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moinameismax's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Classism, Torture, and Slavery
zoe_wein's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
yasmine1998's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Murder
18soft_green's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Oooookay, I'm going to be honest. This book was interesting. Even while hating the characters and even the plot, I was entertained. I'm even going to listen to the second book. But I'm pretty sure I'll hate that one just as much as I hate this one. But, because I am a generous reviewer, I will tell you why I dislike this book so much. So you know if you'll hate it or not. Some things that erk me don't erk you, so maybe you'll like it.
First off, I hate how it's narrated. The story is told from the main character's, Fortuna Sworn's, point of view. We're stuck listening to her thoughts and feelings about the situations around her. She makes jokes and is incredibly sarcastic. This in itself is fine. I love a sarcastic narrator. Percy Jackson and Jude Duarte are great! Fortuna isn't funny sarcastic. She's just awful. She's the kind of sarcastic that teen girls who paint their nails black and write tragic Tumblr posts that romanticize mental illness type are sarcastic. She's the worst! I hated her as soon as the book started. I wish her harm. She's this way because of trauma, of course, so it makes sense to some degree. Everyone handles trauma differently and some people cope by being the worst person in every room they enter. At least she knows she's awful. But unfortunately, her thinking that she's awful is supposed to make us think she's humble. My therapist, when I was sixteen, explained the difference between humility and low self-esteem to me. Self-hatred/low self-esteem is not humility, it's just hating on your self. Humility actually doesn't center you, it is focused on others. Fortuna tells us that her brother is a good person and from what we see of him in the book, I can't state that she's wrong. But I can't say she's right either. She is also always judging other people! Always. She doesn't give them the benefit of the doubt, she just states outright that they are suspicious, that they are evil, they are selfish, they are gross, they are weak, and like, honey, I know we're in the faery court and faeries aren't kind and fuzzy but if you're using half your brain it wouldn't make sense if they were because they literally aren't human so their priorities CAN'T line up with ours! It isn't natural for their brains! But she does it anyway and the author seems to be on her side which is also weird. Fortuna's tragic past is tragic, I'll give her that. There are like, two times when she does a nice thing, and then she's like, yeah, because it's the right thing to do, and compassion is good when in her soul, she's the worst. She thinks so highly of her character compared to faeries and like, does Sutton know that Fortuna is a hypocrite?
Next is the romance if you can call it that. Actually no, next up is how fucking stupid Fortuna is. She is so fucking,, she couldn't add ten plus ten if the numbers appeared in two different places. Collith says things in intense moments like, "I can't lose you again," and "when I knew you before" and she doesn't think about it? And she's like, "he sees my real face and is still sexually attracted to me," and doesn't think that might mean something? And then she overthinks every nice thing he does for her because he CAN'T be a good person because he's a FAERY and FAERIES ARE EVIL! She's so stupid!
Also, she fell in love with her only friend - who is a person she made up in her dreams - whom she named Oliver. She wanted to screw that relationship over with romantic love and sex? And you can be like, love isn't a choice, and to some degree that is true. Most often it can be controlled. But Jesus fuck, woman! Sutton doesn't seem to understand that romantic love and sex can be separate experiences, like they don't always go hand in hand. To be clear, she made Oliver up as a child and they grew up together and fell in love and idk why, but that makes me feel icky. Apparently, a thing about Nightmares, which is a fantastical creature that Sutton made up, is that people will project the face they most desire onto the Nightmare and what the fuck is that? Sutton can do whatever she wants but I'm judging this choice. It feels like sex fantasy and not storytelling. (Collith see's Fortuna's real face btw, in case you weren't convinced that they need to be together and Fortuna isn't the most idiototic idiot to exist in her own story, also Collith is the most beautiful creature she's ever laid eyes on).
Anyway, why the hell is everyone so sexy? Faeries are supposed to be fallen angels which is actually interesting (I think Tread of Angels did it better but the concept is still there) so it makes sense that they'd be beautiful. But explain why Fortuna is beautiful and why is Oliver beautiful, why is Damen beautiful, and why is that random and basically only Black girl, who was in the beginning of the story, beautiful? Not everyone needs to be beautiful! Jesus CHRIST! Does Sutton know that bodies are allowed to just be bodies?! And sexual attraction has nothing to do with aesthetic pleasure. Why are the faeries beautiful by today's modern standards? If they've been here for thousands of years and were gorgeous to the people of that time then shouldn't they be more work muscular and not defined muscular and shouldn't their faces be rounder and their hair curlier? Shouldn't they be browner?
I don't like how Sutton did "diversity". The only gay people were bad guys or in pain, except the diner moms who were only in the first quarter of the story at most. There were no trans people and homosexual people were characterized as overly sexual and violent. Her little brother is co-dependent and abused by his "lover" so idk if he is canonically queer or not. Not only has Sutton wrapped the plot around queer pain but she also made that pain self-inflicted. And she handled that abuse horribly! Domestic abuse isn't easy at all and the way that Fortuna treated her brother, the victim, was so selfish and arrogant. I just want everyone to know that ridding a victim of their abuser does not solve the problem! She isn't suffering honorably because Damen doesn't like her anymore; she has caused him more pain! The most important thing in helping victims of domestic abuse is listening to them! Fortuna should have stayed near Damen and talked to him to help him see her perspective instead of invalidating his experience. God! I hate! hate! hate! this story! People of color were basically non-existent. When they were they were not important characters. Basically they were the decorative rugs of the story. Except for the Indigenous appropriation...
Next, Sutton used a Native American mythologic monster in her book like it's the boogie man and not something that is actually very sacred to Native American spirituality/culture and handled it like a twelve-year-old on Wattpad and I just think that's inappropriate and worth canceling her over.
The things that are coded to be desirable in the story are wheird! Taunt muscles (does Collith work out? why is he so ripped, his job requires a lot of sitting), scars, not talking much, tall, can control Fortuna, has power, is separate from society, is in emotional/mental pain. IDK guys, it looks like internalized misogyny to me. Instead of getting rid of objectification entirely, why not just reverse its tendency and treat men like sexual objects? And to be clear, they're only sexy when they have some sadness in the background. White feminism at its finest!
Rating the names > Fortuna Sworn 0/10, Collith 1.5/10, Damen 3/10, Oliver 2/10, Lourie 6/10.
In conclusion: 1.75/5. Would not recommend this story to anyone ever. I hate it. It is trash. I mean, it's interesting because the pacing is good but that's the only good thing about it.
First off, I hate how it's narrated. The story is told from the main character's, Fortuna Sworn's, point of view. We're stuck listening to her thoughts and feelings about the situations around her. She makes jokes and is incredibly sarcastic. This in itself is fine. I love a sarcastic narrator. Percy Jackson and Jude Duarte are great! Fortuna isn't funny sarcastic. She's just awful. She's the kind of sarcastic that teen girls who paint their nails black and write tragic Tumblr posts that romanticize mental illness type are sarcastic. She's the worst! I hated her as soon as the book started. I wish her harm. She's this way because of trauma, of course, so it makes sense to some degree. Everyone handles trauma differently and some people cope by being the worst person in every room they enter. At least she knows she's awful. But unfortunately, her thinking that she's awful is supposed to make us think she's humble. My therapist, when I was sixteen, explained the difference between humility and low self-esteem to me. Self-hatred/low self-esteem is not humility, it's just hating on your self. Humility actually doesn't center you, it is focused on others. Fortuna tells us that her brother is a good person and from what we see of him in the book, I can't state that she's wrong. But I can't say she's right either. She is also always judging other people! Always. She doesn't give them the benefit of the doubt, she just states outright that they are suspicious, that they are evil, they are selfish, they are gross, they are weak, and like, honey, I know we're in the faery court and faeries aren't kind and fuzzy but if you're using half your brain it wouldn't make sense if they were because they literally aren't human so their priorities CAN'T line up with ours! It isn't natural for their brains! But she does it anyway and the author seems to be on her side which is also weird. Fortuna's tragic past is tragic, I'll give her that. There are like, two times when she does a nice thing, and then she's like, yeah, because it's the right thing to do, and compassion is good when in her soul, she's the worst. She thinks so highly of her character compared to faeries and like, does Sutton know that Fortuna is a hypocrite?
Next is the romance if you can call it that. Actually no, next up is how fucking stupid Fortuna is. She is so fucking,, she couldn't add ten plus ten if the numbers appeared in two different places. Collith says things in intense moments like, "I can't lose you again," and "when I knew you before" and she doesn't think about it? And she's like, "he sees my real face and is still sexually attracted to me," and doesn't think that might mean something? And then she overthinks every nice thing he does for her because he CAN'T be a good person because he's a FAERY and FAERIES ARE EVIL! She's so stupid!
Also, she fell in love with her only friend - who is a person she made up in her dreams - whom she named Oliver. She wanted to screw that relationship over with romantic love and sex? And you can be like, love isn't a choice, and to some degree that is true. Most often it can be controlled. But Jesus fuck, woman! Sutton doesn't seem to understand that romantic love and sex can be separate experiences, like they don't always go hand in hand. To be clear, she made Oliver up as a child and they grew up together and fell in love and idk why, but that makes me feel icky. Apparently, a thing about Nightmares, which is a fantastical creature that Sutton made up, is that people will project the face they most desire onto the Nightmare and what the fuck is that? Sutton can do whatever she wants but I'm judging this choice. It feels like sex fantasy and not storytelling. (Collith see's Fortuna's real face btw, in case you weren't convinced that they need to be together and Fortuna isn't the most idiototic idiot to exist in her own story, also Collith is the most beautiful creature she's ever laid eyes on).
Anyway, why the hell is everyone so sexy? Faeries are supposed to be fallen angels which is actually interesting (I think Tread of Angels did it better but the concept is still there) so it makes sense that they'd be beautiful. But explain why Fortuna is beautiful and why is Oliver beautiful, why is Damen beautiful, and why is that random and basically only Black girl, who was in the beginning of the story, beautiful? Not everyone needs to be beautiful! Jesus CHRIST! Does Sutton know that bodies are allowed to just be bodies?! And sexual attraction has nothing to do with aesthetic pleasure. Why are the faeries beautiful by today's modern standards? If they've been here for thousands of years and were gorgeous to the people of that time then shouldn't they be more work muscular and not defined muscular and shouldn't their faces be rounder and their hair curlier? Shouldn't they be browner?
I don't like how Sutton did "diversity". The only gay people were bad guys or in pain, except the diner moms who were only in the first quarter of the story at most. There were no trans people and homosexual people were characterized as overly sexual and violent. Her little brother is co-dependent and abused by his "lover" so idk if he is canonically queer or not. Not only has Sutton wrapped the plot around queer pain but she also made that pain self-inflicted. And she handled that abuse horribly! Domestic abuse isn't easy at all and the way that Fortuna treated her brother, the victim, was so selfish and arrogant. I just want everyone to know that ridding a victim of their abuser does not solve the problem! She isn't suffering honorably because Damen doesn't like her anymore; she has caused him more pain! The most important thing in helping victims of domestic abuse is listening to them! Fortuna should have stayed near Damen and talked to him to help him see her perspective instead of invalidating his experience. God! I hate! hate! hate! this story! People of color were basically non-existent. When they were they were not important characters. Basically they were the decorative rugs of the story. Except for the Indigenous appropriation...
Next, Sutton used a Native American mythologic monster in her book like it's the boogie man and not something that is actually very sacred to Native American spirituality/culture and handled it like a twelve-year-old on Wattpad and I just think that's inappropriate and worth canceling her over.
The things that are coded to be desirable in the story are wheird! Taunt muscles (does Collith work out? why is he so ripped, his job requires a lot of sitting), scars, not talking much, tall, can control Fortuna, has power, is separate from society, is in emotional/mental pain. IDK guys, it looks like internalized misogyny to me. Instead of getting rid of objectification entirely, why not just reverse its tendency and treat men like sexual objects? And to be clear, they're only sexy when they have some sadness in the background. White feminism at its finest!
Rating the names > Fortuna Sworn 0/10, Collith 1.5/10, Damen 3/10, Oliver 2/10, Lourie 6/10.
In conclusion: 1.75/5. Would not recommend this story to anyone ever. I hate it. It is trash. I mean, it's interesting because the pacing is good but that's the only good thing about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Death, Classism, Physical abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Gaslighting, Death, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Grief, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Addiction, Misogyny, Ableism, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Confinement, and Drug use
prettynerdy3's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
genny's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was so skeptical about this book (I kept removing and then putting it back in my e-reader, haha) but I'm glad I decided to give it a chance! I didn't know what to expect other than a "fantasy romance", so I was surprised to discover that this was more focused on the protagonist discovering the fae court and passing a series of trials. I suspect that might be a cliché in fae stories, but this is the first one I've read, so...I liked it! It was actually pretty light on the romance since Fortuna's attention is occupied by more important things, but that worked in my favor. The concept of supernatural creatures descending from fallen angels was cool - I hope that's explored more in the next books. This was also way more grim and gore-y than I expected. The death of the dragon made me teary-eyed :'(
I was waiting for an explanation about Collith's extremely sudden interest in Fortuna, but we never got one, and now I'm scared that we're supposed to just accept it 💀 That can't be it though, right? He had to have known they were soulmates or whatever beforehand...right? He didn't just pick her out of a crowd, I hope. I guess I'll find out in the next book. Also intrigued by Oliver and Laurie. I thought the latter wasan angel, not a faerie king . My idea was cooler. :P
P.S. I despise the use of the word "mate", it sounds so yucky 😭
I was waiting for an explanation about Collith's extremely sudden interest in Fortuna, but we never got one, and now I'm scared that we're supposed to just accept it 💀 That can't be it though, right? He had to have known they were soulmates or whatever beforehand...right? He didn't just pick her out of a crowd, I hope. I guess I'll find out in the next book. Also intrigued by Oliver and Laurie. I thought the latter was
P.S. I despise the use of the word "mate", it sounds so yucky 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Cannibalism, Gore, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
aniwisniewski's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Animal cruelty, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse
annikareads_'s review
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Violence, Torture, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Slavery and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
ophealian's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Don't get me wrong, this is definitely an entertaining book. The main character is interesting, the plot is fast-paced, the world-building both fantastical and urban and refreshingly "gritty" in the way that it's very honest about how young 20-somethings think and talk, even when the main character isn't exactly human.
The ONLY thing that I thought was a bit off-putting about this book was how often the narrative would make a SHARP left turn into sex. Now, I'm not prudish by any stretch (being raised by the likes of FF.net and AO3 has cured me of that completely) but it was still a bit jarring for me to be reading about how the main character has someone by the throat with a knife and is literally plundering the depths of their worst fears and then for her to suddenly be like "I can feel his arousal against my leg". Like, wait what?
And maybe that's the point -- maybe fae in this universe are just Horny All The Time (TM) -- the author does make a point to have a character in-universe remark upon this, but just because there's logical explanation for it didn't make it any less whip-lashy of a reading experience.
Fortuna also makes a point to tell you that she's a Virgin. Make do with that info what you will.
But other than that very specific prickle-point, I ripped through this book and really enjoyed it.
It's very effective in its portrayal of the illogical, unreasonable, unwavering love and loyalty that Fortuna has for her brother Damon, and Damon's brokenness and intense Stockholm Syndrome. It works as a reminder that these creatures are not human; in fact they are distinctly inhumane. Their cruelty and carelessness is played in contrast with their beauty, and I think Fortuna's initial confusion in reconciling these dual qualities is very believable.
I had to constantly remind myself that Fortuna is not human, as much as she might act like one.
The ending leaves a lot of mysteries unsolved and propels you right into the next book in the series. The cliffhanger/twist? *chefs kiss*
The ONLY thing that I thought was a bit off-putting about this book was how often the narrative would make a SHARP left turn into sex. Now, I'm not prudish by any stretch (being raised by the likes of FF.net and AO3 has cured me of that completely) but it was still a bit jarring for me to be reading about how the main character has someone by the throat with a knife and is literally plundering the depths of their worst fears and then for her to suddenly be like "I can feel his arousal against my leg". Like, wait what?
And maybe that's the point -- maybe fae in this universe are just Horny All The Time (TM) -- the author does make a point to have a character in-universe remark upon this, but just because there's logical explanation for it didn't make it any less whip-lashy of a reading experience.
Fortuna also makes a point to tell you that she's a Virgin. Make do with that info what you will.
But other than that very specific prickle-point, I ripped through this book and really enjoyed it.
It's very effective in its portrayal of the illogical, unreasonable, unwavering love and loyalty that Fortuna has for her brother Damon, and Damon's brokenness and intense Stockholm Syndrome. It works as a reminder that these creatures are not human; in fact they are distinctly inhumane. Their cruelty and carelessness is played in contrast with their beauty, and I think Fortuna's initial confusion in reconciling these dual qualities is very believable.
I had to constantly remind myself that Fortuna is not human, as much as she might act like one.
The ending leaves a lot of mysteries unsolved and propels you right into the next book in the series. The cliffhanger/twist? *chefs kiss*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, and Child abuse
gingerale06's review
extremely poorly developed, characters were frustrating
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence