So this book was out when I finished book 10 back in 2019, however, I saw a not-so-positive review that also let me know this ended on a clif3.5 stars
So this book was out when I finished book 10 back in 2019, however, I saw a not-so-positive review that also let me know this ended on a cliffhanger which I loathe and seeing as how book 12 wasn't out yet I decided not to continue. Also, book 10 was easily my least favorite of the whole series so I wasn't super motivated to keep going at the time. Now I've just read books 1-10 for the second time (some books for the 3rd), but this will be my first proper review of a book in this series...more
I definitely read this a lot slower than usual mostly because when I finally get a long awaited book I want to savor it, ya know? If you read3.5 stars
I definitely read this a lot slower than usual mostly because when I finally get a long awaited book I want to savor it, ya know? If you read it too fast it's just gone. In this case I waited 5 years haha so I definitely tried to savor. I should clarify also that it's not like I was rabid for this particular book/couple, I just enjoyed this series and wanted to see it continue so it's exciting that it finally did. That said I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked Hazel and Tallak as a couple, but it didn't totally fulfill all of my pent up dreams and expectations of which there were a lot due to the whole five year wait thing. Honestly I can't even tell you if my rating is fair or not because this series is so nostalgic for me at this point and I have a lot of fondness towards it.
Things I did enjoy: Tallak and Rhun's bromance. That has been brewing for a while and in this book they finally became besties and it was cute. That said I could've done with a few less scenes of them if I'm being honest and more scenes featuring parent/kid bonding (I'll get into that below). I also loved seeing Tallak's growth and him simping for Hazel. Aided by Rhun's sage advice Tallak became exactly who Hazel needed and was mindful of her trauma/went at her pace and only took what she could give at the time all while making sure his actions made it so she'd hopelessly fall in love with him. I also liked that both Tallak and Hazel are older/more mature characters. Hazel is a mom to 26 year old twins, has been married before and seen some shit. Tallak is also now finally able to be a father to Basil, his estranged son of 26 years. I wouldn't have expected to get a book about Hazel or even want one when this series began, but the way the author built up the tension between Hazel and Tallak slowly over a few books I'm definitely glad we did.
That said there were unfortunately a lot of things in this book that annoyed me or I was expecting to get more of and didn't so I'm gonna rant a bit. My biggest issue with this book was that I really wanted more interaction with Rose, Hazel's long lost changeling daughter who was raised in Faerie and basically enslaved from the ages of 6 to 26. As in book 1 where Merle and Rhun were trying to find Maeve but honestly taking their sweet time about it and romancing each other I feel like this author really has an "out of sight, out of mind" problem with these side characters and Rose was largely ignored in this book. If I were Lily, Rose's identical twin, I would be wracked with 'survivors guilt' (undeserved to be sure) or something approximate that Rose was the twin who got swapped and not me and chomping at the bit to make up for 26 missed years of sisterly connection and ease her into life in the human world. If I were Basil, the fae/demon changeling that got swapped with Rose, I would feel immense amounts of guilt that I was the reason she got swapped and lived a horrible life in Faerie while I was raised by her loving mother Hazel (the guilt would also be undeserved) and try to establish a brother/sister relationship. If I were Hazel I'd be a literal mess (which she was honestly) and desperate to connect with the daughter that was stolen from me by any means necessary. However, what the author showed was a fuck ton of ambivalence towards Rose. Neither Basil or Lily made any real effort to get to know Rose, it was always "we asked her to have breakfast and she said no" like BITCH, maybe pour your heart out to her and try fucking harder? Where's the emotion? Where's the desperation? Same with Hazel, they were all being so "respectful" that Rose hadn't been able to make any decisions for herself and that she's an "adult" and they need to let her make her own decisions and do whatever she wants...even at extreme detriment to herself. They saw her coming back at all hours of the night, no idea where she'd been, sometimes with blood on herself...like?!?!? I get giving her space and agency, but at the same time like stage a fucking intervention. Show her you care. Have a heart-to-heart and get through to her. This girl was abused and tortured for decades, by all accounts not properly socialized, had no friends, no agency, I don't think she would be a real 'adult' after that 'upbringing' and I certainly wouldn't send her out into the human world, of which she has no real knowledge, unprepared (doesn't have real knowledge of her witch powers to defend herself) and vulnerable to demons and humans who would AND DID take advantage of her. Like wtf is wrong with these people. Rose was out all night every night getting black out drunk and going home with demons that might hurt or kill her and at the very least 1000000% taking advantage of her sexually probably further traumatizing her and everyone just let it happen...make it make sense. *slight spoilers* Eventually Tallak gets through to her and she immediately cleans up her act...like one conversation...that's all it took ...more
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