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983 reviews by:
duskangelreads
**Thank you to Hachette Australia for providing me with an eARC of this book in return for an honest review**
This review can also be found on my blog HERE.
Cover Art:
Generally, I don’t like people on the cover of books, but covers with part of someone’s face don’t bother me and I really like this one. I like how simple it is and how well it represents this book! I also love the design on the knife too.
Writing:
I didn’t love the writing to be completely honest. Every now and then there were a couple paragraphs that really didn’t make sense. When this happened a lot of the time it was the movement of a character. It’s hard to explain but it was just kinda contradicting itself I guess. Like they would say this person was somewhere or doing something and then the next second they were somewhere else or doing something else that shouldn’t have been possible. That’s the best I can explain it.
But as I am reading an eARC of this book, this may have been corrected for the final copy but I’m not fully sure obviously. But it was a little annoying when that happened as it just wrecked the flow of the book.
But besides that, there was also the romance. It wasn’t my favourite either. Not only am I not a romance reader but it was also pretty predictable and typical of a “forbidden love” story. But I’m really glad that the romance didn’t overtake the rest of the plot of the book.
I also enjoyed that they included some of the stories they talked about in the book. I thought that was a cool touch.
Plot:
I really enjoyed the plot of the book and I didn’t find it predictable even though I found the romance predictable. The plot was fairly unique and I loved the stories. And come on, the book has dragons!
Characters:
Asha was a little annoying at times. Through most of the book, she acted like she was better than everyone else because she was the ‘Iskari’. I get that yes she may have been a more powerful person but that doesn’t mean you have to act stuck up about it. Her personality when it came to this really annoyed me but besides that she was okay.
I really enjoyed Safire though. She was awesome and such a badass. She is also really strong! No matter the crap she had to put up with she was strong all the way and was there for her family the whole time.
Jarek was a horrible person. He is so controlling and obsessive. Honestly, at a couple points, I cringed when he came up to Asha and I’m only reading about it!
Dax I also enjoyed. He wasn’t that present for most of the book but in the end I really enjoyed him and what he did. He cared for Asha a lot and even though she was the ‘Iskari’ and was meant to be this fearless person he still saw her as his sister and looked out for her rather than treating her like a prop or a weapon like others tried.
Torwin I don’t really know how I feel about. I did enjoy him for most of it but for some parts, he just felt like ‘the forbidden love interest’ and that was it. I would have really liked if this book was in Multi POV with Torwin & Asha because seeing him through her eyes that was all he was really, the forbidden love interest. I would have liked to see him as his own person a bit more but the only time we see that is the part with the dragon and when he was telling stories about the woman who raised him.
I won’t talk about my opinions about anyone else as I don’t want to spoil anything!
Overall:
Overall I didn’t love the writing or the MC. I hope that in the next book she comes down off the high horse she has been sitting on for most of this book. The romance was not my favourite either, but I’m not a romance fan so that doesn’t mean too much. I did enjoy the plot of the book and some of the characters.
*For my rating I did not take into consideration the trouble I had understanding some parts just because I’m not sure if that is a fault with the eARC or not.*
This review can also be found on my blog HERE.
Cover Art:
Generally, I don’t like people on the cover of books, but covers with part of someone’s face don’t bother me and I really like this one. I like how simple it is and how well it represents this book! I also love the design on the knife too.
Writing:
I didn’t love the writing to be completely honest. Every now and then there were a couple paragraphs that really didn’t make sense. When this happened a lot of the time it was the movement of a character. It’s hard to explain but it was just kinda contradicting itself I guess. Like they would say this person was somewhere or doing something and then the next second they were somewhere else or doing something else that shouldn’t have been possible. That’s the best I can explain it.
But as I am reading an eARC of this book, this may have been corrected for the final copy but I’m not fully sure obviously. But it was a little annoying when that happened as it just wrecked the flow of the book.
But besides that, there was also the romance. It wasn’t my favourite either. Not only am I not a romance reader but it was also pretty predictable and typical of a “forbidden love” story. But I’m really glad that the romance didn’t overtake the rest of the plot of the book.
I also enjoyed that they included some of the stories they talked about in the book. I thought that was a cool touch.
Plot:
I really enjoyed the plot of the book and I didn’t find it predictable even though I found the romance predictable. The plot was fairly unique and I loved the stories. And come on, the book has dragons!
Characters:
Asha was a little annoying at times. Through most of the book, she acted like she was better than everyone else because she was the ‘Iskari’. I get that yes she may have been a more powerful person but that doesn’t mean you have to act stuck up about it. Her personality when it came to this really annoyed me but besides that she was okay.
I really enjoyed Safire though. She was awesome and such a badass. She is also really strong! No matter the crap she had to put up with she was strong all the way and was there for her family the whole time.
Jarek was a horrible person. He is so controlling and obsessive. Honestly, at a couple points, I cringed when he came up to Asha and I’m only reading about it!
Dax I also enjoyed. He wasn’t that present for most of the book but in the end I really enjoyed him and what he did. He cared for Asha a lot and even though she was the ‘Iskari’ and was meant to be this fearless person he still saw her as his sister and looked out for her rather than treating her like a prop or a weapon like others tried.
Torwin I don’t really know how I feel about. I did enjoy him for most of it but for some parts, he just felt like ‘the forbidden love interest’ and that was it. I would have really liked if this book was in Multi POV with Torwin & Asha because seeing him through her eyes that was all he was really, the forbidden love interest. I would have liked to see him as his own person a bit more but the only time we see that is the part with the dragon and when he was telling stories about the woman who raised him.
I won’t talk about my opinions about anyone else as I don’t want to spoil anything!
Overall:
Overall I didn’t love the writing or the MC. I hope that in the next book she comes down off the high horse she has been sitting on for most of this book. The romance was not my favourite either, but I’m not a romance fan so that doesn’t mean too much. I did enjoy the plot of the book and some of the characters.
*For my rating I did not take into consideration the trouble I had understanding some parts just because I’m not sure if that is a fault with the eARC or not.*
*Thank you to Harlequin Teen & NetGalley – I received an eBook in return for an honest review*
Cover Art:
I love that this cover matches the first book so well! They are both gorgeous! I love the hour glass with Troika in the bottom of the glass with I'm assuming the Lifeblood spilling from it! It's beautiful and fits the books so well.
Writing:
I had a few issues with the writing in this first book that were better in this book! I really enjoyed the writing in this one! I still love the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I didn't mention this in my review of firstlife, but I love that they add in messages that were sent between characters, set out like IMs! I love the additions of things like this in books, it just adds that bit extra to the story, rather than just reading about the messages in a paragraph like most books do.
I love that the descriptions of each of the places in Troika had enough info to set a basic idea what the places looked like but also allowed for the reader's imagination to do the rest. I really enjoy that in books!
Plot:
I love the plot of this one, maybe even a little bit more than the first book! I liked that we got to explore more of Troika in this book! A lot was going on in this book! It was action packed and barely ever slow! Basically the entire book you are confused as to who is actually trustworthy as Ten's trying to figure it out herself and it definitely keeps you on the edge!
Characters:
The first 3/4 of the book I was still on the fence about what side Killian was on! It was driving me wild, but in the end, it's actually clear, I hope! I still really like Ten, I liked seeing her develop as a person in this book! I liked that we got to see Sloan again and that there was a change in her! We met some awesome new characters that I really enjoyed getting to know like Meredith and Levi. There was of course characters that I enjoyed but I didn't like as people in the story, I won't say who as I don't want to slip in any spoilers!
Overall:
So I gave this book 1 more star than Firstlife and that's because the few little issues I had with the first book were better in this book! I loved the plot and the characters in this book! The cover is gorgeous and the writing was really good! I really have nothing to fault with this book and I hate that I will have to wait around a year for the next book!
Cover Art:
I love that this cover matches the first book so well! They are both gorgeous! I love the hour glass with Troika in the bottom of the glass with I'm assuming the Lifeblood spilling from it! It's beautiful and fits the books so well.
Writing:
I had a few issues with the writing in this first book that were better in this book! I really enjoyed the writing in this one! I still love the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I didn't mention this in my review of firstlife, but I love that they add in messages that were sent between characters, set out like IMs! I love the additions of things like this in books, it just adds that bit extra to the story, rather than just reading about the messages in a paragraph like most books do.
I love that the descriptions of each of the places in Troika had enough info to set a basic idea what the places looked like but also allowed for the reader's imagination to do the rest. I really enjoy that in books!
Plot:
I love the plot of this one, maybe even a little bit more than the first book! I liked that we got to explore more of Troika in this book! A lot was going on in this book! It was action packed and barely ever slow! Basically the entire book you are confused as to who is actually trustworthy as Ten's trying to figure it out herself and it definitely keeps you on the edge!
Characters:
The first 3/4 of the book I was still on the fence about what side Killian was on! It was driving me wild, but in the end, it's actually clear, I hope! I still really like Ten, I liked seeing her develop as a person in this book! I liked that we got to see Sloan again and that there was a change in her! We met some awesome new characters that I really enjoyed getting to know like Meredith and Levi. There was of course characters that I enjoyed but I didn't like as people in the story, I won't say who as I don't want to slip in any spoilers!
Overall:
So I gave this book 1 more star than Firstlife and that's because the few little issues I had with the first book were better in this book! I loved the plot and the characters in this book! The cover is gorgeous and the writing was really good! I really have nothing to fault with this book and I hate that I will have to wait around a year for the next book!
I received an eBook of Seven-Sided Spy from the author, Hannah. Thanks so much to her!!
You can also find this review on my blog HERE
Cover Art:
Honestly, I don’t like the cover. I don’t find covers with people on them appealing. I do like the forest background part though. It looks good against the bluish colour of the girl. I am also not sure exactly who the girl on the cover is. I’m guessing it is meant to be Diana, but not 100% sure.
Writing:
I liked most aspects of the writing. It flowed well but was a little slow at times however it wasn’t bad enough to really bug me. The book includes both past and present events. I enjoyed a few of the past sections but a few of them, I feel like could have been summed up in less pages. Some didn’t really add anything to the overall story and I didn’t see the point of them. But a few were necessary for the story, so I enjoyed those!
My main problem was that all of the chapters were so long! I prefer novels with short or varied sized chapters. That is simply personal preference and I didn’t mark it down for this. I just wanted to make people aware if you are like me and don’t like all huge chapters!
Plot:
As this is a thriller I won’t talk much about the plot as I feel like Thrillers you need to go in knowing nothing or at least very little!
I did enjoy the plot though. It was fairly action packed. As I said earlier it was a little slow at times. This was mainly at the start when we are learning about the world and setting everything up, but after about 30% it gets a pretty fast-paced except some of the past sections.
Characters:
There is a fair bit of diversity in this book. We have gay, bisexual, POC & also a character with an eating disorder (Bulimia).
As for the Bulimia, It is barely talked about. It is one of the past sections and basically all the happens is we see that she suffers from it and then another character tells her to stop and then we are back in the present and she no longer suffers from it. I’m not sure if the rep was done well for this one. I personally don’t have any experience with any eating disorders so I can’t say whether it was done well or not.
As for the characters themselves, I feel like discovering who they all are is part of the mystery of the book. So if you want you can keep reading, or choose not to. Skip to the Overall section if you didn’t want to spoil this part.
Each of the characters have atleast 2 names as they are spies. I will put both so there is no confusion!
Hera/Diana/Goddess was my least favourite character in the end. At the beginning, I didn’t mind her but in the end, this one is crazy!
Dresden/Tim was another unenjoyable character. He was just kinda rude and petty and annoyed me most of the time.
Niccolò/Da Vinci was an okay character. He kinda felt like a father figure to the others in their group. He felt very realistic for some reason. I think it may have been the constant struggle he was in and just trying to do the right thing but it not working out!
Marco/Rigan was probably my favourite character. He was interesting and really enjoyable.
Ruby/Robin was funny, quirky and I enjoyed seeing her being thrown into this craziness and how she dealt with it.
The rest of the characters didn’t get as much page time in their POVs. So I don’t have as many feelings about them as the others.
Nikola/Wesley is the one character that I don’t really know how to feel. I both liked her and didn’t like her at different times.
Kal/Sergei & Gulliver/Roderick are both enjoyable and I did really enjoy their friendship.
Overall:
Overall I enjoyed the writing but had a few small issues with it. The plot was really well done though and I liked the slight hint of a fantasy of sorts. I liked some and didn’t like some of the characters, but you can’t love everyone! So I’m fine with that.
Slight spoiler ahead!! The only thing I wish is there was more explanation about why some of the characters were given those abilities of such. There was no real background on that part. There was the background of the characters but barely any talk about why those things were happening to them. I just don’t get it and I’m pretty sure it’s a standalone, so we will never find out I guess!
You can also find this review on my blog HERE
Cover Art:
Honestly, I don’t like the cover. I don’t find covers with people on them appealing. I do like the forest background part though. It looks good against the bluish colour of the girl. I am also not sure exactly who the girl on the cover is. I’m guessing it is meant to be Diana, but not 100% sure.
Writing:
I liked most aspects of the writing. It flowed well but was a little slow at times however it wasn’t bad enough to really bug me. The book includes both past and present events. I enjoyed a few of the past sections but a few of them, I feel like could have been summed up in less pages. Some didn’t really add anything to the overall story and I didn’t see the point of them. But a few were necessary for the story, so I enjoyed those!
My main problem was that all of the chapters were so long! I prefer novels with short or varied sized chapters. That is simply personal preference and I didn’t mark it down for this. I just wanted to make people aware if you are like me and don’t like all huge chapters!
Plot:
As this is a thriller I won’t talk much about the plot as I feel like Thrillers you need to go in knowing nothing or at least very little!
I did enjoy the plot though. It was fairly action packed. As I said earlier it was a little slow at times. This was mainly at the start when we are learning about the world and setting everything up, but after about 30% it gets a pretty fast-paced except some of the past sections.
Characters:
There is a fair bit of diversity in this book. We have gay, bisexual, POC & also a character with an eating disorder (Bulimia).
As for the Bulimia, It is barely talked about. It is one of the past sections and basically all the happens is we see that she suffers from it and then another character tells her to stop and then we are back in the present and she no longer suffers from it. I’m not sure if the rep was done well for this one. I personally don’t have any experience with any eating disorders so I can’t say whether it was done well or not.
As for the characters themselves, I feel like discovering who they all are is part of the mystery of the book. So if you want you can keep reading, or choose not to. Skip to the Overall section if you didn’t want to spoil this part.
Each of the characters have atleast 2 names as they are spies. I will put both so there is no confusion!
Hera/Diana/Goddess was my least favourite character in the end. At the beginning, I didn’t mind her but in the end, this one is crazy!
Dresden/Tim was another unenjoyable character. He was just kinda rude and petty and annoyed me most of the time.
Niccolò/Da Vinci was an okay character. He kinda felt like a father figure to the others in their group. He felt very realistic for some reason. I think it may have been the constant struggle he was in and just trying to do the right thing but it not working out!
Marco/Rigan was probably my favourite character. He was interesting and really enjoyable.
Ruby/Robin was funny, quirky and I enjoyed seeing her being thrown into this craziness and how she dealt with it.
The rest of the characters didn’t get as much page time in their POVs. So I don’t have as many feelings about them as the others.
Nikola/Wesley is the one character that I don’t really know how to feel. I both liked her and didn’t like her at different times.
Kal/Sergei & Gulliver/Roderick are both enjoyable and I did really enjoy their friendship.
Overall:
Overall I enjoyed the writing but had a few small issues with it. The plot was really well done though and I liked the slight hint of a fantasy of sorts. I liked some and didn’t like some of the characters, but you can’t love everyone! So I’m fine with that.
Slight spoiler ahead!! The only thing I wish is there was more explanation about why some of the characters were given those abilities of such. There was no real background on that part. There was the background of the characters but barely any talk about why those things were happening to them. I just don’t get it and I’m pretty sure it’s a standalone, so we will never find out I guess!