Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

How does it feel? by Jeneane O'Riley

21 reviews

caitybell's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0


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greentearex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5


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ashley_reya's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Overall I enjoyed this story! I found that it was a little slow to drop into the main plot as we were introduced to Callie. Mendax started as pretty 2D and most of his chapters were just hornier renditions of Callie’s previous ones. However, in the later half of the book his chapters moved the plot along just as much as Callie’s and gave important context of Fae World we were experiencing.

What an ending!! Excited for book #2 to be out soon. 🧚🏻‍♀️✨

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rwsmith's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

this absolutely read like an ao3 story, posted in chapters but then scooped up together and published with a few intro chapters to set up the world. the writing isn't the best and it would have benefitted from an editor review in terms of typos and grammar. it also should not have been written in first person - the twist at the end was interesting but it was too out of pocket for the whole book to have been in first person and the reader not having seen any foreshadowing. 
all that said, the plot and story itself are interesting. the cliffhanger does make me want to read the sequel when it comes out, but unless the writing is a bit better and the characters a bit more dynamic, ill probably pass. i read it in a day so definitely and easy and quick read if thats what you're looking for. 

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pairswellwithbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I didn’t realize how much I loved this book until I got to the end. HOLY. I NEED BOOK 2 NOW. Definitely getting the e-book in Feb, no way am I waiting for the physical copy in April 

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biancabee_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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paykay's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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imskylow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.5

This is purely speculation, but methinks someone is paying for reviews because it is beyond me how many people have rated this book above 3 stars. Honestly, it's wild. This book is very poorly written and under-edited. It feels as though Jeneane had absolutely no beta readers or legitimate editors. After I realized fairly soon into the book that this belongs somewhere in the deep, dark depths of kindle unlimited, I decided to take a red pen to the book. I circled, marked, and crossed out miss spellings and redundancies, circled anything that was worded in a confusing unclear way, and marked up ever moment the story was at all unbelievable or disturbing, which was quite a bit even though I am a connoisseur of smut and fantasy. This book feels like a raw dream journal that never went through the creative process of making sense, which, in turn, made the story structure and dynamics hard to consume as a reader. 
The introduction of the story takes a good 90 pages and the entire book isn't even 400 pages long! The characters are incredibly difficult to enjoy. The female main character is as flimsy and as fluid as water. You cannot get me to believe that a biologist, no matter how scatter-brained, would forget a high-end microscope (it's mentioned that it costs as much as a car) in the woods. You additionally cannot get me to believe that she would then not spare a second to change out of her "going out" clothes but instead wears a little black dress (that hardly covers her assets) and HEELS to go search the woods. Not only is Callie, the main character, ditsy but she morphs into different characters as the story proceeds suddenly having a "dark side" or suddenly having her one wish be that she find love, when initially, all this girl wanted was to swear off love and a personal life and join a society of wildlife biologists. Then we have Mendax, the Prince, who to be completely honest has no redeeming qualities. I understand that he's not meant to have any as a dark/villainous character but there should be SOMETHING that attracts the reader and FMC. Alas, there isn't. We don't even really get to know what Mendax looks like aside from dark hair and blue eyes. You don't even learn he has pointed ears even until page 216. Additionally, the way Jeneane describes his "smoke wings" causes me to believe she doesn't know what wings are. I struggle to imagine wings you can grab and choke someone with. There is no build up in the romance of the story. 
With the love story, Mendax flips like a coin. He goes from hating Callie and all humankind to not being able to live without her and waxing embarrassingly poetic. It's cringey and riddled with cliches that belong on 2014 Wattpad. However, their first "romantic" interaction isn't even all that romantic. He eats her out pushing her face into a blanket and the consent is very, very dubious. For the rest of the novel, Callie battles her 'feelings' for Mendax even though he is objectively awful and has subjected her to multiple types of abuse including maiming and the attempted r*pe from a forest bog. Within the love scenes between the two main characters, Jeneane seems to lose all sense of anatomy. I spent time rereading multiple instances in which Mendax would need at least three hands to maneuver as described. 
I understand what Jeneane was trying to accomplish here. I do. The short synopsis actually drew me in! I love bad boys and magical bad boys are even better. However, this book needed several more drafts and professional eyes before publishing.
Lastly, the next time Jeneane O'Riley writes the word 'amber' will be much, much to soon.

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catspajamas15's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I'm honestly mad at myself for finishing this. Like it was not good?? But I read the whole thing??
Everything happened so slow but so fast at the same time, I'm still kind of confused of the progression of everything.
First off, our main character, Callie, is just the worst. She's a disney princess and has a way with animals, all the men adore her and want to date her, she doesn't use curse words (unless it's for something dirty, but that's just quickly sidestepped), she's blonde and blue eyed and she's skinny, but she has CURVES but she's petite, but she has AMAZING cleavage. Like UGH. 
Our MMC is just a brute who we're supposed to like, but he's just arrogant and downright abusive so it's hard to garner any sympathy for him. If this was supposed to be an enemies to lovers, it failed miserably because one second they're *literally* trying to kill each other and the next they're making out. It made me cross eyed. 
The twist ending that I heard about on social media was just disappointing and didn't come together well since this was a 1st person POV. Callie doesn't give enough of her own background and backstory for me to understand what happened at the end. 
The author seems really confident in their work, and honestly - good for you, but A) she gave music recommendations for 3rd last chapter of the book (random?) and the dedication at the front of the book says, "My hope is not that you finish this book, but that this book finishes you." The confidence is just impressive. 
I will not be returning for book two.
 

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sarahsbookss's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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