Dylan

Tall, musclebound man with “tawny” skin, dark eyes, and is covered in scars. Oh, and he has a huge, nay, absolutely massive pe——rsonality. Paired with a pale, very, very small (so tiny, so itsy bitsy), badass/snarky woman with unnaturally pretty eyes (and/or unique hair). And what do you get? A modern romance-fantasy novel. Woo! Yay...

The only reason I even finished this book is for the worldbuilding.Which is amazing! A tidally-locked world, unique time cycle involving auroras, the dragons and other creatures. I loved the descriptors of the locales, the unique languages (for the most part), etc. I could nitpick a few things I didn't like, but they're so minor and I'm so happy to see a romantasy with actual worldbuilding that I'll let it slide (the bar is in hell).

I didn't like some of the linguistic choices. The usage of male/female made me cringe every time. Some words were just minor changes from normal words (dae - day, mahmi/pahpi - mom/dad, for example), which was kinda goofy.

There was a lot of cringe millennial dialogue. A. Lot. Of. Staccato. Writing. To. Convey. Aggression. A lot of fucks/fucking from all the characters.A lot of growling and snarling from the men. And yes, the MMC does roar when he cums, which made me laugh out loud because of course he does. No avalanches here though, so that's a plus (maybe they'll save that for book 2).

The FMC is whiny and insufferable. It got to the point where I debated if it was worth it to even continue. She's so “woe is me, I'm so damaged” and “I can't love, loving me is a death sentence” when she CLEARLY HAS PEOPLE THAT LOVE HER (Essi deserved so much goddamn better, RIP). She snarks after being tortured, for goodness sake.

The MMC is insta-love (you find out why later but it was still annoying) and even gifted her an unasked-for nickname (which is gross tbh). If there wasn't an actual plot-related reason to be so head-over-heels for her, I would have absolutely zero reason to believe he would try so hard for her. She is so aggravating and just pissed me off. The whiplash between reading Elluin and Raeve's perspectives hurt because I genuinely liked Elluin and hated who she has become. He is a consent king (mostly), so props for that over so many other MMCs out there. 

TL;DR - middling book with fascinating worldbuilding and annoying characters. I'll maybe check out the sequel, so long as it doesn't turn into smutty garbage and actually continues the world building.

Tall, musclebound man with “tawny” skin, dark eyes, and is covered in scars. Oh, and he has a huge, nay, absolutely massive pe——rsonality. Paired with a pale, very, very small (so tiny, so itsy bitsy), badass/snarky woman with unnaturally pretty eyes (and/or unique hair). And what do you get? A modern romance-fantasy novel. Woo! Yay...

The only reason I even finished this book is for the worldbuilding.Which is amazing! A tidally-locked world, unique time cycle involving auroras, the dragons and other creatures. I loved the descriptors of the locales, the unique languages (for the most part), etc. I could nitpick a few things I didn't like, but they're so minor and I'm so happy to see a romantasy with actual worldbuilding that I'll let it slide (the bar is in hell).

I didn't like some of the linguistic choices. The usage of male/female made me cringe every time. Some words were just minor changes from normal words (dae - day, mahmi/pahpi - mama/papa, for example), which was kinda goofy.

There was a lot of cringe millennial dialogue. A. Lot. Of. Staccato. Writing. To. Convey. Aggression. A lot of fucks/fucking from all the characters.A lot of growling and snarling from the men. And yes, the MMC does roar when he cums, which made me laugh out loud with giddiness. No avalanches here though, so that's a plus (maybe they'll save that for book 2).

The FMC is whiny and insufferable. It got to the point where I debated if it was worth it to even continue. She's so “woe is me, I'm so damaged” and “I can't love, loving me is a death sentence” when she CLEARLY HAS PEOPLE THAT LOVE HER (Essi deserved so much goddamn better, RIP). She snarks after being tortured, for goodness sake.

The MMC is insta-love (you find out why later but it was still annoying) and even gifted her an unasked-for nickname (which is gross tbh). If there wasn't an actual plot-related reason to be so head-over-heels for her, I would have absolutely zero reason to believe he would try so hard for her. She is so aggravating and just pissed me off. The whiplash between reading Elluin and Raeve's perspectives hurt because I genuinely liked Elluin and hated who she has become. He is a consent king (mostly), so props for that over so many other MMCs out there. 

TL;DR - middling book with fascinating worldbuilding and annoying characters. I'll maybe check out the sequel, so long as it doesn't turn into smutty garbage and continues the world building.

A slow start the quickly picked up about a quarter through. By the halfway mark I was downing the story as it progressed. And by the final quarter, I was burning through pages to figure out where the story was going

Definitely recommend this book to anybody looking for a darker, non-romance fantasy story with lots of twists and turns.

I didn't realize that when the blurb on the back said it was for fans of Gideon the Ninth that it meant that Gideon's long-lost cousin was gonna be one of the main characters.

I was a little amused (and salty) when she tried to sacrifice herself. Thankfully it looks like she lived.

Great book, wonderful characters, loved the dynamic between the trio. The sorta-romance didn't feel forced (though a little rushed), Elo wasn't a toxic broody bad boy (just a little dumb in a not-necessarily-bad way), Kissen wasn't some frail whiny petite thing you see way too often in fantasy, and Inara is gonna be a fascinating force of nature in later additions.

I do feel like it could've been a little longer, to flesh out some of the finer details of the worldbuilding. And the ending felt rushed, with the big reveal and final battle sequence all coming and going way, way too fast.

Definitely looking forward to the sequel!

This is a phenomenal book. I already loved Priory, so I just assumed I'd loved this one too—its definitely faster paced and more action oriented than Priory (so if you thought Priory was boring, definitely give this one a shot!).

I loved the characters, loved the plot, enjoyed watching it all develop and come together. A minor frustration is how long it took anybody to figure out that Canthe was kinda sketchy. It was kinda nice to see the world building get added on.

There is a lot of focus on lineages and pregnancy. It's very relevant to the plot and universe, but my goodness was it uncomfortable half the time. Like, motherhood is a huge focus in this book, from multiple characters across the Abyss.

I'd love to see more in this universe. Maybe a pre-prequel with the Nameless One and Saint/Mother.

As an American, annoying monarchs with tea-related antics is appealing to me!

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This was a cute, easy read. Adorable couple (they COMMUNICATE like ADULTS) — Kianthe is a bad-pun machine and Reyna is a doting, overprotective saint. The griffons are cute, the dragons are awesome, and the townsfolk (and most of the people in the story—with notable exceptions) are wonderful.

They do have some exhausting, repetitive arguments as they figure out how to live together and attempt to let go of their past. And this book is not 100% cozy—it does have some PG to PG-13 action sequences in it.

Tarly and Matild are my long-term life/relationship goals.

Definitely want to read more from this series!