probtori's Reviews (168)

LISTEN….. if you’re a dramione fan, you’ll love this. It is the same yearning vibes of dramione fanfic (obvi), and I was sat for it all 

I really enjoyed the magical elements added to this like how there is heart and mind magic as well as familiars. I’m really excited to learn more about the magic system in the next few books as well. I also really like the different areas/people and how they go to war/interact with one another. I felt like the world building wasn’t too complex but was complex enough to feel like a complete world. 

I’m sure no one is surprised, but I LOVED Briony and Toven. I love their banter, I love the yearning, I love the touch her and die. I love it all. But again, we’re not surprised, because I love dramione. 

Okay, dramione aside, I do think this book still stands on its own. I admit there are parts of it in the middle that may be more fan service than not, but I do still think that this book, with its dramione origins aside, is still a great first installment to a romantasy series about a princess who gets essentially kidnapped and given to the enemy. 

The ending, in my opinion, was excellent. I found myself truly caring about all the characters in the book and not wanting anything bad to happen to them. The ending was exciting/leaving me wanting more without being too cliffhanger-y. Needless to say, I am very excited about the second book. 

Now, I did listen to this instead of reading it physically, and I have to say I really enjoyed the narrator. I don’t think I could read the book now without imagining Briony sounding like Ella Lynch. Her ability to put emotion into her storytelling immersed me into the story, and I found myself not wanting to stop (evident as I listened to it in 2 days!). 

All in all, I definitely recommend this book if you enjoy dramione fan fiction but also still recommend it for those that are just looking for a fun new romantasy series. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

this was a slow but good read. i definitely think that as readers, you have to become invested in the main character's personal motivations and desires, otherwise this will be fairly bland for you. fortunately, Abercrombie does an EXCELLENT job at characterization. I felt like each character had their own history, motivations, tone, speech- it was very easy to not only identify each character from one another but care about them in their own little way. 

brother diaz- our man brother diaz is tasked by the pope (a little girl!) to travel with a band of "devils" to help escort the long lost princess to the throne. brother diaz is one of the less complex characters (in my opinion) in that he just wants to do the right thing and keep people safe. I can respect that, brother diaz. 

vigga- our resident werewolf. but remember, she's a NORSE werewolf. I loved vigga. her lines were quite funny, and I felt like her character was very intriguing. she at times will shift into her wolf form and be "vigga-wolf", basically meaning she is not herself. she is very violent and destructive and doesn't really know what she's doing until the after the fact. she struggles a lot with whether or not she is a monster, and I think that makes her a very interesting character overall. 

sunny- probably up there as a fave character with vigga, sunny is an elf, and she can go invisible. sunny actually has a VERY sad backstory that made love her even more. she used to be with a circus where people would abuse her since she is an elf (in this book, the elves are carnivorous and bad). there was one part where sunny talked about how she felt like she just wanted to do good things, so she would fold clothes while invisible and do other small acts to show she cared about her cohort. it was very sweet. 

baptiste- she's a pirate! my favorite part about Baptiste is that you learn just a little more about her backstory/character as you go along (kind of true for everyone, but more true for her in my opinion). the other thing I loved about her is that she alwaysssss says "I should've quit after Barcelona". we love a gal who sticks around even when things get rough lol. 

baron rikard- rikard was our vampire. in typical vampire fashion, he could "compel" or "glamour" others with his speech, which was always very entertaining. there were a few aspects of his character that were not in typical vampire fashion, which I really enjoyed, but I will leave that to you to find out! 

balthazar- I will admit, Balthazar was really hard to like. he was the necromancer, but he was always trying to break his slavery (each of the characters are bound to the pope to complete this mission as well as others). he always felt kind of like an outsider to the group, which makes it harder to like him. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next few books, he becomes a favorite. 

Alex- Alex here is a street thief that is apparently the heir to the throne. I do think she had quite a bit of character development throughout the story, and she learned quite a bit about herself while traveling with the rest of the crew. I'm very interested in seeing where her story takes her in coming books. 

jakob- not going to lie, I feel like Jakob was the least impressive to me. we did get snippets of his past, and he always alluded to knowing more than what was on the page. out of everyone in the devils, he seemed to be the one that was there because he wanted to be there, which is something I'd like to explore more of in the next book. 

overall, I enjoyed this book despite it being slow. I do wish I took my time with it to really dive into the characters, but alas, I finished it in 2 days. after about the 50-60% way, it sort of flew for me. there is a part of me that feels like this was a super long prologue and that the next books will be more action packed (not that this was by any means not action packed!) and more focused on the elves. with that being said, I really hope the next few books are focused on the elves, because I felt like the elves barely showed up in this book. The Devils really felt like an introduction to each of the characters so you could learn where they are at in life and what motivates them and what has led to them being who they are today. 

If you're into slashers or final girls, this book is definitely for you. Final Cut follow Haze, the 18-year old daughter of a slasher, who is cast as the leading girl in a film based in the same town as the murders. While filming, people start getting killed, and Haze has to figure out who the killer is.

Not once did I ever know who the killer was. Every time I thought I had an idea, I then subsequently changed my mind a few pages later. If there is one thing I love about thrillers, it is being surprised (shocking, I know), and this book definitely was a page-turner. I was definitely scared while reading this book though, not going to lie. I think there is something about seemingly random murders that make me want to lock all my doors and hide lol.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking at Worley's other works since I enjoyed this so much. If you enjoy breakneck thrillers and are a fan of slashers/final girls, I think you'll really enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fantastic, spooky debut novel. There were multiple points where I thought to myself, maybe I shouldn’t read this while camping in the woods! 

This follows Effie, who previously escaped her family, who was living in the bush in Australia away from society. Almost 20 years later, a young girl shows up who looks exactly like Effie, and Effie returns to her hometown to help answer the question of where did this girl come from? 

Alternating between Effie’s past and current POVs, this was a fast-paced novel with a lot of questions left unanswered until the last few chapters. I really enjoyed the quick pace and how each chapter ended on a mini-cliffhanger since I feel like that always makes a book go by quicker. 

I think the ending was a little confusing since so much happened in the span of about 15% of the book, but I do like how I didn’t have many unanswered questions (the very last paragraph is still a big ole question mark to me, but it is ok lol). I can’t say much without spoiling the fun, so I will leave you with this: if you are looking for a fast paced, chilling novel with some messed up people that do messed up things- this book is for you! 

I will definitely be checking out this author’s other books in the future! 

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!