Slow set up (as the 1st book in a planned series with worldbuilding & magic systems to account for, it’s understandable- but there was also all these flashbacks &trauma dumping for the FMC) but eventually everything started rolling & it’s very unique & occasionally very sexy. Could have been a bit more immersive, but I liked the characters & premise of the Battle between Heaven & Hell (&the other pantheons). I will continue the series &hope for more character development for Marlowe & Caliban. 

Eh. As a fan of slasher flicks, I figured this would be up my alley dispute some less than glowing reviews. It wasn’t bad, but I have issues with the way the story was told. The gang doesn’t really do anything productive in the investigation. The build up is spent on this-awful-thing-the-MC-did ..which wasn’t impactful to the main story in the end.

the motive, nonsense. also there was no tension/investigation as to who the killer was. The MCs just see his face… that for me was such a let down. The build up was so wasted on “what Makani did”. It wasn’t good, but she didn’t set up the hazing.. it really wasn’t THAT bad on her part.  The weird epiphany in the maze was also too much

LOVED this! So spicy, so elaborate, loved the characters &their motivations. I don’t know that the sun/magic mechanics always totally made sense but it’s quite an entertaining idea. 

Specific note on the audio: the production quality is wonderful &the dual narrators are perfectly chosen (I hate when they don’t sound as expected or when the POVs do the other character voice & it’s not even close) some other romantasy franchises could take note 

This was fun. It’s clear early on pretty much how this is going to go down (if you read a lot of thrillers) but Hepworth did a great job with the characters- particularly with Fern’s sensory processing issues. &it was really riveting at the end.

Loved it. Sometimes I don’t appreciate where King’s stories meander but I was fully along for the ride. Billy was so endearing. The cliches (one last job) & writer’s jokes/conventions playing out kept it from feeling too heavy. Even though it was heavy, lots of bad stuff happened. I’ll be thinking of that ending a while.

The start & end were good, if not fully descriptive & expanded (should not need pages of background and history longer than the book itself because it’s not explained in the text) the middle was frustrating, Rochester’s POV didn’t add anything that we could not under stand from Antoinette. I did not find it enjoyable or that it worked on its own merits.

The ending of this one is very satisfying (even though there is quite a bit left open for the next couple books). I’d taken a big gap between this & the previous installment & it did take a bit to get re-orientated but then the pace picked up. Like the vampire, Geralt & Dandelion’s banter (as always) I don’t think the series does well at keeping the pacing evened for each character since the short stories.

The beginning (&ending!) were very strong. Alejandra dealing with obvious PPD/PPA (& likely Generalized Anxiety & Religious Trauma) +the drudgery of giving up her goals to move across the country with her narcissistic husband &their 3 kids +a creature that’s threatened her. 

We also see how her ancestors were affected by this literal generational curse. Some POVs were intriguing, but I found they pulled away from the story rather than added to it.

Loved this! It wasn’t as fluffy as I expected, there are some heavier moments. 

Rory goes to stay with her single, very pregnant sister when she’s attacked by an animal 

The horror of Rory’s transformation vs the general body horror of being a woman, brings up feelings of the past when her body didn’t feel like it belonged to her 

The trope of women having to become monsters to take back their power makes an appearance but it doesn’t stop there

The mom drove me absolutely insane, and the sister really irked me at times - you see she is a werewolf what is a therapist going to do? Love story was cute tho