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kiaabethh's review against another edition
4.0
Did I know the whole time? Yes. Did it still shock me at the end? Yes.
Only didn’t give 5 stars because because of some of the dialogue clashing with older language and modern which I personally find confusing when reading something like this but otherwise it was a wonderful read. The whole close proximity and betrayal through omission is one of my favorite tropes and I can’t wait to see how this story unfolds. I did get a tiny bit frustrated with Estrella for not catching the signs but such is the frustration of the reader. Caellum is fighting for my top 3 favorite book boyfriends and I’m not mad at it
Only didn’t give 5 stars because because of some of the dialogue clashing with older language and modern which I personally find confusing when reading something like this but otherwise it was a wonderful read. The whole close proximity and betrayal through omission is one of my favorite tropes and I can’t wait to see how this story unfolds. I did get a tiny bit frustrated with Estrella for not catching the signs but such is the frustration of the reader. Caellum is fighting for my top 3 favorite book boyfriends and I’m not mad at it
soykly's review against another edition
Bad writing made it confusing and watered down the plot, annoying mc
spacesheppard's review against another edition
2.0
Most of this book felt for me like reading a Character AI dialogue. There was almost no plot, no character development, no world building. But it was what I needed and I had fun reading it. Ending was spot on for me.
bookwh0ree's review against another edition
2.0
if you put ACOTAR and FBAA together and made it darker with less plot you get this book:( i wish there was more plot and higher stakes, but it became kinda boring after the veil was shattered and the insta love just wasn’t it. not crazy about this one
spinebreaker_101's review against another edition
1.0
Worst book you will ever read. The writing is so so trash and there is absolutely no plot - the plot is smut which is not even good because of the lack of build up. I can’t believe I paid for this and, truthfully, I wouldn’t even read it for free. Wtf was that? I’m convinced that anyone who rated this more than 2 stars must’ve not actually read its contents.
My main issues:
1) awful writing …
2) … insufferable MMC/love interest, only personality being his long schlong and his choice of cringey nicknames used in every sentence
3) thoughts/emotions not being fleshed out, creating plain characters & no stakes
4) lack of plot, 300 pages of filler
It started off quite well and I was excited to explore the world beyond the veil … only to find that actually the main character spends around 300 pages essentially camping in the woods.
Everything fell off as soon as the mmc was introduced, particularly his obsession with calling the fmc ‘Little One’ and ‘my star’. I genuinely wanted to throw up every time I read these words (which appeared in every sentence of his part of the dialogue). Not only that, but he is also written in the most insufferable way. Overly cocky and permanently smirking with absolutely no other personality. Just purely unlikeable.
The majority of the dialogue between Estrella and Caelum throughout this book is so repetitive and can be summarised by Caelum telling Estrella that she will want him soon enough and her just acting like she’s denying it.
Every. Single. Conversation.
I also found that the emotions/thoughts were not exactly appropriate when matched with the intention that the chapters were trying to convey. Eg when Estrella experiences what should’ve been an impactful grief in the first half of the book, the only thing she can focus on is getting into bed with Caelum (who she has only just met 5 minutes ago). The emotions, thoughts and actions just do not align. Gets very annoying and makes the characters very plain, not credible and one-dimensional.
The ending is very predictable as soon as you meet the love interest but not the worst thing about this book.
I feel like this book would benefit from being completely re-written from the point Estrella goes on the run onwards because the concept itself was promising and the beginning is not bad. Everything further than that is a waste of time that I will never get back. I wish I DNF’d.
My main issues:
1) awful writing …
2) … insufferable MMC/love interest, only personality being his long schlong and his choice of cringey nicknames used in every sentence
3) thoughts/emotions not being fleshed out, creating plain characters & no stakes
4) lack of plot, 300 pages of filler
It started off quite well and I was excited to explore the world beyond the veil … only to find that actually the main character spends around 300 pages essentially camping in the woods.
Everything fell off as soon as the mmc was introduced, particularly his obsession with calling the fmc ‘Little One’ and ‘my star’. I genuinely wanted to throw up every time I read these words (which appeared in every sentence of his part of the dialogue). Not only that, but he is also written in the most insufferable way. Overly cocky and permanently smirking with absolutely no other personality. Just purely unlikeable.
The majority of the dialogue between Estrella and Caelum throughout this book is so repetitive and can be summarised by Caelum telling Estrella that she will want him soon enough and her just acting like she’s denying it.
Every. Single. Conversation.
I also found that the emotions/thoughts were not exactly appropriate when matched with the intention that the chapters were trying to convey. Eg when Estrella experiences what should’ve been an impactful grief in the first half of the book, the only thing she can focus on is getting into bed with Caelum (who she has only just met 5 minutes ago). The emotions, thoughts and actions just do not align. Gets very annoying and makes the characters very plain, not credible and one-dimensional.
The ending is very predictable as soon as you meet the love interest but not the worst thing about this book.
I feel like this book would benefit from being completely re-written from the point Estrella goes on the run onwards because the concept itself was promising and the beginning is not bad. Everything further than that is a waste of time that I will never get back. I wish I DNF’d.
darlingstars17's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
5.0
lovelyloro's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting read. After reading a swath of negative reviews I was hesitant to pick it up. Now that I've finished the book I have to agree with other reviews that the character transition of the MMC happened too quickly and seemingly out of no where. The world building doesn't really happen till a third to halfway through the book which was frustrating. And there is major religious subtext. I didn't particularly mind that--I found it fascinating. I also happen to enjoy a good story with unique mythology about gods and goddesses. Apart from the rapid character transition of the MMC the character development is good and the spicy scenes were poppin.
I'll probably get around to reading the rest of this series eventually, but it's not one I'm racing to complete.
I'll probably get around to reading the rest of this series eventually, but it's not one I'm racing to complete.