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rae_derevencha's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.25
At first, I was eating this up feeling that it was giving Crescent City vibes in the best way... I lost a little bit of steam with some rushed exposition of world-building and plot hole patching around 70-80%, but I'm glad I trucked on because the twists at the end made me immediately want to pick up the next book to see what happens.
Premise: 6/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.75/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
(the quantity and quality is fine and okay, and it's not a driving force of the plot, but it is graphically depicted)
Premise: 6/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.75/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
(the quantity and quality is fine and okay, and it's not a driving force of the plot, but it is graphically depicted)
brosia88's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
justaromancereader's review against another edition
3.0
3.25/5
I flew through The Umbra King in the last few days, and I enjoyed it overall, although I wish it delved a little more into the world-building, and the relationships Rory had with her friends.
I liked Caius, even though he ran hot and cold initially. He did have solid reasons for staying away from Rory, so that made sense to me, and he ended up being unable to stay away from her. ;)
I found Rory just a touch immature with the way she responded in extremes at some points. But I do like that she stood up for herself and was pretty vocal about what she felt. I found it pretty crazy how many near death encounters Rory had considering Caius already had visions about her being in danger and they should've been able to prevent it.
I flew through The Umbra King in the last few days, and I enjoyed it overall, although I wish it delved a little more into the world-building, and the relationships Rory had with her friends.
I liked Caius, even though he ran hot and cold initially. He did have solid reasons for staying away from Rory, so that made sense to me, and he ended up being unable to stay away from her. ;)
I found Rory just a touch immature with the way she responded in extremes at some points. But I do like that she stood up for herself and was pretty vocal about what she felt. I found it pretty crazy how many near death encounters Rory had considering Caius already had visions about her being in danger and they should've been able to prevent it.
ariella_chukwu's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
honeylemondrop's review against another edition
3.0
I was nervous that I wouldn't like this book because the reviews were back and forth, but I in fact did like it. The world set up was interesting and I enjoyed the MC.
Spoiler
The MC who is serial killer but a GOOD serial killer--think vigilante. I enjoy her darkness. It is a little odd that she is praised for this considering she likes to strings up her victims and only messed up people would like that sort of thing, but hey girl has trauma AND spunk.sophiehasdell's review against another edition
4.0
nice when a book has just loads of characters to love
megster_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
megbrianne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
triciab04's review against another edition
2.75
This wasn't bad to me it was just sooooo basic. From the characters to the plot, it was bland and predictable. No surprises in the plot, I knew how it was going to play out from the very beginning. I hate to say it but the characters bored me, Rory the empathetic, caring serial killer and the "bad boy, shadow daddy" Umbra King that wasn't actually bad at all from the beginning. His whole freaking prison kingdom was a nice place to be that his "prisoners" actually liked more than the kingdom they're free in? Like WHAT?! It was giving kids timeout when they have a TV and game systems and iPads with a mini fridge in their room. Like oh noooos. Again, it wasn't BAD, the world was interesting and I enjoyed that. I just needed something more to make me have any interest in seeing where the story goes from here.