Welp, y’all. This was a short book to get through, and an even shorter read along to host, but I have to say…it feels like the longest.
Once again, Miss Woods tricked me with the first half of her book. I thought, oh, hey, this is an improvement from the last half of book one. Yay! Win!
And then, I reached the second half of the book. All seemed well until everything in the plot and characters seemed to stall. I’m really trying to not be salty about it, but this could have been so good! It had all of the potential.
The sassy strong female main character that knows how to take care of herself and is a bad ass in her own right. And a manipulative evil dude who really loves her and is willing to sacrifice everything and everyone else for her. The magic is cool. The setting is cool. Even the politics and backstories are cool!
It simply wasn’t done justice. The characters fell flat after their initial creation. Their growth was stilted and unremarkable. The romance circled in on itself in a way that seemed more for the awkward BDSM sex scenes (awkward because they didn’t seem believable or at all real for the characters) than anything else.
Even her friendships stalled. How many times did Iban have to stab her in the back before she got it? Literally until she was stabbed by him. I mean, seriously?
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a harsh critic, maybe I’ve grown out of the younger-feeling female leads? I tend not to think so. Willow is twenty during these two books. She’s had a hard, HARD life. But she feels like a sixteen year old. She FEELS young.
I think that’s where the disservice I feel lies. Willow comes off as fake.
Now, I did enjoy most of Gray’s POV because I expect him to be self obsessed and evil. He is. I expect him to try to convince Willow that she’s different. That he won’t hurt her. It’s part of his character and role in the plot. And I got those things.
I did wish he, too, acted a bit more wise and a bit more like he was thousands of years old, or whatever. But she characterized him pretty well.
Also, there were parts where I really enjoyed Willow’s character. Her interaction with Michael was good. When she stabbed Gray, I felt that from her, too. But so much of the rest seemed rushed yet somehow wordy.
I don’t know guys. This was a bit of a middle-of-the-road flop for me. And that sucks. But I did enjoy the world building and general concept. Plus, the happily ever after. It still feels unfinished though.
Let me know how you felt about this book. Feel free to rant or praise it. My opinion is not law by far.
All right, well, join me next week as we start reading Ruby Dixon’s BULL MOON RISING. We’ll discuss up through page 103 (up to Chapter 12). See you then!