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njh_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It's a thick book, about 500 pages, yet it never really dragged for me. Some parts were slower than others but there was never really a point in the novel where I was begging for it to get on with it.
I quite enjoyed Harry and Iain, and they both grew on me as they grew up as well. Sometimes they were both idiots with each other, but they seemed to generally figure it out. Glad Iain got his revenge.
Alys is a rockstar as well and I enjoyed her wit and keeping Harry in check. While this is a MLM novel, Alys could be ace--her distain for the process to get pregnant to the point she basically does some medieval process of IUI and that she desires a courtly love, not a physical/sexual one, speaks of that potential.
The dynamic between Harry, Iain, and Alys I would've loved to see more of, simply because the last scene was killer and the three of them seem to balance each other out well. Liked the ending where the protagonist, the lover, and the best friend all can get along and live in harmony.
Some fav quotes/scenes that may have made me giggle:
"The aide scrunches his face in discomfort. ‘Those are the private royal gardens, Sir Harry. We do not look towards them nor do we reach into them, unless we have a very great desire to lose our hand.'
Harry's face reddens in embarrassment as he is led away from the bench, probably never to be allowed near it again.
'Are you worried the King overheard your prayer?' the aide asks.
'No. I prayed in English,’ Harry says.
'Pfft,' the aide snorts. ‘Then God did not hear it either, for He does not speak the vulgar tongue.'"(474)
"Alys finds the chest containing the scarves and ribbons. Her brow furrows. ‘lain, why on earth do any of us need so much haberdashery? I, for one, have no intention of ever going to court again.’
‘Well,’ lain whispers, in his rough, ruined voice, 'you're going to go through a lot of ribbons, because every time that great Sassenach idiot rides into a tournament he's going to need a favour.'
‘Oh lord,’ Harry groans. 'You're teaming up on me?’
And two bright, mischievous brunets look at him and grin. 'Who, us?' says Alys, her face innocent.
‘We'd never,’ purrs lain." (505-506)
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Torture, War, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Excrement and Sexism
quinnyquinnquinn's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, War, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
wildatheart1339's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Classism, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Vomit, and Pregnancy
pitsikakku's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Confinement, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent
menomica's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
He knows now the word for the soaring feeling he gets in his chest every time he looks at his squire. He knows now the name of the song his body sings when he touches his friend. It is love. And it is impossible.
Once you know and understand that this book was originally a stucky fanfic everything clicks. Like once you see and accept that it’s a repackaged
That being said, I would argue this book does manage to stand on its own. Like for me at least I enjoyed watching
Idk I liked it. Wouldn’t be mad if there was a sequel 🤷🏾♀️.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Grief, Alcohol, and Blood
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy
myarae's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Torture, Violence, and War
marioncromb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was one of those unputdownable, breeze-through reads for me, very readable prose, characters i cared about, interesting historical setting, captivating romance. But i had one big problem with it.
For me, there were just far too many sex scenes. This was maybe slightly balanced out for me by having a canon asexual side character, but only slightly, as they are a side character and their asexuality almost just seemed like more of a plot device not to get in the way of the main couple. And the sex scenes were very idealised and explicit, basically just porn:
To give you an idea of how much. This is a book of four roughly equal quarters:
First quarter: plot: a young knight tries to befriend his prisoner
Second quarter: basically just porn, just so much porn
Third quarter: mostly porn, some plot
Last quarter: thankfully back to mostly plot and only some porn
For a 500+ page book, its a lot of porn. But if you like that sort of thing definitely give it a go because i found it very enjoyable otherwise
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Outing, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment