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dlrosebyh's reviews
730 reviews
Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery
4.0
such a guilty pleasure read, i'm so sorry. who am i if not a rivals to lovers stan?
Maame by Jessica George
4.0
i have never rooted for a character as much as i did for maddie. i saw myself in her. she is me. i am her.
A Crimson Covenant by Aimee Donnellan
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
First of all, I’d like to thank Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me a free e-ARC of A Crimson Covenant in exchange for an honest review.
If there is anything that can probably unify the world, it would be vampire lesbians. Honestly, at first, I was really hesitant to read this book because while I did love vampires, I really wasn’t a huge fan of werewolves in fantasy settings. This is just a whole preference thing, and still, I don’t understand why.
For years, the werewolves and vampires of Concord have fought to keep their home safe and hidden. Life is nearly perfect since the Heirs of the founding Houses are partnered from an early age to train and support one another.
Arche, the House of the Fight's lycan heir, is starting to feel resentment toward her lover and best friend, but she is unable to disclose this to anybody. While Lenora is battling the expectations of a second destiny she never desired, in addition to being the vampire heir to the House of the Arcane. Her spouse is in love with someone else, and she is in love with him.
When violent, spiteful cultists attack Concord, all of it becomes far less important. For the first time, Arche and Lenora must go far from home in pursuit of something that will save their people while in shock, on the run, and without the companions they have known for years. Additionally, keep in mind that some alliances are better formed by fire than with gifting.
One thing that I believe Donnellan did well in this novel is the politics aspect. I believe that it’s the strongest part of the book, and I do wish she focused on the poltiics part more.
A Crimson Covenant is a fantasy romance, and if you know me, you know that I just tend to not like fantasy romance, but this was with lesbians, so I was like…why not give it a try. The romance part really threw me off; there was nothing wrong with it, but there was nothing really interesting about it either? It was just boring and bland. It made me frustrated. There was a lack of tension.
But as mentioned, this is probably a whole preference thing because:
a.) I’m not a huge fan of romantasy.
a.) I’m not a huge fan of romantasy.
b.) I prefer high fantasies over lighter ones.
c.) At the middle of the book, I felt like it just became horny biting— and I believe the plot that I was interested in got lost.
Overall, I don’t think this book was for me, but I can understand why people love it. I would probably read Donnellan’s other novels as I didn’t really have trouble with her writing style. This was a good palette cleanser, and I’m glad I read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, and Kidnapping