It’s a cute, quick read about a small town coworker romance. It’s dual POV, which I found really fun. Plus the jokes at the end felt well placed. 

There was a lot that I wanted to like about this book. The fact that it comes from an indie author. The book being a dark retelling of Robin Hood, which promises adventure.
There was a lot that I disliked about this book. A lot of the characters felt flat. It was in the same sense of show me their angry, don’t tell me their angry. Reading “I’m angry” every chapter didn’t help with the character growth. 
A few characters stood out to me. Laith needs to be protected, and I finished this story because I hope he does well. 
I’ll read the second book, because I’m hoping the author learned from this one and grows as a writer. The world building is there, but the characters just need to be fleshed out a bit. 

ARC REVIEW, all thoughts are my own:

I think this book was a great way to finish the trilogy. There was growth in the side characters, betrayals, and redemption. This read had me on the edge of my seat. 

ARC Review, all thoughts are my own: This was a great second book. It was great seeing Migo step into his role as King, his cousin is fleshed out a little more, and there’s even more detail in the magic system. The set up for the third book has me so excited. This is a YA book, but I think it discusses important topics while not taking away from the adventure. 

Honestly, I tried to see these characters in a non-flat light. There was so much potential. Persephone was a student, liked baking, had her internship, and a contract with Hades. Those are things that could’ve made her really interesting but it all felt so one dimensional. 

I finished the book, but I’m not sure if I will continue the series. It’s spicy at times, there is a plot that makes sense, and it resolves some stuff at the end. 

What made me sad was the blip at the end showing the book from Hades perspective. It’s better. It gives better context to the world and I think had a stronger starting point to the story. 

I’ll read more from this author to see if maybe this book was part of a learning curve, because I think they could be a great author someday and I would hate to write them off because I didn’t love the first thing I read from them. 

This book has pages where I was laughing at banter, on the edge of my seat with worry, and engrossed in the story all the way through. There were plot twists and things that I didn’t expect, and a few times I expected the main character to die. Fully recommend. 

The world building didn’t make sense and the more I even passively thought about it, the more confused I was. I could buy into Olympus being a city, and the names of the gods being figure heads - what I couldn’t do was buy into Hades being a myth and never being seen while also throwing public sex parties. There’s paparazzi and gossip columns but nobody seen this dude? Hades who literally walks next to the main city? Who Zeus knows is alive and actively calls him. 

Also the romance side of thing feels weird? I get the fwb set up but it was just a bit much. 

Everything wrapped up nicely with this book, showing the foresight of Cinna, the horrors that happened to Finnic, and the growth that Peeta and Katnis have to go through. 

I do dislike how Katniss was put on the back burner. While it may be more realistic, I wanted her to be more than just a pawn for either Snow or Coin. 

Then there was the big build up for “who is she going to choose” and then there was no choice. Peeta and Gale chose different things (which, I don’t disagree with them doing different things), but Katniss didn’t really get the final say there. 

The prolog was beautiful and really helped make the book worth it - showing PTSD, showing depression, showing that she and Peeta did heal. However, I would’ve loved for Katniss to just be strong and still have her happy ending post rebellion. 

This book was better than the first one. Because the world building was already done, the characters could be fleshed out a little more. This continues tackling serious topics

  like rooting for children killing children, politics, and sending an alleged pregnant person to the games. 

 

I cried when certain characters died, I was on the edge of my seat, and it made me really empathetic towards Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch. 

I like that the main character isn’t exactly likable. She needs to be coached on how to interview and answer questions. She’s fierce and rebellious. 

The writing style of this book wasn’t really something I throughly enjoyed, but I think it tells a moving story. I still cried when Rue died and I still felt anxious as Katniss and Peet’s moved around the arena.