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lifeinthebooklane's review
5.0
A wonderful second-chance romance
We first met Solomon and Willow as childhood sweethearts in The Mentor and subsequent books. Having discovered, in The Genius, that things had somehow gone badly wrong for them, I was very eager to know their truths. This book didn't disappoint me at all, and yet again reflects the writing talent that is Elin Peer.
Though I really couldn't understand her animosity at first, I still really liked Willow. She was vile to Solo, yet she was such a gentle, caring person the rest of the time that I knew there was more to the story than we were seeing. Even if she irritates you it is worth continuing with this as the reasons for her attitude to Solo become clearer further into the story. And you would miss one heck of a powerful and wonderful tale.
Solomon is a fierce warrior, not only a Huntsman but one of the feared DoomSquad. In fact we first meet him whilst he is carrying out his soldiering duties. Duties that, despite protecting women from domestic violence, haunt him. In previous books he came across as quite arrogant and even a tad overbearing, but in this book we see quite a different side to him. Ms Peer managed to give us a hero who felt things deeply and acknowledged his own emotions without losing any of his strength or dominance.
There was just such emotional angst and a huge depth of feeling from the outset. My heart ached almost from the first page and there were times when both main characters brought tears to my eyes. Normally in a second-chance I'm wanting the hero to grovel and beg forgiveness before he wins back the heroine, but the story line of this book was so unique that I was just hoping and praying for Willow to realise how much Solo loved her and was perfect for her.
Whilst this can be read as a stand alone, I think reading the two books mentioned will help provide very important background information. Whilst Solo and Willow are only side characters in both books we do see how close they are in The Mentor.
We first met Solomon and Willow as childhood sweethearts in The Mentor and subsequent books. Having discovered, in The Genius, that things had somehow gone badly wrong for them, I was very eager to know their truths. This book didn't disappoint me at all, and yet again reflects the writing talent that is Elin Peer.
Though I really couldn't understand her animosity at first, I still really liked Willow. She was vile to Solo, yet she was such a gentle, caring person the rest of the time that I knew there was more to the story than we were seeing. Even if she irritates you it is worth continuing with this as the reasons for her attitude to Solo become clearer further into the story. And you would miss one heck of a powerful and wonderful tale.
Solomon is a fierce warrior, not only a Huntsman but one of the feared DoomSquad. In fact we first meet him whilst he is carrying out his soldiering duties. Duties that, despite protecting women from domestic violence, haunt him. In previous books he came across as quite arrogant and even a tad overbearing, but in this book we see quite a different side to him. Ms Peer managed to give us a hero who felt things deeply and acknowledged his own emotions without losing any of his strength or dominance.
There was just such emotional angst and a huge depth of feeling from the outset. My heart ached almost from the first page and there were times when both main characters brought tears to my eyes. Normally in a second-chance I'm wanting the hero to grovel and beg forgiveness before he wins back the heroine, but the story line of this book was so unique that I was just hoping and praying for Willow to realise how much Solo loved her and was perfect for her.
Whilst this can be read as a stand alone, I think reading the two books mentioned will help provide very important background information. Whilst Solo and Willow are only side characters in both books we do see how close they are in The Mentor.
alikatson's review against another edition
3.0
I was looking forward to this but unfortunately Willow was acting like a childish brat for more than half the story - taking zero responsibility for her mistakes.
Spoiler
when she came around it seemed a bit miraculous - all of a sudden she was laid back about everything, it was too sudden.isitcake's review
emotional
sad
fast-paced
4.0
This is easily the saddest book in this series. We saw Willow and Solo grow up together in the experimental school and their young love. But in the time skip something happened that has Willow hating him and Solo was banned from contacting her or being near her. It's just tragic how they were pulled apart and then Willow's emotional journey to reframe what happened to her and Solo finally allowing himself some hope again.
I read this awhile ago so my recap from memory:
When Solo was about to age out of the school at 15 he convinced Willow to run away with him as he thought it was the only way they could be together. He's trained to survive in the wild but Willow is younger and not trained. She nearly dies and spends week/months in recovery when they're finally caught. Solo is banned from ever seeing her again and is kind of forced to be a rookie for elite Doomsman training where he's also nearly killed for the shit he has to go through for endangering a woman. Since they're separated, Willow is essentially brainwashed into thinking that Solo tried to kill her and she goes back to the Motherlands for years.
Now years later the Motherlands is sending an artist tour of musicians, dancers, etc to the Northlands. Willow is part of the dance troupe. Khan and Magni think Solo's ban has been long enough and they assign him and his best friend / fellow Doomsman Zasquash and police officer Leo to guard them. Willow treats him like absolute shit and at the time I really hated her. She fucking threatens to falsely accuse him of rape at multiple points, GRRRR!! Of course she does some internal soul searching and finally realizes he was also young and mistaken but he loved her. During their time running away they had gotten married in their own little ceremony in a field. At the end ofthe book they build a cabin in that same field where they plan to live together.
Zasquash gets with musician Darlene (darn I wish they had a book!), Tristan gets with legendary singer Sabrina or something?, and Hunter gets his heart broken by Alice who just wanted casual sex when Hunter thought they would get married.
I read this awhile ago so my recap from memory:
Now years later the Motherlands is sending an artist tour of musicians, dancers, etc to the Northlands. Willow is part of the dance troupe. Khan and Magni think Solo's ban has been long enough and they assign him and his best friend / fellow Doomsman Zasquash and police officer Leo to guard them. Willow treats him like absolute shit and at the time I really hated her. She fucking threatens to falsely accuse him of rape at multiple points, GRRRR!! Of course she does some internal soul searching and finally realizes he was also young and mistaken but he loved her. During their time running away they had gotten married in their own little ceremony in a field. At the end ofthe book they build a cabin in that same field where they plan to live together.
Zasquash gets with musician Darlene (darn I wish they had a book!), Tristan gets with legendary singer Sabrina or something?, and Hunter gets his heart broken by Alice who just wanted casual sex when Hunter thought they would get married.
safran3's review against another edition
3.0
I really do enjoy this series, but Willows hate of Solo in this book was so over the top at some point it became annoying.
ciaramcd's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
tearsofphoenix's review against another edition
1.0
Before this book, I was dying to know Willow and Solo's story. Their love was so pure and innocent.
After this book, I wished Solo chose another woman than Willow. Its like she did a 180, becoming hateful and vindictive. Saying that she prefered if he died, threatening to accuse him of false rape or lying about him touching her when she knows the penalty for that was death. She lied and hurt him so many times until he was isolated from everyone who treated him like shit. He never deserved any of that. He got alot of shit from everyone that he never deserved.
It was too much. I couldn't enjoy any of their romantic scenes where she would tease and ask him to touch her while hating his guts. Honestly, he deserved so much better.
I wish the author didn't choose this route. She absolutely hated him for 80% of the book and only after that, she changed her mind in a blink of an eye. It ruined the story for me.
ezichinny's review against another edition
3.0
Willow and Solomon’s story bothered me because of the one sided condemnation that a young Solo had to endure for wanting to be with his love. Willow subsequently forgot what they shared and continued her harsh treatment.
In the end, their love prevailed but i didn’t feel the Solo got a real apology
In the end, their love prevailed but i didn’t feel the Solo got a real apology
xakyr's review against another edition
3.0
FTC DISCLAIMER: I RECEIVED AN E-ARC FROM THE AUTHOR. I ALSO PURCHASED A COPY AT MY OWN COST. I VOLUNTARILY OFFER MY HONEST REVIEW OF THE BOOK, THOUGH IT IS NOT EXPECTED OF ME! RECEIPT OF THIS BOOK IN THESE MANNERS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION OF THE BOOK OR THE CONTENT OF MY REVIEW!
It's rare that I rate a book of this series lower than 4 stars, but I really struggled with this one! In the end, I couldn't justify giving it that 4 star rating for the following reasons.
Firstly, the book is told in alternating points of view and in flashbacks, which I found both annoying and confusing. For me, it disrupted the flow of the book, and while I loved learning what had happened when Solo and Willow were alone for that week, I found that going between the love and seeming hate Willow had for Solo was too much to try to keep up with.
Secondly, parts of the book were just a little too unbelievable for me. They were supposed to have this grand epic love for each other, and yet at the first real and great test of that love, it seemed like Solo and Willow just...gave up. Solo because of a restraining order, and Willow because of her brother? It made zero sense to me, not when they had risked so much so many times over the course of the series to be together, damn what anyone else in the Northlands thought of it. Likewise, Willow's hatred of Solo was too over the top to be actually believable, especially with the dreams she mentioned having. I felt there should have been more of an internal conflict in her than there was, even though there seemed to be a good bit of one, it just didn't seem to be a believable one.
Thirdly, the focus is on Willow's suffering more so than Solo's. Most of his suffering is told third hand or glossed over, and it served to marginalize it to me. Willow wound up fundamentally changed from what happened to her, but we don't get to fully understand what Solo went through to become the man he is. That lack of depth, coupled with the lack of depth on Willow's internal conflict, made their love more of an "insta-love" situation, rather than a finding their way back to each other one, and I was vaguely unsatisfied with it.
One of the things I did enjoy in this story was seeing how things were progressing with the changes in the Northlands. There was a lot explored on that theme, and I liked what I was seeing! I can't wait to see what else the author has in store on that front, especially with the set up for the next book in the series! I can't wait to see where things go from here in the Willow/Hunter story!
It's rare that I rate a book of this series lower than 4 stars, but I really struggled with this one! In the end, I couldn't justify giving it that 4 star rating for the following reasons.
Firstly, the book is told in alternating points of view and in flashbacks, which I found both annoying and confusing. For me, it disrupted the flow of the book, and while I loved learning what had happened when Solo and Willow were alone for that week, I found that going between the love and seeming hate Willow had for Solo was too much to try to keep up with.
Secondly, parts of the book were just a little too unbelievable for me. They were supposed to have this grand epic love for each other, and yet at the first real and great test of that love, it seemed like Solo and Willow just...gave up. Solo because of a restraining order, and Willow because of her brother? It made zero sense to me, not when they had risked so much so many times over the course of the series to be together, damn what anyone else in the Northlands thought of it. Likewise, Willow's hatred of Solo was too over the top to be actually believable, especially with the dreams she mentioned having. I felt there should have been more of an internal conflict in her than there was, even though there seemed to be a good bit of one, it just didn't seem to be a believable one.
Thirdly, the focus is on Willow's suffering more so than Solo's. Most of his suffering is told third hand or glossed over, and it served to marginalize it to me. Willow wound up fundamentally changed from what happened to her, but we don't get to fully understand what Solo went through to become the man he is. That lack of depth, coupled with the lack of depth on Willow's internal conflict, made their love more of an "insta-love" situation, rather than a finding their way back to each other one, and I was vaguely unsatisfied with it.
One of the things I did enjoy in this story was seeing how things were progressing with the changes in the Northlands. There was a lot explored on that theme, and I liked what I was seeing! I can't wait to see what else the author has in store on that front, especially with the set up for the next book in the series! I can't wait to see where things go from here in the Willow/Hunter story!
shealwaysreads's review against another edition
5.0
Willow and Solo’s story has been the story I had been most anticipating since Magni and Laura settled in book 5 of the series.
And now that I got it all I can say is how much I enjoyed the quick easy read. I was impressed by the back and forth dynamics the duo offered us. Unlike Peers, other books these two had a previous relationship form at young and tender age. The fans were left hanging for some time with the how’s and what’s left up in the air.
The small previews offered within the previous works left readers with hints here and there on the downfall of what happen to the young pair. But even with those clues I was already given I was still left in shock when the story unraveled.
The utopia of the Motherland became the dystopian the Northlands has suffered with for so long.
While Willow wasn’t always a favorite character of mine and she causes me to be utterly disappointed that her forgiving Motlander ways didn’t shine through at first. But the further into the story we dove the more I realized this was out of her control. And poor Solomon (Solo) paid the price.
Uniquely written and easily read the story deliciously detailed futurist setting became more prominent (which was something I felt was lacking in Book 6).
My over status of this book as with any book written by Peer is that you don’t want to miss it.
One more added note I really don’t think this could be read at all as a stand-alone. While you wouldn’t have to start at book one also but could easily start this series at book 5 and still have all the angst I involved in talking making.
To read more reviews by me check out shealwaysreads.com
And now that I got it all I can say is how much I enjoyed the quick easy read. I was impressed by the back and forth dynamics the duo offered us. Unlike Peers, other books these two had a previous relationship form at young and tender age. The fans were left hanging for some time with the how’s and what’s left up in the air.
The small previews offered within the previous works left readers with hints here and there on the downfall of what happen to the young pair. But even with those clues I was already given I was still left in shock when the story unraveled.
The utopia of the Motherland became the dystopian the Northlands has suffered with for so long.
While Willow wasn’t always a favorite character of mine and she causes me to be utterly disappointed that her forgiving Motlander ways didn’t shine through at first. But the further into the story we dove the more I realized this was out of her control. And poor Solomon (Solo) paid the price.
Uniquely written and easily read the story deliciously detailed futurist setting became more prominent (which was something I felt was lacking in Book 6).
My over status of this book as with any book written by Peer is that you don’t want to miss it.
One more added note I really don’t think this could be read at all as a stand-alone. While you wouldn’t have to start at book one also but could easily start this series at book 5 and still have all the angst I involved in talking making.
To read more reviews by me check out shealwaysreads.com