Like really bad fanfic

Oh my word, I don't even know where to begin. This book made me so friggin mad! I will try to keep this in chronological order, like the issues I had as they came up.

First though, I liked the narrator. She put a lot of effort into making sure every character sounded different and memorable. I like her.

*THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS*

Okay, so it picks up right where it left off in Blood and Ash. 👌🏻 cool. Things progress. Slowly. So damn slowly. First thing that really drove me crazy was how contemporary the dialog was. The first one wasn't so bad, it was contemporary enough that it wasn't like slogging through mud but this was, it was like I was in high school? The sarcasm was laid on WAY too thick. Like, there's no need to have EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER be sarcastic and witty and need to have the last word. Like I have never rolled my eyes so much.

Next big piece of madness here: the SEX. I felt like I was reading 50 Shades of Grey 🤢 It's everywhere and it's too damn much! like too much! Everytime they're alone, BAM. Every chance he got to touch her, its was sexually. I SKIPPED PARTS!! I never do that! It got so predictable and it lost its shine. Like give it a break Armentrout! Where's the build up, where's the antici-

Next! Speaking about the sex. As someone who has been pressured sexually, I didn't appreciate that that was such a prominent story line. Every time she said, "no don't", he 'sensed her desire' and that suddenly made it okay. I hated that. Like gross!! It's way too possessive and I didn't enjoy Hawke as a possessive person in the first one. His complete change of character was unwanted. Yes, there's something to said about having to be a little different when he was her Royal Guard. Another thing to have a personality 180 degrees from the one I just fell in love with and not in a good way!

Onto the next, repetitiveness. She says "there's something seriously wrong with you" and variations of that so many times. Like the description of his eyes got beat to death and then some. It doesn't help that she has like 30 min long monologs about stuff. Now, usually, that's not a problem. Usually, you want more inner dialog so you can understand more. This case, however, I was telling her to shut up so often.

So I mentioned, I rolled my eyes ALOT. Yeah, so much of this friggin book was predictable. Like, cheesy not good kind. I can't name every single time that happened but I'll tell you, it happened every chapter. Kinda like the sex did....it was awful. I realize that if you read a certain genre a lot, you get good at guessing where the twists and turns are gonna go but there are LOTS of books that manage to still throw in surprises. Like, I don't think there was a single moment in this book that surprised or shocked me.

ESPECIALLY the end. Of friggin course she's the last descendant of the king of gods. Like, OF COURSE. 🙄🙄🙄

I was so incredibly disappointed with this book. I hear there's a third and honestly, I might just ask a friend how it ends so save myself the wasted hours listening to it.

-pation.

11 people found this helpful

Enough with the digits and bundle of nerves.

Ok. Spoiler alert. There’s a lot of sex in this book. Not good sex….bad sex. If I have to hear his fingers referred to as “digits” and her vag referred to as “a bundle of nerves” again, I might just stop this book and write off Armentrout forever.

3 people found this helpful

Love the story but...

Honestly love the story and the world created but find the amount of sex over the top and unnecessary. Yeah yeah yeah they can’t keep their hands off each other. We get it.

2 people found this helpful

This book dragged on

Well preformed, the the story dragged on with romance scenes and little plot progression. It was brutal to listen to for 24 hours.

2 people found this helpful

yikes

i liked the first book but this one is hard to love, im roughly an hour in and poppy is just annoying and whiney, not to meantion missing 90% of her braincells, narrator is good though

1 person found this helpful

Torture

This book was like torture to me. It was so incredibly slow for sooooo long it felt like an anvil hanging over my head every time I thought about it sitting there waiting for me to continue.

It took way too long for her to accept him. Plus she had no real friends so the majority of the book is her internal dialogue… which does not advance or change much. She is supposed to be cute and curious clever and strong like in the first book but she is just thick and silly in this one. She lacks any real depth.

So are we reading sexual assault scenes now and calling them romance? Because Castile straight up assaulted her and I guess we are calling that ok? Nah, not for me. Nor is the way that he treats her no as yes. Bizarrely enough he emphasizes consent when they are in that rock pool/cavern. That almost made me laugh… almost.

Not to mention the fact that he is 200 and she is what, 18?? Come on, he is practically a pedo.

I utterly detest how they speak to one another. They use very modern phrases and vernacular which makes them seem silly. He is a powerful dark lord yet he tells her “let’s go kick some ass”. She says “there is something SO wrong with you” and “whatEVER” constantly.

The narrator did a wonderful job. I really like her and will look for other books she has narrated.

This book made me annoyed and I have no idea why on earth I finished it. I really liked the first book so maybe I was hoping. My hopes were dashed it seems.

omg i love these books!!

So good I would love to see them in the movies to match the vision in my head!! Just fantastic, so captivating!!! I highly recommend!!

Thoroughly enjoyed

I was hesitant based on reviews but i liked it better than book 1. I disagree with the reviews that say there were too many spicy scenes.

God Awful

I don’t know how this series got so popular. I enjoyed the first book and then it quickly turned into a dumpster fire. The literal entire series is walking and talking (I wish I was joking) and having other characters answer exposition questions. There is no set dressing whatsoever other than empty and boring conversations. This book wouldn’t pass the Bechtel test, but the main character is a badass(TM) and not like other girls(TM) because she can shoot a bow. (Oh boy we’ve never seen that before!) The author can’t make up her mind on what the canon is…. the MC gets new powers like a 2AM infomercial goes “but wait, there’s more!” And worst of all, the spice is tame AF, I don’t know how tiktok thought this was spicy but maybe it’s scandalous for 12-15 year olds. Seriously.

Poppy seems like a whole different person

While the narrator is great, the characters seem so different to the first book. I understand there needs to be character growth, but it's slightly jarring in comparison to the book before this.

Every character interaction for the first few hours is snarky, argumentative, and bratty and there is little genuine heart to heart conversation without it ending in an argument or someone leaving.