of banter with little genuine development. It just started feeling so repetitive between the banter and fight scenes with little else going on. But the ending definitely picked up and I think it left off at a good spot for book 2! And I’m definitely feeling the villain arc for kitt ✋
I am still really looking forward to the next book, because I think it’ll take a different direction and focus more on the resistance! And again, I adore the characters and her writing style, so I’m hopeful it’ll pick up more ❤️
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
✨slow burn
✨enemies
✨human magic
✨competition
✨who did this to you?
Guys, I have mixed feelings about this 😭 Lauren’s writing was wonderful and I truly love the characters, but the plot and world building? 😬 I had such high hopes for this book bc there has been so much hype, but it’s not quite there for me.
Let’s talk about what I enjoyed first! Her writing style was lovely and definitely kept me wanting to read more. There was so much tension between the MCs and the trials so I wanted to find out more. The side characters were super cute (Lenny, Adena, and Jax have my heart ❤️), but I wish we saw more of them. Is the story original? Not really. But do I care? Also no!
Our main characters were literally everything! They both deserve 5 stars just for their personalities.
“Are you going to sleep?”
“Oh, darling, I’m already dreaming.”
Paedyn is the classic, stabby fmc who doesn’t take shit from anyone (love that for her) 🤭 this girl has it rough for sure. She has to pretend to be psychic bc she is an Ordinary, which is punishable by death, while living in the slums and stealing for survival. She’s a determined gal and makes it work though 😌 seriously, I love her and she deserves the world.
“I was lonely in a way that I imagine the stars to be, observed by everyone yet too far to truly be seen.”
Kai is my man 😮💨✋ he’s a morally grey, cocky prince who kills for the crown. Listen, I know he’s a murderer, but he can do no wrong, okay? I felt so friggin bad for him when we learned his backstory 😭😭 like no one hurts my baby and gets away with it 😤 this man has the biggest soft spot for paedyn and I was here screaming and kicking my feet over it!
“She’s confusing, captivating, and we’re completely wrong for each other in all the right ways.”
I lovedddd the romance (crumbs🥲) between paedyn and Kai. The banter was 🤌 and Kai was melting my heart with the things he said to paedyn. However, this was like really slow slow burn. I’m all for slow burn, but I wasn’t really expecting it here. Idk I just really expected more romance between the two of them. I mean the cover of the book literally says “destined for each other” but all we really got was some banter and their lips touching and now they’re enemies again🥲
“If I am to be her enemy, I want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me.”
I also wish we could’ve seen more world building. I’m used to less intense world building in romantasy, but there is just not enough info provided on these trials. Points are brought up at one point with no explanation on how they tie into the trials? How does one even win? And WHY ARE THERE TRIALS IN THE FIRST PLACE?? Why would you want the elites killing each other when you kill ordinaries to protect the elites?? I do not understand at all. It felt like this was trying to be the hunger games so much 😭
I’m also just really unimpressed with the plot. It’s written like a romantasy, but again, theres just a lot of banter with little genuine development. It just started feeling so repetitive between the banter and fight scenes with little else going on. But the ending definitely picked up and I think it left off at a good spot for book 2! And I’m definitely feeling the villain arc for kitt ✋
I am still really looking forward to the next book, because I think it’ll take a different direction and focus more on the resistance! And again, I adore the characters and her writing style, so I’m hopeful it’ll pick up more ❤️
rkb94's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
dayana1909's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tristophobia's review against another edition
4.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
oh fuck
this is like if the hunger games was a fantasy and i absolutely loved it from the beginning to the end, would recommend
oh fuck
this is like if the hunger games was a fantasy and i absolutely loved it from the beginning to the end, would recommend
rudashems's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kethiew's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
cassielainey's review against another edition
3.0
If you liked The Hunger Games/Divergent books or movies, this is up that alley for sure. I’ll talk more on that later. But alas, I did enjoy this book so let’s get into it for the homies that asked for my thoughts.
A brief description of the story would be a prince who was pretty much born to kill to protect his own and a girly seeking revenge for her father come together in a book where people have endless abilities and some do not. This story is set in the Kingdom of Ilya, during the Purging Trials that sound exactly as what they are. I personally thought this books read well.
I loved the slow burn between Paedyn and Kai.
(that rain scene
A brief description of the story would be a prince who was pretty much born to kill to protect his own and a girly seeking revenge for her father come together in a book where people have endless abilities and some do not. This story is set in the Kingdom of Ilya, during the Purging Trials that sound exactly as what they are. I personally thought this books read well.
I loved the slow burn between Paedyn and Kai.
(that rain scene
helenbobelen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
oliviab13's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
fatimacg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0