I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. Not sure I understand the hype around this book, and pretty sure I've read this exact plot in several other MM romI didn't love it, I didn't hate it. Not sure I understand the hype around this book, and pretty sure I've read this exact plot in several other MM romances.
I did find the explicit child rape scenes to be unnecessary to the book, and could have been handled a lot better. It almost felt like trauma porn at times...
River & Rain are both unlikeable characters and I have no emotional connection to them. I might like Rain slightly more than River, but only a little bit.
I'm continuing with book 2 as I have a special edition of this book, and want to know if it warrants me keeping it or not.
Side note - I dislike this author's approach to trigger warnings. When your excuse to not including them in the book is "I don't want to spoil the plot", it just gives me the ick. Having now read the book, trigger warnings would not have spoiled this book at all. This isn't a masterpiece that needs to be locked up and to be quite honest, I've read this exact plot several times, and it's really not special enough to require trigger warnings to be hidden. ...more
DNF because one of the MMC's killed a baby bird because the FMC was giving the animal attention and ignoring him...
I don't do animal abuse.
This bookDNF because one of the MMC's killed a baby bird because the FMC was giving the animal attention and ignoring him...
I don't do animal abuse.
This book was a mess, and it felt like she couldn't handle four love interests. A shame because I loved her other series and wanted to know more about these characters who feature in her other series.
Had some interesting moments but was struggling to hold my attention. ...more
This was a mildly satisfying conclusion to the Darkmore Penitentiary series. Imagine you've just finished a delicious meal and are ready to order a deThis was a mildly satisfying conclusion to the Darkmore Penitentiary series. Imagine you've just finished a delicious meal and are ready to order a dessert but the waiter tells you they've just run out. That's what this book feels like. It was just missing that something special.
Sin was the best character of this entire series. Completely bonkers and had some of the best lines. I appreciate that this series wasn't dragged out like RB and ZA. I enjoyed this a lot more than RB, but ZA will always be a special series for me.
Darkmore Boys Ranking: 1. Sin - my favourite character written by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti. 2. Ethan 3. Roary 4. Cain...more
This book had me anxious and dying to get to the end!
Penn Cole's writing is so effortless and enjoyable. You don't even realise you're flying throughThis book had me anxious and dying to get to the end!
Penn Cole's writing is so effortless and enjoyable. You don't even realise you're flying through the book and I loved that we got to know Luther more... and dare I say, he's slowly becoming a favourite MMC.
I will say that Penn's weakness is not moving the plot along fast enough. The pacing is very, very, very slow but it does allow us time to get to know the characters. I didn't enjoy Diem as much in this one and found Henri's character frustrating.
However, that ending!! If book 3 wasn't 1000+ pages and I didn't have a physical TBR glaring at me, I'd be diving straight in!
Tropes Included: - Enemies-to-lovers - Slow burn - Political turmoil - Magic - Hidden powers - Chosen One...more
This is the first book in Huang's highly anticipated Kings of Sin series and it's a bit of a doozy. I'm glad I read this book on Kindle Unlimited becaThis is the first book in Huang's highly anticipated Kings of Sin series and it's a bit of a doozy. I'm glad I read this book on Kindle Unlimited because this would have been a one star if I'd actually paid for it.
I want to start this of by saying I love Ana Huang's writing style. I loved her Twisted Series, except Twisted Hate - you know what you did, Josh - and I was very excited for this book. It had everything I love in a romance book.
Book 1 starts with the 'King of Wrath'. I expected fireworks and something truly amazing (perhaps some wrath) but was handed a repackaged Twisted Love, but without the lovable FMC and interesting MMC. 'King of Wrath' must be in another book, because it's definitely not the scowling and boring Dante Russo.
Positives: - The side characters - the only thing that saved this book in my opinion. It's bad when your side characters have more personality that your two main characters. However, this book has made me extremely excited to read Kai's story (King of Pride).
- The writing - Ana Huang has a writing style that is incredibly easy to read and lose yourself in, and I can't fault her here.
Negatives: - The plot - the plot for this book screamed "I used up all my good ideas in the Twisted series and have nothing left". Ana Huang is such a good writer but the plot was basic, predictable and boring. I don't mind a basic plot, but you need main characters with a personality to make up for this.
- Dante Russo - a repackaged Alex Volkov from Twisted Love, but with no personality or a single positive trait in sight. I felt like we were being told that Dante was a good person rather than being shown this, which made it harder to connect to him. I literally could not have cared less about Dante and if he'd died suddenly, I probably would have given the book four stars.
- Vivian Lau - I liked Ava Chen in Twisted Love, but Vivian felt like a hollow version of her. Her lack of personality was evident when we met her friends Sloane and Isabella, who were both phenomenal characters. I truly hope we gets books from them both.
- The break-up & reconciliation - the break-up made sense and we all knew it was coming. However, it got to the point that the reconciliation was dragged out for no reason. Maybe it's my strong dislike for our FMC but it just felt like she pouting because she could, and it seemed like she was mad at the wrong person at times. I would have loved for more communication between the two regarding the situation they were put in, since they were both 'stuck' in this arranged marriage with Dante being blackmailed.
- Dante & Viv - they do not make sense as a couple. The only thing that had as a couple was sexual tension, nothing else. For me to enjoy a romance, it has to be more than sex and chemistry, and unfortunately that's all this was.
- The sex scenes - shockingly bad, especially from our King of Wrath. Watching paint dry would be more enjoyable than Dante in the bedroom. This is probably down to Dante not having a single interesting personality trait!
Would I re-read this book? No.
Merged review:
This is the first book in Huang's highly anticipated Kings of Sin series and it's a bit of a doozy. I'm glad I read this book on Kindle Unlimited because this would have been a one star if I'd actually paid for it.
I want to start this of by saying I love Ana Huang's writing style. I loved her Twisted Series, except Twisted Hate - you know what you did, Josh - and I was very excited for this book. It had everything I love in a romance book.
Book 1 starts with the 'King of Wrath'. I expected fireworks and something truly amazing (perhaps some wrath) but was handed a repackaged Twisted Love, but without the lovable FMC and interesting MMC. 'King of Wrath' must be in another book, because it's definitely not the scowling and boring Dante Russo.
Positives: - The side characters - the only thing that saved this book in my opinion. It's bad when your side characters have more personality that your two main characters. However, this book has made me extremely excited to read Kai's story (King of Pride).
- The writing - Ana Huang has a writing style that is incredibly easy to read and lose yourself in, and I can't fault her here.
Negatives: - The plot - the plot for this book screamed "I used up all my good ideas in the Twisted series and have nothing left". Ana Huang is such a good writer but the plot was basic, predictable and boring. I don't mind a basic plot, but you need main characters with a personality to make up for this.
- Dante Russo - a repackaged Alex Volkov from Twisted Love, but with no personality or a single positive trait in sight. I felt like we were being told that Dante was a good person rather than being shown this, which made it harder to connect to him. I literally could not have cared less about Dante and if he'd died suddenly, I probably would have given the book four stars.
- Vivian Lau - I liked Ava Chen in Twisted Love, but Vivian felt like a hollow version of her. Her lack of personality was evident when we met her friends Sloane and Isabella, who were both phenomenal characters. I truly hope we gets books from them both.
- The break-up & reconciliation - the break-up made sense and we all knew it was coming. However, it got to the point that the reconciliation was dragged out for no reason. Maybe it's my strong dislike for our FMC but it just felt like she pouting because she could, and it seemed like she was mad at the wrong person at times. I would have loved for more communication between the two regarding the situation they were put in, since they were both 'stuck' in this arranged marriage with Dante being blackmailed.
- Dante & Viv - they do not make sense as a couple. The only thing that had as a couple was sexual tension, nothing else. For me to enjoy a romance, it has to be more than sex and chemistry, and unfortunately that's all this was.
- The sex scenes - shockingly bad, especially from our King of Wrath. Watching paint dry would be more enjoyable than Dante in the bedroom. This is probably down to Dante not having a single interesting personality trait!
Would I re-read this book? No.
Merged review:
This is the first book in Huang's highly anticipated Kings of Sin series and it's a bit of a doozy. I'm glad I read this book on Kindle Unlimited because this would have been a one star if I'd actually paid for it.
I want to start this of by saying I love Ana Huang's writing style. I loved her Twisted Series, except Twisted Hate - you know what you did, Josh - and I was very excited for this book. It had everything I love in a romance book.
Book 1 starts with the 'King of Wrath'. I expected fireworks and something truly amazing (perhaps some wrath) but was handed a repackaged Twisted Love, but without the lovable FMC and interesting MMC. 'King of Wrath' must be in another book, because it's definitely not the scowling and boring Dante Russo.
Positives: - The side characters - the only thing that saved this book in my opinion. It's bad when your side characters have more personality that your two main characters. However, this book has made me extremely excited to read Kai's story (King of Pride).
- The writing - Ana Huang has a writing style that is incredibly easy to read and lose yourself in, and I can't fault her here.
Negatives: - The plot - the plot for this book screamed "I used up all my good ideas in the Twisted series and have nothing left". Ana Huang is such a good writer but the plot was basic, predictable and boring. I don't mind a basic plot, but you need main characters with a personality to make up for this.
- Dante Russo - a repackaged Alex Volkov from Twisted Love, but with no personality or a single positive trait in sight. I felt like we were being told that Dante was a good person rather than being shown this, which made it harder to connect to him. I literally could not have cared less about Dante and if he'd died suddenly, I probably would have given the book four stars.
- Vivian Lau - I liked Ava Chen in Twisted Love, but Vivian felt like a hollow version of her. Her lack of personality was evident when we met her friends Sloane and Isabella, who were both phenomenal characters. I truly hope we gets books from them both.
- The break-up & reconciliation - the break-up made sense and we all knew it was coming. However, it got to the point that the reconciliation was dragged out for no reason. Maybe it's my strong dislike for our FMC but it just felt like she pouting because she could, and it seemed like she was mad at the wrong person at times. I would have loved for more communication between the two regarding the situation they were put in, since they were both 'stuck' in this arranged marriage with Dante being blackmailed.
- Dante & Viv - they do not make sense as a couple. The only thing that had as a couple was sexual tension, nothing else. For me to enjoy a romance, it has to be more than sex and chemistry, and unfortunately that's all this was.
- The sex scenes - shockingly bad, especially from our King of Wrath. Watching paint dry would be more enjoyable than Dante in the bedroom. This is probably down to Dante not having a single interesting personality trait!
Would I re-read this book? No.
Merged review:
This is the first book in Huang's highly anticipated Kings of Sin series and it's a bit of a doozy. I'm glad I read this book on Kindle Unlimited because this would have been a one star if I'd actually paid for it.
I want to start this of by saying I love Ana Huang's writing style. I loved her Twisted Series, except Twisted Hate - you know what you did, Josh - and I was very excited for this book. It had everything I love in a romance book.
Book 1 starts with the 'King of Wrath'. I expected fireworks and something truly amazing (perhaps some wrath) but was handed a repackaged Twisted Love, but without the lovable FMC and interesting MMC. 'King of Wrath' must be in another book, because it's definitely not the scowling and boring Dante Russo.
Positives: - The side characters - the only thing that saved this book in my opinion. It's bad when your side characters have more personality that your two main characters. However, this book has made me extremely excited to read Kai's story (King of Pride).
- The writing - Ana Huang has a writing style that is incredibly easy to read and lose yourself in, and I can't fault her here.
Negatives: - The plot - the plot for this book screamed "I used up all my good ideas in the Twisted series and have nothing left". Ana Huang is such a good writer but the plot was basic, predictable and boring. I don't mind a basic plot, but you need main characters with a personality to make up for this.
- Dante Russo - a repackaged Alex Volkov from Twisted Love, but with no personality or a single positive trait in sight. I felt like we were being told that Dante was a good person rather than being shown this, which made it harder to connect to him. I literally could not have cared less about Dante and if he'd died suddenly, I probably would have given the book four stars.
- Vivian Lau - I liked Ava Chen in Twisted Love, but Vivian felt like a hollow version of her. Her lack of personality was evident when we met her friends Sloane and Isabella, who were both phenomenal characters. I truly hope we gets books from them both.
- The break-up & reconciliation - the break-up made sense and we all knew it was coming. However, it got to the point that the reconciliation was dragged out for no reason. Maybe it's my strong dislike for our FMC but it just felt like she pouting because she could, and it seemed like she was mad at the wrong person at times. I would have loved for more communication between the two regarding the situation they were put in, since they were both 'stuck' in this arranged marriage with Dante being blackmailed.
- Dante & Viv - they do not make sense as a couple. The only thing that had as a couple was sexual tension, nothing else. For me to enjoy a romance, it has to be more than sex and chemistry, and unfortunately that's all this was.
- The sex scenes - shockingly bad, especially from our King of Wrath. Watching paint dry would be more enjoyable than Dante in the bedroom. This is probably down to Dante not having a single interesting personality trait!
This is book one of the zodiac academy series retold from the boys PoV. Was it interesting to see why they were so hot and cold with the twins? Yes. DThis is book one of the zodiac academy series retold from the boys PoV. Was it interesting to see why they were so hot and cold with the twins? Yes. Did we need a whole book to explain their actions? Probably not...
I loved seeing both Darius and Orion have a midlife crisis over the Vega twins. My poor, sweet, dumb boys. ...more
Hmmm, this one felt like nothing happened for like 350 pages and then suddenly, everything happens at once. The smut also felt so out of place in thisHmmm, this one felt like nothing happened for like 350 pages and then suddenly, everything happens at once. The smut also felt so out of place in this book because we had a pretty tight countdown hanging over us the entire time.
My least favourite of the series so far but that cliffhanger! Am I glad that I waited to read this days before book 4 is released? YOU BET.
Darkmore Boys Ranking: 1. Sin 2. Ethan 3. Roary 4. Cain
Cain dropping to four is not something I thought would happen, but he is so DARN BORING....more
Oh, this series is so much better than Ruthless Boys! I'm enjoying the setting and world we're in, and I love the characters. I'm loving that we don'tOh, this series is so much better than Ruthless Boys! I'm enjoying the setting and world we're in, and I love the characters. I'm loving that we don't change PoV too quickly and get to sit with the characters and the story.
I think I could read this entire book from Sin's PoV. He may be one of my favourite Twisted Sister characters EVER.
Sin dipped his mouth down to my ear, nipping the lobe playfully before he whispered my answer so that only I could hear. "I shoved a Sunstone Crystal up a Werewolf's ass for you yesterday, pretty girl."
Sin convincing Ethan he needs to shove things up his arse had me crying with laughter. TWICE!
"Because you taste like Christmas. And Halloween. And Easter. And New Year. All the holidays actually. But mostly Christmas. That's my favourite. Though... I've never really celebrated it. I mean, I have, but not in the traditional way. I was paid to break into a house on Christmas Day once and kill the guy who lived there. The whole place was decked out like Santa's grotto and after I murdered the guy in his bed, I opened all his family's presents and imagined what it would be like to be a kid waking up on Christmas morning. It was a great."
I LOVE THIS MAN WITH MY ENTIRE HEART. He is so bonkers and everything from him is pure gold!!!
Darkmore Boys Ranking 1. Sin 2. Ethan - this man jumped two places, coincidentally the number of things that were shoved up his arse in this book! 3. Cain 4. Roary...more
Make no mistake, just because I rated it 5 stars doesn't mean I think it's good. I just love trash!
Me reading this book: [image]
The first 10% of this bMake no mistake, just because I rated it 5 stars doesn't mean I think it's good. I just love trash!
Me reading this book: [image]
The first 10% of this book is rough and has quite a few inconsistencies that beta-readers should have picked up on. The book is also fairly predictable although there are definitely a few surprises along the way.
However, when Saeris enters the fae world and we officially meet Kingfisher. I WAS HOOKED. Kingfisher is a mystery for the majority of this book and a huge arsehole, yet he was easily my favourite character alongside Carrion.
Everlayne had been waiting for when I returned to my room yesterday. She hadn't banked on Kingfisher kicking in my bedroom door, me thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and wailing like a banshee. Nor had she expected his ultra-foul temper, his split bottom lip, or the thin line of blood trickling down his chin. She'd squawked when he'd thrown me unceremoniously down onto my bed and snarled, "Bad human," at me.
Their relationship at the start was hilarious, although Saeris' comebacks were embarrassing and slightly cringey. They were just like two children bickering half the time.
"It's Saeris. My name. Call me that or nothing at all." He cast an amused look over his shoulder, his lips parted a fraction, exposing the briefest glimpse of teeth. "Nothing at all? I like the sound of that. Come here and look at this, Nothing At All."
"Ow! It's almost down to the bone, Fisher. Help me!" Kingfisher pushed away from the sword, standing up straight. He looked up at the rafters overhead, squinting. "This is a learning experience, I think. There are always consequences to our actions. Your furry new bracelet is a consequence of human weakness. Wear it with pride."
Also, Kingfisher had some of the best lines!
"Pants and a shirt," I said dryly. "And a pair of boots with really good soles. Do you have any idea what those boots cost me?" "Let me guess. Your virginity?" "Fuck you, Fisher." "Sure." He smirked. "But I'm afraid I don't have any new boots to trade you for your time"
I also loved the side characters, particularly Carrion who provided much needed comedy without stealing the show!
"You're late," Fisher said in an icy tone. "And please enlighten me. Why have you invited half of the household along for a meeting that was supposed to be for just the two of us?" "Meeting? I thought this was dinner. And how would it fair for me to enjoy the pleasure of your company while these two miss out?" Carrion held up a hand. "I'd prefer not to be here, actually." "Sit the fuck down," I hissed. "All right. Gods."
If you're expecting a well-written romantasy then this definitely is not the book for you. But if you're here for the vibes, I'd highly recommend Quicksilver. I had such a good time reading this book and I'm excited for book 2!...more
I thought she was going to have her badass, revenge plot but the guys caught on too quickly and punished her inThe FMC is really too pathetic for me.
I thought she was going to have her badass, revenge plot but the guys caught on too quickly and punished her in a way that I really didn't enjoy.
Killian and Story started to feel a little too incestuous for me, despite not even being biological siblings. Tristan wasn't as funny in this one and Rath's sex scene with Story just felt like something taken from Wattpad.
This is the end of the road for me with this series....more
The first 27% of this book had me convinced I was going to DNF it. But once Story (the FMC's name is a little cringey) moves in with the three Lor3.75
The first 27% of this book had me convinced I was going to DNF it. But once Story (the FMC's name is a little cringey) moves in with the three Lords - Killian, Tristan and Rath - the book becomes a lot more interesting.
The stalker storyline does feel slightly obvious - shoutout to Madi for spoiling this for me when I was definitely in the 'DNF' mindset, and confirming my suspicions. The most addicting part of this book is Story's developing relationship with each of the Lords. Warning - they are all complete arseholes and the FMC is a little pathetic but, it's still weirdly enjoyable.
I would highly recommend reading the trigger warnings before reading this book because SA becomes the norm that I actually stopped noticing it.
Not the best ending I'd had hoped for the Dark Elements trilogy. I love that JLA wrapped the love triangle up pretty quickly but I hated what happenedNot the best ending I'd had hoped for the Dark Elements trilogy. I love that JLA wrapped the love triangle up pretty quickly but I hated what happened to Roth's snake. Not sure I can forgive JLA for that writing choice!
Overall, a fun YA series that I definitely would have enjoyed more back in the 2010's when it was released. It feels like a throwback to my teenage years, which I don't necessarily hate! ...more
I waited specifically until I was back in my fantasy era before picking this one up, and let me tell you, it took me right back out.
This book fel2.5
I waited specifically until I was back in my fantasy era before picking this one up, and let me tell you, it took me right back out.
This book felt like a bunch of chapters stuck together in hopes it would be enjoyable, and spoiler alert, it was not.
What was the driving plot? What were we fighting for? I just felt clueless for a lot of this book and I had no inclination to keep going. I even switched over to the audio book and I still lost interest.
Kat had a lot of potential but again, the author gave us nothing. Bastian, I'd kill him off myself to spice up the book a little. The lack of chemistry between them made every interaction unbearable.
Unfortunately, this author really is not for me and I would not recommend this book. ...more
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