Karissa

I did not like this book. I did not like it at all. It was so difficult to actually get through the physical book for me that I had to get the audiobook and listen on 1.25 and 1.5x speed just to get through it. In my opinion, it was awful. It was dry, the plot didn't really seem to go anywhere, and there were more than a few times that I was actually angry at this book. It really felt like the author was pandering towards a certain kind of audience. I'm all for feminism– I would consider myself a feminist– but this book was just.... it was just too much. The only saving grace for this book, in my eyes, was Cory's storyline. Honestly, I would rather have read just a book focused on his storyline and his alone.

The best word to describe this book is cute. Did it have all your typical romance troupes? Yes. Were some parts of the storyline predictable and others completely unrealistic? Yes. Did I still enjoy it? Yes. It was a cute, fluffy romance with a smattering of sexual tension and angsty build up. What I appreciated about the book was that it wasn't until.... I want to say 83% in or so that sex was had. From my experience, it's pretty typical for romance books to have sexy times pretty much at the beginning, middle, and end of the book, multiple times. So it was nice to have a book where, yes, clearly you knew it was going to happen, but, to put it bluntly, smut didn't drive the plot.

The main character was black? Could have fooled me. There was very little characterization in this book. What we know about Tanith: she has black curly hair. What we know about the piper: he is devestatingly handsome and has red hair. Woo...

There were many wtf moments throughout reading this book. I'll give it the fact that I read over 200 pages in a fairly short amount of time. But.... meh. If you like standard “new adult” fantasy romances that are not really doing anything different, you'll get on with this one.

This was pretty good. I liked the conversations and ideas that were brought up over the course of the book. The only thing keeping me from giving it a 5 is that I wanted more suspense/thrilling moments. I wanted to be on the edge of my seat and I wanted the sinister level to bump up to 11. That being said, I enjoyed the book. I don't know why it has such low ratings.

There are many parts of this I wish were drug out more, specifically when it came to Maerea and Alcaeus' courtship and romance. There were other parts I feel like we did not need, like the last steamy scene between them towards the end of the book. All and all though, I enjoyed this prequel and my mouth dropped at the reveal in the latter third of the book. It was a sweet, hard-won love story between the two main characters. I just wanted more of a courtship between them before things got to rocking and rolling.

I'm not sure what to rate this one so I'll come back to it. I'm between a 4.5 and a 5. I honestly enjoyed this twist on a murder mystery and the way the narrator broke the 4th wall. There were moments where I laughed out loud and I can honestly say I didn't predict the ending.

Edit: I'm giving it a 5. I really did like it and while I'm not running to read my copy of the 2nd one right away, I definitely am glad I bought it and am excited to read it at some point.

I can appreciate what this book was trying to do and what it was trying to say. I know this is a fantasy romance, but it was clearly very political and spoke a great deal to current climates and situations we face in the real world. If the book was simply just the deconstruction of narrowminded, bigoted views, I may have enjoyed it more. If it had leaned into Floss' deconstruction more. Plus, the ending was very rushed, while up until the 70% mark the book dragged and was so slow going.

Easily a 5-star read. I loved this book. I understand how the separation of Lio and Cassia and their longing for each other could tire other readers because it is a good chunk of the book that they are separated. But I loved it so much– there was so much character development for Lio and even for Cassia. I adored Xandra calling Lio out on his shenanigans. Someone had to and I think that'll only strengthen his relationship with Cassia as he takes Xandra's words to heart. And then once they were reunited.... ahhhhhh so good. And that ending though!!!! So so good.

DNF @ Chapter 2 (I didn't look at the percent.. probably 5%) - Honestly this book just read too young for me and I could tell from the first chapter it wouldn't be for me. Shame because it has such a beautiful cover and the premise was interesting. I hope it finds its way into the hands of the right reader

I wish this was longer. I think that the conversations it started to have about trauma and recovery were important to be had, but because it was so short, it didn't feel as impactful. However, seeing as the next book is a full-length novel, I'm hoping we get more of Mensah's recovery as well as SecUnit's continued character development.

6 FUCKING STARS.

I can't do anything right now but scream. You want a review?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

That is your review. I need to delve into book 3 NOW, but then it'll be over and what will I do with my life? My life has forever been divided into life before War of Lost Hearts and life after and I don't know what I'll do once I've crossed into the “life after” era.