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luizaza's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I came here for the romance, I stayed for the plot
The first half of the book is very slow paced plotwise and i almost stopped reading throughout the first chapters because of it. You spend them just kind of getting to know everybody, but it’s hard to care when no one can form opinions on anything and the protagonist doesn’t really involve herself with the rest of the cast. (It’s portrayed as a struggle with opening up, but it really doesn’t do the book any good pace-wise)
The “romance“ however wastes no time on getting started and this, in my opinion, makes it harder to root for it.
I think a big problem is that there is no content / kink warning, which it actually really needs so here you go:
major predator / pray kink
Which is of course fine by itself, but i just wasn’t prepared for it. Especially considering that i just didn’t understand the attraction when it‘s more often described as fear than anything else.
Furthermore, Flowridia‘s (the protagonists) ptsd-flashbacks take up like half of the book and considering that she’s so traumatized I found it really hard to feel at ease with her persuing someone she has every reason to be afraid of.
Therefore I cannot recommend this book to anyone who gets triggered by abusive relationships. It’s not romantic, it’s just romanticized. Major „I can fix her“ vibes.
However, from a „cycling back to abuse and only slowly getting better at building relationships“ kind of character arc, I actually quite enjoyed it. Just don’t expect Flowridia to be aware of any of her problems or listen to others.
But, in the end, I stayed for the plot and I actually read the second half of the book in one sitting, unable to put it down. Also; a lot of the problems the first book of the series has, get fixed in the second one, so if you’re able to push through, you will be rewarded. ^^
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cannibalism, Violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Outing, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Slavery
Minor: Body horror, Slavery, War, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Genocide, Abandonment, Confinement, Eating disorder, Torture, Child abuse, Racism, Rape, and Racial slurs
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