sam
2.75* honestly just below average. I dont buy the romance at all and i didnt see enough character development. My advice would be to stick to the selection trilogy.
4.75 - lovedddd this!!! I was completely hooked start to finish and absolutely adored every single character and their, at times, complex relationships.
So much better than the shadow and bone trilogy and honestly i dont think you need to read that trilogy to understand this one.
3.5* mainly bc the main character is a brat and there hasnt been quite enough growth through this book for me to love her yet... hoping that we see that growth in the final book
*4.75 ive learned recently that it doesnt hit the same when enemies to lovers turn to just lovers and they're happy. still very good though
4.5* I found this a little slow paced at times which resulted in taking quite a while to get through it. Still throughly enjoyable.
I think i wouldve loved this back in 2015 in the fault in our stars/john green era of my life but it was just a simply fine book for me now
*4.75 - this was so compelling. I was intrigued by Arden's history as well as hooked to know what truly had happened. The perfect mix of mystery, romance and historical fiction.
So many aspects of this book made me super uncomfortable. Please search up trigger warnings
I went into this book with my expectations much too high. Its definitely a great book with the usual incredible plot twist i did not at all see coming but I definitely connected less to these characters than in some of Colleen's other work and it took me a lot longer to get hooked into the story as well. I think i wouldve enjoyed it more if my expectations had been lower.
3.5 - this started off so good but slowed down too much through the middle to the point i lost interest making the final few chapters not as exciting as they could've been. Im hopeful the 3rd book will redeem the trilogy for me
I know a lot of people say the darkling is the only reason they rate this book but for me it is Nikolai. He is so comedic ugh i love him
2.5* With about 100 pages to go I was thinking this was a 4 star read until I read the most biphobic sentence i almost put the book down. I kept reading due to my overly curious nature thinking i just HAD to know what the twist would be.. to find there was no twist. At least not one i didn't see coming since page 30. Completely and utterly disappointed by the endings to the plot lines throughout the book. The most compelling part to this book is the very last page which I have to admit did give me a giggle.
There was also far too many baby related themes throughout this book for my personal enjoyment.
Disclaimer: I'd probably rate this 3.5 stars if i wasnt so pissed off by the blatant biphobia. Sick to death of there being hardly any bisexual representation in books.