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The Mortal Fates #2
The Throne of Honor and Blood
From J. Bree, bestselling author of The Bonds That Tie, comes the second installment in her epic and enthralling romantasy series.
In our arrogance, the high fae forgot everything that mattered.
I carved out a reputation as the Savage Prince for my brutality against witches, but unable to wield our magic, I couldn’t stop my kingdom from being torn apart by war and famine while the Fates demanded my patience.
The worst was still to come.
After almost a thousand years of waiting for my Fates-blessed mate, and thousands of witches dead by my hand, the Fates revealed their cruelest truth yet.
With silver eyes that sliced to the bone and a humility that defied all reason, the witch I’m bound to has tested every inch of my restraint, but that was only the beginning.
Everything I once knew as true has come into question.
Loyalties will be tested, treaties broken, treason committed, and only the strongest will survive.
I am Prince Soren Celestial.
The rightful heir to the throne of the Southern Lands.
Nothing will keep me from my Fates-blessed mate.
Not even her hatred for me.
*The Throne of Honor and Blood is a full-length MF epic fantasy romance with material that may be difficult for some readers. This book will end on a cliffhanger. It's recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations. Book 2 of a 3-book series.
In our arrogance, the high fae forgot everything that mattered.
I carved out a reputation as the Savage Prince for my brutality against witches, but unable to wield our magic, I couldn’t stop my kingdom from being torn apart by war and famine while the Fates demanded my patience.
The worst was still to come.
After almost a thousand years of waiting for my Fates-blessed mate, and thousands of witches dead by my hand, the Fates revealed their cruelest truth yet.
With silver eyes that sliced to the bone and a humility that defied all reason, the witch I’m bound to has tested every inch of my restraint, but that was only the beginning.
Everything I once knew as true has come into question.
Loyalties will be tested, treaties broken, treason committed, and only the strongest will survive.
I am Prince Soren Celestial.
The rightful heir to the throne of the Southern Lands.
Nothing will keep me from my Fates-blessed mate.
Not even her hatred for me.
*The Throne of Honor and Blood is a full-length MF epic fantasy romance with material that may be difficult for some readers. This book will end on a cliffhanger. It's recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations. Book 2 of a 3-book series.
683 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 19, 2024
About the author
J. Bree
27 books9,853 followersJ Bree is a dreamer, writer, mother, and cat-wrangler.
The order of priorities changes daily.
She lives on the coast of Western Australia in a city where it rains too much. She spends her days dreaming about all of her book boyfriends, listening to her partner moan about how the lawns are looking, and being a snack bitch to her three kids.
Visit her website at http://www.jbreeauthor.com to sign up for the newsletter or find her on social media.
The order of priorities changes daily.
She lives on the coast of Western Australia in a city where it rains too much. She spends her days dreaming about all of her book boyfriends, listening to her partner moan about how the lawns are looking, and being a snack bitch to her three kids.
Visit her website at http://www.jbreeauthor.com to sign up for the newsletter or find her on social media.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,145 reviews
May 30, 2024
I did enjoy it quite a bit but it still let me down. There was so much potential. It was a lot of words, lot of build up for a very underwhelming ending.
✔️ Fae prince x witch
✔️ Fated mates
✔️ True enemies to lovers
✔️ Slow burn
Although it is better written than book one, it lacks life to itself. Apart from the romance, the rest of the book is desperately grasping for something to happen. The whole environment of the book is very gloomy, it could have used some laughs, banter, action sequences that have one gasping. The world building like book one still has me confused. I believe the main culprit is how many words J. Bree uses unnecessarily, it just sucks the fun out. The slow pacing doesn't help either.
I liked Rooke a lot in book one and Soren not that much, although he did intrigue me tho. But that changed a bit in this book. For me, Rooke took the backseat, Soren carried this book. I loved how his character is growing into something more. He is settling in with his role as a powerful fae and a mate to someone he used to loathe and now loving her with his all. I loved how he got jealous, caring, protective and feeling all love for his mate. The problem with Rooke is that her character has already peaked, there should be room for improvement but how do you make a perfect character into someone more?
I loved the romance. It's so damn angsty, I was feeling it all. The slow burn was killing me but when things did happen, I ate it up. Soren especially made me swoon a lot. The chemistry between the two is chef's kiss.
The ending was underwhelming. Imo it could have been a 400 pages book easy. Although am interested in the next book, it won't make my list of anticipated reads.
~•~•~
Guys let's be mindful about hating on authors. I get that the release of this book was problematic and the way it was all communicated was poor but it is not the end of the world.
For people wondering about the controversy- This book was supposed to come out on 19 April, 2024 but the author last minute decided to push it to 19 May, 2024 due to reasons am not sure of. On 19 May, the book failed to released and no one heard from the author's team until the next day. Her FB group were the only ones to be notified that there are some technical difficulties ongoing with Amazon. It took long to get resolved and the book finally released on the 23 May. That's basically the gist of it. The whole thing caused a lot of drama and hate directed towards the author. Some of the comments went too far and too hateful with readers review bombing the book 1 star.
✔️ Fae prince x witch
✔️ Fated mates
✔️ True enemies to lovers
✔️ Slow burn
Although it is better written than book one, it lacks life to itself. Apart from the romance, the rest of the book is desperately grasping for something to happen. The whole environment of the book is very gloomy, it could have used some laughs, banter, action sequences that have one gasping. The world building like book one still has me confused. I believe the main culprit is how many words J. Bree uses unnecessarily, it just sucks the fun out. The slow pacing doesn't help either.
I liked Rooke a lot in book one and Soren not that much, although he did intrigue me tho. But that changed a bit in this book. For me, Rooke took the backseat, Soren carried this book. I loved how his character is growing into something more. He is settling in with his role as a powerful fae and a mate to someone he used to loathe and now loving her with his all. I loved how he got jealous, caring, protective and feeling all love for his mate. The problem with Rooke is that her character has already peaked, there should be room for improvement but how do you make a perfect character into someone more?
I loved the romance. It's so damn angsty, I was feeling it all. The slow burn was killing me but when things did happen, I ate it up. Soren especially made me swoon a lot. The chemistry between the two is chef's kiss.
The ending was underwhelming. Imo it could have been a 400 pages book easy. Although am interested in the next book, it won't make my list of anticipated reads.
~•~•~
Guys let's be mindful about hating on authors. I get that the release of this book was problematic and the way it was all communicated was poor but it is not the end of the world.
For people wondering about the controversy- This book was supposed to come out on 19 April, 2024 but the author last minute decided to push it to 19 May, 2024 due to reasons am not sure of. On 19 May, the book failed to released and no one heard from the author's team until the next day. Her FB group were the only ones to be notified that there are some technical difficulties ongoing with Amazon. It took long to get resolved and the book finally released on the 23 May. That's basically the gist of it. The whole thing caused a lot of drama and hate directed towards the author. Some of the comments went too far and too hateful with readers review bombing the book 1 star.
June 27, 2024
2.75/5
Honestly, I don't even know what exactly to say. The Throne of Honor and Blood was one of my most anticipated releases this year, because it’s almost impossible for me to find an enemies-to-lovers series that has mature scenes and where the main characters are real enemies — the ones who hate each other with all their beings for most of the story, instead of jumping straight into bed at the first occasion. This series landed in this category because the first part can easily be described as 'enemies to -', as there was almost no love or lust between our two main characters — Rooke and Soren. The love and lust I so eagerly awaited to read about in the continuation of their story.
As you can probably see, looking at my rating, it turned out to be not as good as I expected. I still can't decide if it's because of the little reading slump I still have after reading my favorite book of the year, or if I've completely lost interest in the plot and, unfortunately, the romance as well. I guess a bit of both. I was expecting a lot of groveling, which I think Rooke deserved after being treated like her life meant nothing to Soren, but even though our Savage Prince had finally changed, there wasn't much — or even no groveling on his part. Yes, he finally became possessive and jealous of her, and finally started treating her like his soulmate/mate, but that's basically it. Also, their romance — the one I had been eagerly awaiting — did not stir any emotions in me. In the beginning of the book I still felt these so-called butterflies in my stomach when Soren was possessive — unfortunately I'm a fan of that, but later when they had their first kiss I was close to falling asleep.
If you read my review about the first book, you would probably know that our Mother Witch — Rookesbane Eveningstar, ended up on my "favorite heroines" shelf. I completely fell in love with her calm demeanor and the fact that she was a powerful woman who didn't care what anyone thought of her, but in the second part, even though some of her scenes here were just truly awesome/powerful and badass, she somehow lost her charm for me. Perhaps because Rooke, the one who was supposed to make Soren work to forgive her, didn't exist here.
At the beginning of my review I said that I didn't even know what to say exactly, but as you can see it turned out differently. I thought I would finally find my new favorite fantasy series, because the second book sounded very, or even extremely promising, but unfortunately it didn't work out. Honestly, I don't even know if I will read the third book — probably not because I completely lost interest in the action in this one.
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THE COVER IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS
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If Soren doesn’t get on his knees and BEG every day until he dies for what he put her through
Honestly, I don't even know what exactly to say. The Throne of Honor and Blood was one of my most anticipated releases this year, because it’s almost impossible for me to find an enemies-to-lovers series that has mature scenes and where the main characters are real enemies — the ones who hate each other with all their beings for most of the story, instead of jumping straight into bed at the first occasion. This series landed in this category because the first part can easily be described as 'enemies to -', as there was almost no love or lust between our two main characters — Rooke and Soren. The love and lust I so eagerly awaited to read about in the continuation of their story.
As you can probably see, looking at my rating, it turned out to be not as good as I expected. I still can't decide if it's because of the little reading slump I still have after reading my favorite book of the year, or if I've completely lost interest in the plot and, unfortunately, the romance as well. I guess a bit of both. I was expecting a lot of groveling, which I think Rooke deserved after being treated like her life meant nothing to Soren, but even though our Savage Prince had finally changed, there wasn't much — or even no groveling on his part. Yes, he finally became possessive and jealous of her, and finally started treating her like his soulmate/mate, but that's basically it. Also, their romance — the one I had been eagerly awaiting — did not stir any emotions in me. In the beginning of the book I still felt these so-called butterflies in my stomach when Soren was possessive — unfortunately I'm a fan of that, but later when they had their first kiss I was close to falling asleep.
If you read my review about the first book, you would probably know that our Mother Witch — Rookesbane Eveningstar, ended up on my "favorite heroines" shelf. I completely fell in love with her calm demeanor and the fact that she was a powerful woman who didn't care what anyone thought of her, but in the second part, even though some of her scenes here were just truly awesome/powerful and badass, she somehow lost her charm for me. Perhaps because Rooke, the one who was supposed to make Soren work to forgive her, didn't exist here.
At the beginning of my review I said that I didn't even know what to say exactly, but as you can see it turned out differently. I thought I would finally find my new favorite fantasy series, because the second book sounded very, or even extremely promising, but unfortunately it didn't work out. Honestly, I don't even know if I will read the third book — probably not because I completely lost interest in the action in this one.
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THE COVER IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS
────────
If Soren doesn’t get on his knees and BEG every day until he dies for what he put her through
August 16, 2024
1.75!
J. Bree what did you do 😭 I was so excited for this and I really thought this was gonna be it!! the best enemies to lovers book out there and despite giving the first one a 3 I was really excited for it because the build up for this book in book 1 was so good especially in terms of romance and it was actually so intriguing to read this one however was more skimming and boring and the highly anticipated kiss was so mediocre. Im gonna talk about the romance first because that is the aspect of this book that pissed me off the most. I was rooting for Soren and Rooke so bad and I wanted GROVELING that was literally the only thing I wanted from Soren's part and tbh very honest it would have been given to us, If Rooke didnt decide to be a doormat midway and to let Soren walk all over her and I was so pissed at that. I wanted angst and tension and lust and everything that was being set in book 1 but when it all happened everything that I mentioned above was not there and I wanted to punch myself for expecting too much.
The writing wasnt my favourite either, it was very inconsistent and so boring also this book had no reason to be this long + the build up with the anti-climatic ending pissed me off even more, I lost all interest in everything about this tbh, it didnt grip me at all and I wanted it to end. J. Bree was definitely in a writing slump in this one lol because I dont understand how all this happened.
The characters Rooke lost all her charm and I was very pissed at her for not standing up, she literally lose her fiery personality, I did not enjoy her pov and I also did not like it. Soren was better, I liked him way more in this book because he improved, I just wanted more groveling from his part but I didn't get that so of course was a little mad at that but he redeemed himself tbh I liked reading about him.
Overall, I was not fond of the plot or the action and I really dont know if im going to read the last book or not (if its confirmed as a trilogy, I will. Otherwise, I wont)
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I'm actually so disappointed that I have no clue what I'm gonna write 😭
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Finally starting this and going in with low expectations because aside from review bombings this actually had some valid low reviews....
J. Bree what did you do 😭 I was so excited for this and I really thought this was gonna be it!! the best enemies to lovers book out there and despite giving the first one a 3 I was really excited for it because the build up for this book in book 1 was so good especially in terms of romance and it was actually so intriguing to read this one however was more skimming and boring and the highly anticipated kiss was so mediocre. Im gonna talk about the romance first because that is the aspect of this book that pissed me off the most. I was rooting for Soren and Rooke so bad and I wanted GROVELING that was literally the only thing I wanted from Soren's part and tbh very honest it would have been given to us, If Rooke didnt decide to be a doormat midway and to let Soren walk all over her and I was so pissed at that. I wanted angst and tension and lust and everything that was being set in book 1 but when it all happened everything that I mentioned above was not there and I wanted to punch myself for expecting too much.
The writing wasnt my favourite either, it was very inconsistent and so boring also this book had no reason to be this long + the build up with the anti-climatic ending pissed me off even more, I lost all interest in everything about this tbh, it didnt grip me at all and I wanted it to end. J. Bree was definitely in a writing slump in this one lol because I dont understand how all this happened.
The characters Rooke lost all her charm and I was very pissed at her for not standing up, she literally lose her fiery personality, I did not enjoy her pov and I also did not like it. Soren was better, I liked him way more in this book because he improved, I just wanted more groveling from his part but I didn't get that so of course was a little mad at that but he redeemed himself tbh I liked reading about him.
Overall, I was not fond of the plot or the action and I really dont know if im going to read the last book or not (if its confirmed as a trilogy, I will. Otherwise, I wont)
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I'm actually so disappointed that I have no clue what I'm gonna write 😭
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Finally starting this and going in with low expectations because aside from review bombings this actually had some valid low reviews....
May 28, 2024
Rooke baby GET UPPPPPP.
Where is Rooke from book 1? Where is Rooke from the end of book 1? Where is Miss “..you'll come crawling back to me to beg for more of my magic” Rooke?
Book 1 was difficult to read at times, because of how poorly Rooke was treated. Like I cried for her lol. That was one of the darkest, most intense “enemies” part of an enemies to lovers story I’ve ever read, and it deserved a “lovers” part that made up for it 10x over.
But nope. Instead, all Soren had to do was hold a baby and check on Rooke when she had nightmares for her to “soften” towards him. Idk about anyone else, but I, too, would go check on my guest if they were screaming in my house in the middle of the night ._.
I cannot believe Soren did not apologize or grovel for the absolute hell he put Rooke through in book 1. And she just let him get away with it.. Girl, he had you in a DUNGEON!!! Right after making you walk behind his HORSE!!!! Like Airlie put in more effort making up for her prior behavior than Soren did.
& I don’t even want to get into the grammatical issues with this book .____.
I’m just kind of heartbroken, I think lol. I was so excited for this book. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings, so I’ll update this review once I organize all of them.
______________________________________________
THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT WHEN I SAW THIS BOOK COVER!! OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE APRIL 19TH IM YODELING AS I TYPE THIS!! SOREN COUNT YOUR DAYS!!!!!
______________________________________________
Soren…you better sleep with one eye open.
Where is Rooke from book 1? Where is Rooke from the end of book 1? Where is Miss “..you'll come crawling back to me to beg for more of my magic” Rooke?
Book 1 was difficult to read at times, because of how poorly Rooke was treated. Like I cried for her lol. That was one of the darkest, most intense “enemies” part of an enemies to lovers story I’ve ever read, and it deserved a “lovers” part that made up for it 10x over.
But nope. Instead, all Soren had to do was hold a baby and check on Rooke when she had nightmares for her to “soften” towards him. Idk about anyone else, but I, too, would go check on my guest if they were screaming in my house in the middle of the night ._.
I cannot believe Soren did not apologize or grovel for the absolute hell he put Rooke through in book 1. And she just let him get away with it.. Girl, he had you in a DUNGEON!!! Right after making you walk behind his HORSE!!!! Like Airlie put in more effort making up for her prior behavior than Soren did.
& I don’t even want to get into the grammatical issues with this book .____.
I’m just kind of heartbroken, I think lol. I was so excited for this book. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings, so I’ll update this review once I organize all of them.
______________________________________________
THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT WHEN I SAW THIS BOOK COVER!! OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE APRIL 19TH IM YODELING AS I TYPE THIS!! SOREN COUNT YOUR DAYS!!!!!
______________________________________________
Soren…you better sleep with one eye open.
April 15, 2024
Can this book come out sooner? I can’t wait for all the groveling that’s to come.
Finally a release date! It’s on J. Bree’s website so it’s official, April 19, 2024! Now what do I do for the next 11 weeks of my life… It got updated to May 19th WHY?!?!?
Finally a release date! It’s on J. Bree’s website so it’s official, April 19, 2024! Now what do I do for the next 11 weeks of my life… It got updated to May 19th WHY?!?!?
June 15, 2024
2.5 Stars
Disclaimer: My review for this book will be solely based on what I've read. No matter the shit show that happened before its release and the way readers have been treated/gaslighted by whoever works with this author, please know that I desperately wanted to love this book.
[UPDATE!] The more I kept thinking about this, the more I hate it so I had to lower my rating 🥲.
So guys, this was my most anticipated release. Needless to say, it gave the "go girl give us nothing" type of feeling and I'm absolutely heartbroken about having to give it the kind of rating that I usually reserve for "meh" books. Now that I'm a full time uni student the time for reading is really scarce to put it mildly, but I've made time for this book during my nights (I was reading til 4am here people) and lemme tell you it wasn't worth it at all, your girl here should have slept.
I wanted to love this, if you follow me on my twt account (if you don't and want to → slide into my dms, I'm way more fun there) you know I was FULL of headcanons/fake scenarios and theories for these characters, I went in full of expectations after a year of waiting and that might have gotten in the way a little, cause I was ready for some mind-blowing greateness here (especially after the way the first book had ended) but this one just didn't deliver anything for me. There's are still some things I've enjoyed — we'll get there in a min — but overall this second installment felt kind of hollow in terms of emotion to me.
This will be spoiler-ish — be aware.
Let's start with the things I liked:
❥ ROOKE 🌿: she's taking it. Still the best part of this series.
Rooke is a character that made me realize I don't actually love strong fmcs (I realized I've hated many) but what I do love is the resilient ones that make my little black heart ache. Emphasis on resilient. This girl went through literal hell on earth fighting in a war just to be thrown into another the minute she got to her homeland (and into a dungeon by the love of her life too... cut her some slack). For the entirety of almost seven hundred pages Rooke carried the book on her back (again): her calm demeanor, her kindness, her knowledge, the power she wields, that ethereal aura she has around her... this is literally princess Diana? She's kinda like the Jesus of the fae?
“The witch who grew up in the Ravenswyrd was incapable of the task set before me, and the moment the Seer spoke my fate in her temple I ran to the Northern Lands without thinking twice. The Fates ensured the Sol Army would cut me in all the right places, to shape and mold me to the exact design this kingdom needs to bring the fae here back from the edge of despair. I’m so very tired of being what the Fates need me to be, a lesson for everyone else to learn at my expense, and yet my feelings and opinions mean nothing here. It’s the Ravenswyrd way to give until my last breath.”
She's not snarky, she doesn't banter, her job here is humbling everyone with her mere existence and I've loved her for it. Even though her character has suffered a bit during this second book (we did NOT need those nightmares J Bree, I'm side eying you), I can still justify her actions -- like making her peace with Soren and not making him grovel after everything that has happened -- because, in my humble opinion, you've got to read her character through the lenses of a highly religious person. She is a vessel of the fates, literal GODS wake up at the mention of her blood, holding a grudge for petty reasons would've been out of character for someone who has a mission and is so driven by it.
At the end of the day I still think Soren could have suffered a bit more, but I still adore Rooke's character and she's very dear to my heart.
→ If y'all want to take a look at my pinterest board for this princess: https://it.pinterest.com/wattscroft/p...
❥ THE REBORN FAMILY 🩸: like okayyyyyyyyy bloodthirsty family of OP murderous witches. By some point in the book I'd guessed Rook might be half bloodwitch cause her father and his upbringing kept being hinted at but without ever delving into it so I knew some revelation was due about him. Can I say I was pleasantly surprised? I know some people said it felt like for shock value only but I liked it! Rooke's "ravenswyrd heart" (as they call it) wouldn't have kept her alive during such a war, there had to be something else: it might be cliché but I LOVE that she's half kind healer heart and half gore and murder. We haven't seen anything about this new family of hers -- we just know they're VERY powerful -- but it warms my heart that she's not alone anymore *cough* and that they all value their cousin so much.
❥ DAIRE AND ELLIA: forget the other useless characters (especially Roan and Airlie and Tyton and Gideon and Rhosh or whatever is her name)... give me #THEIR novella. A bloodwitch first son that had his parents murdered and had to care for all his little brothers and sisters? Him being sent into the forest of the old gods to marry a favored child? All speaking about his power in #that way? HIM THROWING HIMSELF AT A RAVENSWYRD ON THE WEDDING DAY FOR LOOKING AT ELLIA?????? Please J. Bree for your sake, if you don't want me under your bed after this series is done, focus on the important things here (Daire’s backstory).
Two lines about these people and I was gone:
“How many witches did it take to cast that… carnage,” Roan mutters.
Gideon stares back at him, his eyes solemn, and he lifts his hand to hold a single finger up.
"There’s only one witch that I know of capable of that magic; Daire Reborn, born from the line of the womb and wields like no other, he is but one of their bloodline.”
“Papa saw my mother in the ceremonial robes and lost his senses. In his versions of the tale, he can’t recall what happened next, only that he launched himself at the nearest male who dared to look at her and lost all his good senses. In my mother’s version… well, it took three males and a bucket of icy water from the river to pry his hands from the poor male’s throat.”
“The Reborn witch who couldn't bear his children to feel pain, who would argue with my mother any time we required her healing to ensure he could take that burden from us. Happiest surrounded by his children, he died in the forest trying to reach my mother and my infant brother, Estri. A dozen arrows tipped in witcheswane buried in his back, his blood magic gone by the forest's command, and still he crawled to them both until his last breath.”
Soren take some notes here, loser.
❥ GAGE/MALIA/SARI: they brought all the action into this book so. Soren might have assumed Gage's mate is Malia but I really think that might be Sari, actually. Sari's fate speaks of a second born son and Gage himself never confirmed it is Malia so.
I've loved Sari, she's actually one of the best characters in this series (well the competition wasn't so astonishing but whatever): you could never make me hate a pretty clever girl having to play stupid for the sake of protecting other girls and escape her father. We love you Sari, here's to hoping you will replace Airlie in court someday.
❥ THEA: Nothing much to say but she and Tauron actually sparkled my interest. I'm curious about their whole situation and backstory. Also the fact that Tauron's voice is the only one she'll ever hear is kinda cute to me :(
Moving on with things I didn't care about:
❥ ROMANCE: ...look, I'm crying here too.
I wanted to love this but it was shallow as hell. It was giving SNOOZEFEST. There are some moments where my little romantic ass swooned a little (THE RIBBONS!!!!!!!!!) but overall this department was very underwhelming. The build up for this slow-burn was embarrassing: yes they've kissed after 1100 pages in the span of two books but it wasn't done well in a satisfying way. Soren has called Rooke an "it" for one entire book and he starts acknowledging her name only after she saves them all from a certain death and we don't even get some reflection on this aspect? Her reaction to it? He starts using her petname again after two hundred years and we don't get any reaction either nor any reflection? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I've made my peace with the lack of groveling, it wouldn't have been on character for either of them but couldn't he tell her he's deeply sorry just ONCE? Even fuckass Tauron told her he's sorry for how she was treated and Soren -- the MMC -- couldn't and instead decided that slicing his palm to the forests at every opportunity was enough to make up for everything? That's because your reign is fucking dying as we speak rather than for Rooke's sake and love sir, you're embarrassing real love here.
The pace for the development of their feelings was abhorrent: Soren starts snarling and growling (every two seconds mind you) at everyone and everything when up until the day before the siege he wanted all to treat Rooke like shit. I get that she saved your ass but give people time to adjust to your moodswings you fucking loser. Honestly, all the snarling was getting to my nerves so much (tbh it was giving me the ick too) because there was NO explanation to it. Yes she is his mate and he realized he's attracted to her, but so what? There weren't real feelings between them, no life-threatening situations either where they had to sacrifice themselves for the other only or some shit like that, there's lust and some conversations dating back to two hundreds years prior that they never spoke about anyways so it just felt hollow, void of emotion and meaningless. Even the wedding goes along with no build up to it... how crazy is that.
Also is it me or their first kiss wasn't even described😭?
n.b. Hot springs scene was deeply appreciated but I couldn't give it a whole paragraph in "things that I liked"
❥ SOREN: I didn't hate this new version of him but the switch was too sudden. It did nothing in the emotion department for me. His chapters weren't bad but if I had to mention one single thing he did that made me lose my mind I can't think of anything. At some point I thought he might ask someone to help him sew a ribbon for the wedding but not even that happened so yeah... he's kinda useless I dont't even care about his power.
❥ SIDE CHARACTERS:
— Roan... what's your point here buddy? The book was deeply inconsistent with his character because I remember him being the one to suggest an alliance with the goblings was NECESSARY and here he is... being annoying and nothing else about these goblins that did nothing but save your Prince's ass.
— Cerson... I kind of believe this one was supposed to be some other character instead of Pemba's wife cause her presence doesn't make sense to me (we'll get there). Also your mate has died just five years ago and you people live for hundreds of years so why the fuck is she here smiling and making jokes rather than in a ditch somewhere crying her eyes out? Be serious.
— Tyton... nothing to say, was he even in this book?
— Reed... well Soren thanks for nothing? Reed was kinda cute in the other book and became a shell of nothing in this one so nothing to report here, it's not like you would even mourn his loss.
❥ PLOT: well, who fucking cares? Random ass things kept happening here for no reason or any shred of foreshadowing (like 7 chapters were spent inside dungeons at Yris and for what?) They randomly stumbled upon Gage going to the rescue of his mate and they decided to just follow? Doesn't anyone have actual jobs or wars to think about here? And that randomly set motion to the whole bloodwitches thing cause Rooke started writing letters and hangning out with Sari? It was ALL random?
I've said this already but even the wedding everyone was waiting for two whole books just radomly happened during one chapter with no build up. There was nothing magical about it, no rites no big words no declarations no ANYTHING. What the fuck.
Can't say I disliked it because I kept reading, didn't I, but I just don't care. What happened in the Northern Lands actually interests me much more. And no one cares about Kharl either so.
And lastly things I disliked:
❥ AIRLIE: bitch DIE. Who made this spoiled fuckass brat think she and Rooke are friends and why the hell did you think it was okay for thee princess of the world (Rooke) to simply accept Airlie's existence after everything she had to endure at her hand? Like, Soren is her mate and they once shared some moments, also she has a mission by the Fates themselves to complete. But who the fuck is Airlie to Rooke? No one. A bitch who's treated her like shit. Again, even Tauron had it in him to say he's sorry but Airlie? She just expected everyone to go close an eye on her behaviour because of that fuckass kid she had and her fate. I don't care bitch fuck you and fuck that child too.
❥ TYPOS: Jenna girl... listen to me. Hire again that proofreader you had for the first book because this one truly had some huge problems. I don't know if it is because it had to go through huge editings after the title change or if you lacked time or whatever really, but open a linkedin position for a proofreader the typos were really taking out the story at some point. For a book that went through multiple rounds of edits either you need to fire your editor or someone in that team is sabotaging you.
❥ PEMBA: I'm mad. I'M MAD. I know for a fact, basing my assumption on the snippets we've been fed with up until February, that he was supposed to be alive. I don't know what went wrong after that, but you can see it in the story. It's like whole paragraphs were taken out entirely. That again might be due to the title change but whatever it is, terrible move. The book was inconsistent because of it, lacking emotion in every department. We were promised a whole new set of characters and we only got Gideon and Cerson, who don't add much to the story to be honest. Pemba is the only character people wanted to see (especially because he needed to humble Soren real bad) and he's fucking DEAD? He wasn't supposed to be dead. In the first book he was talked about like he's alive and well (Rooke says she won't see their version of heaven until she's reunited with her brother, PRONTO?) so whatever happened here fix it, bring him back in whatever way, the inconsistency pissed me off. I get this is her book, her characters, but you can tell there were some last minute touch ups that took out the whole story.
------SUMMARY------
Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5/5 (forgettable)
Spice: 🌶️/5 (understandable)
I had maybe too much expectations that probably ruined it all for me. Again, I'm not talking about plot points because I'm no author and I trust the actual one with whatever she's doing but for a series that set up the enemies-to-... part so well I was expecting much MUCH more. More angst, more passion, more yearning, more desperation, more emotional connection and more everything in general. I was expecting more bonding within the characters and more redemption from all of them, more awe for Rooke's resilience and power in general and more revelations about her past.
I think this book was supposed to be much longer and something had to be taken out due to the title change and the implications, which is good because you should always listen to righful criticism and do something to fix it (praise to the author because she acted immediately) but it should have been handled better to not butcher the story.
I also think the way this team handled this release is frankly embarrassing: ghosting, gaslighting, giving out updates in a closed facebook group rather than with an IG story that could have taken 2mins, posting pics with the middle finger on their personal profiles that up until this moment had been used for sharing book art and updates as well. Are we serious? This doesn't sit right with me.
I'll still wait for the third book, I'm still excited about this story and these characters and I'll keep reading the series but I really would like for the author to interact more with her fans and customers HERSELF rather than letting everything be handled by people that clearly don't know how to do their job and be gracious with normal concerns coming from paying customers.
Lastly, if the outcome of the book (which, if it wasn't clear enough, I didn't dislike by any means, but was just unsatisfied with) is the result of some pressure the author might have felt due to the release date, I want to state that no one was mad about the pushing back. Everyone's concerns were about the LACK of live updates, a non-release party (where she talked about other series) taking place. I suggest better LIVE communication with your fans, pushing back books for noble reasons (like the tile change) is no problem for anyone, just. say. it. and everyone will graciously make peace with the news.
———————————————————————————
[#5 update]
Actually they just said the book is uploaded and we’re just waiting on Amazon to publish it. Thoughts and prayers.
[#4 update]
So the book was allegedly coming out today (again) and it’s nowhere to be found. No updates on either instagram or facebook and whole comment sections bashing her unprofessional employees. Someone even emailed/called freaking Amazon and they said they’re not sure when the book could come out. At this point not only I’ve felt ghosted by people I don’t even know but they’re also laughing in our faces reading the comments and deleting the ones they don’t like? Insanity.
———————————————————————————
[#3 update]
No updates from the author or her team but apparently Amazon now says the book is coming out next month. Considering she has a release party planned and said nothing about it I'm still hoping but this release has been a mess. Please let this characters come home to me😭
———————————————————————————
[#2 update]
I JUST FELL TO MY KNEES HELLO GORGEOUS COVER😭😭😭 here comes my favorite malewife about to grovel until princess of the world will dignify him with a look… can’t wait
———————————————————————————
[#1 update]
RELEASING 19TH OF APRIL!!!!!!!!!!! PREPARE TO BE SICK OF ME.
———————————————————————————
i’m manifesting the release date for this books so hard i’m starting to give myself permanent headache 🤠 please come and save my year
Disclaimer: My review for this book will be solely based on what I've read. No matter the shit show that happened before its release and the way readers have been treated/gaslighted by whoever works with this author, please know that I desperately wanted to love this book.
[UPDATE!] The more I kept thinking about this, the more I hate it so I had to lower my rating 🥲.
So guys, this was my most anticipated release. Needless to say, it gave the "go girl give us nothing" type of feeling and I'm absolutely heartbroken about having to give it the kind of rating that I usually reserve for "meh" books. Now that I'm a full time uni student the time for reading is really scarce to put it mildly, but I've made time for this book during my nights (I was reading til 4am here people) and lemme tell you it wasn't worth it at all, your girl here should have slept.
I wanted to love this, if you follow me on my twt account (if you don't and want to → slide into my dms, I'm way more fun there) you know I was FULL of headcanons/fake scenarios and theories for these characters, I went in full of expectations after a year of waiting and that might have gotten in the way a little, cause I was ready for some mind-blowing greateness here (especially after the way the first book had ended) but this one just didn't deliver anything for me. There's are still some things I've enjoyed — we'll get there in a min — but overall this second installment felt kind of hollow in terms of emotion to me.
This will be spoiler-ish — be aware.
Let's start with the things I liked:
❥ ROOKE 🌿: she's taking it. Still the best part of this series.
Rooke is a character that made me realize I don't actually love strong fmcs (I realized I've hated many) but what I do love is the resilient ones that make my little black heart ache. Emphasis on resilient. This girl went through literal hell on earth fighting in a war just to be thrown into another the minute she got to her homeland (and into a dungeon by the love of her life too... cut her some slack). For the entirety of almost seven hundred pages Rooke carried the book on her back (again): her calm demeanor, her kindness, her knowledge, the power she wields, that ethereal aura she has around her... this is literally princess Diana? She's kinda like the Jesus of the fae?
“The witch who grew up in the Ravenswyrd was incapable of the task set before me, and the moment the Seer spoke my fate in her temple I ran to the Northern Lands without thinking twice. The Fates ensured the Sol Army would cut me in all the right places, to shape and mold me to the exact design this kingdom needs to bring the fae here back from the edge of despair. I’m so very tired of being what the Fates need me to be, a lesson for everyone else to learn at my expense, and yet my feelings and opinions mean nothing here. It’s the Ravenswyrd way to give until my last breath.”
She's not snarky, she doesn't banter, her job here is humbling everyone with her mere existence and I've loved her for it. Even though her character has suffered a bit during this second book (we did NOT need those nightmares J Bree, I'm side eying you), I can still justify her actions -- like making her peace with Soren and not making him grovel after everything that has happened -- because, in my humble opinion, you've got to read her character through the lenses of a highly religious person. She is a vessel of the fates, literal GODS wake up at the mention of her blood, holding a grudge for petty reasons would've been out of character for someone who has a mission and is so driven by it.
At the end of the day I still think Soren could have suffered a bit more, but I still adore Rooke's character and she's very dear to my heart.
→ If y'all want to take a look at my pinterest board for this princess: https://it.pinterest.com/wattscroft/p...
❥ THE REBORN FAMILY 🩸: like okayyyyyyyyy bloodthirsty family of OP murderous witches. By some point in the book I'd guessed Rook might be half bloodwitch cause her father and his upbringing kept being hinted at but without ever delving into it so I knew some revelation was due about him. Can I say I was pleasantly surprised? I know some people said it felt like for shock value only but I liked it! Rooke's "ravenswyrd heart" (as they call it) wouldn't have kept her alive during such a war, there had to be something else: it might be cliché but I LOVE that she's half kind healer heart and half gore and murder. We haven't seen anything about this new family of hers -- we just know they're VERY powerful -- but it warms my heart that she's not alone anymore *cough* and that they all value their cousin so much.
❥ DAIRE AND ELLIA: forget the other useless characters (especially Roan and Airlie and Tyton and Gideon and Rhosh or whatever is her name)... give me #THEIR novella. A bloodwitch first son that had his parents murdered and had to care for all his little brothers and sisters? Him being sent into the forest of the old gods to marry a favored child? All speaking about his power in #that way? HIM THROWING HIMSELF AT A RAVENSWYRD ON THE WEDDING DAY FOR LOOKING AT ELLIA?????? Please J. Bree for your sake, if you don't want me under your bed after this series is done, focus on the important things here (Daire’s backstory).
Two lines about these people and I was gone:
“How many witches did it take to cast that… carnage,” Roan mutters.
Gideon stares back at him, his eyes solemn, and he lifts his hand to hold a single finger up.
"There’s only one witch that I know of capable of that magic; Daire Reborn, born from the line of the womb and wields like no other, he is but one of their bloodline.”
“Papa saw my mother in the ceremonial robes and lost his senses. In his versions of the tale, he can’t recall what happened next, only that he launched himself at the nearest male who dared to look at her and lost all his good senses. In my mother’s version… well, it took three males and a bucket of icy water from the river to pry his hands from the poor male’s throat.”
“The Reborn witch who couldn't bear his children to feel pain, who would argue with my mother any time we required her healing to ensure he could take that burden from us. Happiest surrounded by his children, he died in the forest trying to reach my mother and my infant brother, Estri. A dozen arrows tipped in witcheswane buried in his back, his blood magic gone by the forest's command, and still he crawled to them both until his last breath.”
Soren take some notes here, loser.
❥ GAGE/MALIA/SARI: they brought all the action into this book so. Soren might have assumed Gage's mate is Malia but I really think that might be Sari, actually. Sari's fate speaks of a second born son and Gage himself never confirmed it is Malia so.
I've loved Sari, she's actually one of the best characters in this series (well the competition wasn't so astonishing but whatever): you could never make me hate a pretty clever girl having to play stupid for the sake of protecting other girls and escape her father. We love you Sari, here's to hoping you will replace Airlie in court someday.
❥ THEA: Nothing much to say but she and Tauron actually sparkled my interest. I'm curious about their whole situation and backstory. Also the fact that Tauron's voice is the only one she'll ever hear is kinda cute to me :(
Moving on with things I didn't care about:
❥ ROMANCE: ...look, I'm crying here too.
I wanted to love this but it was shallow as hell. It was giving SNOOZEFEST. There are some moments where my little romantic ass swooned a little (THE RIBBONS!!!!!!!!!) but overall this department was very underwhelming. The build up for this slow-burn was embarrassing: yes they've kissed after 1100 pages in the span of two books but it wasn't done well in a satisfying way. Soren has called Rooke an "it" for one entire book and he starts acknowledging her name only after she saves them all from a certain death and we don't even get some reflection on this aspect? Her reaction to it? He starts using her petname again after two hundred years and we don't get any reaction either nor any reflection? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I've made my peace with the lack of groveling, it wouldn't have been on character for either of them but couldn't he tell her he's deeply sorry just ONCE? Even fuckass Tauron told her he's sorry for how she was treated and Soren -- the MMC -- couldn't and instead decided that slicing his palm to the forests at every opportunity was enough to make up for everything? That's because your reign is fucking dying as we speak rather than for Rooke's sake and love sir, you're embarrassing real love here.
The pace for the development of their feelings was abhorrent: Soren starts snarling and growling (every two seconds mind you) at everyone and everything when up until the day before the siege he wanted all to treat Rooke like shit. I get that she saved your ass but give people time to adjust to your moodswings you fucking loser. Honestly, all the snarling was getting to my nerves so much (tbh it was giving me the ick too) because there was NO explanation to it. Yes she is his mate and he realized he's attracted to her, but so what? There weren't real feelings between them, no life-threatening situations either where they had to sacrifice themselves for the other only or some shit like that, there's lust and some conversations dating back to two hundreds years prior that they never spoke about anyways so it just felt hollow, void of emotion and meaningless. Even the wedding goes along with no build up to it... how crazy is that.
Also is it me or their first kiss wasn't even described😭?
n.b. Hot springs scene was deeply appreciated but I couldn't give it a whole paragraph in "things that I liked"
❥ SOREN: I didn't hate this new version of him but the switch was too sudden. It did nothing in the emotion department for me. His chapters weren't bad but if I had to mention one single thing he did that made me lose my mind I can't think of anything. At some point I thought he might ask someone to help him sew a ribbon for the wedding but not even that happened so yeah... he's kinda useless I dont't even care about his power.
❥ SIDE CHARACTERS:
— Roan... what's your point here buddy? The book was deeply inconsistent with his character because I remember him being the one to suggest an alliance with the goblings was NECESSARY and here he is... being annoying and nothing else about these goblins that did nothing but save your Prince's ass.
— Cerson... I kind of believe this one was supposed to be some other character instead of Pemba's wife cause her presence doesn't make sense to me (we'll get there). Also your mate has died just five years ago and you people live for hundreds of years so why the fuck is she here smiling and making jokes rather than in a ditch somewhere crying her eyes out? Be serious.
— Tyton... nothing to say, was he even in this book?
— Reed... well Soren thanks for nothing? Reed was kinda cute in the other book and became a shell of nothing in this one so nothing to report here, it's not like you would even mourn his loss.
❥ PLOT: well, who fucking cares? Random ass things kept happening here for no reason or any shred of foreshadowing (like 7 chapters were spent inside dungeons at Yris and for what?) They randomly stumbled upon Gage going to the rescue of his mate and they decided to just follow? Doesn't anyone have actual jobs or wars to think about here? And that randomly set motion to the whole bloodwitches thing cause Rooke started writing letters and hangning out with Sari? It was ALL random?
I've said this already but even the wedding everyone was waiting for two whole books just radomly happened during one chapter with no build up. There was nothing magical about it, no rites no big words no declarations no ANYTHING. What the fuck.
Can't say I disliked it because I kept reading, didn't I, but I just don't care. What happened in the Northern Lands actually interests me much more. And no one cares about Kharl either so.
And lastly things I disliked:
❥ AIRLIE: bitch DIE. Who made this spoiled fuckass brat think she and Rooke are friends and why the hell did you think it was okay for thee princess of the world (Rooke) to simply accept Airlie's existence after everything she had to endure at her hand? Like, Soren is her mate and they once shared some moments, also she has a mission by the Fates themselves to complete. But who the fuck is Airlie to Rooke? No one. A bitch who's treated her like shit. Again, even Tauron had it in him to say he's sorry but Airlie? She just expected everyone to go close an eye on her behaviour because of that fuckass kid she had and her fate. I don't care bitch fuck you and fuck that child too.
❥ TYPOS: Jenna girl... listen to me. Hire again that proofreader you had for the first book because this one truly had some huge problems. I don't know if it is because it had to go through huge editings after the title change or if you lacked time or whatever really, but open a linkedin position for a proofreader the typos were really taking out the story at some point. For a book that went through multiple rounds of edits either you need to fire your editor or someone in that team is sabotaging you.
❥ PEMBA: I'm mad. I'M MAD. I know for a fact, basing my assumption on the snippets we've been fed with up until February, that he was supposed to be alive. I don't know what went wrong after that, but you can see it in the story. It's like whole paragraphs were taken out entirely. That again might be due to the title change but whatever it is, terrible move. The book was inconsistent because of it, lacking emotion in every department. We were promised a whole new set of characters and we only got Gideon and Cerson, who don't add much to the story to be honest. Pemba is the only character people wanted to see (especially because he needed to humble Soren real bad) and he's fucking DEAD? He wasn't supposed to be dead. In the first book he was talked about like he's alive and well (Rooke says she won't see their version of heaven until she's reunited with her brother, PRONTO?) so whatever happened here fix it, bring him back in whatever way, the inconsistency pissed me off. I get this is her book, her characters, but you can tell there were some last minute touch ups that took out the whole story.
------SUMMARY------
Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5/5 (forgettable)
Spice: 🌶️/5 (understandable)
I had maybe too much expectations that probably ruined it all for me. Again, I'm not talking about plot points because I'm no author and I trust the actual one with whatever she's doing but for a series that set up the enemies-to-... part so well I was expecting much MUCH more. More angst, more passion, more yearning, more desperation, more emotional connection and more everything in general. I was expecting more bonding within the characters and more redemption from all of them, more awe for Rooke's resilience and power in general and more revelations about her past.
I think this book was supposed to be much longer and something had to be taken out due to the title change and the implications, which is good because you should always listen to righful criticism and do something to fix it (praise to the author because she acted immediately) but it should have been handled better to not butcher the story.
I also think the way this team handled this release is frankly embarrassing: ghosting, gaslighting, giving out updates in a closed facebook group rather than with an IG story that could have taken 2mins, posting pics with the middle finger on their personal profiles that up until this moment had been used for sharing book art and updates as well. Are we serious? This doesn't sit right with me.
I'll still wait for the third book, I'm still excited about this story and these characters and I'll keep reading the series but I really would like for the author to interact more with her fans and customers HERSELF rather than letting everything be handled by people that clearly don't know how to do their job and be gracious with normal concerns coming from paying customers.
Lastly, if the outcome of the book (which, if it wasn't clear enough, I didn't dislike by any means, but was just unsatisfied with) is the result of some pressure the author might have felt due to the release date, I want to state that no one was mad about the pushing back. Everyone's concerns were about the LACK of live updates, a non-release party (where she talked about other series) taking place. I suggest better LIVE communication with your fans, pushing back books for noble reasons (like the tile change) is no problem for anyone, just. say. it. and everyone will graciously make peace with the news.
———————————————————————————
[#5 update]
Actually they just said the book is uploaded and we’re just waiting on Amazon to publish it. Thoughts and prayers.
[#4 update]
So the book was allegedly coming out today (again) and it’s nowhere to be found. No updates on either instagram or facebook and whole comment sections bashing her unprofessional employees. Someone even emailed/called freaking Amazon and they said they’re not sure when the book could come out. At this point not only I’ve felt ghosted by people I don’t even know but they’re also laughing in our faces reading the comments and deleting the ones they don’t like? Insanity.
———————————————————————————
[#3 update]
No updates from the author or her team but apparently Amazon now says the book is coming out next month. Considering she has a release party planned and said nothing about it I'm still hoping but this release has been a mess. Please let this characters come home to me😭
———————————————————————————
[#2 update]
I JUST FELL TO MY KNEES HELLO GORGEOUS COVER😭😭😭 here comes my favorite malewife about to grovel until princess of the world will dignify him with a look… can’t wait
———————————————————————————
[#1 update]
RELEASING 19TH OF APRIL!!!!!!!!!!! PREPARE TO BE SICK OF ME.
———————————————————————————
i’m manifesting the release date for this books so hard i’m starting to give myself permanent headache 🤠 please come and save my year
May 27, 2024
REVIEW: okay, so after finishing this I wish I was right about the book not being done bc WTF!!!!!! So, so, so much errors, this was definitely uploaded last minute and didn’t get edited or proofread. I died of boredom the whole book, and honestly knew Soren’s entitled ass wouldn’t grovel AT ALL (was there even a sorry? nah I don’t think so). Rooke was a whole different girl, like did sis get swapped out or something? Her nightmares were just there to serve the hurt/comfort trope and give Soren an IN without making him work for it. He was so possessive I actually felt kinda sick bc of how instant it was. Brother er. He saw her powers and decided she was HIS, his “fates-blessed mate” (I never wanna see those words again) and lastly and the biggest gripe— PEMBA? GURLLLLLLLLLL YOU JUST MADE THAT UP LAST MIN WDYM HES DEAD 😭😭😭 ????? the way I was waiting for him and Co to show up the whole book only to be humbled w that shock ending was … definitely not fun. His death wasn’t foreshadowed at all, and it was 100% thrown in last minute for shock value bc J Bree must’ve hit a dead-end or something bc even in the few teasers she shared they hinted he was alive. Anywaysssssssss… I’ll never trust this author and her team (I say team very loosely bc they just give girl squad icl 😭) ever again. BYE.
UPDATE 19/05: release day but no book in sight, and radio silence again. Well, her team did post a message in FB a bit ago (soooo nice of them btw what a productive team) saying the book is uploaded and Amazon will push whenever it’s ready so it’s out of there hands, which fair do, Amazon does take a while for their checks, BUT I don’t think it’s uploaded in the first place. The book has completely disappeared from her website, Amazon now claim the series is 1 of 1 instead of 1 of 3 like they used to AND someone spoke over the phone to a worker from Amazon and were told the content was removed by the publisher so they can’t see information about the book and they have no future dates or information about it coming out. How insane. And the worker put the person on hold more than once to actually check this information instead of feeding them automated BS so . . . believe what you will ig but I think J Bree and her team are stringing us along like we’re fools
UPDATE 16/05: preorders cancelled? J Bree claiming it was Amazon, but clearly the file wasn’t uploaded. We were told to expect a newsletter on the 14th, that didn’t come. We were told to expect “tons of artwork and graphic” nada. ARCs haven’t been sent out yet either. Everything hints at the book not being done and we’re just being BS’d. This is definitely the last series I’ll be reading from her. Her team are very very unprofessional, blocking people for simply asking questions and when the first delay happened and people were frustrated, rightfully so, for the lack of communication they started making indirects that they weren’t “real fans”. I don’t think we’re getting those book anytime soon and come May 19 her and her team will claim there are “issues” with uploading the file to Amazon.
update: there was a release party scheduled for tomorrow at a bookstore where J Bree would be attending and it’s confirmed it’s still going on … but the book is still delayed…?! Apparently the book store only found out this morning and has been told J Bree will explain why at the party. SOOOOO unprofessional, and so shitty for the people who payed, arranged travels and booked hotels, only to attend a release party where there’s actually no release. I’d be fuming
release date changed???? w no announcement??? oh j bree I’m under ur bed tonight
UPDATE 19/05: release day but no book in sight, and radio silence again. Well, her team did post a message in FB a bit ago (soooo nice of them btw what a productive team) saying the book is uploaded and Amazon will push whenever it’s ready so it’s out of there hands, which fair do, Amazon does take a while for their checks, BUT I don’t think it’s uploaded in the first place. The book has completely disappeared from her website, Amazon now claim the series is 1 of 1 instead of 1 of 3 like they used to AND someone spoke over the phone to a worker from Amazon and were told the content was removed by the publisher so they can’t see information about the book and they have no future dates or information about it coming out. How insane. And the worker put the person on hold more than once to actually check this information instead of feeding them automated BS so . . . believe what you will ig but I think J Bree and her team are stringing us along like we’re fools
UPDATE 16/05: preorders cancelled? J Bree claiming it was Amazon, but clearly the file wasn’t uploaded. We were told to expect a newsletter on the 14th, that didn’t come. We were told to expect “tons of artwork and graphic” nada. ARCs haven’t been sent out yet either. Everything hints at the book not being done and we’re just being BS’d. This is definitely the last series I’ll be reading from her. Her team are very very unprofessional, blocking people for simply asking questions and when the first delay happened and people were frustrated, rightfully so, for the lack of communication they started making indirects that they weren’t “real fans”. I don’t think we’re getting those book anytime soon and come May 19 her and her team will claim there are “issues” with uploading the file to Amazon.
update: there was a release party scheduled for tomorrow at a bookstore where J Bree would be attending and it’s confirmed it’s still going on … but the book is still delayed…?! Apparently the book store only found out this morning and has been told J Bree will explain why at the party. SOOOOO unprofessional, and so shitty for the people who payed, arranged travels and booked hotels, only to attend a release party where there’s actually no release. I’d be fuming
release date changed???? w no announcement??? oh j bree I’m under ur bed tonight
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2024
i honestly don’t know what to rate this book i have SO many feelings. going to sit with 3 stars for now, vlog is coming.
June 14, 2024
This book had one job - to make Soren grovel. And there was not a single grovel to be found! 😡
Honestly this book kind of made me angry. It’s like the author didn’t make her final payment to her editor and so the editor quit, leaving the last third of the book riddled with errors (and I’m not one to notice those kinds of things usually). Also this book introduced some new bad guys just to kill them off without any movement towards the bad guys centered in book 1. This was just useless filler. So yeah, really enjoyed book 1. Kinda hated book 2. Will not read book 3.
Honestly this book kind of made me angry. It’s like the author didn’t make her final payment to her editor and so the editor quit, leaving the last third of the book riddled with errors (and I’m not one to notice those kinds of things usually). Also this book introduced some new bad guys just to kill them off without any movement towards the bad guys centered in book 1. This was just useless filler. So yeah, really enjoyed book 1. Kinda hated book 2. Will not read book 3.
May 27, 2024
How Did This Happen?
The first book in this series, captivated me like no other. I was obsessed. Recommended it and band wagoned it SO hard!
And this book, does not feel like the same author wrote it.
First, there were so many grammar and syntax mistakes. I’m the type of person who almost never even catches typos. And if I do, I don’t mind because it makes me feel like a genius to catch it.
But in this book there were SO many. And big ones like spelling the main characters name wrong, leaving out whole words/noun/adjectives to the point I would have to reread a sentence 20 times to try and understand what the heck was going on, who was talking, and where they were at.
There was even a point where mid-chapter a character (Soren) starts referring to himself in third person.
The editing (lack of) and long sentences that were cut off, misplaced, or missing words was so bad the last 30% I genuinely started to think that I somehow downloaded an accidental first draft of the book.
And then we have the plot. The amount of plot holes that don’t make sense blew my mind. Again, I’m usually a laid back reader and don’t catch plot holes, and just happily go along with the plot, but there were so many that just did not make sense that I almost book the book down. (Won’t say because I don’t want to spoil). So many long chapters where I couldn’t help be like, “what’s the point of this” “why are we here, why don’t they just do x” … nothing made a whole lot of sense.
And finally, character development. I fell in love with Rooke in the first book because she is not like any female main character I have ever read. It was glorious to read about her. And my anger at Soren in the first book reminded me of my anger at Snape as a kid, which made me so excited to see the redemption arc in book 2.
I fell out of love with Rooke in book two because she automatically became exactly like every other main female character in any current Fantasy romance book on the market.
The “I’d rather walk until my feet bleed” Rooke was no where to be found.
While I can appreciate Soren’s perspective change, it was so immediate and aggressive that it was jarring. No internal conflict, no moral struggling, and most of all, he did not have to WORK to earn not only rookes affection but her respect. He holds a baby and then she just gives it. My man should have crawled over glass lit on fire professing his regret, mistakes, and shame. There was no building a trusting and respectful relationship, it just automatically happened.
The biggest tease of book 1 was all of Rookes northern friends and her times as a soldier there. Not only do you not meet these characters, you still don’t know anything about anything in the north. And dare I say, you’ll be more confused.
I went from buying this series for all my friends as gifts, to I’m not sure I’ll read the 3rd book. And that’s a shame.
There was so much drama in the release, I really wish the author would have just said, this book isn’t ready yet and pushed back the date indefinitely to give this story the care it needed. So sad.
The first book in this series, captivated me like no other. I was obsessed. Recommended it and band wagoned it SO hard!
And this book, does not feel like the same author wrote it.
First, there were so many grammar and syntax mistakes. I’m the type of person who almost never even catches typos. And if I do, I don’t mind because it makes me feel like a genius to catch it.
But in this book there were SO many. And big ones like spelling the main characters name wrong, leaving out whole words/noun/adjectives to the point I would have to reread a sentence 20 times to try and understand what the heck was going on, who was talking, and where they were at.
There was even a point where mid-chapter a character (Soren) starts referring to himself in third person.
The editing (lack of) and long sentences that were cut off, misplaced, or missing words was so bad the last 30% I genuinely started to think that I somehow downloaded an accidental first draft of the book.
And then we have the plot. The amount of plot holes that don’t make sense blew my mind. Again, I’m usually a laid back reader and don’t catch plot holes, and just happily go along with the plot, but there were so many that just did not make sense that I almost book the book down. (Won’t say because I don’t want to spoil). So many long chapters where I couldn’t help be like, “what’s the point of this” “why are we here, why don’t they just do x” … nothing made a whole lot of sense.
And finally, character development. I fell in love with Rooke in the first book because she is not like any female main character I have ever read. It was glorious to read about her. And my anger at Soren in the first book reminded me of my anger at Snape as a kid, which made me so excited to see the redemption arc in book 2.
I fell out of love with Rooke in book two because she automatically became exactly like every other main female character in any current Fantasy romance book on the market.
The “I’d rather walk until my feet bleed” Rooke was no where to be found.
While I can appreciate Soren’s perspective change, it was so immediate and aggressive that it was jarring. No internal conflict, no moral struggling, and most of all, he did not have to WORK to earn not only rookes affection but her respect. He holds a baby and then she just gives it. My man should have crawled over glass lit on fire professing his regret, mistakes, and shame. There was no building a trusting and respectful relationship, it just automatically happened.
The biggest tease of book 1 was all of Rookes northern friends and her times as a soldier there. Not only do you not meet these characters, you still don’t know anything about anything in the north. And dare I say, you’ll be more confused.
I went from buying this series for all my friends as gifts, to I’m not sure I’ll read the 3rd book. And that’s a shame.
There was so much drama in the release, I really wish the author would have just said, this book isn’t ready yet and pushed back the date indefinitely to give this story the care it needed. So sad.
June 1, 2024
The ending😨😨 that broke my heart
I can't believe we won't be able to meet the older Pem😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
It will be another long waiting for book 3
I can't believe we won't be able to meet the older Pem😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
It will be another long waiting for book 3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2024
Edit : 28-May-2024
Finished book
2,5⭐️⭐️✨
(Review spoiler-Free until this💥💥💥💥).
I found it a bit of a disappointment
The book spans about 3 months (the first one ends just after the autumnal equinox) and it's like a lot of things happen but at the same time nothing happens
There is a lot of inconsistency with the sneak peeks received in the newsletter, and while I understand that the sneak peeks don't have to appear in the final version of the book, the sneak peeks have nothing to do with the plot lines of the book.
The book ends in a "plot twist" that to me is more of a deus ex machina.
The book is easy to read although there are some heavy parts.
But without a doubt the worst thing for me has been the evolution of the characters.
Spoilers:
💥
💥
💥
💥
💥
Let's see, this book had so much potential to become the peak of enemies to lovers, a second book where we could have seen the protagonist truly repent, beg for forgiveness and a brutal arc, and what did we get ? None of that
Rooke ends the first book telling Soren "that doesn't look like beg" but in the second book Rooke forgets all that, we see Soren beg no? We see Soren apologizing to him ??? The only thing we see is a repentant Soren saying that from now on he will do everything right to win her forgiveness, and we see Rooke forgiving him because in reality Soren was ignorant and he didn't know very well how the world and the witches' society worked ????
I mean, at the end of the book Rooke already knew that he had no idea about the witches, I just can't understand the change of personality and the easy forgiveness.
Oh and let's not forget the bloodwitches that swarm freely around the regent's castle IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE COURT, that yes they are treated badly blah blah blah, but they walk free around the court, without anyone killing them or locking them up, are you telling me that Soren didn't know that? And that Soren believed that all witches were crazy and evil and that's why he locked Rooke up???? Yes, Soren hasn't been in that castle for many, many years, but you know who has been in that castle as part of the court and appears in the first book throwing pests on Rooke? Exactly Aura 🫥, which also acts as Soren's political advisor, you're telling me that at no time did it occur to her to tell Soren "hey well in the regent's castle there are witches in the service of the regent who do not seem to be the rabid dogs that are the witches you usually kill" is that it makes no sense because if not the other logical option is that Soren is directly more idiot than he is and as much as they tell him that there are "normal" witches he thinks they are all like the witches in the service of Kharl
( how many times they have emphasized how bad it was that Soren locked up Rooke ?yes it was bad, but apart from locking her in the dungeons then when he let her out he also treated her like an ass, but no one remembers that and no one asks Soren for explanations )
The best part of the book was undoubtedly the goblin princes.
And then, Pemba, I was surprised that he was dead ? Yes, I find the plot twist very original and unexpected ? Yes. It seems to me a hasty idea that was not in his plans and a deus ex machina? Absolutely yes. I mean, in the first book Rooke expressly says that she will not stop until pemba sees the ravenswyrd again instead of being in the north🫥 “until he sees it” she uses the present form to talk about pemba, which yes, maybe she did it so we don't see the plot twist, or because Rooke was still in mourning, but she could have written it differently and the plot twist would have had the same effect.
And to this day I still don't know if the High commander is Rooke, Pemba or Stone. By logic it has to be Stone who is the only one who has not appeared in the book (despite having appeared in the sneak peek) but the book implies that it was pemba or rooke?
Officially we had the wedding and the truth is that I don't know, I expected it to be given more relevance
The inner court of Soren hardly appears in this book, the one who has more prominence is Tauron, Tauron that apparently we must forgive him too because his behavior 💩 is due to prejudice and oh surprise, he has realized that he is an ignorant and that excuses him ??
The thing that Rooke can't be friends with Reed, I better not comment because I don't want to end up hating Soren.
The prologue ??? Great we know more about Roan, but then it doesn't add anything to the plot, the prologue could have dealt more with the conflict of his family with the Goblin because it seems a bit rushed.
I shouted and applauded with Sari, I already knew that she was not a simple puppet, but who is she supposed to marry? 😅 (my theory is that his mate is Gage , he is a second son, and gage never says that his mate is the stepsister, that is an assumption by Soren who we already know is an idiot).
Sari and Cerson my fav characters
Hanede ??? At the party for the publication of the second book (from April 19) the author said that Hanede was going to put Soren in his place, and he appears in the last chapter ??? I don't know, I imagine that in the 3rd book he will appear more?
I didn't really understand about the goblin king, in the first book he is surprised when he finds out who rooke is, but in the second book it is implied that the goblin king already knew who rooke was and that he was pissed off when he found out that Soren had locked her up and that's why he was surprised when he rejected her offer of asylum, I don't know, I didn't really understand.
From the final index of the books of the saga has disappeared the 3 short novella (which does appear in the first book at the end) "The helm", I hope it will be published and that it will be from the PoV of Pemba or Stone and his time in the war.
I'm not going to talk about the grammatical errors because it's a KU book and an indie author.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading ? Yes, I would have enjoyed it more and I would have let the flaws go more? Maybe. The plot twist at the end didn't leave me wanting to continue immediately with the next one, which is fine
My main problem with this book I think has been that I loved the first one so much that I have reread it many times and there are things and details that otherwise I would not have noticed so much in the second book, so for the third one, I'll take a step back from the fandom and rejoice when it appears in the ebook.
edited 19.april.24:
Day of the supposed release (9:3 am in Europe) and publicly there is no news.
I had to search on Reddit and apparently the author made a live explaining in a fb group (private and to which I requested access a month ago and still no response) that the publication of the book is officially on May 19.
the causes of the delay of the publication are also explained in the fb live, and while I understand perfectly why the author has decided to postpone it, what I do not understand, is that there is not a single communication to the fans, a message like "Hello, for reasons that we will explain at another time the publication of the book is postponed until May 19, sorry for the inconvenience" does not cost any time to write it, and so the fans would have been calm and we would have been organized.
we don't need to know the reasons but a minimum of contact would have been nice by the web, by newsletter, by Instagram, or by tiktok, not by a group that can not be accessed when there were hours left for the launch day.
original:
0 promoted this book
and when there are 3 days left for its publication Amazon tells me that they are delaying the publication for a month.
sad
Finished book
2,5⭐️⭐️✨
(Review spoiler-Free until this💥💥💥💥).
I found it a bit of a disappointment
The book spans about 3 months (the first one ends just after the autumnal equinox) and it's like a lot of things happen but at the same time nothing happens
There is a lot of inconsistency with the sneak peeks received in the newsletter, and while I understand that the sneak peeks don't have to appear in the final version of the book, the sneak peeks have nothing to do with the plot lines of the book.
The book ends in a "plot twist" that to me is more of a deus ex machina.
The book is easy to read although there are some heavy parts.
But without a doubt the worst thing for me has been the evolution of the characters.
Spoilers:
💥
💥
💥
💥
💥
Let's see, this book had so much potential to become the peak of enemies to lovers, a second book where we could have seen the protagonist truly repent, beg for forgiveness and a brutal arc, and what did we get ? None of that
Rooke ends the first book telling Soren "that doesn't look like beg" but in the second book Rooke forgets all that, we see Soren beg no? We see Soren apologizing to him ??? The only thing we see is a repentant Soren saying that from now on he will do everything right to win her forgiveness, and we see Rooke forgiving him because in reality Soren was ignorant and he didn't know very well how the world and the witches' society worked ????
I mean, at the end of the book Rooke already knew that he had no idea about the witches, I just can't understand the change of personality and the easy forgiveness.
Oh and let's not forget the bloodwitches that swarm freely around the regent's castle IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE COURT, that yes they are treated badly blah blah blah, but they walk free around the court, without anyone killing them or locking them up, are you telling me that Soren didn't know that? And that Soren believed that all witches were crazy and evil and that's why he locked Rooke up???? Yes, Soren hasn't been in that castle for many, many years, but you know who has been in that castle as part of the court and appears in the first book throwing pests on Rooke? Exactly Aura 🫥, which also acts as Soren's political advisor, you're telling me that at no time did it occur to her to tell Soren "hey well in the regent's castle there are witches in the service of the regent who do not seem to be the rabid dogs that are the witches you usually kill" is that it makes no sense because if not the other logical option is that Soren is directly more idiot than he is and as much as they tell him that there are "normal" witches he thinks they are all like the witches in the service of Kharl
( how many times they have emphasized how bad it was that Soren locked up Rooke ?yes it was bad, but apart from locking her in the dungeons then when he let her out he also treated her like an ass, but no one remembers that and no one asks Soren for explanations )
The best part of the book was undoubtedly the goblin princes.
And then, Pemba, I was surprised that he was dead ? Yes, I find the plot twist very original and unexpected ? Yes. It seems to me a hasty idea that was not in his plans and a deus ex machina? Absolutely yes. I mean, in the first book Rooke expressly says that she will not stop until pemba sees the ravenswyrd again instead of being in the north🫥 “until he sees it” she uses the present form to talk about pemba, which yes, maybe she did it so we don't see the plot twist, or because Rooke was still in mourning, but she could have written it differently and the plot twist would have had the same effect.
And to this day I still don't know if the High commander is Rooke, Pemba or Stone. By logic it has to be Stone who is the only one who has not appeared in the book (despite having appeared in the sneak peek) but the book implies that it was pemba or rooke?
Officially we had the wedding and the truth is that I don't know, I expected it to be given more relevance
The inner court of Soren hardly appears in this book, the one who has more prominence is Tauron, Tauron that apparently we must forgive him too because his behavior 💩 is due to prejudice and oh surprise, he has realized that he is an ignorant and that excuses him ??
The thing that Rooke can't be friends with Reed, I better not comment because I don't want to end up hating Soren.
The prologue ??? Great we know more about Roan, but then it doesn't add anything to the plot, the prologue could have dealt more with the conflict of his family with the Goblin because it seems a bit rushed.
I shouted and applauded with Sari, I already knew that she was not a simple puppet, but who is she supposed to marry? 😅 (my theory is that his mate is Gage , he is a second son, and gage never says that his mate is the stepsister, that is an assumption by Soren who we already know is an idiot).
Sari and Cerson my fav characters
Hanede ??? At the party for the publication of the second book (from April 19) the author said that Hanede was going to put Soren in his place, and he appears in the last chapter ??? I don't know, I imagine that in the 3rd book he will appear more?
I didn't really understand about the goblin king, in the first book he is surprised when he finds out who rooke is, but in the second book it is implied that the goblin king already knew who rooke was and that he was pissed off when he found out that Soren had locked her up and that's why he was surprised when he rejected her offer of asylum, I don't know, I didn't really understand.
From the final index of the books of the saga has disappeared the 3 short novella (which does appear in the first book at the end) "The helm", I hope it will be published and that it will be from the PoV of Pemba or Stone and his time in the war.
I'm not going to talk about the grammatical errors because it's a KU book and an indie author.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading ? Yes, I would have enjoyed it more and I would have let the flaws go more? Maybe. The plot twist at the end didn't leave me wanting to continue immediately with the next one, which is fine
My main problem with this book I think has been that I loved the first one so much that I have reread it many times and there are things and details that otherwise I would not have noticed so much in the second book, so for the third one, I'll take a step back from the fandom and rejoice when it appears in the ebook.
edited 19.april.24:
Day of the supposed release (9:3 am in Europe) and publicly there is no news.
I had to search on Reddit and apparently the author made a live explaining in a fb group (private and to which I requested access a month ago and still no response) that the publication of the book is officially on May 19.
the causes of the delay of the publication are also explained in the fb live, and while I understand perfectly why the author has decided to postpone it, what I do not understand, is that there is not a single communication to the fans, a message like "Hello, for reasons that we will explain at another time the publication of the book is postponed until May 19, sorry for the inconvenience" does not cost any time to write it, and so the fans would have been calm and we would have been organized.
we don't need to know the reasons but a minimum of contact would have been nice by the web, by newsletter, by Instagram, or by tiktok, not by a group that can not be accessed when there were hours left for the launch day.
original:
0 promoted this book
and when there are 3 days left for its publication Amazon tells me that they are delaying the publication for a month.
sad
May 28, 2024
*to be edited // review to come*
⋯
I'm feeling really disheartened right now...
Today was meant to be the release day for the book, and I was so looking forward to it, especially since I have tomorrow off and planned to dive right in.
Initially, I was a bit disappointed when it was first delayed, but waiting another month didn't seem too tragic... Then I came across the announcement about Amazon cancelling preorders (because no manuscript was provided yet?), and I started to feel a bit uneasy, but I trusted their reassurance that the release would still happen on May 19th.
However, here we are, a few hours into the day, and the book isn't even showing up on Amazon...
Adding to the frustration, there hasn't been any official announcement from the author or their team about what's going on. Comments are being ignored and even deleted, and I saw on Reddit that now the author's website is glitching too.
What's happening? What's with this lack of information? I don't want to point fingers, but a simple announcement or newsletter with an update on this would have been appreciated.
⋯
I'm feeling really disheartened right now...
Today was meant to be the release day for the book, and I was so looking forward to it, especially since I have tomorrow off and planned to dive right in.
Initially, I was a bit disappointed when it was first delayed, but waiting another month didn't seem too tragic... Then I came across the announcement about Amazon cancelling preorders (because no manuscript was provided yet?), and I started to feel a bit uneasy, but I trusted their reassurance that the release would still happen on May 19th.
However, here we are, a few hours into the day, and the book isn't even showing up on Amazon...
Adding to the frustration, there hasn't been any official announcement from the author or their team about what's going on. Comments are being ignored and even deleted, and I saw on Reddit that now the author's website is glitching too.
What's happening? What's with this lack of information? I don't want to point fingers, but a simple announcement or newsletter with an update on this would have been appreciated.
May 19, 2024
once again, absolute radio silence from the author and her team about the release of this book.
May 27, 2024
AH, WHERE IS THE GROVELLING??
So all of a sudden as soon as Rooke shows how powerful she is, Soren decides he has just has to have her!? After everything he did, I don’t even think he said sorry once in this and Rooke just goes with it. Nope. No thanks.
Was hoping Soren was going to get killed off tbh. Mate or not he’s a shit love interest.
Also, I was kinda of bored for the majority of this.. im not sure I’ll continue the series.
So all of a sudden as soon as Rooke shows how powerful she is, Soren decides he has just has to have her!? After everything he did, I don’t even think he said sorry once in this and Rooke just goes with it. Nope. No thanks.
Was hoping Soren was going to get killed off tbh. Mate or not he’s a shit love interest.
Also, I was kinda of bored for the majority of this.. im not sure I’ll continue the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2024
Is this the same author? Spoilers ahead.
The last time I encountered this level of disappointment is when I watched the 8th season of Game of Thrones. You wait ages, hyped up to see your favorite characters, only to realize it's like someone dropped the plot in a blender set to "confuse".
WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO TO MY GIRL ROOKE? :(
Let's be clear, the first book? Pure gold. J Bree, that book is masterpiece! I devoured it in a day, then re-read it again before the release date (which one, I don't remember, iykyk). It was the quintessential enemies-to-lovers tale (well, mostly enemies, but still). IT WAS SO GOOD.
As for this book, it's like expecting a chocolate chip cookie and getting a raisin cookie instead. Sure, it's still a cookie, but it's not what you signed up for.
I'd give it three stars if I could magically erase the memory of book one from existence, but nope, I'm docking it down to two just to match my frustration levels post-read.
I won't waste time detailing how utterly frustrated I was with the myriad of grammatical errors, nonsensical words, and unfinished sentences. These are issues any competent editor would spot in an instant. Yet, whether it was a deliberate choice to forgo editing or simply a matter of time constraints, we're left with a convoluted manuscript. And yes, the readers did notice it.
Now, let's shift our focus to the plot and characters of the second book. I was pleased to see my favorite characters return, especially curious about how Soren would dig himself out of the mess he made in the first book. Honorable mention to Airlie, Roan, Tyton, and even Tauron. Each of them possesses a distinct personality which I adored in the first book, and I was eager to witness their character development, particularly after the tantalizing prologue dropped in the newsletter shortly before the release.
However, all of the above changed when the red flags began to unfurl. Here are some examples:
- Soren telling Airlie that the next time she betrays him and commits treason, he would kill her (I feel that I need to defend Airlie: WTF, my dude? You literally spent 25% of your inner monologue in the first book on how much you love Airlie, care about her, and would do anything for her. Then now she helps you save the castle by helping the woman you are now somehow obsessed with and you say that? Chill out!).
- Rooke agreeing to attend their family dinner and sit next to Soren for the next hour or two (Girl, have you lost your mind? This guy and most of this people treated you like sh*t, and now you're acting like everything's peachy?).
- My poor guy Reed spending 90% of the book staring at the floor instead of being an amazing friend to Rooke.
- Soren solemnly declaring to Rooke that he "just wants his croi back". I swear when I read this I nearly tossed my Kindle out the window and joined it on the pavement. Like, seriously? No, buddy, you can't just demand it like that? Wait a minute...Actually you can! Rooke had a memory loss and a complete change of character, so you're fine. Let the lovers part begin!
If you're still not grasping the depth of my disappointment, let me hit you with this: I had to create a Reddit thread, asking fellow readers to help me pinpoint the exact moment they kissed for the first time, it was that confusing. They share a kiss, lips touch and boom, chapter ends, next chapter starts and they 10 meters away from each other. I seriously did a double take. Excuse me? This is a fantasy romance! The first kiss is supposed to be monumental (right after the lightning bolt moment they realize they're into each other, which, by the way, happens in the blink of an eye here).
Let's dive into the plot for a moment. It was a bit all over the place. Now, I might have been able to tolerate the first part of the book, but once Rooke and Soren embarked on their second journey to who knows where, that's when everything started going downhill.
The castle chapters were kinda weird, to say the least.
- Firstly, Rooke, Soren, and Gage decide to stroll into the Yris alone, leaving their soldiers behind to avoid arousing suspicion. I mean, seriously? They're marching straight into enemy territory where they're likely despised and potentially in danger. What were they expecting to achieve? Politely ask for Gage's mate back and call it a day? By the way, the army did eventually show up to save them.
- Then Soren suddenly realizes that nobody is surprised by blood witches in the castle and they have been living here comfortable for some time. Really? It seems Soren might need to have a chat with his spies; they've clearly been slacking on the job (as the editor of this book).
- And Rooke, completely out of character, is suddenly spouting off in her inner monologue about how she's repulsed and disgusted by everyone in the castle. I mean, sure, they've done some pretty awful stuff, but can you imagine the strong woman from the first book feeling this way or rolling her eyes? Yeah, me neither.
What really gets under my skin is just how much Rooke morphed from the character we knew in the first book. In book one, she was the epitome of maturity, wisdom, kindness, calmness, was a certified badass, THE MOTHER, and the "I'd-rather-walk-until-my-feet-bleed" kind of person.
In book two, Rooke undergoes this baffling transformation into a fragile girl, haunted by nightmares and fears, seemingly unable to catch her breath without Soren lurking nearby, either scowling, grinning, or growling like some overprotective watchdog. And the sheer frequency of him dragging her around by the elbow, with her just tagging along? It's beyond belief. LEAVE THE MOTHER ALONE. This woman defended the castle, for crying out loud! There's no need for him to hover over her every step!
If Rooke had stayed the same way as she was in the first book, it would've automatically fixed Soren's situation and his glaring lack of groveling. Because that Rooke? She wouldn't have forgiven even a fraction of the nonsense he pulled in book one.
The last time I encountered this level of disappointment is when I watched the 8th season of Game of Thrones. You wait ages, hyped up to see your favorite characters, only to realize it's like someone dropped the plot in a blender set to "confuse".
WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO TO MY GIRL ROOKE? :(
Let's be clear, the first book? Pure gold. J Bree, that book is masterpiece! I devoured it in a day, then re-read it again before the release date (which one, I don't remember, iykyk). It was the quintessential enemies-to-lovers tale (well, mostly enemies, but still). IT WAS SO GOOD.
As for this book, it's like expecting a chocolate chip cookie and getting a raisin cookie instead. Sure, it's still a cookie, but it's not what you signed up for.
I'd give it three stars if I could magically erase the memory of book one from existence, but nope, I'm docking it down to two just to match my frustration levels post-read.
I won't waste time detailing how utterly frustrated I was with the myriad of grammatical errors, nonsensical words, and unfinished sentences. These are issues any competent editor would spot in an instant. Yet, whether it was a deliberate choice to forgo editing or simply a matter of time constraints, we're left with a convoluted manuscript. And yes, the readers did notice it.
Now, let's shift our focus to the plot and characters of the second book. I was pleased to see my favorite characters return, especially curious about how Soren would dig himself out of the mess he made in the first book. Honorable mention to Airlie, Roan, Tyton, and even Tauron. Each of them possesses a distinct personality which I adored in the first book, and I was eager to witness their character development, particularly after the tantalizing prologue dropped in the newsletter shortly before the release.
However, all of the above changed when the red flags began to unfurl. Here are some examples:
- Soren telling Airlie that the next time she betrays him and commits treason, he would kill her (I feel that I need to defend Airlie: WTF, my dude? You literally spent 25% of your inner monologue in the first book on how much you love Airlie, care about her, and would do anything for her. Then now she helps you save the castle by helping the woman you are now somehow obsessed with and you say that? Chill out!).
- Rooke agreeing to attend their family dinner and sit next to Soren for the next hour or two (Girl, have you lost your mind? This guy and most of this people treated you like sh*t, and now you're acting like everything's peachy?).
- My poor guy Reed spending 90% of the book staring at the floor instead of being an amazing friend to Rooke.
- Soren solemnly declaring to Rooke that he "just wants his croi back". I swear when I read this I nearly tossed my Kindle out the window and joined it on the pavement. Like, seriously? No, buddy, you can't just demand it like that? Wait a minute...Actually you can! Rooke had a memory loss and a complete change of character, so you're fine. Let the lovers part begin!
If you're still not grasping the depth of my disappointment, let me hit you with this: I had to create a Reddit thread, asking fellow readers to help me pinpoint the exact moment they kissed for the first time, it was that confusing. They share a kiss, lips touch and boom, chapter ends, next chapter starts and they 10 meters away from each other. I seriously did a double take. Excuse me? This is a fantasy romance! The first kiss is supposed to be monumental (right after the lightning bolt moment they realize they're into each other, which, by the way, happens in the blink of an eye here).
Let's dive into the plot for a moment. It was a bit all over the place. Now, I might have been able to tolerate the first part of the book, but once Rooke and Soren embarked on their second journey to who knows where, that's when everything started going downhill.
The castle chapters were kinda weird, to say the least.
- Firstly, Rooke, Soren, and Gage decide to stroll into the Yris alone, leaving their soldiers behind to avoid arousing suspicion. I mean, seriously? They're marching straight into enemy territory where they're likely despised and potentially in danger. What were they expecting to achieve? Politely ask for Gage's mate back and call it a day? By the way, the army did eventually show up to save them.
- Then Soren suddenly realizes that nobody is surprised by blood witches in the castle and they have been living here comfortable for some time. Really? It seems Soren might need to have a chat with his spies; they've clearly been slacking on the job (as the editor of this book).
- And Rooke, completely out of character, is suddenly spouting off in her inner monologue about how she's repulsed and disgusted by everyone in the castle. I mean, sure, they've done some pretty awful stuff, but can you imagine the strong woman from the first book feeling this way or rolling her eyes? Yeah, me neither.
What really gets under my skin is just how much Rooke morphed from the character we knew in the first book. In book one, she was the epitome of maturity, wisdom, kindness, calmness, was a certified badass, THE MOTHER, and the "I'd-rather-walk-until-my-feet-bleed" kind of person.
In book two, Rooke undergoes this baffling transformation into a fragile girl, haunted by nightmares and fears, seemingly unable to catch her breath without Soren lurking nearby, either scowling, grinning, or growling like some overprotective watchdog. And the sheer frequency of him dragging her around by the elbow, with her just tagging along? It's beyond belief. LEAVE THE MOTHER ALONE. This woman defended the castle, for crying out loud! There's no need for him to hover over her every step!
If Rooke had stayed the same way as she was in the first book, it would've automatically fixed Soren's situation and his glaring lack of groveling. Because that Rooke? She wouldn't have forgiven even a fraction of the nonsense he pulled in book one.
May 27, 2024
2.5⭐️ 2🌶️
▪️Enemies to insta love 🤦🏻♀️
▪️Fated mates
▪️Witches and Fae
I don't really know what to say about this anymore. I'm so disappointed by this book.
Let's start with the drama surrounding this book release. My rating is not based on that only the book itself. The lack of communication was wrong on so many levels. Many times people on instagram were not updated untill days after the release was suppose to come out. This didn't just happen once but twice, the first time in April and then again in May. The J team then blamed fans for bullying when asking questions when they ghosted everyone. It was so unprofessional it ruined the experience and hype of this book for me.
The book itself had so many errors it was insane to me. So many grammar and spelling errors. I'm dyslexic and I found it really hard to read. The switch between 1st and 3rd person was also really hard to read. The story itself was all over the place. I absolutely loved book one would have said it was in my top 10 of 2023. TTOHAB was 2.5⭐️ at a push. I don't think the book was finished and was rushed. I know from J's previous work this is not the norm for her.
The characters were completely different and had a personality change. We had no depth to the characters. Things that happened made no sense to me based on book 1. People that had quotes in the snippets we received and was very much alive in book one now just have been dead for 5 years. I can tell they killed this person off last minute. That person was the one I wanted to know more of..
The insta love was extremely cringy. When someone is brought up in hate they don't just switch their views that fast.
I would have liked to see more of a gradual change. I'm assuming this is from the extra edit they did to take away all the witch hate.
More than anything I'm sad and disappointed that my favourite FMC ever is dead and gone. I don't think I'll read book 3 unfortunately..
▪️Enemies to insta love 🤦🏻♀️
▪️Fated mates
▪️Witches and Fae
I don't really know what to say about this anymore. I'm so disappointed by this book.
Let's start with the drama surrounding this book release. My rating is not based on that only the book itself. The lack of communication was wrong on so many levels. Many times people on instagram were not updated untill days after the release was suppose to come out. This didn't just happen once but twice, the first time in April and then again in May. The J team then blamed fans for bullying when asking questions when they ghosted everyone. It was so unprofessional it ruined the experience and hype of this book for me.
The book itself had so many errors it was insane to me. So many grammar and spelling errors. I'm dyslexic and I found it really hard to read. The switch between 1st and 3rd person was also really hard to read. The story itself was all over the place. I absolutely loved book one would have said it was in my top 10 of 2023. TTOHAB was 2.5⭐️ at a push. I don't think the book was finished and was rushed. I know from J's previous work this is not the norm for her.
The characters were completely different and had a personality change. We had no depth to the characters. Things that happened made no sense to me based on book 1. People that had quotes in the snippets we received and was very much alive in book one now just have been dead for 5 years. I can tell they killed this person off last minute. That person was the one I wanted to know more of..
The insta love was extremely cringy. When someone is brought up in hate they don't just switch their views that fast.
I would have liked to see more of a gradual change. I'm assuming this is from the extra edit they did to take away all the witch hate.
More than anything I'm sad and disappointed that my favourite FMC ever is dead and gone. I don't think I'll read book 3 unfortunately..
December 30, 2023
If soren doesn't get on his knees in front of the entire court and begs for forgiveness.....
I'm gonna kill him.
I'm gonna kill him.
July 20, 2024
MF📚
Super low spice📚
Enemies to lovers trope 📚
Unfinished series📚
KU📚
1 ⭐️
I think as readers we expected so much from this story and this book only to be disappointed and sad after reading it.
There were a lot of flow issues, misspelled words or misused words-really just in general sloppy editing overall.
For instance, I give you:
Magic sauce
Pretty sure that was meant to be “magic source”. But from henceforth it will forever be “magic sauce” for me no matter what. 😂😂
I felt the insta lust inserted into Soren’s personality for book 2 was weird.
I thought it was enemies to lovers? I thought Rooke was gonna make him beg?
I get she was a kind and forgiving person but still. It felt forced. I get he was now impressed by his fated mate but again, he had hated her. Tossed her in the dungeons. Dragged her behind horses.
We know WHY at the story progresses but in those moments at the start of this book??? She doesn’t.
She just goes along with it all early on and the author blames her lack of magic or recovery and not wanting to fight. The author even makes Rooke think he is tricking her. When did he trick her in book 1??? That was so confusing for me. He straight up hated her in book one. He didn’t need to trick her. Maybe he tried to get her to tell them what she was up to or that she would show her true colors. But that isn’t being tricky. Maybe I missed it??
*inserts a bit of miscommunication into the mix*
Recovery yea. Ok. But gone is her sass. Her fight. She just fell flat for me. And again I KNOW SHE WAS RECOVERING but for the entire book??? But even as she passed out at the end of book 1, her sass was on full GO!!!
So. This all makes even less sense to me when we find out what sort of witch she really is at the end of this book.
She is likely one of the most powerful witches in the story. And yet we see none of her strength this book. She is made to be weak, recovering and healing. I wanted more of her bad ass ness. And yeah. Again. Witcheswane. I get it. But she is a REBORN witch. Knowing who she is at the end makes the entire book seem like a farce. Why???
And.
Where are all Rooke’s friends and family from the fates wars?? The ones the author built up for us in book one? The ones she had art images made of and shared on socials??
Ones who we didn’t know came popping in. Cerson. 🤷🏻♀️
Ok. Hanede popped in at the end in a very one dimensional manner. But no others. And we find out at the very end, that one of the characters many readers LOVE THE MOST, has been dead the entire time.
I can’t even.
The entire story fell flat for me. I read that ending and just thought, well, ok then. That’s where the author is taking this story but it was not how she was building it up outside of that.
Anyhoo. I will hold out my overall opinion on the entire series once it is done. Maybe 1-2 years from now.
And lastly, I think this author might benefit, imvho, by having alpha readers and beta readers who aren’t her employees or bffs. It is def a more invasive way to write books (alpha readers esp) but man, they will catch shit right away! Like that title bullshoooot. 🥴🤦🏻♀️
Super low spice📚
Enemies to lovers trope 📚
Unfinished series📚
KU📚
1 ⭐️
I think as readers we expected so much from this story and this book only to be disappointed and sad after reading it.
There were a lot of flow issues, misspelled words or misused words-really just in general sloppy editing overall.
For instance, I give you:
Magic sauce
Pretty sure that was meant to be “magic source”. But from henceforth it will forever be “magic sauce” for me no matter what. 😂😂
I felt the insta lust inserted into Soren’s personality for book 2 was weird.
I thought it was enemies to lovers? I thought Rooke was gonna make him beg?
I get she was a kind and forgiving person but still. It felt forced. I get he was now impressed by his fated mate but again, he had hated her. Tossed her in the dungeons. Dragged her behind horses.
We know WHY at the story progresses but in those moments at the start of this book??? She doesn’t.
She just goes along with it all early on and the author blames her lack of magic or recovery and not wanting to fight. The author even makes Rooke think he is tricking her. When did he trick her in book 1??? That was so confusing for me. He straight up hated her in book one. He didn’t need to trick her. Maybe he tried to get her to tell them what she was up to or that she would show her true colors. But that isn’t being tricky. Maybe I missed it??
*inserts a bit of miscommunication into the mix*
Recovery yea. Ok. But gone is her sass. Her fight. She just fell flat for me. And again I KNOW SHE WAS RECOVERING but for the entire book??? But even as she passed out at the end of book 1, her sass was on full GO!!!
So. This all makes even less sense to me when we find out what sort of witch she really is at the end of this book.
She is likely one of the most powerful witches in the story. And yet we see none of her strength this book. She is made to be weak, recovering and healing. I wanted more of her bad ass ness. And yeah. Again. Witcheswane. I get it. But she is a REBORN witch. Knowing who she is at the end makes the entire book seem like a farce. Why???
And.
Where are all Rooke’s friends and family from the fates wars?? The ones the author built up for us in book one? The ones she had art images made of and shared on socials??
Ones who we didn’t know came popping in. Cerson. 🤷🏻♀️
Ok. Hanede popped in at the end in a very one dimensional manner. But no others. And we find out at the very end, that one of the characters many readers LOVE THE MOST, has been dead the entire time.
I can’t even.
The entire story fell flat for me. I read that ending and just thought, well, ok then. That’s where the author is taking this story but it was not how she was building it up outside of that.
Anyhoo. I will hold out my overall opinion on the entire series once it is done. Maybe 1-2 years from now.
And lastly, I think this author might benefit, imvho, by having alpha readers and beta readers who aren’t her employees or bffs. It is def a more invasive way to write books (alpha readers esp) but man, they will catch shit right away! Like that title bullshoooot. 🥴🤦🏻♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2024
This book clearly wasn’t ready to be published - the amount of grammatical errors alone is shameful. The plot was a snooze fest and the way the FMC immediately allows the MMC in after all the abuse she endured at his hand was unacceptable. J Bree has a knack for creating interesting magic systems, and all her hard work of world building in book one completely went to hell in this one. The cliffhanger plot twist had the opposite effect of just pissing me off rather than enticing me to continue the series. Also if I ever have to read the words “fates blessed mate” again I will claw my eyes out like we get it 😭😭😭
June 22, 2024
How is it possible to just spontaneously change the date of release with no announcement? It’s so disrespectful for all the people that have supported this series. It’s not the first time and I’ve had enough, not supporting this author anymore
May 27, 2024
This book was clearly not edited. There were tons of grammatical errors, no character development for newly introduced characters, towards the end of the book she would write in 3rd person then first person in the next sentence. The editing was so poor that I had to re-read a lot to figure out what was happening because it took away from the story. She had a year to write this book and it felt completely rushed and like she threw it together to finish.
J Bree is hands down my favorite author. I’m not sure what’s happening with her and her team but I truly hope she either re-writes or re-edits this book. There is absolutely no way that it went through 2 edits like she stated before it came out.
J Bree is hands down my favorite author. I’m not sure what’s happening with her and her team but I truly hope she either re-writes or re-edits this book. There is absolutely no way that it went through 2 edits like she stated before it came out.
June 5, 2024
girl what the fuck
May 31, 2024
This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I'm really sad to say I am disappointed. I do love J. Bree's writing style and I love the world she has created.
However, there were so many issues with this book that I just can't ignore.
My biggest one is the ending which was clearly added in last minute. made absolutely no sense. J. Bree gave us teasers that featured the character in her newsletter, and book 1 refers to him in the present tense. I love a bit of cheeky foreshadowing but this was added in to shock the readers. The ending felt rushed and parts of it made no sense to me despite re-reading several times. All the stuff with the reborn witches and Baylor... I'm still not sure I understand what happened.
The last 20% of this book needs some heavy editing, it feels incredibly messy compared to the first half of this book.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY...
SOREN DID NOT SPEND ONE PAGE IN THIS BOOK ON HIS KNEES BEGGING ROOKE TO FORGIVE HIM.
Where was the grovelling we were promised? If I had to read the words snarled or growled one more time, I was going to throw my kindle across the room. That man should have been kissing Rooke's feet but instead we got some random humping halfway through the book, that felt like it came out of nowhere. The relationship development was all over the place and I only started to like Rooke and Soren together in maybe the last 15% of the book. I do hope Soren develops a personality in book 3.
I also felt like I had no sense of time in this world. Rooke x Soren just seemed to be heading to different forests and waiting to marry during winter solstice, but we the readers had no idea if that was a few days, weeks or even months away. We were more than 50% through the book and suddenly winter solstice was upon us.
Our goblin prince Gage has a mate and I was so excited to delve in this. They go into enemy territory for her and yet... barely anything happens. Gage didn't even seem that bothered himself. I really felt a Gage PoV would have helped this book. I did love the storyline with Thea x Tauron and I can't wait for more of them in the next book. I feel like Thea is going to be incredibly important to the storyline and I absolutely adore her.
Now, I usually give indie authors some grace with editing errors but due to this book being delayed, and one of the reasons readers were given was that it was going through another round of editing, I can't ignore some of the glaringly obvious mistakes in this book. The book shifts PoV (sometimes in the same sentence), as well as switching from first to third person. "Magic Sauce" did make me laugh but whoever was paid to edit this book... let's just say J. Bree was ripped off.
I'm hopeful that book 2 fell into the 'book-2-plot-bridge-trap' and that book 3 will tie this series up in a neat little bow.
However, there were so many issues with this book that I just can't ignore.
My biggest one is the ending which was clearly added in last minute. made absolutely no sense. J. Bree gave us teasers that featured the character in her newsletter, and book 1 refers to him in the present tense. I love a bit of cheeky foreshadowing but this was added in to shock the readers. The ending felt rushed and parts of it made no sense to me despite re-reading several times. All the stuff with the reborn witches and Baylor... I'm still not sure I understand what happened.
The last 20% of this book needs some heavy editing, it feels incredibly messy compared to the first half of this book.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY...
SOREN DID NOT SPEND ONE PAGE IN THIS BOOK ON HIS KNEES BEGGING ROOKE TO FORGIVE HIM.
Where was the grovelling we were promised? If I had to read the words snarled or growled one more time, I was going to throw my kindle across the room. That man should have been kissing Rooke's feet but instead we got some random humping halfway through the book, that felt like it came out of nowhere. The relationship development was all over the place and I only started to like Rooke and Soren together in maybe the last 15% of the book. I do hope Soren develops a personality in book 3.
I also felt like I had no sense of time in this world. Rooke x Soren just seemed to be heading to different forests and waiting to marry during winter solstice, but we the readers had no idea if that was a few days, weeks or even months away. We were more than 50% through the book and suddenly winter solstice was upon us.
Our goblin prince Gage has a mate and I was so excited to delve in this. They go into enemy territory for her and yet... barely anything happens. Gage didn't even seem that bothered himself. I really felt a Gage PoV would have helped this book. I did love the storyline with Thea x Tauron and I can't wait for more of them in the next book. I feel like Thea is going to be incredibly important to the storyline and I absolutely adore her.
Now, I usually give indie authors some grace with editing errors but due to this book being delayed, and one of the reasons readers were given was that it was going through another round of editing, I can't ignore some of the glaringly obvious mistakes in this book. The book shifts PoV (sometimes in the same sentence), as well as switching from first to third person. "Magic Sauce" did make me laugh but whoever was paid to edit this book... let's just say J. Bree was ripped off.
I'm hopeful that book 2 fell into the 'book-2-plot-bridge-trap' and that book 3 will tie this series up in a neat little bow.
May 28, 2024
Lemme just write my hater ass review now that reviews have finally opened back up. I NEED to know what happened here. We had typos!! Plot holes! Otherwise intelligent and clever Rooke spending 600+ pages soothing the anger of truly one of my least favorite characters I have ever read SOREN
There was no redemption for Soren. There was only a man becoming more and more unlikeable, abruptly transforming from the asshole in the first book to a different type of asshole in this book. BOOOO THIS MAN and his raging jealousy and his shitty little snarls and his inability to take responsibility for his past, current, or future actions. Why would I want to read Rooke slowly accepting that her future with this man is to become responsible for his horrible temper and not ever have any male friends ever again?? I actually don’t like abusive relationships being sold to me as romance with cute fae male possessiveness. Also the sex was bad anyway??
Do I even need to go into the typos and editing issues?? It was horribly distracting and got worse as the book went on so do with that what you will
I was completely done with this book when immediately after getting married (and having the boring sex) Rooke and Soren immediately discuss: how he was only so mean to her because she was so hot (while being the wrong race) and it made him mad, how horny her dad got for her mom in her wedding dress, and how she’s the perfect wife for him because he’s such a fucking asshole no other woman can stand him and so it’s PERFECT that she is forced to be with him and puts up with his bullshit and doesn’t hold him accountable and so now he doesn’t have to change!!
I mean, Rooke at one point literally internally acknowledges that she’s been forced into marriage to this man by the Fates because she may actually be the only woman who has the patience to fucking suffer him.
Truly, she may be. Because I am not that woman and I will not be reading any more about The Most Miserable Man Who Ever Lived
There was no redemption for Soren. There was only a man becoming more and more unlikeable, abruptly transforming from the asshole in the first book to a different type of asshole in this book. BOOOO THIS MAN and his raging jealousy and his shitty little snarls and his inability to take responsibility for his past, current, or future actions. Why would I want to read Rooke slowly accepting that her future with this man is to become responsible for his horrible temper and not ever have any male friends ever again?? I actually don’t like abusive relationships being sold to me as romance with cute fae male possessiveness. Also the sex was bad anyway??
Do I even need to go into the typos and editing issues?? It was horribly distracting and got worse as the book went on so do with that what you will
I was completely done with this book when immediately after getting married (and having the boring sex) Rooke and Soren immediately discuss: how he was only so mean to her because she was so hot (while being the wrong race) and it made him mad, how horny her dad got for her mom in her wedding dress, and how she’s the perfect wife for him because he’s such a fucking asshole no other woman can stand him and so it’s PERFECT that she is forced to be with him and puts up with his bullshit and doesn’t hold him accountable and so now he doesn’t have to change!!
I mean, Rooke at one point literally internally acknowledges that she’s been forced into marriage to this man by the Fates because she may actually be the only woman who has the patience to fucking suffer him.
Truly, she may be. Because I am not that woman and I will not be reading any more about The Most Miserable Man Who Ever Lived
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2024
Update: the fact I’m still angry days later about how unedited this book was has me lowering my rating to 1 star. If you know you have a huge fan base that was OBSESSED with the first book you wrote, take the time to edit it. I would rather have waited another 6 months for a good version because I loved these characters so much.
I felt crazy for being so disappointed in this book. All the Amazon reviews are amazing. The plot development was so lazy in this. And while I know J Bree doesn’t have the most eloquent writing style, I tend not to mind because I like the plots. The plot being bad made me hate her writing. Every single paragraph is just a complete run on sentence with tons of commas thrown in there. It makes it so hard to decipher correctly what is going on. Also, she needs a thesaurus. Because there are other words that can be used besides sneer, snarl, growl, writhing, vitriol, cursing viciously under breath, etc. The same exact description words were used excessively the entire book. And the same run on explanations of following the fates at least 5 times a chapter. We get it. We know they need to follow the fates. It felt like how my high school essays used to read when I needed to meet the word count. Also, I’m confused. Because the first publication delay was said to be because they were doing extensive editing, but this book has very obviously never been edited. There were entire words missing from sentences, phrases that made no sense, and tons of spelling errors. Now that that rant is over, on to the characters. Soren. Now don’t get me wrong, I never expected him to full on grovel, I didn’t think it would fit his character. But I did expect SOME SORT OF APOLOGY. He never once apologized. And the only times he even mentioned feeling bad were in his own inner monologue, so Rooke never heard it. His character was flawed but understandable in the first book. In this one he was unbearable. He came off as possessive and controlling and abusive. Not even letting Rooke keep the 1 friend she had made and cared about?? The whole mate possession thing was absurd cause none of the other males who randomly got mates this book acted that way. There was no romance or build up and then the smut we did get was weird and forced. I went from loving Soren to despising him. Now on to Rooke. What happened to her 😩😩 she was so bad ass and strong in the first book. And she was still bad ass and strong in this one but she spent the entire book crying and needing to be carried around and protected. Also, where did these nightmares come from???? There was no mention of them at all in book 1. They were obviously a last minute plot device to try and get some sparks with Soren. This book turned her in to a doormat. I loved Airlie. She’s the one character who stayed the same and is awesome. Tauron and the whole mate thing was dumb and Thea was a plot point that should have been cut out. The whole “Taurons awful fate causing him to be an ass for centuries” was so intriguing and then the reason behind it was so stupid. AND THEN THE EXACT SAME THING WAS USED FOR GAGE. How come both of them had mates they couldn’t be with for centuries and both would be abused. Now for my plot/world building rant. The world building was decent in the first book. This one went off the rails. What the hell exactly is a favored child vs a true blood witch?? It was never explained just talked about in circles. Also how powerful is Rooke?? People quiver in fear of her name and bow to her but she could only fix one building at a time in the village. Also she never did her blood exchange with the earth in this book. Who is the high commander?? What the hell is the nickname they call her?? All of this stuff wasn’t foreshadowed towards subtly. The characters are made fun of for not knowing (which makes us the reader feel dumb for not knowing) and then just never told. Rooke keeps all these secrets from them but it’s just written so poorly that it feels like the author has no idea where the story is going. Who is Sari being sent to marry?? If the high commander and Rooke are so close why does anyone think he sent a legion against them?? Nothing makes sense. The plot was just so all over the place. That weird middle section of them being in the regents castle was pointless, nothing was accomplished besides them joining up with the goblins but everyone knew that would happen anyways. I did like the blood witch twist at the end, although I had already guessed that’s what her dad was. The actual battle/explanation of the calling or whatever was so poor though I couldn’t picture what was happening. And Pemba being dead??? That was obviously a last minute decision to make everything more interesting. The entire first book and in parts of the second they referred to him in the alive tense. And in the snippets of the book we got in the newsletter months ago it was a Pemba scene with him very much alive. Also Rooke needs to die for her fate? And of course all the characters are going to try and avoid that, but that’s just lazy writing because the whole point of them all meeting in the other war and experiencing all this trauma was someone else trying to avoid their fate. The entire ending felt like the author kept pushing the publication back because she just hadn’t finished the book yet and so it was written super quickly and just shoved out. So much of the phrasing towards the end didn’t even make sense, I had to re read multiple paragraphs numerous times just to try and figure out what was going on. Overall, I’m extremely disappointed. I genuinely really liked the first book. It had issues but it was promising. This latest one makes me not want to continue the series.
I felt crazy for being so disappointed in this book. All the Amazon reviews are amazing. The plot development was so lazy in this. And while I know J Bree doesn’t have the most eloquent writing style, I tend not to mind because I like the plots. The plot being bad made me hate her writing. Every single paragraph is just a complete run on sentence with tons of commas thrown in there. It makes it so hard to decipher correctly what is going on. Also, she needs a thesaurus. Because there are other words that can be used besides sneer, snarl, growl, writhing, vitriol, cursing viciously under breath, etc. The same exact description words were used excessively the entire book. And the same run on explanations of following the fates at least 5 times a chapter. We get it. We know they need to follow the fates. It felt like how my high school essays used to read when I needed to meet the word count. Also, I’m confused. Because the first publication delay was said to be because they were doing extensive editing, but this book has very obviously never been edited. There were entire words missing from sentences, phrases that made no sense, and tons of spelling errors. Now that that rant is over, on to the characters. Soren. Now don’t get me wrong, I never expected him to full on grovel, I didn’t think it would fit his character. But I did expect SOME SORT OF APOLOGY. He never once apologized. And the only times he even mentioned feeling bad were in his own inner monologue, so Rooke never heard it. His character was flawed but understandable in the first book. In this one he was unbearable. He came off as possessive and controlling and abusive. Not even letting Rooke keep the 1 friend she had made and cared about?? The whole mate possession thing was absurd cause none of the other males who randomly got mates this book acted that way. There was no romance or build up and then the smut we did get was weird and forced. I went from loving Soren to despising him. Now on to Rooke. What happened to her 😩😩 she was so bad ass and strong in the first book. And she was still bad ass and strong in this one but she spent the entire book crying and needing to be carried around and protected. Also, where did these nightmares come from???? There was no mention of them at all in book 1. They were obviously a last minute plot device to try and get some sparks with Soren. This book turned her in to a doormat. I loved Airlie. She’s the one character who stayed the same and is awesome. Tauron and the whole mate thing was dumb and Thea was a plot point that should have been cut out. The whole “Taurons awful fate causing him to be an ass for centuries” was so intriguing and then the reason behind it was so stupid. AND THEN THE EXACT SAME THING WAS USED FOR GAGE. How come both of them had mates they couldn’t be with for centuries and both would be abused. Now for my plot/world building rant. The world building was decent in the first book. This one went off the rails. What the hell exactly is a favored child vs a true blood witch?? It was never explained just talked about in circles. Also how powerful is Rooke?? People quiver in fear of her name and bow to her but she could only fix one building at a time in the village. Also she never did her blood exchange with the earth in this book. Who is the high commander?? What the hell is the nickname they call her?? All of this stuff wasn’t foreshadowed towards subtly. The characters are made fun of for not knowing (which makes us the reader feel dumb for not knowing) and then just never told. Rooke keeps all these secrets from them but it’s just written so poorly that it feels like the author has no idea where the story is going. Who is Sari being sent to marry?? If the high commander and Rooke are so close why does anyone think he sent a legion against them?? Nothing makes sense. The plot was just so all over the place. That weird middle section of them being in the regents castle was pointless, nothing was accomplished besides them joining up with the goblins but everyone knew that would happen anyways. I did like the blood witch twist at the end, although I had already guessed that’s what her dad was. The actual battle/explanation of the calling or whatever was so poor though I couldn’t picture what was happening. And Pemba being dead??? That was obviously a last minute decision to make everything more interesting. The entire first book and in parts of the second they referred to him in the alive tense. And in the snippets of the book we got in the newsletter months ago it was a Pemba scene with him very much alive. Also Rooke needs to die for her fate? And of course all the characters are going to try and avoid that, but that’s just lazy writing because the whole point of them all meeting in the other war and experiencing all this trauma was someone else trying to avoid their fate. The entire ending felt like the author kept pushing the publication back because she just hadn’t finished the book yet and so it was written super quickly and just shoved out. So much of the phrasing towards the end didn’t even make sense, I had to re read multiple paragraphs numerous times just to try and figure out what was going on. Overall, I’m extremely disappointed. I genuinely really liked the first book. It had issues but it was promising. This latest one makes me not want to continue the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2024
The delay in release was not due to editing, that’s for sure.
I have a million words about how bad this book is. The story itself is ok, if not a bit redundant. If I had to read the word “maelstrom” one more time, I’d scream. Truly though, one of the worst things I’ve ever had to read. The typos, grammatical errors, accidental POV switch in certain paragraphs, and misplaced words made it EXTREMELY difficult to get through this book. I’ve literally never read a story with so many errors. I know the author is crying about bullying, but genuine reviews are not bullying. If you can look past the mistakes in this book, good for you. The only reason it gets two stars is because of that one chapter where Soren sees what happened to the children in the forest. I genuinely cried, that was written well enough. This story should be taken down and go through ten more rounds of editing before being put back up.
I have a million words about how bad this book is. The story itself is ok, if not a bit redundant. If I had to read the word “maelstrom” one more time, I’d scream. Truly though, one of the worst things I’ve ever had to read. The typos, grammatical errors, accidental POV switch in certain paragraphs, and misplaced words made it EXTREMELY difficult to get through this book. I’ve literally never read a story with so many errors. I know the author is crying about bullying, but genuine reviews are not bullying. If you can look past the mistakes in this book, good for you. The only reason it gets two stars is because of that one chapter where Soren sees what happened to the children in the forest. I genuinely cried, that was written well enough. This story should be taken down and go through ten more rounds of editing before being put back up.
June 7, 2024
One of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I'm disappointed.
Firstly, WHY did this not get another pass through proofreaders/editors?! There are countless grammatical and spelling errors. I overlooked them out of love for the characters and story, but there were even instances of character names being mistaken during dialogue so aside from being incredibly distracting and pulling me out of the story, it was also confusing. I had to go back and re-read parts to confirm that no, I hadn't missed something, the text was just wrong. Would I have rated this more highly if it had been edited more thoroughly? Likely.
One of the things I loved about the first book is how, by the end of its 600+ pages, the enemies are begrudging allies at best. I couldn't WAIT for the pay off in this book. The grovel was surely going to be elite?! The hate-to-love had to be epic?! But they just sort of....came together? Soren just sees Rooke's power and hears her fate at the end of the last book and just accepts her as his mate now? He's immediately possessive and adoring? Centuries of hatred, prejudice and mistrust just goes away?! Apparently, yes, because ✨️mate bond✨️, but they were mates in the first book, and he had no problem treating her the way he did. This brings me nicely to the fact that although he acknowledges guilt and shame for what he did to her HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY EVER APOLOGISE! You cannot read the first book and then tell me the grovel in this one was adequate.
Strange choices were made with key romantic moments, too, when they could have helped to add depth to the relationship. The first kiss was such a flop. Seriously. The way it was written, they might as well have sneezed at each other for all the impact it had.
I do love this story, and I still adore Rooke, who, without giving too much away, we see a more vulnerable side of in this one. Sometimes, though, that seemed less about character depth/complexity and more about giving Soren an acceptable way to be soft with her after his behaviour in book 1.
There were some big revelations in this, and new characters were introduced, which I am really excited to explore more in the next book. I just hope I get to conclude this story I love without tripping over so many errors.
Firstly, WHY did this not get another pass through proofreaders/editors?! There are countless grammatical and spelling errors. I overlooked them out of love for the characters and story, but there were even instances of character names being mistaken during dialogue so aside from being incredibly distracting and pulling me out of the story, it was also confusing. I had to go back and re-read parts to confirm that no, I hadn't missed something, the text was just wrong. Would I have rated this more highly if it had been edited more thoroughly? Likely.
One of the things I loved about the first book is how, by the end of its 600+ pages, the enemies are begrudging allies at best. I couldn't WAIT for the pay off in this book. The grovel was surely going to be elite?! The hate-to-love had to be epic?! But they just sort of....came together? Soren just sees Rooke's power and hears her fate at the end of the last book and just accepts her as his mate now? He's immediately possessive and adoring? Centuries of hatred, prejudice and mistrust just goes away?! Apparently, yes, because ✨️mate bond✨️, but they were mates in the first book, and he had no problem treating her the way he did. This brings me nicely to the fact that although he acknowledges guilt and shame for what he did to her HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY EVER APOLOGISE! You cannot read the first book and then tell me the grovel in this one was adequate.
Strange choices were made with key romantic moments, too, when they could have helped to add depth to the relationship. The first kiss was such a flop. Seriously. The way it was written, they might as well have sneezed at each other for all the impact it had.
I do love this story, and I still adore Rooke, who, without giving too much away, we see a more vulnerable side of in this one. Sometimes, though, that seemed less about character depth/complexity and more about giving Soren an acceptable way to be soft with her after his behaviour in book 1.
There were some big revelations in this, and new characters were introduced, which I am really excited to explore more in the next book. I just hope I get to conclude this story I love without tripping over so many errors.
May 28, 2024
2.5 out of 5
I truly loved this story, or I would have loved it if the entire book didn’t feel like a first draft. It was so bad I was tempted to DNF several times, because too much time was spent trying to understand what was being written. The plot felt thrown together, and under-developed at times. I cared less about Soren and Rooke because they just fell flat. Sorens redemption wasn’t earned. He didn’t grovel. He just growled a lot (Constantly. Too much.).
Was the version of this submitted to Amazon TTOHAB_Draft.doc instead of TTOHAB_Final.doc? Or did Miss Bree submit the assignment at 11:59pm without checking what she had written? We will never know, and there is unlikely to be any accountability or honesty.
Every book has a few mistakes, but in this case, the entire thing, and I mean ENTIRE thing was riddled with errors: Spelling errors, grammatical errors, syntax errors and formatting errors every few pages. There were continuity and context issues (someone would be talking, but suddenly referring to themselves in third person in dialogue, because the author forgot which character it was - this happened multiple times), or, for example, a reference to ‘the accords being maintained’ because blood of certain characters wasn’t spilled, despite two of them being murdered by characters that would break the accords not even a paragraph earlier. I started recording the errors at about 80%, and ended up highlighting 30 obvious ones, over the next ~100 pages, but this was consistent in the entire book. There was a glaring mistake every 2-3 pages (see the notes posted for examples).
The fact that this book was delayed for ‘editing’, and it came out like this is laughable. If this is the version going to print, don’t waste your money on it.
On top of this, there is the entirely unapologetic, piss-poor PR coming from the author, lack of communication around delays and finger-pointing / not taking responsibility for said lack of communication when the book doesn’t appear on release day for a SECOND time? Do better, J Bree. The toxic positivity from your fan base will only last so long. If you need to spend more time on a book, just say so. Readers don’t care about delays IF you’re transparent.
I truly loved this story, or I would have loved it if the entire book didn’t feel like a first draft. It was so bad I was tempted to DNF several times, because too much time was spent trying to understand what was being written. The plot felt thrown together, and under-developed at times. I cared less about Soren and Rooke because they just fell flat. Sorens redemption wasn’t earned. He didn’t grovel. He just growled a lot (Constantly. Too much.).
Was the version of this submitted to Amazon TTOHAB_Draft.doc instead of TTOHAB_Final.doc? Or did Miss Bree submit the assignment at 11:59pm without checking what she had written? We will never know, and there is unlikely to be any accountability or honesty.
Every book has a few mistakes, but in this case, the entire thing, and I mean ENTIRE thing was riddled with errors: Spelling errors, grammatical errors, syntax errors and formatting errors every few pages. There were continuity and context issues (someone would be talking, but suddenly referring to themselves in third person in dialogue, because the author forgot which character it was - this happened multiple times), or, for example, a reference to ‘the accords being maintained’ because blood of certain characters wasn’t spilled, despite two of them being murdered by characters that would break the accords not even a paragraph earlier. I started recording the errors at about 80%, and ended up highlighting 30 obvious ones, over the next ~100 pages, but this was consistent in the entire book. There was a glaring mistake every 2-3 pages (see the notes posted for examples).
The fact that this book was delayed for ‘editing’, and it came out like this is laughable. If this is the version going to print, don’t waste your money on it.
On top of this, there is the entirely unapologetic, piss-poor PR coming from the author, lack of communication around delays and finger-pointing / not taking responsibility for said lack of communication when the book doesn’t appear on release day for a SECOND time? Do better, J Bree. The toxic positivity from your fan base will only last so long. If you need to spend more time on a book, just say so. Readers don’t care about delays IF you’re transparent.
July 8, 2024
What. A. Disappointment.
Loved the first book. Easily was one of the top 5 books I've read this year. This book had so much potential but by around 60% through it became clear the author didn't care about doing this well. So many inconsistencies, so little editing, such horrible character development. It really reads like she just didn't care about her readers, it was just a money grab to get this out.
Loved the first book. Easily was one of the top 5 books I've read this year. This book had so much potential but by around 60% through it became clear the author didn't care about doing this well. So many inconsistencies, so little editing, such horrible character development. It really reads like she just didn't care about her readers, it was just a money grab to get this out.
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