Update 07/22/19 I finished the sequel of this book some hours ago and I have to tell you that I was seriously underating this series. I'm upping my ratUpdate 07/22/19 I finished the sequel of this book some hours ago and I have to tell you that I was seriously underating this series. I'm upping my rating to 5 stars beacuse book 2, War has some issues, but it's another safe book that in no way ruins the good things built in Pestilence. If you like me hate cheating heroes and OW after meeting I highly recommend this series.
I also want to point out that Goodreads is a site to express our opinions about books and to discover new books. Any member of our community trying to prevent you
a) from expressing your honest opinion, whether positive or negative about this or any other book b) from discovering this author's books because they would prefer if you paid more attention to the New adult fantasy (marketed as YA) of the big publishing houses.
is someone that if I were you, I would block.
I'm tired of seeing campaings pro/anti books based on their content (Twilight? Fifty shades? Carve the mark? Damsel? Black witch, Pittacus Lore books?) or stupid parameters like indie vs. Traditionally published, Harper vs Simon and Shuster, Amazon books vs. Penguin books etc.
Let the material speak for itself and readers decide by themselves
Nobody has the right to tell the readers DON'T FALL FOR THE COVER OF THIS BOOK, THIS BOOK IS PROBLEMATIC, THIS BOOK IS THIS OR THAT, THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK OFFENDED MY FRIEND. in other words, many people in goodreads always tell you don't read this book. There's good and terrible edited books in the traditional published world. Lately bad edited books from the big publishers are a frequent occurency. There's Good and terrible edited books in the indies world. As a reader what we want is good stories and who publishes those stories is beside the point. The fact that some times content offends a group is something that I'm free to ignore or not. But don't act like if I enjoy Twilight or Fifty shades or tHE SELECTION, or Carve the Mark or Pestilence there's something wrong with me and don't try to force me into your triggers. I have triggers of my own, thank you very much.
So please don't use our Goodread platform to prevent people to read books they might enjoy. Trash the book all you want in your review if you want to. But don't use your review to try to prevent a book reaching its target audience. In the case of Thalassa and Sarah J. Maas books the target audience is the 17 and older readers. That's not what goodreads is for. I have specific triggers (cheating, rape, Other woman) and I love reading reviews that give me information about those triggers but I would never use my negative reviews to prevent people who might like a book better than me, to read it because its message offends me. That's immature. I have no time for immature readers so I'm starting to unfriend and block readers according to what I perceive are misleading reviews.
If you like me are a reader who pays for your own books and are tired of the same old same old of the fantasy and romance genres I suggest you to ignore the haters and give the Four Horsemen a chance. Or at the very least Rhapsodic. A book in my opinion, much better than all the New adult fantasy (which is currently marketed as YA ) by publishers like Wensday books and Bloomsburry. Distrust anyone who tells you Thalassa isn't an author worth reading.
One last thing. Many people who trash this book are big supporters of the big publishing houses and dont' want you to discover that some indies (key word being some)are publishing great stories that you're missing out. Just because some top Goodreads reviewers and Booktubers don't pay for their books (or want to get a publishing contract with traditional publishers) and NEED TO SUPPORT the traditional pulsihers doesn't mean the rest of us, that all we want is a good story to read, should follow their advice. I'm here to discover books, and I don't care the publisher behind it as long as I enjoy the story. And Thalassa's stories are some of the most original ones I've read in a long time. And to top it all safe!!! It's so difficult to find safe books nowadays so if you like me hate cheating, sad endings and OW after meeting don't let anyone keep you away from Thalassa's books.
ORIGINAL REVIEW NOTES FOR SAFETY GANG:
No Cheating, No Other Woman No Other Men, plus Virgin hero!
More info on safety below
Jason Lewis as Pest!
[image]
[image]
Thank you Laura Thalassa for writing this beautiful enemies to lovers book. And their love conquered everything! I'm so happy LOVE was such an important part of their redemption! Additional thanks to you Laura Thalassa for trusting your talent and hard work SO MUCH as to avoid falling into the pattern of false/deceiving /misleading advertising. That speaks volumes of your quality as both: as a human being and a writer.A good book doesn't need false advertising, word of mouth and a good story will make the book a bestseller. This one is currently number one on several Amazon Lists.
I almost gave Pestilence a 5 Stars rating on honest advertisement. I might up my rating when I finished the entire series because I've been saying all along that False marketing has become my personal trigger and it's so refreshing to find a new adult book marketed as such!
When a "fantasy" book has characters who are older than 19 YO and feature explicit sex scenes there shouldn't be: a) False advertisement shoved through Goodreads on underage readers throats using Listopia and the Goodreads choice awards to give the impression that said book is a Young adult book
b) Campaigns to vote up and protect from erasing certain books in what is in my opinion big publishers' self-promotional lists aimed to promote new releases to underage readers (meaning YA 2017, YA 2018, YA 2019 lists in goodreads) Distrust those lists my friends! Plenty of books there are New adult and heavy on sex!
c) Censorship and campaigns against the few honest reviewers who mention explicit sex scenes in books marketed towards underage readers. (Note to goodreads employees and editors, please stop trying to hide the information we readers need to make informed decisions before reading a book.)
So in spite of the current state of the Goodreads community regarding false advertising (they will probably hide/censor this review) I'll be honest in this review disregarding the consequences (Note: Thalassa isn't pretending her book is Young adult, she has been very upfront and HONEST about the genre of her book and I commend her for that.) : Pestilence isn't a Young adult book, it's a New adult as the MC's are all older than 18 and there are explicit sex scenes. Plus there are some graphic scenes of torture and a massive epidemic. However, that's the brilliance of this book: Not many authors can weave brutality and romance the way Thalassa does. She did it before in her Fallen world series (one of my favorite New adult dystopias) and she did it again with pestilence. I'm impressed with Thalassa's writing ability.
Is this book perfect? Is this book for everybody? Honestly, no, but what book is? As I said, if violence and sex are your triggers perhaps you should skip it (you'd be missing out, but hey, we like what we like). The hero, Pestilence, is very stubborn about (view spoiler)[his mission of wiping out the human race, and he won't change his mind until almost the very end of the book, so a huge amount of human lives will be lost. However, the author makes a great job making you understand why he does this and you don't hate him. (hide spoiler)] I personally think that Thalassa could have made the violence of her post-apolyptic world way worse, but she didn't. She knew where to draw the line to make her book a very enjoyable experience and not one that will keep your bile rising up. I thought the combination of horror and romance was beautifully done.
[image]
So Pestilence starts 5 Years after The Four Horsemen of the apocalypse appeared on Earth. Pest is the first one to start their mission of wiping out the human race from Earth, and he takes his mission seriously. The internet has failed and some people aren't sure of what's going on. Several people have tried to kill Pestilence, but he's immortal. Sara doesn't know this and when her own attempt to kill Pest fails she'll become her prisoner. Cool isn't it? And let me tell you something. Pest is really sadistic at the beginning. He seems to have been observing for years how low our kind can scoop (Hitler? Rwanda? Bosnia? Sandy Hook?) and he'll hurt Sara physically so much that at one point you'll be wondering: Is this really a romance? To be honest I almost DNF at certain point. I can't stand a hero torturing the heroine and then root for her tofall in love with him. That's not romantic, but hang in there my dear romance-loving friends. Later in the book we'll be able to see why Pestilence is the way he is, and why he isn't the bad guy.
After a journey all over post-apocalyptic North America (think Angelfall) and several close encounters with death, a crucial point comes for Pestilence and Sara when they meet Rob and Ruth, an elderly couple. Rob and Ruth know what kind of death awaits to the ones who come close to Pestilence, yet they are religious, wise people. They realize Pest isn't a bad man, they know he's not doing what he does for fun and they above all notice the kind of feelings that are brewing inside him. He's already in love with Sara and it shows! So they'll welcome death with open arms after a long life of shared love and shared hardships. Honestly, I couldn't love this couple more. From their encounter with these two something changes in both, Sara and Pest and they'll start their own path through redemption. Through love, with love, because love. I thought that was beautiful!
Religion is managed well IMHO. Nothing is offensive or contradictory to the beliefs of the Abrahamic creeds: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Have you read City of bones or Angelfall? Both are insanely popular books that IMHO have a more risky, potentially offensive approach to religion. Jace the hero of City of Bones says that although he is a nephilim and has been blessed by the Angel Raziel he hasn't seen anything that makes him believe in God, he's convinced that even if God existed (and he doesn't bet on it) we are on our own. Archangel Raphael the hero of the Angelfall series is an atheist and he isn't even convinced God created him. Does this sound risky and potentially offensive to bible readers? It isn't, considering both books are insanely popular. In comparison Pestilence handles the religious talk in a more neutral way IMHO. According to Pestilence God exists, but Pest is convinced God is beyond religions so all religions deserve respect. I personally loved the way religion was handled here. It discusses religion in a non-religious way. Brilliant!
Two minor issues I had with this book: The ending and not enough grovel (view spoiler)[Hero trapped h when she tries to break up with him. I gave it a pass because he doesn't have experience with human relationships and she was very sick at the time, not trapping her could have lead to her death. I only wish he had groveled! and the cliffhanger ending. We got a HEA, but the Epilogue is 5 years after the final chapter and it opens a Pandora box. Our H and h are happy, but for how long? (hide spoiler)]
This book deserves all the praise is getting and I'm recommending this to my friends who loved New adult dystopian books.
SAFETY INFO (view spoiler)[No OW, No OM activity Bareback sex, but he's a virgin H tortures h at the beginning of the book. Not enough groveling NO CHEATING Some graphic violence (hide spoiler)]
=================
Pre reading thoughts Beautiful cover?
[image] No fake advertising? This is New adult paranormal/fantasy advertised as such. Amazing blurb? A talented New adult author who as far as I remember never writes cheating heroes or heroines? Enemies to lover trope? Edgy like The Fallen world series? Based on Apocalypsis mythology? Standalone?
I love it! I don't think it's MY Warner's eye? I love that it matches perfectly the rest of the covers *****UPDATE OCTOBER 6TH COVER REVEAL****
[image]
I love it! I don't think it's MY Warner's eye? I love that it matches perfectly the rest of the covers of the previous books!
I always imagine my man Warner's eye more masculine.
Are you new to the Shatter me series? I have to tell you that the series start in the young adult side and by book 3 we have more sex. Not graphic, mostly sensual imagery, nothing like the jump between Throne of glass book 1 (upper young adult) to almost porn XXX content that you'll find in Empire of storms book 5 of TOG (new adult/adult). But the financial success of this approach, starting as young adult and then change to new adult/erotica as the series progress, might become a trend, specially in books from the big publishing houses. Using some booktubers and sites like Kirkus reviews and Common sense media to hide the problematic content of a book is also common practice of the big publishing houses.
Either way I think it's time for honest reviewers, booktubers and librarians, to add information of sexual content and not try to cover it up as it has been the case with the erotic content of Sarah J Maas books. My friends read YA because they think , wrongly, that it's a sexless genre. We need this information of the content we'll find in a book to make informed decisions. I wonder how many parents really know about this tendency of market New adult/adult books with erotic content as safe for underage readers. Either way If I were you I wouldn't give certain series as a gift to underage readers now that Christmas season is approaching.
Don't take me wrong. I love the idea of Warner sexy times if that was the case. This book might actually sell more if the Publishers advertise as Warner sexy times! This is 2017 and new adult is a very respectable genre. Just add warnings in the blurb and make sure the reviewers mention this. Don't make reviewers and booktubers hide this information.
Is there an honest goodreads librarian reading this? Could you please add sexual content disclaimers in the Goodreads blurbs of A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, Ignite me and Empire of storms ?
Original prereading thoughts:
This has to be my most anticipated book of 2018! I just can't wait.
I just hope Mafi doesn't take the A court of mist and fury route and starts to write erotic scenes in a book marketed as Young adult. Ignite me was pretty much new adult, and I like that, but I'm tired of publishers and authors shoving sex-scenes down young readers throats without proper warnings. We have enough authors selling erotica to children like Elle Kennedy and Sarah J Maas without Mafi joining the crowd....more
This book was such an emotional rollercoaster! I laughed, cried, raged (because OW and OM, seriously authors stop doing that!!!) swoon (repeatedly) anThis book was such an emotional rollercoaster! I laughed, cried, raged (because OW and OM, seriously authors stop doing that!!!) swoon (repeatedly) and overall enjoyed myself. I'm so reading the sequel but I can't give this book 5 stars because it has everything I hate in a book and more! (view spoiler)[ 1) Slutshaming, seriously authors you are women, too. Will you ever stop condeming other women's sexual decisions? It was particularly annoying here because h might be subject of slutshaming in other books and in real life because she sleeps around a lot! Who does she think she is to call Zoe a slut?
2) OW and OM. In real life, I can understand when people sleep around as long as no one gets hurt, but in this story everybody got hurt! This is supposed to be a romance book. I didn't need a full, graphic detail of what happened between h and Paris... I meant Connor. The romance was ruined for me, but there was something about the writing that kept me reading.
3) Heroine wasn't H's first love, and his reason to act like a douche made me think that this Vanessa girl was more important to him than Cassie at that moment. Cassie was supposed to be the love of his life so all this mentioning of OW are so off-putting. This isn't a safe read. (hide spoiler)]
It might seem that I hated the book, but I didn't. In fact, Ethan is already one of my book boyfriends, (provisionally, I hope book 2 doesn't ruin him) but I won't fancast him like I do in some of my reviews. Not until I finish book 2 and until I find a gif. I need a gif for this book. Not of the hero but of the reaction he brings on Cassie.
Does anyone have a slow-clapping-vagina gif??? LOL I'll need it for my review! Cassie's train of thought was rather silly that way.
I want to write a longer review because Cassie's first time and the things I love about this book deserve more!!! If I had to choose my top 10 defloration scenes in books Cassie's will be certainly one of them. So sweet! I felt like I was there. I also love the sexual chemistry and all the description of their casting, their rehearsals, their acting classes. It was fascinating.
I'm on book 2 now.
So does anyone have a slow-clapping vagina gif? LOL I'll need one for my longer review....more
3.5 stars! No slut shaming no cheating no womanizers!!
Henry Cavill as Joshua! [image]
Note for Harper Collins and Children bloomsburry imprints:
New adu3.5 stars! No slut shaming no cheating no womanizers!!
Henry Cavill as Joshua! [image]
Note for Harper Collins and Children bloomsburry imprints:
New adult exists!
New adult is a genre!
Admit it!
Plenty of readers want to read New adult! Why do you keep pretending that New adult reads like A court of Mist and Fury and in this case The hating game are something that they aren't? Why do you mislead readers?
[image]
Readers like to read sex scenes and the readers who prefer clean reads should know what they're getting into.
This book isn't chick lit IMHO. This is New adult/erotica
Don't let the chick lit cover trick you, the sex scenes are graphic and steamy and this could fall easily in the New adult category (because the characters don't act like they're adults) and even erotica! Chick lit as far as I remember isn't as graphic as erotica and this book is graphic. It's 2017 dear publishers! People are more willing to admit that they like to read smut. A court of mist and fury is New adult no matter if you publish under a children's imprint name and any reader or GR librarian who denies it is lying.
So this New adult/erotica book coud have passed as chick lit had the erotic scenes been less graphic (no complaining! They were great!!) and if there had been more laughs.
I recommend this book to my safety gang. Is it hilarious? I don't think it is. I read this after re-reading another New adult book that is pretending to be what it isn't called Love me never. That book my friends is hilarious! I didn't get a lot of laughs from this one, that's why I don't consider it chick lit. I usually get more laughs and less smut moments with chick lit reads.
This wasn't as funny for me as books from other genres that aren't supposed to be funny like dystopian romance, and paranormal romance. Love-hate books should contain more and wittier banter. That's why I'm only giving 3 stars. And those stars are mostly for Joshua!
Joshua is adorable! He's not disloyal, he challenges the heroine without being abusive and he doesn't cheat. As of late non-cheating heroes are so difficult to find in contemporary romance! I really loved his chemistry with Lucinda! He has this bad boy vibe without ever crossing the line into abusive behaviour. I dont' think he slept around but perhaps I didn't pay attention?
Lucy's train of thought never made sense to me, and Danny appeared too much for my taste. I also thought that the cliche "hero taking care of sick heroine" scene took too many pages. Those are minor complains, in general this was a good book.
If you're looking for a low angst read featuring a non cheating, no manwhore hero this is a good option....more
When you want to read a romantic slow burner no violence and no insta-love Mariana Zapata is your author. I'm not saying I don't enjoy instant attractWhen you want to read a romantic slow burner no violence and no insta-love Mariana Zapata is your author. I'm not saying I don't enjoy instant attraction, but I also like to see the couple falling slowly into each other and get to know them. Good job on this one Mrs Zapata....more
UNSAFE READ ALERT! OTHER WOMAN DRAMA UNSAFE READ ALERT! OTHER WOMAN DRAMA
Dropping two stars and maybe dropping the series for good.
SUpdate 10-14-2017
UNSAFE READ ALERT! OTHER WOMAN DRAMA UNSAFE READ ALERT! OTHER WOMAN DRAMA
Dropping two stars and maybe dropping the series for good.
Spoiler for this book and the sequels (view spoiler)[ Jack, the hero, works as a escort and at first I was okay with that because, he says that sex is rarely part of his job, he says that women usually hire him for non-sex stuff, like for making exes jealous or him going with them to proms and events. Stupid me! I believed him! I'm trying to read book 2 and after Jack and Isis kiss he not only keeps his job but his relationship with an ex-flame is stronger than I thought. If you don't like love triangles F/M/F avoid this series. That's a shame because Isis is one of my favorite heroines, she has serious self-esteem issues and she hides behind her humorous facade to try to survive. A heroine like her deserved better! Please don't tell me that's not cheating because he's not officialy dating Isis! It's 100% disloyal and stupid! I hate it.
Also he kind of dates platonically (at Isis insistance) one of heroine's best friends. It's a very platonic relationship that seems to be only to make Isis happy, but now that I know he's so close to Sophia I see his dating Kayla as weak, disloyal and traitorous. (hide spoiler)]
I'm taking back everything nice I said about Jack Hunter. I'm so glad I didn't pay for book two!
Original review. I feel tempted to erase it, but my friends liked it already so I won't eraset I'll just hide under spoilers.
4 I-couldn't-stop-reading-I-couldn't-stop laughing stars Thank you so much The dreamer for the book recommendation. I loved it. I thought that Cassandra Clare, J.K Rowling, and Jennifer L. Armentrout were the authors to go when you want to read cute bantering and female characters with the wittiest comebacks. I was wrong. Not even Isabelle Lightwood can contest Isis Blake's sass. The first 50% of the book was text-book of how to write a heroine with the smartest comebacks and the sassiest dialogue. Even her internal monologues were so entertaining. And she spoke some of her internal monologue aloud! Even better: she never became embarrassed about it! She's crazy like that.
[image]
Practically every page of the first half of the book is full of funny dialogue. I don't recommend reading this in public. It's very difficult to keep a straight face while reading this book.
That's not to say that I didn't find problems with this book. I'll address those later, but the fact that the protagonist Isis Blake is a Gem difficult to find in contemporary "romance" (notice the quotations in romance, I'll address that later) makes me want to give not 5 but 6 stars.
Isis Blake is a force of nature. One of the most complex heroines I've read in recent years. She's completly and unapologetically crazy, she can be as immature and childish as a 5-year-old one minute, and a very loyal friend the next. She can plant weed on a locker to get revenge of her enemies and then go home to cook dinner and take care of her depressed mother. She could be the girl you'd like to be your friend or the crazy freak you'd want to keep at an arm's length because she's just so unpredictable and so unapologetic. I personally wanted to hug her and offer her comfort. From the moment I read the first pages and the way Isis feels about love I knew that she had been hurt, both physically and emotionally and that all that humor, all those contradictory attitudes (one minute she calls herself ugly and feels insecure, another minute someone tries to bully her and she'll rise to the occasion by jokingly calling herself "hot") seemed to be rooted in her need to fight against the people who hurt her, against her internal demons, against her tragic past. I really got to understand her character and to feel as though she could be any girl I know. She's like a young Lorelai Gilmore (watch the Gilmore girls if you haven't) Lisbet Salender (watch the girl with the dragon tatoo Fincher's version) Buffy the Vampire slayer, and Jenna Hamilton from Awkward. Except Isis is wittier, sassier and way much more broken inside than all the other women I mentioned.
Maybe it's not so much that she's so strong as much of the fact that she's constant and true to herself and never acts OCC. To be honest I've read contemporary heroines that are sassy and strong, too. The problem is that at some point they act stupidly or more like the authors make them act stupidly. Isis can be silly at times, but never stupid. That wasn't a problem with this book, although there were other problems, but none of them were major for me. The hero compensated for that and now I don't even know if I should enter into detail into those problems as they are very personal. I feel most readers wont' have any problems reading this book unless they hate dark topics. Even if you don't relate or like the heroine at the very least I'm sure you'll finish the book quickly and be thoroughly entertained and laughing and enjoying the crazy situations. This is a good mix of comedy and dark topics.
I love Jack Hunter. He reminds me so much of another favorite of mine Aleksey from The V Girl UPDATE, I TAKE THAT BACK! JACK ISN'T LOYAL and he has eyes for other women !!!hate him!! I'm recommending this book to my group of friends who love Aleksey as much as I do. The leonine silent attitude. The fact that Jack's not a manwhore. He's a silent, broody jackass that can also be very caring. He challenges the heroine and protects her at the same time and their first encounter is in a situation in which both are in opposite sides of the war. He can be hurtful one minute and then dress as Jack Sparrow the next because he knows that SHE is crazy for (and as crazy as) Jack Sparrow. I love that so much. My only problem with him is that (view spoiler)[ unlike Aleksey who never loved anyone else, Jack seems too attached to a girl in his past. It's clear that he loves her in a way that isn't clear to me, does he love OW as a sister? or does he have other feelings? Love triangles aren't my thing. If he's really into that girl (I'm crossing finger the sequel won't be about that) I think he might enter the category of disloyal heroes, because he kind of dates one of Isis's friends (not exactly date, more like letting the girl kiss him so the friend would be happy and Isis would lower her guard and smile more) and I don't know if he's being disloyal or not to this other girl. And if he really loved her at one point that will ruin the book for me. I want him to love only Isis. (hide spoiler)]
WARNINGS with potential spoilers: This book follows the tendency of late to include strong language, dark situations (prostitution, PSTD, rape attempt, date rape attempt, suicide, bullying, drugs) in a YA read. There's no nudity or sexual situations (a descriptive make out with clothes on happens) , but just beware that lately YA romance is becoming more and more edgy. Also at the end of the book some situations will require your suspension of disbelief.
I'm recommending this book to fans of the enemies to lovers trope and fans of cute banter and slow burners. Perhaps also the fans of The coincidence of Kayden and Callie will enjoy this book (because there's pain behind the MC's attitudes) and the fans of Paper princess will enjoy the love-hate relationship and the reality-show-soap-opera situations full of drama. (hide spoiler)] Taking back everything I said about the romance in my original review, the 3 stars are all for Isis! That girl deserved more! After all the pain she went through, it's so unfair.
I'm upset! This is the last time I read unfinished contempoary series. I swear! (view spoiler)[Cheating (hide spoiler)] in the sequels is the worst!
Read if you want to laugh, but don't expect a loyal hero....more
[image]UPDATE APRIL 17TH ADDING PARENTAL GUIDANCE AND SAFETY WARNINGS because kirkus reviews, some GR librarians and most booktubers won't tell you th[image]UPDATE APRIL 17TH ADDING PARENTAL GUIDANCE AND SAFETY WARNINGS because kirkus reviews, some GR librarians and most booktubers won't tell you the truth. This is an EROTICA BOOK, not a YA book.
I repeat: THIS BOOK IS AN EROTICA BOOK, not a YA book. Or maybe you can call it an in-between ADULT AND UPPER YA meaning . NEW ADULT BOOK, plus it has certain influence from self-published Paranormal romance ( Shay Savage's Transcendence? Anyone?) so yes this is new adult at its best.
The sex scenes are the most descriptives ever in a book marketed falsely as YA. Meaning that there's no fade to black at any description of sexual activity. Think of Transcendence, Fifty shades of grey and Archer's voice kind of level of graphicdescription
So don't think the sex scenes of A court of mist and fury are on the same level of PG "graphic sex-scenes" found in reads such like Clockwork Princess, Opal, The fault in our stars, Graceling, Breaking dawn, City of heavenly fire and other upper young adult reads. I'll repeat The sex scenes in ACOMAF are closer to Fifty shades, Transcendence and the immortal after dark series because again: NO FADE TO BLACK during the most intense, schmexy, making love moments Kirkus reviews, some GR librarians and anyone who tells you the contrary is lying.
*********PARENTAL GUIDANCE triggers *********** SEX/NUDITY 10 out 10 As I said before no fade to black during the schmexy moments, no metaphores, no sensual imagery but the straight vivid image of nudity and sex. I won't mention all the moments because there are too many, but I'll tell you where you'll find the most descriptive in the american hardcover version: You can read some of it in my updates
Pages 21, 22 (view spoiler)[A faery woman is descriptively fingered by someone different than the hero, then she has descriptive sex, then oral, descriptions of the fluids and the nudity and the action in vivid detail. (hide spoiler)]
Pages 471, 472, 473, 474. 475 (view spoiler)[A faery woman is fingered to orgasm by the heroe(different guy from the pages 21-22), partial nudity, but this scene takes a quite few pages and it's an erotic scene, not just a sex scenes, but the purpose seems to be to be to turn on the reader. (hide spoiler)]
Pages 530, 531, 532, 533, the orgasm that shatters the mountains: (view spoiler)[a pair of lovers heroine and hero have sex including oral, vidid description of the action, use of the word "cock" (hide spoiler)]
Pages 538 and 539 (view spoiler)[vivid descrption of oral (fellatio):P but they call it licking LOL. (hide spoiler)]
I think those are the most detailed graphic scenes. The rest of sex scenes aren't that vivid IMHO but they're still there. Anyone who wants to tell me that I'm exaggerating and that the sex-scenes aren't descriptive or that this book isn't erotica I challenge you: If you're an adult Read aloud the content of these pages to a group of underage kids and see if you don't find yourself in trouble. If you aren't, read it to your parents and see if you don't blush.
VIOLENCE/GORE 7 out of 10 (view spoiler)[ Descriptions of torture to Fae people, to humans, PTSD symptons, portrayal of an abusive relationship, brief mention of gang rape, nothing graphic, it was part of the background of one of the main characters: Descriptive action scenes, where some fae people die. (hide spoiler)]
PROFANITY 8/10 (view spoiler)[ Multiple penis references, the use of the word cock (BTW, you'll never find the word "cock" in Fifty shades books. sexual terms, some cursing (hide spoiler)]
SUBSTANCE USE (view spoiler)[ In this "fantasy" world there are shops and night clubs, imagine like a fantasy modern big city, so there are pubs. The MC's drink for fun and go to dance in those night clubs. (hide spoiler)]
SAFETY ISSUES This is for my friends who prefer readings with no cheating no OW (other woman) and OM (other men) (view spoiler)[ As I said in page 20-21 we have a very descriptive sex scene of heroine with other man. That's because in book 1 the hero was Tamlin and he got engaged with heroine, but most readers including me were rooting for Rhysand the villain, so that scene is hard to stomach. Tamlin becomes a jerk and Feyre flees, but there's a little bit of Feyre inner thoughts thinking she is being disloyal to Tamlin when she starts to fall for Rhysand. So there's this kind of love triangle going on. We know she won't back to Tamlin but there's still this kind of doubts, nothing super trianglish, but there. Not totally free of the triangle (hide spoiler)]
Conclusion Honest question. I'm not a supporter of censorship, but like my friend Stephanie says: If there's a PG rating for movies... why not for books? I'm not against kids reading sex. I'm against fake marketing and lack of warnings. Children's bloomsbury should have added warning of sexual content in the cover of this book, on the blurb and market it as an adult book. If kids wants to read Fifty shades of grey I'm no one to judge, they already know what they will encounter. But diving into ACOMAF not knowing that there's EROTIC scenes because a famous booktuber "forgot" to add warnings at the beginning of her non-spoiler review or because Kirkus deems the EROTIC scenes appropiate for 14 years old or because Booktopia (Australian book retailer) labels this book as appropiate for 12 YO readers is just wrong IMHO. But whatever! I still love this book.
***************PREVIOUS UPDATES AND ORIGINAL REVIEW********************** Update: This should be easily the best New adult read of 2016. This book is New adult, not Young adult. Clearly the best YA book this year is Lady Midnight, I hope readers vote correctly so both books have a chance to get a well-deserved prize. Lady Midnight is YA and ACOMAF is NA and the best book of 2016.
Ian as Rhys!
[image]
I'll start this review with warnings and some might be a little bit spoilery, but you need to have this information to really appreciate the beauty of this book.
[image]
[image]
You might hate this book if: * You were seriously rooting for Tamlin and Fayre. * You don't like Rhys. * You hate love triangles and don't get fooled or deceived by the most voted goodreads review. This is totally a love triangle as far as this book goes, but I'll explain later why I think this works. *(view spoiler)[* You hate shifting in the couples. (hide spoiler)] This is Sarah J Maas, we knew she was going to do this, it was hinted all over the first book. * You prefer plot-driven books, over character-driven books. This book is more about the evolution of the characters, the building up of the relationships and it's not for lovers of complicated plot and action scenes and adventure. This book is more about romance, backstory and relationship building. I loved that! Give me more of that. Plots are overrated. I need relationships, I need emotions. * If you were too attached to the storylines of the first book. (view spoiler)[ most of the first book arcs went away, threw to the trash, to give room to the new couple and you'll miss Lucien so much (hide spoiler)] * If you hate long books. * If you hate when NA books are marketed as YA. That's so common lately.
Having said all that. We have a winner! [image]
I'll admit that the first book wasn't stellar. It was good, but nothing special.This one, my friends? I couldn't put it down. The first part of the book for some reason didn't appeal to me. I don't know why. I was struggling through it. I think this is a book that you need to read slowly, in your bed, preferably with a furry pet and a cup of coffee near you. Its Sarah J. Maas vivid imagination and beautiful prose at her best. I think some people will find her style slow and overdescriptive, but that's the beauty of this book. You can spend days with it and you don't want it to end. The writing is very good and the story is extremely compelling.
Once I reached the middle part, wow, just wow! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I couldn't and wouldn't stop reading.
It goes without saying that I'm a huge Rhys fan. I kept imagining Ian Somerhalder as Rhys even since the first book and I was so happy to see how relevant he became in this book.
[image]
How hot are the sex scenes? I read a lot of classic romance and New adult, so I don't think they were graphic. But that's what I prefer. I want the relationship between the couple to evolve, grow and shine before they get into bed. I thought it was good and as a new adult reader that is getting TIRED of the same storylines of new adult, I always welcome a New adult books in other genres, such as fantasy, paranormal steampunk and dystopia. I want Sarah to keep writing sex scenes, just I want a sort of warning for the younger readers? I think that's the ethical thing to do. Seriously publishers and authors: Stop trying to shove sex down the throats of young people. (sounded weird, but it's true) Give a proper warning and then we can enjoy the book better. People who like clean reads, can avoid this one at least be warned that there's sex content, and people who like sex will buy it MORE because sex sells right?. Everyone wins.
Now the love triangle. I was so pissed-off when I read Throne of glass with the switching in love interests that I could never root for Caelena, never got to know her, never got to appreciate her evolution or relate for her.
In this series, and thanks to the AMAZING transformation of Fayre, for the first time, and as much as I love RHys and I want him and Fayre together, I'm rooting for Fayre more. If she ends up alone, if she chooses Tamlin over Rhys, although I hope that's not the case, I'll be fine. I want her to be happy, no matter with whom and that's a first for my romantic, monogamist heart. I usually hate when the couple I'm rooting for doesn't end up together and that's why I hate love triangles, but here I'm not team Rhys, I'm not team Tamlin, I'm team Fayre and I hope that in the third book she gets to keep all the awesomeness she displayed on this one. She became a whole different person, strong and badass.
The ending is such a cliffhanger, but I was expecting that. Usually second books in a series are.
To wrap up my review I only have to say that this book is much better than the first one if you don't belong to any of the categories I mentioned before. Would I recommend this book? Hell yes! but take a look at my list of warnings, if you don't belong to any of the list categories you totally should give a chance to this series. This is, so far, way much better than Throne of glass. It's a whole different level.
I need more of Rhys and Fayre, it's going to be a long wait. Best book of 2016!
UPDATE APRIL 5TH Apparently the fake marketing is because the publishing company doesn't want the label New adult attached to this book. Link to reviewers that have mentioned that this book is New adult or erotica for children, I'm including positive and negative reviews
Warnings I want to set the example and start to write reviews for YA books with warnings for nudity, violence and dark themes. Thanks to ACOMAF (a courWarnings I want to set the example and start to write reviews for YA books with warnings for nudity, violence and dark themes. Thanks to ACOMAF (a court of mist and fury) trying to pretend that it's a YA book when in reality it's a NA book and then shove sex scenes in young readers throats, I've been asking my GR friends to add trigger warnings in YA books.
Nudity: None Graphic sex: None Gore and blood: (view spoiler)[ Some of it. At times it reads more like adult horror fare than YA, but it's only a couple of scenes. In this post-apocalyptic world some people are being fed to monsters and it's a disturbing scene (hide spoiler)] Dark themes: Some but that's what I love about it. (view spoiler)[ there's a mention of married women so desperate to get food that they try to get work as prostitutes for the angels. Nothing too graphic, but it's there. The crazyness of the mother seems to imply some child abuse. (hide spoiler)] Violence: Some, it borders horror but it compensates with playful banter and action scenes so it's never depressing or too scary
[image]
Ian Somerhalder as Raffe! That elfic face!! He'd be perfect.
Recently one of my best GR friends created a poll for underrated books and I had to mention this one. Other than some enthusiastic fans in GR, devianart and Tumblr it's not like the fandom is big and it deserves to be one of the biggest fandoms ever! This is one of the best Post-apocalyptic books I've read! It combines paranormal romance, with action. And the best is that you can recommend it to your male friends because it's action packed and the romance isn't central, but it's still a huge part of the book.
This book portrays Angels in a different light. They trigger the end of the world and have the humankind hiding for fear of them. Penryn Young is one of the few survivors in the San Francisco Area. She's fierce and bad ass and one of the best heroines ever. She's somehow in charge of her family, her sister Paige and a very crazy mom.
While moving from one post-apocalyptic place to another Penryn witnesses an angel fight. Raffe single-handly figthing four angels more and putting a very good fight at that. Still outnumbered and weakened when they cut his wings, he ends up under the care of Penryn.
Penryn and Raffe have a rough start and they even try to hurt each other at one point, but later they start to trust each other. Like in any love-hate relationship book, we find sassy dialogue and funny banter. While we follow Penryn and Raffe in their journey through devasted Sillicon Valley to find Paige we enter a world of horror and destruction and we discover that the angels are fighting for power and that some scheming and political games will affect humans. Very intriguing and very well-woven.
This book is the one that initiated me into indie authors like four years ago. I used to see indie titles here and there and I always thought that they wouldn't be any good because if the big publishing companies didn't want them, it must be because something was bad with indies. That's what I thought by then. Then I read this book and I can tell you: THis books is as good if not better than plenty of YA titles by big publishers. The pace is flawless, the plot is excellent, the writing compelling and it's never boring. YOu may or may not like this book, but you won't get bored. I finished it in one sitting and I have re-read it multiple times.
I'd say the violence in this book might scare readers under 13? I don't know, some times young kids love gory stuff. Other than that and some dark themes I think that this book is good for 14 and older readers.
Give this book a chance. If you're not used to read dystopias or post-apocalyptic books I think this one can be a very good option for your first dystopia because it's easy to read, fast-paced, action-packed and still it has some romantic elements. Penryn and Raffe are a great couple and their sexual tension is off-the charts. I also appreciate that like many YA heroes, Raffe is way more mature than plenty of adult books heroes. He's one of my favorite book boyfriends.
This book ends in a huge cliffhanger but thankfully the series is complete.
If you're a Kindle Unlimited user don't pass the chance to borrow this book and its sequels. Believe me, you won't get bored.
[image]UPDATE APRIL 12TH ADDING PARENTAL GUIDANCE AND SAFETY WARNINGS because kirkus reviews, some GR librarians and most booktubers won't tell you th[image]UPDATE APRIL 12TH ADDING PARENTAL GUIDANCE AND SAFETY WARNINGS because kirkus reviews, some GR librarians and most booktubers won't tell you the truth. This is a New adult book not as close to erotica as ACOMAF but still. I'm also changing my original 5 rating to a 3.5 rating
PARENTAL GUIDANCE SEX/NUDITY 8 out 10 (view spoiler)[Descriptive make outs. Heroine is sleeping with a villager at the beginning of the book but it's not a graphic scene, some nudity descriptions, a graphic sex scene,including oral, between Tamlin and Feyre . Ritual sex is mentioned as part of a ceremony called Calanmai (hide spoiler)]
VIOLENCE/GORE 7 out of 10 (view spoiler)[ descriptions of torture to heroine, some of it by one of the love interests (Rhysand), a villager is burned alive during days because the villains mistook her for the heroine. The elder sisters of the heroine are emotionally abusive and unhelpful, they reap the benefits of heroine's sacrifices for themselves without lifting a finger. (hide spoiler)]
SUBSTANCE USE 6/10 as every single character in this book is 19 or older or a milleneal ancient fae alcohol consumption is present. Mostly at meals and during a ceremony called Calanmai
SAFETY WARNINGS
(view spoiler)[In this series we have two heroes: Tamlin is the love interest in book 1 and he has sex with another woman after meeting the heroine because it's part of a certain FAE ceremony that keeps fae strong. They aren't together yet so it's not exactly cheating but that's the reason I didn't connect with Tamlin. Well the OW sex and the whole begging- on-his- knees- to- a -rival- for- the -heroine's -safety. That was just stupid. (hide spoiler)]
In book 2 (view spoiler)[the love interest switches, Rhysand who appears as the villain in book 1 becomes love interest and Tamlin becomes a jerk, no one roots for Tamlin after chapter 4 because he acts stupidly. But we get a very graphic sex scene of heroine and Tamlin together at the beginning of A COURT OF MIST AND FURY. As someone who is team rhysand I didn't enjoy that sex scene. I got very happy with the rest of the book because Tamlin dissapears and later there's a lot of sex with Rhysand, but yeah, this is an unsafe read. (hide spoiler)]
So my original rating changes to 3.5 I can't rate lower in spite of the safety issues because book 2 is one of my all time favourites.
Original review This has been an excellent year for me in books. This retelling of Beauty and the beast left me wanting more but it was totaly a worthy reading.
Sara J.Maas gets better with each book she writes I honestly like her style and her vivid imagination.
What I liked the most about this book was the romance. I wasn't expecting it'd be so well developed but I wantmore and even more.
I like this book better than red queen.
UPdate 05/04/2019 Just because this review was hidden from the main page of results....more
I loved this book. it kept me at the edge of my seat with so many twists and turns. I loved that Daemon was trying his best to win Kitten's trust and I loved this book. it kept me at the edge of my seat with so many twists and turns. I loved that Daemon was trying his best to win Kitten's trust and erase all the jack ass attitude of the first book.
Loading...
