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witchylevy's review
5.0
Exciting confusing and captivating
You literally feel dragged into the story. The magical world and its levels are fascinating. The confusion comes from how to get rid of the demon soul but that was nicely handled too. I hope the two soulmates aren't kept forever apart. That decree seems horrible to me.
You literally feel dragged into the story. The magical world and its levels are fascinating. The confusion comes from how to get rid of the demon soul but that was nicely handled too. I hope the two soulmates aren't kept forever apart. That decree seems horrible to me.
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars, actually.
I was impressed with the obviously complicated and rich backstory behind the two main characters of Lillian, who accidentally wakes a stone statue of a Gargoyle when she's attacked by evil strangers one day, and Gregory, aforementioned Gargoyle.
Things aren't as simple as they seem; she isn't just a Sorceress, and he isn't just a gargoyle. There are other powers in other realms at work here, and lots of interesting conflict to discover.
I was also confused at times by the complicated backstory. And some of that confusion is because this story uses terms I thought I was familiar with in new ways (Lillian, besides being a Sorceress, is also a dryad, but she calls her tree her "hamadryad" etc).
There is no denying the angsty, forbidden love quotient here is high, though. Gregory and Lillian are forbidden, but that doesn't seem to stop them from willingly dying for each other and getting in some quick muzzle-nuzzling or first base nookie.
In my paranormal/urban fantasy, one thing that's a personal preference is for the magic system or supernatural to have rules and be logical and constrained. I, know, right, that seems a tad ironic. What can I say? It doesn't seem like a contradiction to me. In this book, Lillian and Gregory both have amorphous "power" that they draw from several different sources and seem to be able to do most anything with that power. Not my favorite magic system.
So high marks on angsty love, but not my personal taste for world-building.
I was impressed with the obviously complicated and rich backstory behind the two main characters of Lillian, who accidentally wakes a stone statue of a Gargoyle when she's attacked by evil strangers one day, and Gregory, aforementioned Gargoyle.
Things aren't as simple as they seem; she isn't just a Sorceress, and he isn't just a gargoyle. There are other powers in other realms at work here, and lots of interesting conflict to discover.
I was also confused at times by the complicated backstory. And some of that confusion is because this story uses terms I thought I was familiar with in new ways (Lillian, besides being a Sorceress, is also a dryad, but she calls her tree her "hamadryad" etc).
There is no denying the angsty, forbidden love quotient here is high, though. Gregory and Lillian are forbidden, but that doesn't seem to stop them from willingly dying for each other and getting in some quick muzzle-nuzzling or first base nookie.
In my paranormal/urban fantasy, one thing that's a personal preference is for the magic system or supernatural to have rules and be logical and constrained. I, know, right, that seems a tad ironic. What can I say? It doesn't seem like a contradiction to me. In this book, Lillian and Gregory both have amorphous "power" that they draw from several different sources and seem to be able to do most anything with that power. Not my favorite magic system.
So high marks on angsty love, but not my personal taste for world-building.
crystal_bookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Okay book
I enjoyed the characters in this book. I would have rated it higher if not for the middle part of the plot. Which for me ruined it.
I enjoyed the characters in this book. I would have rated it higher if not for the middle part of the plot. Which for me ruined it.
jennyreadsromance's review
3.0
This isn't the romance I typically read but it was an entertaining story. It's fairly well written and is engaging.
curse_ratchet6tribe's review
3.0
I liked this story quite a bit and was pleasantly surprised by it. The characters and the overall story were engaging and kept me reading far longer than I should have with the other things I had to do today. I'm a sucker for gargoyle stories apparently, as that's what drew me in first. But then I discovered the dryad angle and I was hooked. Incredibly unlikely pairing but it worked tremendously well. Overall the story was smooth, though with a few bobbles (demon possession and split personalities made it hard to remember which personality was taking charge a few times), but I still think it worked well. I liked the setup of other potential books. Nicely done, Ms. Blackwood. I'll be happy to seek out your other works. Thank you!
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