4 stars
Readers who enjoyed These Hollow Vows will definitely love this conclusion to the duology! It was action packed, filled with angst, new characters, plot development and solved most of the issues from the first book. The story wrapped up nicely and the love triangle was solved naturally. Everything happened as it was supposed to and the HEA was so beautiful and intense and perfect that it could melt even the most skeptical romance reader. If Lexi Ryan ever wishes to visit this world again, there is room for more stories to develop from where it left off (ie. the other side of the love triangle, obviously).
BUT. As I'm in minority here and I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book, I had my issued with this one as well, so keep that in mind.
This is more a rambling personal note than a review because of my mixed feelings, just so you know beforehand. :))
Despite my misgivings and low rating of the first book, I'm not sorry I read this series. The parts that are good are really good and I would encourage others to read it as well, especially if you like faerie, royals and court intrigue sort of books. Just don't have high expectations and have patience to see its true potential. It gets so, so much better in the second book!
I still don't care for Brie, the heroine (sorry), which is what took away some of my enjoyment of the book. But like I said in my previous review, it may be just a case of "it's not you, it's me". She feels sorry for herself, keeps repeating that she is not worthy, she "doesn't understand" anything that is right there in front of her eyes (hello Bella Swan, it's been a while), she has self pity parties all the time, constantly asking for people's approval and reassurances... No. Just no. Being in her head was draining and distracting. Other than that, everything was almost great lol. (Especially Finn and the supporting characters!)
I know Lexi Ryan is a talented author and this was her first venture in the Fantasy world, and it shows. You can feel her experience, depth, talent and easiness to wave stories in every scene, emotion and world building detail, but at the same time there's like a hesitancy or clumsiness to the story, inconsistencies, things that could have been done better/avoided. Still, the world she portrayed is vivid, intricate, beautiful, intense and filled with twisty actions and emotions. Lots and lots of emotions! Because love triangle. *sigh* It was intense and gutting.
The emotional turmoil got stronger here, but things heated up a bit too. In the end, the transition from one side of the love triangle to the next was seamless and beautifully done. It made sense. Overall, the relationships evolve naturally, may it be friendship or deepest love and steamy scenes. Bonus points for new characters - I love Misha!
The plot was somewhat predictable, but engaging enough that made you want to see if, how or when it all happens - and what comes next. I would have liked a little more flow and consistency, it felt like parts of the stories were dragging and we walked around in circles, only for the key points to happen in a flash. Also, I could still feel the 'shadow' of ACOTAR over the story and I wish I could focus more on this one than unintentionally making comparisons in my head.
Long story short, These Twisted Vows is a solid continuation and conclusion to this miniseries. I have my issued with it, but it's a good story and maybe I will not miss certain characters, but I will definitely miss Finn and these Faery courts!
***Review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a honest opinion, thank you!
xoxo
Deea
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by! I love comments! ♥