wren_rainbow's Reviews (451)

My first Beverly Jenkins book and I’m hooked . The amount of historical facts thrown into the romance was amazing! So much information that I’ve never learned at one point I stopped looking up information as I read and started writing it down to research upon completion. 

The ending!! Caught me off guard, my heart swelled and I smiled so much, very emotional. Hester deserved all the spoiling that she received. 

Looking forward to starting the series about the Le Veq brothers

Con: The last bit of the book, Hester’s characterization felt a bit off. Perhaps she’s in a new environment/ circumstances and of course you change? I don’t know it felt like she was just this bare bones character for a bit. 


thanks to everyone in Black Girls Read Too who consistently brought up her books!

Zane brings up various topics of low self esteem, addiction, sexuality, consent, toxic masculinity and I appreciate how Zane uses drama to get these points across. It’s different from what I usually read and how these usual points are made. The ending was unexpected! The sex was graphic and outlandish as Zane does well! The ending was a bit fairy tale ish yet I still loved Milena’s ending (I was rooting for it)! 

A book with healthy communication within a polyamorous relationship and BDSM dynamics! I enjoyed reading about each of the characters and seeing their journey and growth as they also processed their grief.  I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to read books with a polyamorous relationship specifically because it depicts what ethical non monogamy and communication should look like. The BDSM scenes were minor and also pretty damn good! I appreciated the discussion of limits and consents prior to engaging in a scene and the check ins during the scene, all are so very important and are often left out in many books. The sex scenes were spicy and not at all disappointing.

Japanese lore and mythology has been a slight interest of mine over the past year and a half. I’m not sure how I feel about the main character, she’s complicated, and a bit morally gray. There were times where I was rooting for her yet I didn’t like her. Shes a well written complicated character and dislikeable character. At a certain point in the story it shifted to the point of view of a villainous character which was interesting. But I liked her brother Neven and hope we see him again in the sequel (if I read the sequel)