This novel has a lot going on, but is too poorly written and edited to pull any of it off. So much so that despite my best efforts, I just can’t keep This novel has a lot going on, but is too poorly written and edited to pull any of it off. So much so that despite my best efforts, I just can’t keep reading this. (DNF at 40%)
I’ll be trying to my best to keep this review spoiler free. I dropped this book at page 178- so I’ll review it up to there.
I picked this book up by whim because I enjoy fantasy, romance, and fae inspired stories. I didn’t know this was being pushed as “The Cruel Prince meets ACOTAR” until I came to review it. The only similarity is to ACOTAR, in that it has the presence of a love triangle, and perhaps how poor the editing is. But at least I could finish that novel.
Abriella is supposed to “carry a deep hatred” towards fae, and she just… doesn’t. Her characterization is inconsistent, lacks depth, and flip flops depending on who is flirting with her.
Sebastian, who is arguably the best written character, is introduced much more strongly as a love interest than a friend. Though Abriella insists they’re close friends, they really haven’t known each other very long.(Considering her lack of dislike for fae, as well as her habitual lying, her reason for conflict with him later is also extremely weak.)
As for the rest of the characters, they’re not really strong enough to even mention. Except maybe Pretha, who has an interesting premise.
Once we get to Faerie to rescue her sister the setting also disappoints. There’s some magic, but it’s less like another world and more like a place filled with larpers. (Trust me, I LARP.)
This book then continues to race through plot points like it’s running a marathon, chucking each one out as if it might gain better momentum that way. The pacing is terrible, and the reveals consistently have no pay off.
This book will beat you to death with poorly attempted foreshadowing every chance it takes. Ensuring that any build up to a twist is not only unsurprising- but guaranteed to make you roll your eyes with how easy it was to see coming!
Now my biggest issue with the novel, the writing style.
Everything characters think or feel is explicitly stated in third person and explained in **excruciating** detail. Instead of being shown or unfolding naturally in the narrative. The reader is treated as if they can’t draw basic conclusions themselves. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.
Another grating thing is a repetitive habit this author has. Constantly referring to characters as “the female” “a female” “the males” “the trio of fae males”. I found this to be a very lazy way to describe characters. It would be so easy to proofread this, add basic adjectives and varied nouns. But alas, even that much didn’t go into this.
My take away? This feels like a cleaned up first draft of fanfiction someone wrote INSPIRED by The Cruel Prince and ACOTAR if anything. It lacks nuance and thought for the story it wants to tell.
I think this novel could be fun if it went through a few basic rounds of editing. But as is? Best not to waste your time and money....more
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