I should have loved this. I loved the world building. Loved that the book just threw me in the deep end with all the character and country names. This was my favourite kind of magic system. And we had intense barbarians, culture clash, prophesies—it was epic.

That said… all the character interactions annoyed me. And it essentially boiled down to this:
😕 The drama school acting and black and white (not grey) exposition wore me down. The book was too un-funny to be this OTT (bonus points for only speaking in heavy metal song lyrics). Especially, when the relationship-ending fight our MCs had (double-digit times) was the SAME EVERY FRIGGING TIME.

And here’s my theory (that ultimately killed my enjoyment):
😕 I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that these nonsensical fights were just a thin veneer on the real point of the book—getting these characters to hate f*ck each other (avec breeding kink) over and over again.

Like, I get it! The hate f*cking was delightfully chilling? Kind of psychotic? Messily mixed with genuine feelings? It just happened too many times. What began so unique became repetitive and it all felt really forced.

But there were prophesies about future books and that’s my kryptonite so maybe I’ll continue the series? I need help.