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buffyreads's Reviews (575)
I received this title as an ARC on Net-galley in exchange for a honest review. Thank you publisher for the copy!
The Good
I haven't read a desi romance before and loved learning about a different culture. I loved Sana from the jump. Her care and devotion to Zia was admirable. She is under a lot of pressure in a culture I don't understand but it's easy to connect with her and understand her. Daniel / Shahri is great too. He had a war with his past and his identity which caused him to be hot and cold but at his core he wanted to be with Sana so much. I liked Adam as well. I'm glad he wasn't villainized or pushy, he just wanted to get married to someone to make his father happy and thought Sana wanted those same things. This is second chance romance done very well. I love how the author incorporated flashbacks throughout the narrative in a natural way. It allowed us to really see their before and understand their current state in comparison. The writing in this is beautiful. The way Daniel and Sana describe each other is incredible and I found myself highlighting the most beautiful sentences.
The Rating
I give this book a 5/5
The Good
I haven't read a desi romance before and loved learning about a different culture. I loved Sana from the jump. Her care and devotion to Zia was admirable. She is under a lot of pressure in a culture I don't understand but it's easy to connect with her and understand her. Daniel / Shahri is great too. He had a war with his past and his identity which caused him to be hot and cold but at his core he wanted to be with Sana so much. I liked Adam as well. I'm glad he wasn't villainized or pushy, he just wanted to get married to someone to make his father happy and thought Sana wanted those same things. This is second chance romance done very well. I love how the author incorporated flashbacks throughout the narrative in a natural way. It allowed us to really see their before and understand their current state in comparison. The writing in this is beautiful. The way Daniel and Sana describe each other is incredible and I found myself highlighting the most beautiful sentences.
The Rating
I give this book a 5/5
Highlights:
The holds on this book was insane but I finally got it! We're back baby!!! Dante and Cherry had very good banter and chemistry. I liked how they bickered back and forth and flirted. Lemming of course managed to make a book with great humor, pacing, and just FUN that I'm obsessed with. I liked that this book exploded more of the world and there was less of a mystery to solve/specific adventure like previous books.
Horn Level: 2/5
The holds on this book was insane but I finally got it! We're back baby!!! Dante and Cherry had very good banter and chemistry. I liked how they bickered back and forth and flirted. Lemming of course managed to make a book with great humor, pacing, and just FUN that I'm obsessed with. I liked that this book exploded more of the world and there was less of a mystery to solve/specific adventure like previous books.
Horn Level: 2/5
The Good
The romance was so good in the first one I had to keep it going! We got sprinkles of world-building and plot in the previous novel so I was interested to see if we get more of that here. Delora is thrown in the void for killing two people and falls from the sky onto Nameless. I really liked how complex of a character Delora is. She isn't all good and noble. She's killed two people and it has made her incredibly depressed. Nameless (Magnar) was in the first book of the series and was desperate for a human companion of his own. He tries to be kind and understanding but as a younger duskwalker he is just a huge himbo. Delora's darkness and Magnar's naïveté is a great combination. I liked how he was able to grow and change into his own person throughout the book. Delora's happiness with her pregnancy and motherhood was nice to see, especially since she couldn't have that before. I loved seeing her heal into a healthy and happy person.
The Bad
Again the Katerina stuff. I will keep booing it every time it comes up. Katerina was manipulative yes but because she literally was held against her will. It doesn't matter that Orpheus didn't understand and didn't intend for it to be that way, Katerina not falling for her captor and doing whatever she could to get what she wanted out of that situation is and will never be something I villainize her for and I wish the author learned from the previous novels reviews on how this framing is bad. The middle of this book dragged for me. I wasn't very into the pregnancy plotline. It was interesting for world-building sake but not that enjoyable to actually read. And the Demon King is a weird entity in these books. He pops up for a few chapters each book, causes some conflict, and then is gone. As an antagonist I wish he either had more build up as a problem to be solved throughout the book with a real resolution or was more interesting of a villian.
Format:
Ebook — Kindle Unlimited
The Rating
I give this book a 3/5
The romance was so good in the first one I had to keep it going! We got sprinkles of world-building and plot in the previous novel so I was interested to see if we get more of that here. Delora is thrown in the void for killing two people and falls from the sky onto Nameless. I really liked how complex of a character Delora is. She isn't all good and noble. She's killed two people and it has made her incredibly depressed. Nameless (Magnar) was in the first book of the series and was desperate for a human companion of his own. He tries to be kind and understanding but as a younger duskwalker he is just a huge himbo. Delora's darkness and Magnar's naïveté is a great combination. I liked how he was able to grow and change into his own person throughout the book. Delora's happiness with her pregnancy and motherhood was nice to see, especially since she couldn't have that before. I loved seeing her heal into a healthy and happy person.
The Bad
Again the Katerina stuff. I will keep booing it every time it comes up. Katerina was manipulative yes but because she literally was held against her will. It doesn't matter that Orpheus didn't understand and didn't intend for it to be that way, Katerina not falling for her captor and doing whatever she could to get what she wanted out of that situation is and will never be something I villainize her for and I wish the author learned from the previous novels reviews on how this framing is bad. The middle of this book dragged for me. I wasn't very into the pregnancy plotline. It was interesting for world-building sake but not that enjoyable to actually read. And the Demon King is a weird entity in these books. He pops up for a few chapters each book, causes some conflict, and then is gone. As an antagonist I wish he either had more build up as a problem to be solved throughout the book with a real resolution or was more interesting of a villian.
Format:
Ebook — Kindle Unlimited
The Rating
I give this book a 3/5
Highlights:
Lauren is awesome. Her love language is clearly acts of service and she is really kind and sweet. I was really interested in the island clans and K'Thar. The volcano eruption was something I forgot from the previous series. I loved the return to the dynamic's of the first Ice Planet Barbarian book but with its own twist. I empathized for Marisol even though I wanted to shaken her a little. She is going through something very traumatic and her coping mechanism is to hide. I felt really bad for her at the end and I look forward to her story. I loved the action parts of this book. Everything on that island was trying to kill them. I even loved them going over the logistics of leaving. I look forward to the interactions between the new clan!!
Lowlights:
Was Liz always so mean? She was very insensitive towards the girls waking up and it put a bad taste in my mouth. I did feel like it did drag in the middle of the story. I was really anticipating them trying to get back and leave the island.
Horn Level: 4/5
Lauren is awesome. Her love language is clearly acts of service and she is really kind and sweet. I was really interested in the island clans and K'Thar. The volcano eruption was something I forgot from the previous series. I loved the return to the dynamic's of the first Ice Planet Barbarian book but with its own twist. I empathized for Marisol even though I wanted to shaken her a little. She is going through something very traumatic and her coping mechanism is to hide. I felt really bad for her at the end and I look forward to her story. I loved the action parts of this book. Everything on that island was trying to kill them. I even loved them going over the logistics of leaving. I look forward to the interactions between the new clan!!
Lowlights:
Was Liz always so mean? She was very insensitive towards the girls waking up and it put a bad taste in my mouth. I did feel like it did drag in the middle of the story. I was really anticipating them trying to get back and leave the island.
Horn Level: 4/5
Highlights:
Megan and Cashol were great. I loved how their relationship builds and they had to work to understand each other. I felt really bad for Megan and the pressure she put on herself in order to try to fit in.
Lowlights:
I hate feet fetishes so this was kinda torture for me but I'm almost done with the series so I cannot dnf just for that.
Horn Level: 3/5
Megan and Cashol were great. I loved how their relationship builds and they had to work to understand each other. I felt really bad for Megan and the pressure she put on herself in order to try to fit in.
Lowlights:
I hate feet fetishes so this was kinda torture for me but I'm almost done with the series so I cannot dnf just for that.
Horn Level: 3/5
“Don’t apologize for touching what belongs to you,” His voice comes huskily.
Highlights:
Rhianne and Sephtis have great chemistry and I was rooting for them. Sephtis' story was heart breaking and interesting to hear about.
Lowlights:
I understood the moral dilemma of Sephtis literally eating people but it made me roll my eyes a little. Like dude just start munching on folks.
Horn Level: 5/5
The Good
I liked Margot from the very first chapter. She's type A but it comes from a place of caring and passion. Margot and Luke have great chemistry and banter. He also knows how to be supportive and they understand each other. I loved Luke and Avery's friendship. Platonic male/female friendships in books are adorable.
The Bad
I wish the conflict with her brother was resolved in a better way Through the 3rd act conflict I just felt like something was missing from this story. I didn't feel emotionally invested in their relationship as I should have.
The Rating
I give this book a 3/5
I liked Margot from the very first chapter. She's type A but it comes from a place of caring and passion. Margot and Luke have great chemistry and banter. He also knows how to be supportive and they understand each other. I loved Luke and Avery's friendship. Platonic male/female friendships in books are adorable.
The Bad
I wish the conflict with her brother was resolved in a better way
Spoiler
and wasn't just a misunderstanding.The Rating
I give this book a 3/5
The Good
I am shocked how much I enjoyed this book. The world-building, the characters, and the romance was great. I usually don't like "insta-love" books but Dixon works hard for readers to understand why each of the like each other and they have fun/cute moments together. I also think Dixon's funny tone and dialogue gave this book a lot of personality which made it a delight. I'm not a "spicy" book person so I liked that there wasn't a gratuitous amount of sex scenes and there was an actual plot with stakes.
The Bad
There isn't anything majorly bad with this book but I wish there was more conflict. However, I understand that this is a entire series and more of the overarching story will be told later. I think the only mark it missed was throughly making me feel something other than pleasant enjoyment.
The Rating
Originally I gave it a 3
I am shocked how much I enjoyed this book. The world-building, the characters, and the romance was great. I usually don't like "insta-love" books but Dixon works hard for readers to understand why each of the like each other and they have fun/cute moments together. I also think Dixon's funny tone and dialogue gave this book a lot of personality which made it a delight. I'm not a "spicy" book person so I liked that there wasn't a gratuitous amount of sex scenes and there was an actual plot with stakes.
The Bad
There isn't anything majorly bad with this book but I wish there was more conflict. However, I understand that this is a entire series and more of the overarching story will be told later. I think the only mark it missed was throughly making me feel something other than pleasant enjoyment.
The Rating
Originally I gave it a 3
