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whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this even more after the second read. It has a sort of sneaky brilliance. Beneath the obvious themes of a matriarchy and sexual politics run a core story of vulnerable badasses.
breeperscreepers's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
A trip down memory lane that wasn't as enjoyable as I was hoping. If I didn't have a nostalgia for this book from my teenage years I might not have read this past the first few chapters - any book that has a rendition of Satan as a main character is probably not gonna be my type. It's a puzzling and uncreative choice for the author to have plonked him down in this particular book.
I browsed some negative reviews before reading and I sadly have to agree with many of them, this book dances around some very icky topics in a not-so-graceful way. The relationship between Jaenelle and Daemon is cringey, and his devilishly good looks aren't enough to get me in a tizzy anymore. Everyone has anime-level dramatics and the fantasy world just doesn't feel real, you're given a few city names and that's it. Almost the entire book takes place in Saetan's study or Jaenelle's family manor. The magic system is unique but poorly explained - "No one knows where the Jewels come from" is so lazy, at least put a legend behind it.
Despite its flaws I still liked the book, it was dark and beautiful in its own way and had interesting characters. The ending was especially haunting, and if you can't handle reading about sexual abuse to children you should not read this.
I browsed some negative reviews before reading and I sadly have to agree with many of them, this book dances around some very icky topics in a not-so-graceful way. The relationship between Jaenelle and Daemon is cringey, and his devilishly good looks aren't enough to get me in a tizzy anymore. Everyone has anime-level dramatics and the fantasy world just doesn't feel real, you're given a few city names and that's it. Almost the entire book takes place in Saetan's study or Jaenelle's family manor. The magic system is unique but poorly explained - "No one knows where the Jewels come from" is so lazy, at least put a legend behind it.
Despite its flaws I still liked the book, it was dark and beautiful in its own way and had interesting characters. The ending was especially haunting, and if you can't handle reading about sexual abuse to children you should not read this.
polysemy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
This was dark and the world building was excellent but it was definitely not sexy
ypplesandbynynys's review against another edition
The relationship between Daemon and Jaenelle became just too icky. The world building was fine. Just that relationship was too grooming for me.
hello_britty89's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
katkatz's review against another edition
dark
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
3.5
This series gets better as you go but PLEASE check the content warnings and avoid if necessary! These triggers are FAST and FURIOUS, people, so proceed with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
eng2's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
curly_cat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mandicorbari's review against another edition
1.0
This series stands out in my mind as the worst I’ve ever read. I bought the whole series at the same time and read them all because - DAMNIT I PAID FOR THEM - but the whole time I vacillated between rolling my eyes at the stupidity of the book and being outraged at the pedophilic/torture porn aspects of the book.