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shorthannah's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
No book has ever made me as angry as this one, I wanted to punch the screen multiple times. I grew to hate all of the main characters because of their stupidity and refusal to learn from mistakes we've seen them make over and over throughout the series, and I'm still not convinced it was worth finishing it. I persevered this far based on reviews saying the series improved in books four and five but this was the most infuriating one yet. Rather than having character development they actually got worse; for a bunch of characters who are meant to be at least 18 they were unbelievably immature and really haven't had much real character development. Perhaps that is down to the bizarre pacing of this series because while we have slogged through four increasingly, unnecessarily long books, only about one semester has passed in the plot, with most of the books being filled out with constant repetitive bullying. Not to mention this book was filled with my two least favourite lazy tropes: miscommunication and the dreaded betraying body trope. I wanted to shake the characters and scream at them so many times. Take tory for example, rejecting Darius and becoming star crossed was the most sensible decision she made when it came to him.
I'm torn over whether or not I want to continue reading this series. I'm a sucker for magical academy settings and I'm desperate to see the Vega's grow into their powers and earn their place on the throne but it feels like these authors refuse to let them catch a break. Any time there is hope for them the Heirs or Lionel do something even more horrific to them (and then no doubt a vega will "get back at them" by immediately screwing them *cough* toxic Torius *cough* and make me want to throw my phone at a wall), so I don't know if I could put up with more of the inevitable bullying and abuse.
I'm torn over whether or not I want to continue reading this series. I'm a sucker for magical academy settings and I'm desperate to see the Vega's grow into their powers and earn their place on the throne but it feels like these authors refuse to let them catch a break. Any time there is hope for them the Heirs or Lionel do something even more horrific to them (and then no doubt a vega will "get back at them" by immediately screwing them *cough* toxic Torius *cough* and make me want to throw my phone at a wall), so I don't know if I could put up with more of the inevitable bullying and abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Blood
maddysbooks_'s review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i’m a sucker for a happy ending and this wasn’t it lol. i get a little frustrated with books that have a lot of conflict that stems from miscommunication, and i felt like that happened a lot throughout this book
that being said i really enjoyed getting to finally see some development in darius’ character and seeing more of darcy and orion’s relationship
that being said i really enjoyed getting to finally see some development in darius’ character and seeing more of darcy and orion’s relationship
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Child abuse
charhollyx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
What the fuck was that ending for? Do the writers ENJOY inflicting that kind of heartbreak?!
Honestly this book had me along the entire spectrum of emotion, turning my love for some characters into hatred and my hatred for other characters into love.
There wasn’t a great character development for the main and side characters, whilst one characters development crashed and burned entirely.
if Orion is dead I’ll scream.
I can’t believe Tory and Darius and Elysian Mates, it doesn’t really make sense. Yes their desire is deep but their hatred CLEARLY ran deeper. It makes me question whether Darcy and Orion are mates because his love outweighed any other feeling and responsibility he had.
I wouldn’t mind if Tory died, sacrificing herself for Darcy as she keeps foreshadowing. Soon, ideally.
I get the reason she had for rejecting the bond, but did she really HAVE to reject it anyway? She saw that her mother loved her evil father despite his flaws, why couldn’t she follow suit?!
Diego is 100% evil, I’m calling it.
If book 5 doesn’t mend my heartbreak then idk what I’m going to do
Xavier is the best character. Nobody else will compare. If he dies I’ll scream.
Honestly this book had me along the entire spectrum of emotion, turning my love for some characters into hatred and my hatred for other characters into love.
There wasn’t a great character development for the main and side characters, whilst one characters development crashed and burned entirely.
I can’t believe Tory and Darius and Elysian Mates, it doesn’t really make sense. Yes their desire is deep but their hatred CLEARLY ran deeper. It makes me question whether Darcy and Orion are mates because his love outweighed any other feeling and responsibility he had.
I wouldn’t mind if Tory died, sacrificing herself for Darcy as she keeps foreshadowing. Soon, ideally.
I get the reason she had for rejecting the bond, but did she really HAVE to reject it anyway? She saw that her mother loved her evil father despite his flaws, why couldn’t she follow suit?!
Diego is 100% evil, I’m calling it.
If book 5 doesn’t mend my heartbreak then idk what I’m going to do
Xavier is the best character. Nobody else will compare. If he dies I’ll scream.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Blood, and Abandonment
psydneigh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Holy shit. This book hurts. I hope there is a way to reverse being star crossed because wtf I don’t understand Tory’s anger. I get that she is angry but to that degree it just feels unreasonable. I hope the next book gets happier, damn.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, and Abandonment
juliette_95's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
lotte5322's review against another edition
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
ac02's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Child abuse and Physical abuse
ceruleanshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ugh the FEELS !!! ok well someone in a review somewhere totally spoilt one of the big twists for me, so DON'T read thru too many like I did lol. Definitely took the surprise out and colored my reading experience differently than I expect other readers'.
That being said, this book has it all. Great laughs (Geraldine & Tyler, gotta love 'em), forbidden romance (Blue & Lance, see more Darius & Tory action), more mysterious clues, and now we start to explore more of the Shadow realm and its magic.
A lot of readers seem to dislike Tory in this one - to be fair, she is VERY stubborn, but I can see where she's coming from. Plus, you can't expect to write characters who don't have flaws and figure everything out and make all the right decisions, what kind of series will you have? Nothing it'll be three pages and done. Conflict, conflict, conflict!!
Can we talk about how much I fell in love with Darcy & Orion? Like.. student-teacher, older man issues aside LOL but really their love feels so pure and beautiful... ugh it hurts.
I do have many questions (I wanted more info from the Palace!!!) and the ending is the BIGGEST, WORST cliffhanger YET of the series so you know what that means... Gotta start #5 as soon as I finished writing this review.
That being said, this book has it all. Great laughs (Geraldine & Tyler, gotta love 'em), forbidden romance (Blue & Lance, see more Darius & Tory action), more mysterious clues, and now we start to explore more of the Shadow realm and its magic.
A lot of readers seem to dislike Tory in this one - to be fair, she is VERY stubborn, but I can see where she's coming from. Plus, you can't expect to write characters who don't have flaws and figure everything out and make all the right decisions, what kind of series will you have? Nothing it'll be three pages and done. Conflict, conflict, conflict!!
Can we talk about how much I fell in love with Darcy & Orion? Like.. student-teacher, older man issues aside LOL but really their love feels so pure and beautiful... ugh it hurts.
I do have many questions (I wanted more info from the Palace!!!) and the ending is the BIGGEST, WORST cliffhanger YET of the series so you know what that means... Gotta start #5 as soon as I finished writing this review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder