My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.9 stars
I had a really hard time rating this one. On one end of the spectrum, there was this need to keep listening; I just couldn't stop. I played far too much words with friends as something to do as I listened. Could I have done chores...yea butttt- alas! I digress.
The other end of the spectrum is Lucas and Nadine's love story. While sweet, it was also gag-worthy being inside their minds. TOO much flowery descriptions of how one views/feels about the other becomes less swoon worthy and more eye-rolling.
Like okay Lucas, please stop talking about how Nadine is your light, your love, you're everything. You'll damn yourself to hell if it's for Nadine. Uh, excuse me? You've only been dating a few months! Boy, chill. Please.
And Nadine too is willing to damn herself to a painful eternity in the hellfires pretty much right then and there after also only having been dating Lucas for a few months. Girl needs to let up a little.
OKAY HELLO. YOU GUYS HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER JUST A LITTLE MORE THAN HALF A YEAR. IF THAT. You cannot have eternal so damning love yet. And if so, I don't need to hear about how much you ooey gooey love each other in every thoughts. gag.
Else says: "You can't damn yourself to eternal hellfire for someone you just started dating."
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Ok so now that I've gotten that out of my system, here are the parts that kept me hanging! The world of witches is not an unfamiliar one. We've got alchemists, seers, necromancers (they don't raise the dead), etc. But the two roles that really pulled me in where the reaper's apprentice and the curse breakers. Let's not forget all the deep dark curses that the main characters have to deal with as a result of their ancestors or deceased coven members bestowing on them. Oh, and all the curse breakers are dead, so.
I enjoyed Rades and her lore that went into how their deity, Mother Miriam, came to be.
Oh and let's not forget one of the best parts. THESE CHARACTERS HAVE REAL PROBLEMS! auto-immune diseases play a significant role in the book. Nadine, our FMC, has Lupus that affects her day-to-day life. Grant- Lucas' best friend? He's got Type I diabetes. EFFING HECK YEA!! Real problems! We get the daily complaints of Nadine's joint pain and an explanation of Grant's Insulin taking habits and it warms my heart to see supernatural beings with auto-immune disorders.
Finally: Tarot cards. They play a role in the book and I've always been interested in them. The author takes an open ended approach, not signifying any definitive meaning behind each card, but rather leaves it up to the interpretation of the character, with a note impressing there are no rightor wrong interpretation of the cards.
Overall, wayyyy more good things than bad. Yes I eye rolled and banged my head against by couch every time love poems came out of Nadine or Lucas, but otherwise, a phenomenal book that kept me wildly entertained and on my toes to see just what happened next!
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