chantaal's Reviews (2.32k)

The setup for this story is that a young woman, Nanao, was once attacked and is tainted by a demon, and thus shunned by her fiance and their entire clan. One day deep into her bullied and lonely life Yako, a demon hunter from another clan, visits and realizes what Nanao truly is and whisks her away, declaring her his wife.

The main issue I have with this first volume is that the pacing is incredibly fast. The entire setup is a roller coaster ride of a single chapter, and it doesn't leave any room for the story or characters to breathe. I was left with zero interest in what was going on in the end. 

Also, the setup for this romance is highly uncomfortable. Nanao is very sheltered and traumatized and feels indebted to Yako, and Yako "saved" her for reasons that are spoilery to mention here. It's unbalanced, and while I'm sure Nanao will grow into her own against Yako, I have zero interest in following the story.

The best thing about this was the art, it was gorgeous. I wish more of the panels had better background work, but when there were full splash scenes of landscapes and backgrounds, they were beautifully done.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing a review copy! 

this was like if richard scarry wrote a cozy mystery and it was exactly the vibe i needed right now.

also, a great audiobook performance!

 This started with one interesting concept, then another one, and another one, and another, and another and another and and and—

It was a hate read by the end. Review to come when I can sort through my thoughts because this is five books in a trench coat and I’m still mentally screaming about it. 

I thought I was going to get something exciting here, but the veeeery long time we spend sitting with Watson and her depression felt like I was being dragged through molasses to get to a promise of something good. Then, when I came to Goodreads to read a few reviews to see if it was worth going on, I saw the author. And you know what? I'm not doing this during Black History Month. ✌🏾

The best of the Trinity books since Silver Silence for me. A fantastic balance of romance and plot, and the macro plot was a banger.

I liked Remy and Auden a lot, especially as their connection blossomed in a way that still went along with the typical insta-attraction/love, but there were barriers and interesting plot that kept them from coming together too quickly. 

Auden's entire deal with supremely fucked up on MANY LEVELS, but I liked how it was dealt with in the end. RIP for good Shoshanna, you evil bitch. 

This book also made me tear up quite a bit in all the sections of the plot that dealt with the impending destruction of the Psy-Net. Though it was mostly in interstitial sections and toward the end, the desperation of everyone trying to save as many Psy as they can in any way they can and still looking at a 90% loss of Psy life really got to me. And then you start talking about Psy children???? I was a goner. Trying not to cry on the fucking freeway.

Angela Dawe continues to be an absolute god tier narrator. 

I can't believe I'm caught up. I binged 8 books in 2.5 weeks, and now I have to WAIT for the next one? Rude.

 Although it was interesting having a mating-at-first-sight type of romance, I wasn't the biggest fan. I did like having a glimpse at Selenka and the Russian wolves and expanding more into that region of the world, but the romance...meh. 

Having characters who struggle with their past and believe themselves to be so eeeeevil because they've done super duper bad things can be hard to swallow book after book. Because the narrative and structure of these books and the romances can mean that you can never have the main characters be actually evil or irredeemable in any way.

Also, Ethan has light powers. That was neat.