Kelly

I had a good time with this book but expected more.  I don't know if it was becuase I was reading this on a long flight, but I had trouble following along certain scenes. 

The descriptions and world building was so creative and engaging. I'm a huge fan of moral ambiguity and Godkiller is overflowing in it. Imagine a world where gods are fickle, duplicitous, and can grant your deepest wish...for a price. I can eat this up all day! 

Something else that really bothered me, was the terrible “romance” subplot. I deeply wish the author didn't add that in. It felt so inauthentic to the characters and the story. It was like a last minute addition to satisfy a checklist so this could be considered a romantasy...when it's so clearly not a romance story. 
Despite all of that I'll definitely continue the series. Especially with that cliffhanger, there's more to this story that I need to know. 

This book starts off strong, dropping us right into the middle of high stakes political negotiations between the countries Bình Hải and Ephteria. There's political court drama, the beginning threats of colonialism, and a secret sapphic romance unfolding in the span of 100ish pages. It's a lot to cover and unfortunately this book needed more pages to do it justice. 

The ending felt rushed and choppy compared to the first half of the book. The author builds this incredible world with tumultuous relationships only for it to sizzle out. Personally, I felt icked out that Giang and Thanh's sisterly relationship turns romantic. I ship them - but maybe don't have them call each other big and little sis as a term of endearment?  

 Maybe it's been too long since I read the first book but I had a hard time getting into this story. There was a lot of setup and traveling that dragged the book for me. 
The narrators in the audio book were teriffic! 

Started off with a bang, but much like a counterfeit purse it didn't hold up toward the end. It was an easy read yet didn't deliver like I hoped it would. Even though Ava and Winnie are unreliable narrators and unlikeable characters, they're the portrait of modern scam artist. They ruthlessly used Asian/Asian American stereotypes to their advantage and weren't afraid to use people to get ahead.

I wanted more scam artist and less angry mother. I get that motherhood plays a big part in Ava's life, but the book leaned toward that side too much for my preference. There's a lot of telling not showing, which I think is due to the POV choice. The ending felt rushed and I think it was it a miss to not mention the scale of their operation.

The start was hard to get through, it felt so cold and inpersonal....which to be fair was representational of the dynamic between the FMC and MMC. Eventually the characters give in to their attraction and the book heats up. 

I didn't know I could enjoy monster romances until now.
 
First act of the book is scorching hot, no plot other than introducing the main characters in very scandalous ways. Eventually we get some plot that puts Esther in danger so her harem ahve to band together to protect her.
I love how Kathyrn Moon portrays FMC in very empowering ways. Esther is experienced and doesn't hestiate to go after what she wants. I'd love to see more of this in romance books!

I had a decent time reading this book, but it didn't hook me in. The world building and magic system is explained at the start so you have an idea of what's going on before more characters are introduced. But as the book went on, I was left with more questions than answers. Considering how dark and devious some of the plot points get, I was surprised everything was resolved in the first book. The characters and political tensions between the Londons felt under developed. I'm sure it'll be explored more in the series, but I don't feel a strong urge to keep reading. 

On a personal note while I liked Kell and Lila individually, I did not like their dynamic together. Their interactions annoyed me, felt overly angsty, and thrown together. Lila is quick to blame Kell for not sharing everything with her, but when he starts doing it she's like “I'll be the judge of that” or invalidate his feelings. And Kell seemed to get more bland as the book went on.

I might try Vicious instead.