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3rina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Habe >100 Seiten gebraucht um reinzukommen, das lag hauptsächlich am Schreibstil, der einiges zu Wünschen übrig gelassen hat.
Das Buch ist teils chaotisch und sprunghaft geschrieben & die angepriesene Enemies to Lovers Lovestory kaum vorhanden.
Ab ca. Seite 100 habe ich das Buch in einem Stück bis zum Ende gelesen. Sprich die Spannung war gut & ich wollte wissen wie es ausgeht, jedoch hat der Schreibstil, die an und für sich tolle Idee/Geschichte des Buches zerstört. Tolle Idee, schlechte Umsetzung.
Lese jetzt trotzdem Band 2 Nightbane, da ich es schon zuvor gekauft hatte. Bin gespannt ob es besser wird als Band 1.
Das Buch ist teils chaotisch und sprunghaft geschrieben & die angepriesene Enemies to Lovers Lovestory kaum vorhanden.
Ab ca. Seite 100 habe ich das Buch in einem Stück bis zum Ende gelesen. Sprich die Spannung war gut & ich wollte wissen wie es ausgeht, jedoch hat der Schreibstil, die an und für sich tolle Idee/Geschichte des Buches zerstört. Tolle Idee, schlechte Umsetzung.
Lese jetzt trotzdem Band 2 Nightbane, da ich es schon zuvor gekauft hatte. Bin gespannt ob es besser wird als Band 1.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Cursing and War
hobbit_96's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I liked this book a lot. I was hesitant because all I saw was booktok bashing it. Now I think their claims are based on the level of smut they want in a book 🙄
This is a great book if you want fantasy that has nothing to do with fae and doesn’t have smut/romance every other page. It’s a slow burn, but even who she ends up with was a surprise for me. I like how the love interests (it’s a love triangle of sorts but more two people like the same person) didn’t think with their lower heads (does Grim get a pass?) for most of the book.
The romance is subtle which I love, and not really the main point of the book.
I absolutely loved the plot because it’s refreshing to me and I was mad that the book ended in a cliffhanger. I want to know what happens!! Especially with Isla’s new…situations. Also, wondering if one of the male MCs will turn villain? So much to ponder 🤔
This is a great book if you want fantasy that has nothing to do with fae and doesn’t have smut/romance every other page. It’s a slow burn, but even who she ends up with was a surprise for me. I like how the love interests (it’s a love triangle of sorts but more two people like the same person) didn’t think with their lower heads (does Grim get a pass?) for most of the book.
The romance is subtle which I love, and not really the main point of the book.
I absolutely loved the plot because it’s refreshing to me and I was mad that the book ended in a cliffhanger. I want to know what happens!! Especially with Isla’s new…situations. Also, wondering if one of the male MCs will turn villain? So much to ponder 🤔
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Violence, and War
mj_86's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: War and Fire/Fire injury
jonghyun4life's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
4.75 ⭐️- I’m very pleased to have given myself a chance to read this book after all the review bombing. However, It captured my attention from the very beginning. It was a quick and easy read. This book gave me one of the biggest emotional rollercoasters I’ve had over a book. I would definitely re-read this again and proceed to think about it for years to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit and Alcohol
kotashomelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, War, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
greystory's review
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
2.5-3 stars
I liked the premise so I finally went for it. It was eh. The writing itself was alright. Not good, not great, but not bad either. My biggest complaint was the sheer YA-ness of it all which kind of isn't fair to hold against it. I was going to say this wasn't predictable like I thought it would be but in the end, it was, it just took longer getting there than anticipated.
I also don't love the sort of love triangle. Nor the massive maturity gap in the end relationship. I had unanswered questions at the end, which was a bummer given we had to sit through that extended antagonist monologue revealing stuff (unfortunately some of the same stuff more than once because Isla wasn't getting it for some reason).
Notes I jotted down while reading: (beware there be spoilers)
* She keeps referring to Grimm as having done her a favor when he implied there'd be a duel, but I find that to be a stretch. Everyone in the challenge had a sword so it wasn't like she would have been without one, right? And if you're preparing for this event your whole life, why wouldn't you have a suit of armor prepared or part of your plans? I found this really confusing.
* The severe training memories and reminders of being trained her whole life were at odds with Isla's general unpreparedness. Some of them training memories especially made no sense. These are regular humans with some magical abilities right? It's not possible to hang from something for 5 hours straight. Even if she could, doing it once like a decade ago does not prepare one for a swordfight. That does not translate, at all.
* The whole relationship with Grimm felt rushed and built on absolutely nothing. He flirted a little bit with her and she was so attention starved she was eating it up, apparently.
* She gets a secret from the secret dude Juniper and at 25% in, it's implied she can only ever get one secret from him. Why would she waste it on asking about getting around the moon guards? The answer was to wait until the full moon because the moon guards would have to be inside because all of the moonlings have to be indoors during it. How is that not basic information you already have about the moonlings? Shouldn't she or Celeste already know this??
* More of the Grimm relationship nonsense. Isla's making choices like I guess someone in their early 20s in their first ever romantic foray would but god is it frustrating and embarrassingly foolish.
* Isla is constantly telling herself she can't trust anyone and then going and trusting everyone.
* She will literally do things that make no sense. "Isla had to be quick!" then 2 seconds later she melodramtically kneeled on the floor, sighing and dwelling on her situation with emo lenses for awhile instead of doing anything. Ma'am. Ma'am, I can't with you.
* Isla is really not the brightest at times
I liked the premise so I finally went for it. It was eh. The writing itself was alright. Not good, not great, but not bad either. My biggest complaint was the sheer YA-ness of it all which kind of isn't fair to hold against it. I was going to say this wasn't predictable like I thought it would be but in the end, it was, it just took longer getting there than anticipated.
I also don't love the sort of love triangle. Nor the massive maturity gap in the end relationship. I had unanswered questions at the end, which was a bummer given we had to sit through that extended antagonist monologue revealing stuff (unfortunately some of the same stuff more than once because Isla wasn't getting it for some reason).
Notes I jotted down while reading: (beware there be spoilers)
* She keeps referring to Grimm as having done her a favor when he implied there'd be a duel, but I find that to be a stretch. Everyone in the challenge had a sword so it wasn't like she would have been without one, right? And if you're preparing for this event your whole life, why wouldn't you have a suit of armor prepared or part of your plans? I found this really confusing.
* The severe training memories and reminders of being trained her whole life were at odds with Isla's general unpreparedness. Some of them training memories especially made no sense. These are regular humans with some magical abilities right? It's not possible to hang from something for 5 hours straight. Even if she could, doing it once like a decade ago does not prepare one for a swordfight. That does not translate, at all.
* The whole relationship with Grimm felt rushed and built on absolutely nothing. He flirted a little bit with her and she was so attention starved she was eating it up, apparently.
* She gets a secret from the secret dude Juniper and at 25% in, it's implied she can only ever get one secret from him. Why would she waste it on asking about getting around the moon guards? The answer was to wait until the full moon because the moon guards would have to be inside because all of the moonlings have to be indoors during it. How is that not basic information you already have about the moonlings? Shouldn't she or Celeste already know this??
* More of the Grimm relationship nonsense. Isla's making choices like I guess someone in their early 20s in their first ever romantic foray would but god is it frustrating and embarrassingly foolish.
* Isla is constantly telling herself she can't trust anyone and then going and trusting everyone.
* She will literally do things that make no sense. "Isla had to be quick!" then 2 seconds later she melodramtically kneeled on the floor, sighing and dwelling on her situation with emo lenses for awhile instead of doing anything. Ma'am. Ma'am, I can't with you.
* Isla is really not the brightest at times
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: War
savanah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Started off a little bit lost as far as islands/new lands and if the -ings were considered different than humans.
Literary book crime not including a map, I think a map would have helped a LOT. Got better and more clear as the book went on. I found the main character relatable (sometimes frustrating, but in a way that made her understandable and real). Still processing some of it might need to do a re-read before the next one comes out.
Did not care for the female friendships/relationships/representation in the book.
I also feel like the only way the twist(s) were able to happen was because we were kept in the dark confused and only given the little bits and pieces of information a little at a time.
I also felt the 100-500 years things was weird and unnecessary when so many characters were immortal. Like time just didn’t mean anything.
also both male love interests have some SERIOUS control issues like girl run and run fast. She cannot trust anyone or anything. Also I consider memory wiping one person in a couple a literary crime.
Literary book crime not including a map, I think a map would have helped a LOT. Got better and more clear as the book went on. I found the main character relatable (sometimes frustrating, but in a way that made her understandable and real). Still processing some of it might need to do a re-read before the next one comes out.
Did not care for the female friendships/relationships/representation in the book.
I also feel like the only way the twist(s) were able to happen was because we were kept in the dark confused and only given the little bits and pieces of information a little at a time.
I also felt the 100-500 years things was weird and unnecessary when so many characters were immortal. Like time just didn’t mean anything.
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Gore
cdoubet's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Cursing, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, Mental illness, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death of parent, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol
ladymickbeth's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, and War
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
I’ll be honest, I didn’t see a fair amount of the plot twists coming. Other than that, there is nothing good about this book. World didn’t feel fleshed out, writing was terrible with its sentence fragments not used very artfully, and the exposition was just dropped in, sometimes very loosely related to what’s going on at the moment and long-winded.callmesword's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
The fantasy aspect had me sold but once I read it, I did not appreciate how the only representation is shoved onto the same character who's more of a background character than a side character and the fact that the love interests are 500+ years older than the MC who's only 20 years old. This book had so much potential, it disappointed me. I was promised a Hunger Games type of book, let me tell you, it's not that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: War
Minor: Death and Genocide