So many of my friends adore this book and this series, and I despised it. I disliked the main characters. I felt we punished Tamlin for doing the same things Rhys did, and I don't like Tamlin, so I hate myself for defending him. I felt like there was FAR too much sex. It made it feel like Maas used the mating bond as a replacement for any real connection between the two because there was none. The only thing between them was sex, which is fine, but Maas acted like it was so much more. The scene where Rhys was willing to lick the dirt and blood off Fey was disgusting, not sexy. I wish they had more than just physical attraction to one another, but that is all Rhys and Fey had: a physical connection.

The world was cool and the writing style was great, despite all the similes. But the main characters were just unlikable. To keep my review as spoiler-free as possible, I won't go into why in detail, but I felt like Rhys is a lair, whom we are supposed to praise. Tamlin is an abuser. And Fey is a cheater, but it's ok because she found her mate. I call shenanigans. Very angry shenanigans.

In addition, Maas's definition of bisexual was disturbing, to say the least. With her description of a bisexual woman only being attracted to females but needing a male to be satisfied, it makes me feel like Maas doesn't believe lesbians can exist because a female must need a male to be sexually satisfied and happy in a relationship. I was disturbed and insulted. Maas writes relationships as if a male is needed for a female's true happiness, and it just disgusted me, to put it bluntly.

Characters get 1 star. The world and writing get the other 2. Because at the end of the day, I did enjoy the world she created, and I also enjoyed her writing style, but I can't get over how terrible her characters are, nor am I over her terrible description of bisexual.