cunningempress's Reviews (526)

After this I will read everything and anything written by David Mitchell.

I don't even know how to describe this book other than anxiety indusing and the wrong thing to read before bed. At least for someone like me who hates horror movies.

I have so many things I want to say about this and I promise it'll be entertaining so please, if you have a minute spare, read this. (Spoilers will be hidden)

I wanted plot but all I got was smut. Honestly, WHAT THE FUCK? I wanted to know what happened after the last book but somehow I managed to read 600 pages of barely anything happening.

But oh boy, I was entertained. I read 600 pages. I read 600 pages! How the fuck did I read 6 pages in three days!? It was the smut, wasn't it?
And yes, I enjoyed the smut even though I really wasn't here for it. I like smut in general. But I was convinced these fuckers (pun intended) were never gonna get anywhere. And they barely did.

I applaud Jennifer L. Armentrout for making me read 600 pages in three days and not even realise it. Thrice.

But let's talk more about the plot. You'd think this book was slow paced and would drag quite a bit since barely anything happens but no. And after the last book I really wanted...

Spoiler

them to go find Malik. I had dreams about them looking for Malik and freeing him. But it's like they forgot about him and I wanted to yell at Poppy and Cas for just having sex all the time when they should be making plans and actually DOING something. And the wedding scene???? I can't believe they would crash someone's wedding. I get it, weddings are fun and dancing is fun but holy fuck if I was the bride I would be so angry if a prince and princess crashed my wedding, they would surely take the focus from me and that's the one day when it's supposed to be about me and my partner.
And the moment Jasper mentioned Iliseeum I started crying. It was past midnight, I had just come from a night shift and I just knew that they were gonna go to Iliseeum instead of going to Carsodonia to free Malik. And all I wanted from this book was Malik.

The ending is really something though. I loved the ending. And now I can't wait for the next book.

I can't decide if I'm either in love with this book or if this just another fuck up in a series of shitty books. Am I gonna buy these books? And then continue to roast them every time someone asks about them? I don't know. Only time will tell.

Enemies to lovers?
Not really.

Entertaining?
Ehh....

Did I enjoy it?
Yeah.

This is one of those books you shouldn't take too seriously. The writings not great, the concept isn't anything new, the tropes have been done before. It's the sort of book that could get you out of a reading slump.

This is the kind of YA, you read at 14 and at 22 you realize it would make for a great erotica. It's the kind of book I would expect to find on Wattpad. Written by me. When I was 14. It would totally have all the very used tropes because my motivations for writing are to just daydream, not expecting anyone to actually read it.

I wasn't really going into this thinking it would be an enemies-to-lovers story because I honestly didn't remember what the book is about because it was so long since I marked it TBR. And if you go into this expecting enemies-to-lovers you'll be disappointed. It's also described as "Slytherin romance" which I guess, might work. Maybe? Like, yeah, the love interest and the MC are definitely Slytherins. But I was expecting a lot more smirks, back-stabbing and scheming.

Also, I have to note that some of the outfits described in this book are very questionable. Almost like those runway models you see and wonder if anyone will actually ever wear that. It's the sort of fashion that looks absolutely hideous and really needs the right situation and person to pull it off.

All in all, this was an underwhelming read. I'm a little disappointed. But I did end up squealing so it wasn't all bad.

I haven't read 50 Shades of Grey but I think I just did.

I was so excited about this because I've seen it all over BookTok, people were really hyping it up. How is this so different from 50 Shades of Grey? Hades is basically Christian and Persephone is pretty much Anastasia. The millionaire and a journalist.

The characters didn't have much of personality IMO, but at least Persephone wasn't as annoying and timid as Anastasia (or Bella).

However, I will read the sequel and I did read this in a single day.

P.S. I know her name is Greek but reading Persephone's name is a cringe because in Finnish 'perse' means ass. It's always gonna sound stupid.

For once BookTok didn't disappoint. I fell in love. I cried.

This was a beautiful book but historical fiction is not really my thing. I only read this because I love Marie Lu's other books and I kept seeing positive reviews for this.

If you don't like historical fiction and this doesn't quite sound like something you'd like it probably isn't for you even though it is a beautiful story. It wasn't very fast paced either and because I didn't really love this it took me a while to get to the ending.

This one goes straight to the TO BE BOUGHT pile! (Because I loan 99% of the books I read from the library, libraries are great)

I have never read Game of Thrones, I've only watched the show. And this reminds me of that. And also of Throne of Glass. If you like Throne of Glass you will like this too.

This was such a great and exciting adventure. I fucking love it! I love the characters! A pirate's daughter, an assassin, an immortal prince, a squire! There's EVERYTHING. And it works! At this point I'm expecting there to be dragons in the next book. If you want an escape from this world this is the book you should get. There's a good chance you will hate anyone who dares to disturb you.

There are multiple POVs which usually sets me off because there's always that one boring POV that I hate. But now there's not??? Most of the POVs follow the same story, the same people in the same place. Only few chapters are about characters that aren't in the same group and those.

This book surprised me.

I'm used to being underwhelmed by popular books. But this one I enjoyed. This book doesn't have the usual tropes that make me sick.

And this book gets a praise for being way less problematic than some other enemies to lovers books. Like From Blood and Ash is a train wreck that has no understanding of consent and really feels like a violation that you can only enjoy if you think it's written as a joke for people who can put aside their feminism.
And this doesn't have that 500 year age gap between the characters! The huge age gap is starting to feel more like a joke every time I read another book like that because how would anyone know how a 500-year-old people would act if they had the body of a 20-something.

Yet this book has exciting fantasy characters, including the broody, dark haired love interest. The main character who is married to a king and made a queen against her will DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HEIRS. Like, that whole idea about "well, you're married to a man you don't really know and you're expected to give him an heir" is such bullshit and makes my skin crawl with disgust. I'm glad to be rid of it.

And, in case you heard from BookTok that this book is spicy or "basically porn": it's not. There are couple kissing scenes and there's one sex scene. The other times are only implied.

Major Cruel Prince vibes.

I had to do it. I had to read this. I have seen so many people talk about this. I was too intrigued not to. And I was in a reading slump. You know I had to do it.

Do not read this for the plot. You will be disappointed. Read it for the smut. Read it because you're in a reading slump and do not take this seriously.