MILD SPOILERS DISCUSSED!

my initial rating for this book was 4.75 because i was high over heels for Haru and Nino but now that I’ve gotten sleep and managed to compile all of my thoughts over this book, it’s a 4.25!

My rating has many reasons:

The blurb claimed that this book’s a slow burn however I definitely did not get that in the book itself at all, their relationship significantly developed less than half a year, growing more intimate with each other with each interaction they had and honestly I’m not disliking that fact but it doesn’t execute to what the blurb initially had and may put that expectation onto the readers
because their relationship developed so fast, it didn’t give either Haru or Nino to really dwell into their thoughts and think (and you may not register that
Haru wanting to pull Nino’s aura out was actually the love confession because I definitely did not catch that [unless i’m wrong])
because whenever they’re in a dilemma, they just go for it and talk it out after instead of thinking it through and giving it time before executing whatever dilemma they have. But a good thing about the main characters is that they actually communicate. There’s no miscommunication in the book at all because they’re so patient with each other which is good
I wanted more action, I think this book was solely to introduce and develop the characters especially Nino and Haru, to let us see how their relationship builds and have the spotlight be solely on them but I think it was heavily outweighing the action that the book and I really wanted more. More about Gael, the mysterious purebred just more.
Politics. Honestly Ladislao came out of nowhere and the next thing you know
he’s gone
like,, he’s disgusting sure but ohhh my god we barely know anything about the dude
The often use of other languages. I think it’s a very good element in the book, very charming because we love multilingual kings <3 however there was a few parts in the book where there were no translations given and some mistranslation. I also think the author should do more research especially on traditional clothing before writing about it in the book because there was a few errors here and there

With these many flaws that I’ve pointed out, some may say that maybe my rating should be lower but honestly I think it’s just fine where it is now, I genuinely enjoyed what this book gave and the writing style was fine to me (I’ve read worse, however I do see why people may say this is ‘fanfiction’) and this definitely wasn’t a slow paced book at all!

Was the vampiric system original? Sure, I haven’t seen a vampire x vampire book before so this was definitely an interesting read, quite enjoyable honestly. The complex use of words should be noted though but other than that, thank you for reading my lengthy review and happy reading! <3

Content Warnings

dododenise's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The writing style made this a lot worse than it needed to be. I could not get over the fact that this book does not seem to know the words “man” or “woman” and instead always said “male” or “female”. It took me out of the moment ever time. But also generally, the writing style is a lot to be desired.
The romance was mediocre. It was supposed to be a slow burn but it was not very slow at all. Sure, no insta-love, but nothing that I would name slow burn. The development was weird and while I did like them together, it was missing some depth and essence.
The book also tried to do some world building and politics next to its romance but that fell flat completely. I did not care and I am not sure the book cared either. It should have let itself be a tacky vampire romance and not make it more complicated than it needed to be.

Content Warnings

kingrosereads's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Queer vampire romance in a modern world where humans and vampires coexist.

Haruka is a pureblood vampire from an ancient line with an imposing and intoxicating aura. Nino is also a pureblood vampire, but from a newer bloodline. The vampiric world also includes first, second, and third generation vampires as well as lower vampires that are closer to being human than vampire. Haruka and Nino are tasked with overseeing an archaic bonding ceremony when they befriend one another and begin researching vampire bonds together. They fall in love while overcoming building political tension, a kidnapping attempt, and aristocratic expectation.

The world building leaves much to be desired. I’m not really sure of the difference between pureblood and individual generational vampires. I’m also unsure of the vampire-human dynamic. Also, what is an aura? How can a vampire wield it? What other powers exist? Are bloodlines weakening because vampires feed from humans or have children with them? Or both? If it’s important to keep bloodlines pure, then no one is forcing hetero bonds (which I’m happy about, but doesn’t make sense for the vibe I get off the ruling class).

Also, there’s no real conflict building up. Other than Gael attacking Haruka twice, nothing’s brought up again. There’s some minimal background foreshadowing about political upheaval and another Great Vanishing, but nothing else. No plot just info dumping, and it’s not even relevant or good info.

I’m not sure if both Niko and Haruka are overly and ethereally beautiful or if that’s how they see each other or it’s just Haruka’s aura, but I’m a little over the “overly gorgeous” couples in romances. Both of them being wealthy aristocrats was also a bit meh for me. I love them as individuals, but enough rich people are happy.

The entire book is written in third person present tense. It took a while for me to realize what was bothering about the reading, and it was the style of writing. It was just off putting and a little irritating. Niko and Haruka were the only things keeping me going cause I thought they were cute enough to stay just interested in finishing the book. But I’m not going to continue the series. There’s just not much here.

Content Warnings

nutm3g's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

After finishing Lore & Lust two words come to mind from the experience, entertained and underwhelmed. It was hyped up to me and I honestly feel like there was a lot missing in world-building, plot, character/character development, and dialogue. I do enjoy the idea Karla had in mind, but it just seemed lacking. While I have yet to read the next two books in this series, it did feel as if all three books could have easily been combined and edited into one solid stand alone. I was really disappointed to not love this.

Content Warnings

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