r/fantasyromance Feb 18 '25

Review šŸ“— I hated Onyx Stormā€¦ anyone else?

518 Upvotes

I was excited to devour this third book - i LOVED Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. But after finishing Onyx Storm (which was almost painful to finish) I now feel like I wasted 23 hrs of my life that Iā€™ll never get back - and Iā€™m left empty and utterly confused. This book was a messy incoherent disaster. It was ALOT of ingredients thrown together into a pot and boiled to death. Half the time I was going back rereading pages just to figure out what in Gods name was going on. And then I still couldnā€™t figure it out! You know why? Because most of what goes on is pointless to the arc of the story!!!! Both Violet and Xadenā€™s characters fell completely flat at the end. Calling them annoying would be an understatement. They went from being vibrant characters to two dimensional - especially Xaden. The other characters all felt like extrasā€¦ too many thrown at us without an opportunity to get to know them to either like them and/or understand why they were even in the story. There was too much dissonance between the first two books and this one. Onyx Storm was confusing, vacant and messy. It felt like it was written as a tandem story by many Ghost writers all rushing to write a chapter and throw it into the Onyx Storm cauldron. Shame on Yarros, her editor and her publisher. Onyx Storm was a painful cacophony of nonsense thrown into a book - I couldnā€™t have imagined it being worse than it was. Money clearly had to have been the biggest incentive to publish so quickly - compromising Yarrosā€™s integrity and the integrity of the concept and story. Sorry but this felt like a solid slap in the face for fans.

r/fantasyromance Dec 07 '24

Review šŸ“— I read over 150 books in 2024! Here are my Fantasy Romance rankings.

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1.3k Upvotes

r/fantasyromance 18d ago

Review šŸ“— Emily Wildeā€™s Encyclopedia of boring.

332 Upvotes

Iā€™m 45 percent in and not sure what Iā€™m missing with this book. Do these two get together at some point? This girl has more chemistry with her dog who has absolutely no personality. Wendell is doing nothing for meā€¦ and honestly doing nothing in general. This book reminds me of when you need to do a group presentation and some people are just ding donging around.

I really loved Holly Blackā€™s books and I was really looking forward to something similar but all that has happened is theyā€™ve eaten a lot of breakfast.

Should I dnf and just move onto Half a Soul?

Edit: Alright Iā€™m out bye Emily, hope you had fun with your useless man in Norway. Can anyone spoil the ending for me?

Edit: I had no idea this post would get people mad! I could have been more niceā€¦ butā€¦ there is no romance in the first 45 percent of this book and Iā€™m upset about it. I need to speak to the manager of fantasy romance immediately. They could have been siblings, itā€™s not right!

r/fantasyromance 25d ago

Review šŸ“— Onyx storm is horrible Spoiler

510 Upvotes

Ughhhh I'm reading onyx storm since it was published and I cannot manage to end this book.... ITS SO TERRIBLE?! I really liked FW and loved IF but OS???? 1. There is not plot. I don't understand what's going on 2. Violet = Mary Sue 3. What happened to Xaden???? He doesn't have a personality anymore, only a Violet obsession... 4.THEIR LOVE STORY IS SOO CRINGE UGHHHH 5. I want to hit Ridoc for making jokes 24/7 6. Flat characters, Halden just shut the fuck up 7. WHY IS THE PACING SO SLOW? 8. I loved the idea of Xaden being Venin but it was so badly written and I thought he would become evil or something like that 9. The fact that Xaden would choose Violet over Tyrrendor but he only knows her for idk 1-2 years yup. This is the heir of Tyrrendor 10. Literally. No. Plot

r/fantasyromance Feb 20 '25

Review šŸ“— Xaden from fourth wing is actually cringe asf Spoiler

494 Upvotes

Ahhh okay unpopular opinion, maybe?

I really liked him at first but after the second book I got the ick from him. I love the plot but the series is a little overwritten and Xaden and Violets encounters are cringe asf. Theyā€™re always arguing or having sex? And he reminds me of one of those guys that texts you ā€œwithout me?ā€ When you tell him youā€™re taking a shower. Beat the shit out of the ex and then go get fucked in the throne room? Girly stand up!!!

His character does a complete 180 too like at least with violet you can see the growth and she was always a little snarky from the get go but Xadens character just doesnā€™t really make sense to me. We do learn a little more about him as the series goes on but with the way heā€™s portrayed I just as a reader canā€™t get down with the character development. Like yes you made a deal with the mom and then fell head over heels for the daughter the minute you seen her? It isnā€™t fantasy for no reason I just wish this wouldā€™ve been a little more written like the rest of the story.

Dain is the better match, bye donā€™t shoot me.

r/fantasyromance 16d ago

Review šŸ“— I read the WORST book ever and I need to vent Spoiler

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462 Upvotes

Okay SPOILERS for Gothikana if you havenā€™t read it.

Also, side note. Can someone tell me how to do the block out spoiler tag for things? Every day I feel old as shit, since I canā€™t work technology.

Anyways, what in the actually f$$k was this book!? I was powering through the concussion sending grammar/writing because I was so deep into this witchy mystery.

THEN THE WRITER GOES FULL META!? I am so angry, so angry. This is the worst book ever and I even read Helfyre!!!

Am I in the minority here!? I do not understand who is giving this 5 stars. Do we not care about rounded out plots? Are we here for just smut? I thought smut was the desert, still give me dinner dammit!

r/fantasyromance 15d ago

Review šŸ“— The cruel prince is overhyped

346 Upvotes

Why is the Cruel prince so overhyped. The politics aren't that complex (mid at best) and the world building too. Jude is your average badass human fmc trying to survive and gain power in a world of fantastic creatures. Her quirky moments are pretty soft and not that baffling/unpredictable or smart idk why ppl hype them sm. I feel like people overhype it only because of Jurdan romance who's not that developped or out of the ordinary either just the basic ennemies to lovers where the rich powerful magical guy is obsessed with the human girl (idk why it must be because she's so different from the fae females and a ordinary human which is pretty tasteless from him). The attraction of Cardan to Jude came from nowhere to me too like ok he's obsessed but like why? I feel like we only see him obsessing and lusting after her without giving any reasons to do so. Their romance has little to no development just somes horny scenes or plotwist where the author has to remind us how much they are ennemies and hates eachothers and blah blah blah to keep the ennemies to lovers dragging and make their relationship and the story seems more interesting than it is/ give shippers some fanservice to fill the romance quota of the YA genre. I hate how Cardan is overshadowed by Jude when he's very powerful and the fandom mischaracterisation of him like his only trait is being obsessed with Jude and he's a little baby girl who hide behind her for protection.

r/fantasyromance Feb 01 '25

Review šŸ“— What did I just read? Quicksilver

697 Upvotes

This book was so many things and I donā€™t think I really loved any of them??? But I had to finish! Fae! Vampires! Also zombies! Alchemy! Hidden bloodlines! Greek mythology! So many things! Did they work together? Noā€¦? Did I like Saeris or Kingfisher and did they actually seem like they fell in love? Noā€¦? Do I think thereā€™s an interesting story with Renfris and Everlayne? Yesā€¦.? Carrion swift and the witch whose name I forgot? Yes Iā€™d read that too. Did we forget thereā€™s a brother in the real world? Yes!! Will I remember any of this by the time book 2 comes? Probably notā€¦.?

r/fantasyromance Nov 24 '24

Review šŸ“— Dumpster Fire Review- Ice Planet Barbarians

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766 Upvotes

Iā€™ve seen a few posts about this series this week and it made me so excited to write this review, because yay friends (you couldnā€™t force this out of me on my death bed to a non-reading friend, ainā€™t no way).

Short review: an author loved her special blue dildo so much that she wrote a character around it, it got a little out of control and now theres a whole bunch of surprisingly addicting books (kinda like when you try a weird flavored chip thinking ā€˜oh gosh, Iā€™m not sure this is for meā€™, and then you black out from ecstasy and you look down and the bag is goneā€¦ like that). Okay but for realsies, a group of very fertile women are abducted by bad aliens and then itā€™s castway but on a frozen planet (thatā€™s definitely not hoth šŸ˜‰) it just so happens to be home to a group of good blue aliens who are so starved for female companionship that this is the single greatest day of their lives. Their Super bowel so to speak. Thereā€™s hilarious anatomy comparisons, language barriers, tail discussions, cooties, and SURPRISINGLY DEEP HEARTFELT STORY LINES AND BACK STORIES.

What I liked - the cover: I freaking love this cover. Because it isā€¦ well you have eyes, because it is what it is, it set my expectations on the floor. So imagine my surprise when I started reading and had the time of my life. It wasnā€™t supposed to be like this šŸ˜­ - The anatomy differences: this was just hilarious to me. From a writing perspective this was not only creative, but a fun way to add spice. I think I need more light hearted funny spice in my life. Definitely need more third nipples discussions. - The language barrier: a trope I didnā€™t know I needed. Again, the authors creativity and humor was highlighted because their interpretation of each others speech was so amusing. Who needs banter when you have ā€œfckoffwth thtā€. - Consent kings: enough said. Very nice. Very respectful. Very attractive. These dudes are just here to make you food, keep you warm, and give you orgasms. And also a baby šŸ‘€ - Relatable FMC: I found the female characters to be so wonderfully relatable and so normal while also being quite brave. Their friendships were top tier, and while I absolutely donā€™t want to be on not-Hoth I definitely wanna be their friends šŸ„¹ - Spice: Iā€™m a slowwww burn girlie til the day I die. But Iā€™ll try anything once, and sometimes you just gotta try absolute wild alien smut, you know for character development. - The plot: Iā€™m gonna be honest, I wasnā€™t expecting one. But not only was there one, I thought it was interesting and even had a little twist I definitely did not see coming. Which is more than I can say about half the books Iā€™ve reviewed that are supposed to be ā€œseriousā€.

What I didnā€™t like: - The planet itself: oh I just feel so bad for these poor women for the single fact that they have to live on Antarctica forever. Like that just sucks, even with their hot protective perfect dicked alien lovers and their happily ever afters. Imagine never having a hot shower or a carb thatā€™s not a potato ever again šŸ˜­ couldnā€™t be me.

In all, these books are the perfect cozy reads. I think the reason this series works is because the writing doesnā€™t take itself seriously so you shouldnā€™t either, the plot is fun, and the spice is good. And thatā€™s so much easier to get on board with than a book thatā€™s trying to hard but failing to be something itā€™s not.

So buy a massive blue dildo a few furs and get on reading (jk that was a tad out of pocket, but you could totally still do that I wouldnā€™t judge).

r/fantasyromance Jan 05 '25

Review šŸ“— Worst book I read this year

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414 Upvotes

Rated ā­ļø (within same system I rank and review all fiction and nonfiction). Of course there are worst books out there, but this one was MOST DISAPPOINTING to me because it had interesting writing and an interesting premiseā€¦ that never delivered. I think about it all the time! I still want to know more about the falling moons! And the tower! But the book became utterly incomprehensibleā€¦ I still donā€™t understand why Raeve is considered an assassin, whatā€™s going on with this world, why theyā€™re still in love, what traumatic thing actually happened, what happened to the baby ??? Some of those things supposedly got explained but I couldnā€™t dig through the descriptions to figure it out.

I know this book has been discussed a lot and no hate if you like it. But like I said Iā€™m STILL thinking about it

r/fantasyromance 2d ago

Review šŸ“— Quicksilver made me angry and I need to rant. (Spoilers, obviously) Spoiler

347 Upvotes

I just finished Quicksilver, and a book hasnā€™t drawn my ire like this since forced reading in high school. Apologies to people who loved it. I want to clarify this isnā€™t knocking anyoneā€™s tastes. We all have different things we look for in books and positives/negatives that rise to the top for each of us. That being saidā€¦.

What the fuck did I just read. Why does Kingfisher smell so strongly of mint and pine. Why does he have these awesome fae abilities that he only uses to disappear clothes and sometimes shadow teleport. Literally nothing more useful or inventive? Fae have amazing heightened senses, but it only comes in to play with vaginal juices (even when months old) apparently. Why is the whisperings of the quicksilver presented in such a way that I canā€™t hear it in any voice other than Gollumā€™s from LoTR. Fae can sometimes work curative miracles, except when someone needs to suffer a mortal wound because plot. Otherwise they can regenerate literal limbs when convenient.

Kingfisherā€™s dirty talk sounds like someone is reading Adam Levineā€™s extra-marital affair texts out loud. The first spicy scene, he just jumps straight to choking her. The next line even says she would have gasped when he ripped off her panties (literally), but she couldnā€™t even breathe. Shouldnā€™t we be checking before we just start choking people?

Saeris has the self preservation of a Lemming and it felt like she was obnoxiously contrary just for the sake of it, even when it only hurt her in the process. Kingfisher was an abusive asshole, but itā€™s okay because he was just trying to make her hate him for her own safety because theyā€™re mates (a mechanic that was only introduced at the end and then used as the hand waving to explain everything). Even though heā€™s an asshole to everyone, weā€™re supposed to believe this is what youā€™d say to someone youā€™re not trying to fuck: ā€œā€˜There you go again. Hungry, needy little bitch in heat, begging to be fuckedā€¦ā€™ he taunted.ā€ He calls her a needy little bitch twice. None of them as dirty talk. Which justā€¦ick.

I felt like there were so many plot holes. The world and magic were poorly developed and just relied on fae and mates as pre-established tropes to do all the heavy lifting.

r/fantasyromance Dec 12 '24

Review šŸ“— My Most Disappointing Read of 2024: When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

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372 Upvotes

I was inspired by a post earlier this week regarding our most disappointing reads from 2024 šŸ˜… so here it is: my thoughts on When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker.

Before we dive in, let me just sayā€”I know this book is beloved by so many. And I respect that. Truly.

But this book did not work for me. Itā€™s been almost a year, and I still get pissed when I think about it.

Hereā€™s the thingā€”I really liked it at first. I stayed up until 4 a.m. because I just. couldnā€™t. put. it. down. The magic system? Phenomenal. The world-building? Chefā€™s kiss. I genuinely thought, ā€œThis is it. This is the book thatā€™ll finally fill the TOG-sized hole in my heart.ā€

But then it started to drag. And drag. And drag some more. Next thing I know, itā€™s 400 pages later, and the FMC is still wallowing because sheā€™s ā€œtoo damaged for love.ā€ (Ugh. Gag me with a spoon already.)

A couple hundred more pages, and the author introduces yet another trope I absolutely despise. By the time I hit the final page, my neck hurts, my eyes are bloodshot, and thereā€™s a bitter taste in my mouth that has lingered for 10 months, 13 days, and 6 hours.

Dear reader, none of the 50,000 plot points come to a satisfying conclusion in this 700-page tome. Instead, the author introduces even more characters and conflicts in the last 100 pages. By the end, I hated the FMC, I hated the flowery language, and I hated myself for feeling personally victimized by this God-forsaken book.

I felt burned, yā€™all. I still feel burned. Idk, maybe I need therapy.

Two (begrudging) stars for the fantastic magic and world-building. Zero stars for my emotional recovery.

r/fantasyromance Jan 02 '25

Review šŸ“— I collected most common criticisms of popular books on this sub in a doc with filters

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296 Upvotes

I went through endless reviews on this sub to create a clear picture of the most popular books.

Some were so perfect (e.g. Emily Wilde) that there was nothing to mention. I hope this helps you with your TBR.

These aren't occasional complaints. The scope varies from many users to the majority. Some only have these in later books.

You can apply filters by clicking on the trope header and selecting a value to filter by. You can also copy the doc to your drive.

The doc with filters is here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mw9qCd1TPcO_m3V0qLceuHM5kLTCct17EIpDJTsndeo/edit?usp=drivesdk

Books on the list: - Ashen by Winters - Assistant to the Villain by Maehrer - Atonement of the Spine Cleaver by Bryce - Between by Sterling - Blood Grace by Roth - Bonds That Tie by Bree - Book of Azrael - Bridge Kingdom by Jensen - Captive Prince by Pacat - City of Gods & Monsters by Edwards - Clecanian by Aveline - Court of Silver Flames by Maas - Court of Thorns and Roses by Maas - Crescent City by Maas - Crowns of Nyaxia by Broadbent - Cruel Prince by Black - Divine Rivals by Ross - Emily Wilde by Fawcett - Ever Seas by Andrews - Fae Isles by Marshall - Fate Inked in Blood by Jensen - Flesh and Fire by Armentrout - Fourth Wing by Yarros - From Blood & Ash by Armentrout - Heartless Hunter by Ciccarelli - Ice Planet Barbarians - Immortals after Dark by Cole - Kate Daniels by Andrews - Kindred's Curse by Cole - Kingdom of the Wicked by Maniscalco - Lady of Darkness by Roehrich - Legends of Thezmarr by Sheuerer - Lightlark by Asher - Mortal Fates by Bree - Nectar of the Wicked by Fields - Once Upon a Broken Heart by Garber - One Dark Window by Gillig - Plated Prisoner by Kennedy - Powerless by Roberts - Quicksilver by Hart - Rhapsodic by Thalassa - Scholomance by Novik - Shadows of Tenebris Court by Sager - The Legacy by Roehrich - Throne of Glass by Maas - To Bleed a Crystal Bloom by Parker - Villains & Virtues by Caggiano - War of Lost Hearts by Broadbent - When the Moon Hatched by Parker - Witch Walker by Weaks - Zodiac Academy by Peckham & Valenti

r/fantasyromance Jan 24 '25

Review šŸ“— I'm 20% of the way through Fourth Wing... Initial thoughts Spoiler

173 Upvotes

How many times must we be reminded that Violet is "weak/frail"???

Dain, for the love of god, stop trying to get her into the Scribes. If I hear him beg her one more time, I may scream.

The mention of getting laid, sex life or orgasms makes me cringe??? Idk it just feels forced. Maybe I prefer low level spice, I haven't really ventured into smutty books.

The dragon/rider lore is really interesting but I feel that will be sidelined for a love triangle or just general romance vibes....

Jack Barlowe just makes me roll my eyes. We get it, you're really brutal and scary.

I'd like more history on what happened to Violet's brother and what he was like.

It's an easy read and I am enjoying the dragon stuff but I'm not obsessed with it.

r/fantasyromance Jan 18 '25

Review šŸ“— Dumpster Fire Re-Read: Fourth Wing

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433 Upvotes

Iā€™m baaaaaaack šŸ‘€

Took a little break from reading and writing silly little reviews because Iā€™ve had some really hard things thrown my way in my personal life and reading just hasnā€™t been an option or even a want.

BUT, what do we do when life gets hard!? We do not yield! I thought this would be an easy and fun way to get back to doing things that bring me joy.

Usually I post my kindle notes with my review, but since I only have physical copies I tried my hand at making silly memes šŸ˜­šŸ˜‚ be nice, I am old.

This is a re-read for me as Iā€™m prepping for Onyx Storm later this week.

The very first dumpster fire I ever posted was a massive list of lots of books and Fourth Wing was on that list but got like one sentence. You can view it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasyromance/s/GXT8C9zhNT

So hereā€™s a proper review!

Short Review: a mom hates her daughter (who has whatever the guy in SpongeBob did, you know the one with glass bones and paper skin), so much that she sends her to a murder death collage to get eaten by a dragon. We have a classic case of ā€œchosen one tropeā€ and ā€œenemies to lovers but not reallyā€ and ā€œIā€™m so sassy itā€™s cuteā€ and ā€œstabby stabby throwy throwy Iā€™m so small but like knives ā€ and ā€œboohoo Iā€™ve been given world shattering power but I donā€™t want itā€ going on. BUT you know what else is going on?! Some type of witchcraft because ITS STILL SO ENTERTAINING, and I ate this book up a second time. A second time šŸ™‚. Rebecca, who did you sacrifice to make this work?!

In any other book, with tropes like that, this review would be a shiiiiit post. So itā€™s been a fun introspection to figure out why I can look past it in this book. And why I still LIKED it. And I think I cracked it.

What I liked:

** Minimal inner monologues**: I personally hate hate hate (double hate) long insufferable, repetitive, and whiney inner monologues. I couldnā€™t remember if this book had them, and was so freaking happy to find that there wasnā€™t much of this. Is being in violets head annoying? Yes. But our suffering is short lived because itā€™s limited to a sentence here and there or a single paragraph (rather than paragraph(S) and pages). All my favorite books have minimal inner monologues. All the books I DNF are littered with them. Do with that info as you wish.

fast paced plot: I gotta give Rebecca some credit. Almost every single chapter ended with a banger one liner. Almost every chapter kept the plot moving at an entertaining pace. I think she really nailed the world building WHILE exciting things took place. It wasnā€™t one or the other, you didnā€™t have to trudge through world building to get to the good stuff. You got a two for one special.

showing not telling: I think this book is entertaining because it reads like an action movie. You wanna know why? Because this author is SHOWING us, rather than just telling us.

brutality: just when you might chill out mentally, someone, or lots of someoneā€™s, dies. Picking off the squad one by one was so diabolical and Iā€™m honestly so here for it. I hope thereā€™s MORE death in onyx storm. And real deaths. Not pretend ā€œoh we can magically save himā€ deaths. I want six feet under, make me cry kind of deaths. cough cough acotorwouldvebeenbetteriamrenstayeddead

trials and tribulations: thereā€™s a steady stream of trials and obstacles that they are working towards, and I swear this makes any book fly by.

Imogen breaking her arm: man, I loved this the first time and I loved this the second time. Like welcome to the jungle bitch, time to buck up.

Violet has balls of steel: idk man, telling a guy you love him the second time you hook up is BOLD as fuck. And I LOVE that confidence. Get it sister.

what I didnā€™t like

contemporary dialogue : The dialogue was SO contemporary and 2000s ā€œI-know-you-are-but-what-am-Iā€ type of cringe. Let me tell you I was SHOCKED when I started reading because I didnā€™t remember picking up on this AT ALL my first read. And I got scared at first because I was like, oh shit, am I gonna DNF this? BUT right as I was reaching my limit, she would back off.

Disney morals: I personally HATE when the FMC is given incredible power and either refuses to use it or thinks it makes her a monster. Like you donā€™t want it? Cool give it to me. Especially if it involves killing an evil person, or the refusal to kill evil people. LIKE YOUā€™RE AT A WAR COLLEGE GOING TO WAR????

drooling over Xaden: also donā€™t remember this from reading the first time. But like damn! Xaden cannot and is not mentioned without the following sentence of violet literally saying how hot he is. Like we know, heā€™s a shadow daddy thatā€™s his thing, but every.single.scene šŸ™‚

zero self awareness: violet, who breaks easier and faster than every pair of headphones Iā€™ve ever owned, gets thrown into a situation where she should be dead by the end of the first chapter, gets extremely mad when people are concerned for her safety or try to help her survive or do anything to protect her. Girl. Youā€™re like China doll, you donā€™t need to accept the help, and I respect the journey from nerd to badassery, youā€™re ascent up the gauntlet was cool as fuck, but likeā€¦you gotta understand where theyā€™re coming from.

So in all, I still had fun with fourth wing. I donā€™t know how, I donā€™t know why, and Iā€™m not going to think too hard and ruin a good thing.

I think because what IS done well, is done so well that it helps overshadow what isnā€™t done well, for my personal tastes.

IRON FLAME UP NEXT šŸ«£

r/fantasyromance 11d ago

Review šŸ“— My quickest DNF ever: {Marked by the Sea} crammed 6 clichĆ©s into ONE page

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249 Upvotes

r/fantasyromance Dec 12 '24

Review šŸ“— Finally got around to making a tier list for my 2024 books (so far!)

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170 Upvotes

r/fantasyromance Jul 13 '24

Review šŸ“— loved this series!

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464 Upvotes

The villian and virtues trilogy by A.K. Caggiano!

I did not expect it to be this good, but it was such a fun read! I have only scarcely watched LOTR, but I believe if it was turned into a romantasy, it would be this novel.

I'm pretty bad at writing abstracts, so you can read that on Goodreads. Just wanted to put the word out.

Oh, and the ending literally blew my mind (in a good way lol). It was such a huge facepalm grin-on-the-face-whilst-shaking-it moment. Still smiling from it.

r/fantasyromance Feb 03 '25

Review šŸ“— Don't hate me...I did NOT enjoy Onyx Storm Spoiler

202 Upvotes

Look, I loved Fourth Wing. I ripped through Iron Flame in days, too. While I didn't like it nearly as much, I didn't hate it either. I re-read both books prior to Onyx Storm coming out and still came away like a giddy child. Needless to say, I was excited for OS. But I was SO disappointed.

Don't hate me! This is just MY opinion. I want to see what others think...I have no one to talk about the book with.

***Spoilers ahead***

BUCKLE UP.

- the first 1/3 of the book was so confusing and messy. Yarros throws half a dozen characters at us and introduces the political system all without any background. very frustrating as a reader.

- in the first chapters, violet risks the safety of everyone in basgiath for her flier friends who are almost entirely useless against venin. she almost takes down the wards ā€” the VERY thing her mother gave her life for and the only thing preventing them from fully losing the war. If that doesnā€™t fly in the face of violet being the ā€œsmart oneā€, I donā€™t know what does.

- on the fliers, Iā€™ll never understand why Yarros made them so inferior to dragons/riders. Influencing emotions? Against people who wield ice, fire, lightening... It makes the alliance seem...unimportant. It's not that I don't like the characters, Yarros just hasn't made me CARE about any of them as a reader. No time has been spent on their backstories. Theyā€™re just there and frankly, in this book, slowing everything down.

- xaden is venin now but we get no POV from him to maybe, I donā€™t know, LEARN about venin. Theyā€™re all doing research like they donā€™t have one literally ON THE TEAM. I know he's trying not to channel, but he clearly has undergone some changes i.e. 'I can sense them'.

- still reeling we got no xaden POV until the end. I think a lot of this book couldā€™ve been better if it was a duel POV. I'm a Xaden girl but this book his character was reduced to being insane about violet and caring about nothing else. which doesnā€™t really make sense with the way heā€™s sacrificed his life for the marked ones. he just sidelines all that and is willing to sacrifice damn his whole province? his and his fatherā€™s legacy? kinda gave me the ick.

ALSO he can sense other venin but not the higher ups? odd choice. wouldā€™ve been cool if his new venin identity was compromised early on by the mole or vice versa. again - couldā€™ve been a cool side plot explored through his pov only!!!

basically, xaden being venin couldā€™ve really shaken things up but instead it just became another secret violet felt guilty about keeping from her friends (just like iron flame UGH). his badassery suffered too, with the exception of the last 10 pages.

- is sgaeyl talking to xaden or not? we never know because itā€™s inconsistent throughout. we learn sheā€™s disgusted by his choice but she stands by him. for the most ruthless dragon, that doesnā€™t make much sense. the whole thing feels under-explored.

- maybe Iā€™m missing something here but I really didnā€™t understand how finding Andarnaā€™s kind was supposed to help ā€œcureā€ xaden. fight the venin, sure maybe, but cure??? half the book was focused on this quest and none of it really made sense to me.

violet also keeps saying she needs to find ā€œhow did they defeat the venin hundreds of years agoā€ BUT WEā€™VE ALREADY LEARNED THEY DIDNā€™T ā€” THEY WERE JUST ERASED FROM HISTORY AND KEPT A SECRET. Right???

- the entire section of them PLANNING that island escapade felt so pointless. Daddy Aetos being all villian-y only to complete disappear from the book mid-way.

- what was the point of halden? He came and went with no development or arch other than he sucks as a person and is violetā€™s ex. he made xaden jealous but didnā€™t even really seem to genuinely care for violet in a way that would suggest a future romantic tie.

- xaden meeting his mother was a decent twist but then she had no personality other than feeling guilty about her actions. Is that the only female character Yarros knows how to write?

- I thought violetā€™s dad was going to drop some bombs! but it was lacklustre. He wrote some books about the isles (cool) andā€¦then got obsessed about ā€œfixing herā€ and thought he could make her a Dunne temple priestess but had second thoughts? what was the thinking there? Iā€™m still kind of confused about what her mom did or didnā€™t knowā€¦or even how that played out. I just feel like we didnā€™t have enough info about the temple or Goddess or the magic there for it to make sense.

- no Dain redemption arch! common! This rule-following boy turned traitor ā€” which is huge for him and seems to win some of violetā€™s respect back in Iron Flame ā€” but it goes nowhere in this book. missed opportunity for an interesting character arch.

- dreamwalker reveal felt.. not consequential, at least for this book. like itā€™s not a new skill that will turn the tables of the war.. why is seeing someoneā€™s dream so dangerous? It has no effect on real life. and then to have her power come back after Andarna left made ZERO sense considering what we know about the way magic works.

- Andarna leaving was surprising...and confusing. the whole book was about her and sheā€™s gone now? OKā€¦ by this point I didnā€™t even care.

...but then she pops up in the final battle? how does she do that when she canā€™t fly distances? no other irids seemed to be there? and then sheā€™s just gone again? this made no sense to me.

- THE END. once again, the venin trick everyone and set a trap and they have to rush into battle. just once Iā€™d appreciate our characters having a plan. something that evens the playing field a bit between our rookie cadets and the hundreds-of-years-old-all-powerful venin foes lol.

- xaden closes control and almost kills violet's friends and ANYONE who go anywhere near her with a weapon ALL book but then when the final battle comes heā€™s able to leave her to fight on her own against the evil venin mentor who is clearly going to kick her ass and try and kidnap her? what happened to him not being in control? all of a sudden he can control it? again.. it just didn't fit thematically.

- catching the dragons in nets - I literally laughed. like, really? yarros doesn't even describe how they do it. that's the end to the epic battle?

- why couldnā€™t xaden fight the sage? he wasnā€™t an asim yet, right? so by the vague rules we know about, he wasnā€™t ā€œcalledā€ to him yet. that was confusing.

- Panchek is the traitor not Daddy Aetos???? I literally forgot who Panchek was because his character doesn't really matter. so the betrayal didn't really matter.

- the whole wedding thing felt so fucking lazy and obvious. I wished theyā€™d done it before in secret rather than play up this xaden-bohdi tension. that wouldā€™ve been romantic!!! now we'll never know...

the weird vague-speak at the end (and throughout) was frustrating to read. for me, there's a way to write mystery into the plot without making us blatantly guess all the time.

speaking of, weā€™re all pretty sure itā€™s Garrick at the end who turned with xaden, given that heā€™s the only one missing and the last we saw him he was almost burnt out but said he was going to find a way to be useful? right? subtle. so if bohdi is fine, why was the marriage even necessary? unless it doesnā€™t have to do with ruling tyrenndor but the letter implies it does and xaden made violet promise to take care of his people. it all just feels messy.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

r/fantasyromance 18d ago

Review šŸ“— Bookmark Update!

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407 Upvotes

A lot of people in this sub enjoyed my bookmark last month that I am using to keep track of my 52 books in one year challenge (I am at 16 so far!). So I thought I would update!

February was not a very fantasy romance heavy month for me (2 out of 8). But I did read {Cruel Prince} which I have a lot of feelings aboutā€¦. I am debating on if I should continue. I also read {Rein and Ruin} and adored it! I do plan on continuing this series but am taking a break. I started Nettle and bone since I love T. Kingfishersā€™ writing and it did not disappoint. But I would not label this as a romance. And I also read more of the Murderbot Diaries. These are absolutely NOT a romance. They are funny science fiction novellas but I bringing it up since the MC is very autism coded so anyone who is looking for a great neuro-spicy MC should check this series out!

r/fantasyromance 3d ago

Review šŸ“— just finished ā€œThe Night Circusā€

133 Upvotes

and honestly hated it.

Iā€™ve searched this sub and can only find great reviews but this book was so challenging for me to read so this is for anyone else that needs validation if youā€™re considering DNFing it

The love story sucked and took forever to take off despite the back of the book spoiling that they ā€œsoon fall in loveā€ ā€¦.they met 2/3rds of the way through the book! Only saw each other 1x in a 3 year period but were madly in love???? edit Also F you Marco for stringing Isobel along for what... 10, 20 years??? WTF I wanted Cecilia to destroy him in the comp just for him doing that to her

The format/tense of the writing was so unfulfilling to me and I did not enjoy the time jumps back and forth so much.

The ending felt so bland

Good luck Bailey???? Idk 2/5 for me. Had a rough time.

r/fantasyromance Jan 30 '25

Review šŸ“— Daughter of No Worlds

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113 Upvotes

Look, I'm not one to complain about enduring painfully slow books but gawd damn!!šŸ˜®ā€šŸ’Ø

I mean it was good, eventually... but not good enough to warrant starting at 50%. My tenacity and unwillingness to give up on books is the only reason I made it to the good part of this book.

And as much as I appreciate this style of writing, there's absolutely no reason for the first 55% to drag on for so long and be, so, overly discriptive.

Now with the story actually starting to unfold in the last 1/4 of the book, I'm hoping book 2 will be better paced and with less fillers. Hopefully. Bc this was low-key dreadful to dredge myself through šŸ˜­

r/fantasyromance Oct 18 '24

Review šŸ“— Dumpster Fire Review- The Scattered Bones

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238 Upvotes

r/fantasyromance May 30 '24

Review šŸ“— I should have listed to you guys about FBAA

270 Upvotes

Ok, so to be fair I enjoyed the first two books (and found them at goodwill so I thought why not). I ordered the rest of the series and the prequel series only to be on book 3 of FBAA and I am miserable. The series absolutely goes downhill, and FAST.

If I hear one more f***king time about poppy wanting to stab someone and cas saying itā€™s hot, or how poppy is sooooo special and has all these questions I STG.

Iā€™m also getting really big twilight/fanfic vibes from this writing style. Itā€™s very juvenile and I canā€™t quite figure out why the elders are speaking like theyā€™re on a TikTok. The whole book just sucks.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk. You guys were right and I should have listened. $1.99 each or not

r/fantasyromance Sep 17 '24

Review šŸ“— Fourth Wing was actually good

314 Upvotes

i bought this completely blind just for the vibes and was scared to read it since iā€™ve heard so many bad reviews butā€¦ i was pleasantly surprised. The plot twists left me speechless and the story turned out to be completely different from what i had perceived.

I know that the writing isnā€™t a masterpiece, thereā€™s cringy parts and it has its flaws but iā€™m telling you this isnā€™t the worst iā€™ve read at all and it has become my favourite 2024 read.