This really surprised me! Dolly Alderton does an amazing job at capturing the character's voices, which really stood out to me throughout the whole boThis really surprised me! Dolly Alderton does an amazing job at capturing the character's voices, which really stood out to me throughout the whole book. Andy's POV feels so authentic and sometimes incredibly uncomfortable — but real.
The final 20% of the book really stands out in particular (as I've seen other reviewers comment on). Jen's perspective feels like the puzzle pieces of Andy's story are all finally fitting together. The ending perfectly encapsulated that bittersweet goodbye. A completion that wasn't satisfying but undoubtedly felt like what it was, an ending. ...more
Okay I'll say, was I entertained? Sure. This book is fast-paced and throws you right into the action. But apart from that, there wasn't much else I enOkay I'll say, was I entertained? Sure. This book is fast-paced and throws you right into the action. But apart from that, there wasn't much else I enjoyed about it.
Firstly, the characters in this fantasy world speak like they're contemporary people with serious anger issues (the overuse of the word fuck was quite grading). The dialogue often felt forced, and no voice felt 'different' or distinguishable from one another. Nearly all the characters (except maybe a few inconsequential ones) had some version of that sarcastic, slightly over-aggressive, trying-to-be-witty way of speaking. It took me out of the fantasy setting and made it extremely hard to be invested in these characters, as they were constantly putting me off with what they were saying.
Onto the romance. If you like slow-burn well pack your bags as they're kissing 30% in. I usually love a romantasy that's extra dramatic maybe even borderline cringey but this was just TOO MUCH. They're "enemies" to lovers but I use that term very loosely. They hate each other because...anger problems? I honestly don't know and I don't have the energy to care. Where was the tension besides being what...attracted to each other's smells and getting angry about it?
I found myself skimming over the romantic proclamations between Kingfisher (omg I can't with that name) and Saeris because they honestly felt straight out of Wattpad. It very much felt like Rhys and Feyre but without any of the character depth, progression or charisma.
This book REALLY needed an edit (and probably so does my review but oh well). I still don't see why it needed to be over 600 pages and the amount of exposition that was just slammed into these lengthy chapters was killing me. The author has a tendency to overexplain when we, the reader, understand what's happening from the character's actions, for example:
“Let's have tonight. You and me. Tomorrow night, we'll bring Everlayne home. And once Iseabail and Te Léna have her fixed up and good as new, then we can worry about me. Okay?” My relief hit hard. He was no longer talking about how futile it was to try and find a way through all of this. He was saying, let's deal with what's right in front of us and see what the lay of the land is like after that.
Why is she explaining to me what he is saying??? I can understand what he's saying as I just read it! Readers aren't stupid and don't need everything spelled out for them. This made the writing feel clunky and underdeveloped and again, desperately needing an edit.
Overall, this book felt like a bunch of popular traits strewn together but with no consideration of how to actually make them work. The pieces for a great romantasy were there, but the execution just didn't deliver....more
What I loved about this book is how much it grabbed me from the beginning. I started it on a Friday morning, blurry-eyed and barely awake but from theWhat I loved about this book is how much it grabbed me from the beginning. I started it on a Friday morning, blurry-eyed and barely awake but from the first few pages I was invested. The story is fast-paced but still carefully considered and you feel really drawn into Pip’s story.
I loved the varying possibilities of what happened that night, and the reveal of Andie’s character to be Alison DiLaurentis-esque. The various webs of the mystery had me guessing and changing my theory on ‘who done it’ at each point, but the ending still managed to surprise me!
This is a really enjoyable read, and I love that the plot was tied up within the one book. ...more
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