ridleyreadsthings's Reviews (789)

From the get go I was immediately intrigued and captivated by this story. Told as a sort of autobiography, we follow Fitz, the bastard child of Prince Chivalry as he is thrust into the care of the Royal Family, from his first memories at arriving at the castle, all the way to becoming an apprentice to the Kings Assassin.

Even though this was a slow burn fantasy,  I still felt completely immersed in this world, and not once was a bored with the pace or lenghty descriptions and paragraphs. I felt like i was being lead by the hand by a friend at a nice sooth pace. 

The writing and worldbuilding was so beautifully crafted, at times I swear I could smell sea salt coming of the pages. I felt like I was there, living life and growing up side by side with Fitz. I felt what he felt, saw what he saw, smelled what he smelled. 

If you want something fast paced and action packed, then this is probably not for you. But if you want a well crafted story with a relatable medieval world, told from the viewpoint of a character who not only tells you his story, but makes you live it with him and will leave you feeling a wide range of emotions, and wanting more, the I urge you to give this a go. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I put it down. 

This was an incredibly thrilling installment that actually left me with goosebumps multiple times. The setting of the woods and all the goings on really made a chilling atmosphere. 

I really enjoyed the use of Welsh folklore and Elves/fairies - it made an already captivating story just that much more. The writing was brilliant and the way the story was told across the Six perspectives had me enthralled in a way that I couldn't put the book down.

More twists and turns than ever before with an ending I didn't see coming. To be fair, with Matt Wesolowski i never do. My favourite so far in the Six Stories series.

While I didn't think this was the strongest of McManus's books, it was still a thrilling, entertaining mystery that kept me gripped and guessing. Karen is one of my autobuy authors and I love everything she writes. 

I just feel like once the "bad guy" was unvealed it was a little obvious and would have loved it better, and think it would have had more impact if it was - I can't say the name but if you've read it, then the person who plays Archery with Ivy at the end of the book. 

But that ending. Dam!

I really enjoyed all the characters in this story and how they each brought something to the table. I hope this one gets a sequel because my jaw hit the floor at the end, it really did. But what was I expecting ha! 
 
The fact that events unfolded over the course of a single day, combined with the looming arrival of Ivy's parents made this a really fast read, full of twists and turns that spinned my head so many times I didn't know what to think. 

I received an free arc in exchange for an honest reveiw and while I really did enjoy this, and it has the great potential to be a fun, Supernatural Lgbtq series, I did have some issues with it. I'm not sure if it's because I've gotten to the age that "YA" just doesn't do it for me anymore, or YA protagonists have shifted from Millenials to Gen Z's.

I really enjoyed the characters - and the dynamics between Max and Jesper. I could feel like I could resonate with the pressure put on Jesper (which I loved getting that vibe because we didn't get any POV's from him so that was really well done.)

I liked that Max was an artist and he was a bit of a chaotic mess. It reminded me of a cross between Stiles from Teen Wolf and Nicky from The Extraordinaries. 

And he was FUNNY! I did laugh out loud a few times. 

I enjoyed the story too, and the plot (once I got into it, but more on that later.) It had a nice flow and was action packed in a way that didn't feel overdone or over dramatic. It was twisty enough that it wasn't predictable, and didn't feel forced and things moved along without giant leaps of logic. And i was invested in it. I really wanted things for the boys to work out and for them to live happily ever after.

I really did love how the whole "mates," thing was described and that was done really well. That connection that snaps into place, I could feel it as if it was happening to me. 

Any issues I had with this book I've already spoken to the publisher (tiny ghost press) about but I am going to mention them here anyway, and I've been told that they are doing a final round of reveiws but I did sign up for an honest review.  

For the first quarter of this book I did struggle to get into it. (That shifted pretty soon and then I did struggle to put it down after) It felt alot younger than it meant to be. The overuse of the word "Jerk," drove me a bit stir crazy, as did the excessive "dot dot dots" followed by exclamation marks. Sometimes it felt a little immature for a sixteen year old werewolf. 

It's supposed to be YA but sometimes I feel like it missed the mark. It was more on the younger scale of YA, as opposed to supernatural teenagers finding their life partner. 

Any werewolf or shifter book I've read has mostly be sex positive or fluid sexuality was pretty much the norm so I wasn't expecting the whole gay thing to be a bit taboo - which is fine, it's a fresh take on something that is found in pretty much every shifter book, and I get it adds more tension to the story but I feel like that could have been done away with, as the whole "need to have children to continue the family line of Alphas," was a good enough for the tension and drama. 

Considering part of the plot was concerning the "mating run," I did expect this book to be a little more sex positive. The Blue Moon messed with wolves hormones and sex drive, and I really didn't get that vibe. It felt more "teenage summer camp." Which was fine really but the narrativ  didn't really fit in with the atmosphere. 

I know that Max didn't really care about finding a mate originally and we saw things from his perspective but I just found myself rolling my eyes with the "ugh get a room," and "tonsil hockey," sarcasm. 

I also wish there had been more depth to the werewolf aspect and it was explored more, along with pack politics. Sometimes I didn't get the feel the MC was a wolf other than the occasional use of smelling or hearing. When he shifted there was no real shift to how things were different. 

I didn't get Pack vibes at all. I get that it's a big pack but the whole point of a pack is that they are family and look out for one another. It just felt more like "wolf and pack" were words to replace "club." I feel like Max should have known other wolves his age in his Pack.

I'm not really great at reveiws but I did enjoy this book and I want it to succeed and I don't want it to feel like I didn't enjoy it to those of you still reading my rambling review. I just feel like some things need tweaked and fine tuned before the release, because overall, there's a really great story and really strong potential. 

Overall I really did enjoy this and I'm really looking forward to the sequel. If you want a lighter toned Supernatural queer book with angsty teens and brooding love interests,slow burn enemies to lovers with a bit of the "only one bed" trope sprinkled in, and a great cast of characters then I urge you to add this to your tbr. Especially if you are a fan of teen wolf.