Suz Duvall
If you're looking for cute light read then this is it!
I wasn't expecting much from this but I was pleasantly surprised my how cute Delia and Zach are!
I wanted to love this book. I tried to love this book. but here i am with 400 questions, no answers, confused and slightly concerned.
tldr; this could have been a good cozy fantasy if it had been a couple hundred pages shorter and if it wasn't 100 plot holes taped together.
lets start with what i did like:
- the fae world. i love the description and all the different places we get to see.
- Shrike. i adore him and his house and his chickens and goats.
- how the book was split up into seasons
- this book is riddled with plot holes. like so many plot holes.
- how are wren and felix able to able to get through the fairy ring alone? is this something anyone can do? if so, why are there not more people missing? the fairy ring isnt exactly hidding or out of the way.
- why does shrike grow antlers?
- how is wren a mortal but he also has magic? are there other mortals with magic? can they only use their magic in the fae realm? (and so on..)
- There is no romantic build up between Shrike and Wren. they see each other and are in Insta-lust which i'm totally cool with but it turns into insta love there's no falling in love period. theyre just immediately struck on each other but dont really know anything about each other.
- Wren just immediately accepts that there is a fae realm and all these different fae creatures. no questions, no qualms, nada.
- Wren.... is not a great person. honestly Shrike deserves better. Wren regularly lies to Mr. Grigsby regularly, he is selfish, and has mean girl energy and not in the fun way. he's apparently worked for Mr. Grigsby for 10 years but he is never once said to actually be working, just doodling or daydreaming. how does he even have a job still? he's also had 10 years to work on his shit and still has zero character growth throughout the whole book. i honestly kept forgetting he was 30 ish because he acts like a teenager.
- why are there so many plot lines? this book did not need to be 600 pages long. and since it is you would think that the plot lines would make sense or be wrapped up but most of them are not. things just seem to happen with no other rhyme or reason than something needed to happen to get S&W from point A to point B even if it doesnt make sense.
- and speaking of NOT MAKING SENSE wtf is that ending. where the hell did that come from. not only was it comepletely out of the blue it was also comepletely out of character for wren. and what did it accomplish? wren and shrike have a “duel” which is basically a scripted sword dance and then to fit the rules that the Queen has set (the Oak King must die by the Holly king for the seasons to change) without killing one another they have sex on the battle field and fulfill the ritual with La Petite Mort (orgasm). this makes no sense. Wren has never been comfortable with public affection in the form of kissing or simple touches like hand holding so how the hell did he get over that in the span of a few pages and be confident enough to f*ck Shrike infront of hundreds if not thousands of people??
I'm not a big mystery reader but I really enjoyed this book. Is was cozy and intriguing at the same time
Huge thanks to Kat/Dark Hearts Press for sending me an ARC 🖤
If you're looking for a fast and smutty sapphic read, definitely give this a go!
As always, Kat killed it with the smut. It was dirty and sexy and a damn good time.
But for me the romance was lacking. Once we met Lady Venom everything felt very rushed and the tension between the FMCs was almost nonexistent. I wish we had been able to spend a little more time with the characters so that their love could have felt more believable.
– Ratings:
Smut 🌶️: 4.5/5
Plot 👩🏻🤝👩🏼: 2.5/5
Overall: 3/5
– My Rating System
1 ⭐️ - I wish I had DNF'd
2 ⭐️ - meh
3 ⭐️ - It was okay but the vibes were off
4 ⭐️ - I had a really good time
5 ⭐️ - I had an amazing time and I probably cried
I wish I had DNF'd this but I was listening to it while I worked and didn't have a back up audiobook.
Why I didn't like this book:
The characters were flat, the interactions were flat, the story felt like a checklist, the romance felt like a random afterthought and was very cringy. Overall it was just a very bland book to me.
I somehow loved this even more than Delilah Green. Maybe because I relate to Astrid more. The banter between Astrid and Jordan was so good › and I loved Astrid's journey of figuring out her sexuality (bc sexuality is HARD) and figuring out who she is vs who she was always told she should be
I've said it before and I'll say it again, queer YA hits different when you're a grown adult just figuring sh*t out.
Imogen was so relatable. From being the best capital A Ally to being a people pleaser who wants to fit in the boxes and then overthinking everything including her questioning. I love her and she deserves all the nice things
Gretchen needs to touch grass and call her therapist instead of condescending to the people she calls friends.
I really liked the first half of this book. And then the surprise pregnancy trope reared it's head and I almost DNF'd. I don't know why I didn't expect it but it just ruined the mood for me.
The first half was a little slow but I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions
Was it believable? No
Was it a little all over the place? Sure
Would there be a relationship without the sexual tension? No
But did I have a good time? Absolutely
The smut was good. It was a little predictable but it was fun.
This was adorable. I would quite like to be magically transported into my favorite Christmas movie and fall in love with the big, handsome tree farmer
So, this was my least favorite in the brutal birthright series. I love Seb and Yelena but their story didn't draw me in like the rest did. It did get a little dubcon-y for me with some of the spice but overall it was a decent read.
