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cornelia24's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
This was terrible.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Adult/minor relationship
lemonpi's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
man what even was that
edit: 3/5/24 these will all be extensive spoilers so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled. these are purely rambles like 1 month post reading because i can't keep silent any longer lol.
i was thinking about this book again and got mad LOL. i honestly feel bad for the people that actually do enjoy this series because this was such a disappointing finale book in a trilogy. it ties up very little ends, and that's such a disservice to audiences. i already heard this book gave mixed feelings to the audiences and boy......idk where the mixed feelings are. it's just bad. you all truly deserved better.
Jacks as a character angered me more than anything because he just can't stick to his word. He was also a bit TOO OKAY with the idea of kissing Evangeline when it could have literally killed her. (and the part where she said she forgot to breathe when they kissed. i laughed. get that away from me.)
i hate to feel bad for evangeline because she as a character annoyed me to no end but that girl is a victim. a child. a child bride. and she's being pulled every which way between two men who both frankly do not have her best interest at heart. i felt bad for apollo at first because of the fact that he's been under curses for majority of the two books and finally had the chance to be clearheaded, but with the way he was acting.........maybe not. he really had the chance to be a good villain with despicable plans but he came up short and was just.....a guy. amnesia trope isn't even something I hate. tbh i quite like it, but the way this story went about it was less than mediocre. she spends so much time not getting her memories back and when she did, it was so. underwhelming. also, we are given so little to no real fleshed out reasons as to why apollo is truly in love with evangeline. and funnily enough that can also apply to jacks!!
jacks has been such a strange and unlikeable influence in her life from the get go. i can see how the romance could work but his characterization just fell flat for me especially with the way he treats her. in the first book, i really didn't enjoy how manipulative he was to her but in bona, i was seeing the vision BUT then this version of jacks in this book?????? who even is that??? no wonder the poor girl is confused all the time. the mixed signals are endless. the romance in this last book was also incredibly lackluster. how do you put so little scenes of interactions betwen the love interests in a FINALE!! and then the peak romance we get was in the epilogue if you could even call that excuse of a last chapter an epilogue. the fact that jacks did ALL of that just for what? maybe 50 years with a girl? and then she'll die and he'll live on. she is a blip in his whole lifespan, and i just find it hilarious to think about. also she's 17 and he's an immortal fate whos prob hundreds of years old. someone arrest him please.
i just genuinely believe evangeline just needs to be left alone and given the space to actually grow and learn about the world. sooo many characters in the previous books were also conveniently left out. any girls in this book (and the last two) have probably not passed the bechdel test or barely passed it when speaking with evangeline. another thing to be disappointed about. disappointed but not surprised.
this book series had potential. the worldbuilding was interesting but when the characters are hard to like, the book itself is hard to like. i found bona to have an interesting enough plot but the plot in this book was nonexistent. it was literally just evangeline is confused, jacks tries to do literally anything, apollo gets mad and tries to hide/fix it, rinse and REPEAT. no overarching plot.
we never learn what happens with the last broken heart on her wrist. we never learn why jacks eats apples all the time. and if you say its because hes resisting the urge to kiss - please imagine jacks trying to make out and slobber all over an apple and tell me thats okay. its not.
overall this book was such a disappointing read. both evangeline and jacks need extensive therapy. and to not be anywhere near each other. they are so not good for each other. and this book wasn't good for my health.
edit: 3/5/24 these will all be extensive spoilers so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled. these are purely rambles like 1 month post reading because i can't keep silent any longer lol.
Jacks as a character angered me more than anything because he just can't stick to his word. He was also a bit TOO OKAY with the idea of kissing Evangeline when it could have literally killed her. (and the part where she said she forgot to breathe when they kissed. i laughed. get that away from me.)
i hate to feel bad for evangeline because she as a character annoyed me to no end but that girl is a victim. a child. a child bride. and she's being pulled every which way between two men who both frankly do not have her best interest at heart. i felt bad for apollo at first because of the fact that he's been under curses for majority of the two books and finally had the chance to be clearheaded, but with the way he was acting.........maybe not. he really had the chance to be a good villain with despicable plans but he came up short and was just.....a guy. amnesia trope isn't even something I hate. tbh i quite like it, but the way this story went about it was less than mediocre. she spends so much time not getting her memories back and when she did, it was so. underwhelming. also, we are given so little to no real fleshed out reasons as to why apollo is truly in love with evangeline. and funnily enough that can also apply to jacks!!
jacks has been such a strange and unlikeable influence in her life from the get go. i can see how the romance could work but his characterization just fell flat for me especially with the way he treats her. in the first book, i really didn't enjoy how manipulative he was to her but in bona, i was seeing the vision BUT then this version of jacks in this book?????? who even is that??? no wonder the poor girl is confused all the time. the mixed signals are endless. the romance in this last book was also incredibly lackluster. how do you put so little scenes of interactions betwen the love interests in a FINALE!! and then the peak romance we get was in the epilogue if you could even call that excuse of a last chapter an epilogue. the fact that jacks did ALL of that just for what? maybe 50 years with a girl? and then she'll die and he'll live on. she is a blip in his whole lifespan, and i just find it hilarious to think about. also she's 17 and he's an immortal fate whos prob hundreds of years old. someone arrest him please.
i just genuinely believe evangeline just needs to be left alone and given the space to actually grow and learn about the world. sooo many characters in the previous books were also conveniently left out. any girls in this book (and the last two) have probably not passed the bechdel test or barely passed it when speaking with evangeline. another thing to be disappointed about. disappointed but not surprised.
this book series had potential. the worldbuilding was interesting but when the characters are hard to like, the book itself is hard to like. i found bona to have an interesting enough plot but the plot in this book was nonexistent. it was literally just evangeline is confused, jacks tries to do literally anything, apollo gets mad and tries to hide/fix it, rinse and REPEAT. no overarching plot.
we never learn what happens with the last broken heart on her wrist. we never learn why jacks eats apples all the time. and if you say its because hes resisting the urge to kiss - please imagine jacks trying to make out and slobber all over an apple and tell me thats okay. its not.
overall this book was such a disappointing read. both evangeline and jacks need extensive therapy. and to not be anywhere near each other. they are so not good for each other. and this book wasn't good for my health.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Emotional abuse
kari_f's review
dark
1.5
I was going to give this book 2 stars, because it was overly frilly, and I only liked one character, and felt like it had no plot. But then the nonsensical epilogue happened.
Tell me how a curse can have eyes and ears, enough sentience to understand human language and ability to follow and watch characters, but it doesn’t have lungs to be able to take a breath. Because THAT is where we need to suspend belief, here. Just… what?
Tell me how a curse can have eyes and ears, enough sentience to understand human language and ability to follow and watch characters, but it doesn’t have lungs to be able to take a breath. Because THAT is where we need to suspend belief, here. Just… what?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Gaslighting, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Physical abuse, Bullying, Abandonment, Violence, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
chronicacademia's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Stalking, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
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