Natasha

Way too wordy and hard to follow

Revisado: 04-13-25

Way too wordy and hard to follow. I’ll be returning this as I’ve tried reading it multiple times and keep falling asleep. I should have known from the overly wordy description that this book would be all over the place. It’s labeled as “plot dense” but I feel it’s too much trying to happen all at once rather than build the world naturally and let you learn it and the characters. DNF

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One of my best reads in a long time

Revisado: 04-12-25

Went in knowing nothing & this was shockingly good! First chapter I was a little confused but immediately understood the world and people which can be hard for me sometimes. This was just a really solid and interesting read, there’s magic, princesses and guys fighting to be her suitor, a rough-around-the-edges peasant girl brought to the castle to train as the first woman squire, it was similar vibes to other romantasy books yet entirely different and it’s own- I was not expecting the Princess to like who she ended up liking so that was a good plot twist! Hoping for book 2 and for them to remove the long pauses at the end of chapters which make you feel like the book stopped playing. Props to the audio team for incredible voices and acting + the low ambience sounds that added a great touch and did not distract were a pleasant surprise that engaged me- especially the creepy deathless sounds, it helped me understand that part of the magic since it’s a confusing concept. Great production all around and fun story- give us book 2!

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NOT a fantasy romance

Revisado: 10-21-24

This was advertised on audible with the tag of “fantasy” and it’s not a fantasy book in the slightest. I read this as a fan of ACOTAR and Fourth Wing and was very disappointed. The description makes it seem like “the dead have much to teach” and it alludes to magic in a sense but it couldn’t be further from that’s. It’s a plain story about a girl whose mother dies from a very real organism and she goes to university to study said organism. That’s it. No fantasy. If anything it’s Sci-fi with her attempting to use cutting edge science to study her mom’s death but it all feels realistic and boring. It’s also labeled “slow burn” but major emphasis on the SLOW part. Felt like I was reading for forever. The plot twists I could see from a mile away. Overall felt very mediocre of a story? Idk why it’s so highly rated. I wouldn’t recommend if you like fantasy as it’s just like reading any fiction book out there about a girl going to a new school. The main love interest is a smoker and that gave me the ick right away. He has the personality and vibe of a wet rat & had zero appeal after I read that. I just couldn’t get into it. Not worth the credit.

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A major letdown, straight porn

Revisado: 10-21-24

What was a very promising book one and up there on my favorite books of all time sadly fell flat here. Book 1 had story, depth, intrigue, and smut. Book 2 is just all smut, and not in a good way…. it was so much to the fact that I didn’t even know what the storyline was anymore and was bored and lost. It was so disappointing to go from sex scene to sex scene and see the story fall completely to the wayside, there didn’t feel like there was a narrative here. It felt like just was reading a fanfic. They try to throw a storyline in at the end and it just falls flat, the plot twists aren’t twists, the characters are forgotten. As another review mentions, some parts are written for the main character to seemingly condone and promote being r*ped, the way she views sex and acts forced upon her were completely synonymous with her being SA’d and it’s almost justified? This book was a step backwards for me, and I didn’t like what the author was attempting to normalize. I’m not sure what happened but I genuinely feel this entire book needs re-written to save what was one of the most promising new books worlds, characters and stories I had read in a long while (book 1). This 2nd book was NOT worth the purchase or time spent. I recommend listening to another book instead of this. Narrator was good tho.

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Not as good as her other book

Revisado: 03-10-24

Like someone else mentioned, this felt like budget celaena sardothien because there were so many similarities. Sadly, I kept falling asleep while reading because the author talks the story rather than shows it. They say a good writer tries to “show don’t tell” but instead a few sentences at the beginning of the book will tell you the entire world and backstory snd In a boring/ straightforward sentence. It will explain how she had a sickness, then another sentence that her mother died, another sentence explaining how she’s been trained by assassins and one is like her father figure (not spoilers, this is chapter 1 character breakdown) and anyways I just wish it wasn’t so stated and that you explore her world more. I got bored with the story telling and it didn’t make my mind imagine anything being read. I didn’t like the character and side characters all blended into the same thing. It’s no Throne of glass but this assassins story seams to be going for that. I’ll be returning it.

I prefer this authors “rain of shadows and endings” book; Lady of Darkness doesn’t even compare to that, her writing has become much better in her new work.

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I need book 2 on Audible asap!! LOVED it!

Revisado: 03-08-24

This book was dark and delightful. Ive never read dark fantasy that makes me truly hate the MMC like this, yet somehow I still love this story. I can’t wait for book 2 to come out!! I’ve never read this authors work but am now going to go read her other series. This book totally got me out of a reading slump & I needed it. I finished it in 2 days and couldn’t sleep, I was up till 4am reading!!

I inky had 2 things I dislike but even then I feel like they serve a purpose to build anger in the reader. Those things being 1 gaslighting if the FMC by all the “nice guys” in the story who claim it’s for her greater good & 2 the repetition of that- you see the same argument 20 times at least. So they have the same argument/ crossing of her boundaries constantly, but even with that, I never felt bored. I’m excited for book 2 and I mainly love how you’re not sure who she will end up with or even if it’s someone in the book. You’re scratching your head thinking I’d like her with any of these 3 people but also maybe that mystery man or maybe even a new rescuer being introduced in the next book would be better. What kind of person can pull this off with their writing?! I don’t even have a favorite male character in this book and am torn, the characters all have pros and cons and no one’s a straight shot. It’s incredible!! Overall good book for fans of ACOTAR and Fourth Wing but with the caveat/trigger warning that it’s darker, the FMC has no autonomy or free will in this book which is hard to read because you just want to scream at everyone around her that things they’re treating her well “if that was you, you’d never allow it!” This book makes you feel something, and if you’ve ever felt trapped in life or mentally or that others aren’t seeing you for everything you have to offer and considering what you’ve been through, then you will resonate with the main female character. I love Tessalynn. This book is amazing. I can’t wait for the rest of the series and hope she kills everyone but the fact that she could end up loving one of the characters and being end-game is what amazes me. I could see it going ANY way, which is exciting as a reader. One of my 2024 favorites for sure! I hope this book goes viral so I have people to talk about it with. 10/10 recommend

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

TW: male r*pe and pedophilia

Revisado: 03-05-24

I had zero clue what I was getting into with this book. I was recommended this online reading ACOTAR and needless to say was not expecting it to be a such a book with details about the r*pe of men and the story of a man after he’s taken as a sex slave. It was graphic and disturbing with little story or world building aside from that. There is further discussion around the normalcy of/vs him who does not prefer, sex with children which comes up at one point when they try to have him “serviced” by a “young boy who looks no older than 14”. This review is from someone who could not finish the book so I will admit I do not know where it goes from here. This experience could have been avoided if there was explicit trigger warnings & them read out at the beginning like most other books have. Returning this title and regret listening to what I have heard

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Great book to hold you over (but a stand-alone)

Revisado: 02-07-24

I was struggling to find a book to read after getting caught up on all the other fantasy books out rn. Found this recently uploaded book originally from 2002 and it’s great! You can definitely tell it’s an author getting her bearings but it’s definitely got holly black’s same captivating writing!

THE PROS:

- connections to cruel prince lore and an incredible fae world, it’s crazy to see how long holly black has been world building and that she basically paved the way for fae books today. Similar creatures, names and concepts come up from her current books so it was fun to read if you love cruel prince!
- easy to listen to and a quick read as it’s relatively short
- good narrator- she really is solid and easy to listen to!
- because it’s an older series, all the books are out!! (I believe) I’m already off to read the next one, no waiting! What a rare thing! (Major Edit: apparently this is a trilogy yet the characters and story are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT in book 2 “Valiant”) I’m very confused as book 1 ends with more story to be told and there’s no series consistency. I’m taking away another star for the fact that it’s part of a series that does not continue this stories and feel people should be warned of that. This should be considered a standalone book, please read reviews on book 2 if you’re on the fence)

THE CONS: (‼️& Trigger warnings‼️)

- Some transition parts were confusing; next thing I knew the main character would be somewhere else or it would be another day and it wasn’t always clear when scenes ended.
- the Main character is 16! I didn’t realize this when reading until later on because she smokes, drinks, doesn’t go to school, parties, etc. It can be hard to relate to her as someone in the “new adult” age range since she mentions things like not being able to drive but you also have light sexual encounters and guys getting too handsy with her so when I learned her age this all made me really sad. I had to ignore it and tell myself she was my age.
- ⚠️trigger warning! ⚠️ for 90% of this book it’s PG but Please know this book is a direct result of the time it came out: 2002, when girls didn’t have social media or the me too movement and when intimacy safety & awareness was not as common knowledge as it is now. The book is a true testament to the time. The female MC cannot tell her friends when a guy gropes her against her consent because she thinks they won’t believe her. The main character also has to APOLOGIZE to said guy for what happened and all the times He's been inappropriate to her because there’s magic which apparently may have pulled him in - it feels victim blamey & doesn’t sit right with me. The main characters friends ask HER to stop “going after” the same guy because he has a gf & is in a committed relationship (blaming HER rather than HIM who is the one cheating). I’m glad society has come a long way since this was written but that was all still hard to read about as someone who remembers what it was like and can relate to this. Maybe a lot of young readers now don’t know this sort of life but I remember it and didn’t like to normalize that again in my head when reading as it’s being explained away and rationalized.

I will read book two and form a better judgement, overall I found this book to be a super quick read and I still support Holly black who has come a long way to change the society that used be like the people in this book from 20 years ago. I think she as a woman likely experienced many of these things and this book is almost like a diary of what it was like being a young woman in the late 90s/early 00’s for better or worse.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Distracting Narrator - Could not finish. Will return

Revisado: 02-07-24

This narrators light and breathy posh accent is too distracting to listen to. The over annunciation of each word is beyond distracting. I felt like they just found a fancy accent and thought this would do the trick but I didn’t find myself following the story or knowing when new characters were speaking. It was just far too distracting that I have to return it. I can’t even comment on the story because I wasn’t sure what was going on because of that.

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Poorly written, not worth the credit

Revisado: 05-17-23

I gave this a chance after the first one isn’t completely capture me, but this book had me even more convinced that this series is poorly written and the author relies a lot of her lazy writing on the fact that magic is involved. She writes whatever she feels like with paths and stories that lead no where and chalks everything up to magic in the end leaning way too much on that as an author. The narration was great but I fell asleep multiple times. This book is 80% fluff and will leave you feeling like you’ve technically listened to a lot of story but not really learned anything. Overly ridiculous descriptions become flat-out cheesy things like “he looked like the taste of watermelon and scent of flowers forgotten in a field before sunset” and you’re just left there thinking, Omg not again. The story also had no twists and turns, and finding out who legend is was a total bore, no suspense, hype or intrigue. Just lazy writing but an amazing concept which is why I think the book has done as well as it has. I will be returning. I fell asleep so many times while listening, it was not to my preference personally.

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