3⭐️2.75🌶️

Contemporary Fantasy
Dark Romantasy
Magical realism
1st Person
Dual POV
Fae
Enemies to lovers
Stockholm syndrome
Trials
Twist

Tw: sexual assault, confinement, murder

This is a fun time, more than a good time.

For how short this fantasy book was, there was a lot going on… It was trying to be a lot of things in 320 pages. Cliche dialogue, typical plot… but the ending had a decent twist that only had the tiniest foreshadowing. So it was a decent surprise.

The POV overlap was really not great. I was annoyed at reading the same moments but from a different POV. It slowed the pacing down a lot. The fantasy aspect didn’t start until almost 1/2 way through the book…it felt like a lot of build up in a world where none of the action took place. 

The FMC was portrayed as biology Barbie. Not really someone I wanted to root for. I was very confused by her as the FMC in a fantasy. It didn’t track. She starts out not cursing… and replacing words in a ‘The Good Place’ way, then curses in the second half of the book. She‘s inconsistent and not not a trustworthy narrator. 

The MMC is a prince who is numb except when he kills. That’s it. That’s his personality. Got it. And unoriginal with his shadow powers. It is what it is at this point. 

I’m hoping that the next book gets better. It was indie published and picked up before the second book was done, so maybe things get better with a good editor? It’s the same length… So jury is out. I’m reading book 2 because I got it from the library with the first one and I’m a little curious with the ending. If book 2 is the same, I’ll be done.

The longer I think about it, the lower i want to rate the book… but I was fine while reading it…

I thought this book was alright! Everyone hyped it up to be more than it was; so when the plot twist happened, I wasn’t super crazy about it?? It was an interesting twist!
Another bother for me: the characters weren’t well developed. At least Mendax wasn’t for me. He was this blood thirsty, sadistic fae that HATED Callie. Was going to kill her no matter what. Then all of a sudden, like a switch, he was in love with her and would kill anyone or anything for her. It happened so fast, I thought it was a joke! Then I remembered this is a romance.
 
Still very intrigued to see what the next book will bring!

Too many authors don't understand the concept of a true mystery twist. They just think they can hide information from readers, even with a first-person POV, and then spring a whole new agenda in Act 4 and call it good writing. Also, I wouldn't call this romantasy. Nothing close to that until 60%. Clearly she's stretching out this story to get 4 books when it could be easily 2 or 3. 

This was fun. I think that’s the right word. I felt like the pace was a little off, and the only thing that keeps me from rating it 4 stars is that I felt there was some unnecessary stuff and a couple of weird editing choices that just really pulled me out of the story at times. 

The characters were interesting the MMC was a little two dimensional and the fact that either of them “fell in love” felt rushed and not believable. I’ll read on in the series, but it definitely could have used a bit more developmental editing.

Very much a slow burn type of dark romance and I LOVED it! I literally read this book in a day. I appreciate that their feelings did not just change overnight and it took time—almost the whole book—for them to finally start accepting and showing their feelings towards each other. I did not see the plot twist coming at the end either. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to get my hands on the second book the moment it comes out! 🖤

I loved this story and I cannot wait for the next! While some believe it to be full of holes, I think it’s purposeful to allow answers in the coming installments to complete the story. It had me gripped from the start with Callie’s character development, knowing that there was more than meets the eye to this gal. The last 2-3 chapters had me on the edge of my seat and jaw on the floor.