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A review by laurreads
The Kraken's Sacrifice by Katee Robert
2.0
2-3 ☆s (i will explain, but the rest of this review contains spoilers)
Okay. I read this book 24 hours ago, and it took me about two hours (?) to read. This series is fun. It isn't high literature, it's easy to read, and they're quick to get through. Book 1 was interesting, and I liked it a decent amount. Book 2 was shorter (by only 8 pages, so probably 2 pages of actual text) and read just as quickly. I liked Catalina (most of the time), and I tolerated Thane. I liked Ramanu more in this one than the first. The plot... is questionable. Don't read this book for the plot! Read it for the smut (and to get to the third book, if you want to read that). Don't go into this book expecting things to make sense, move at a regular pace, or have any clear transitions.
TLDR for a huge thing you need to know about this series: time long, book short.
The book is 180 pages. In that length, multiple months pass, and people fall in love. Honestly, they're falling in love left and fucking right in these books. Time does NOT move normally. I think this series by Katee Robert could actually have appealed to a larger audience if she *expanded upon certain events and characters!* Ramanu and Catalina's friendship... more info please? Thane and Catalina's actual relationship... again, more? That time Thane *see below*... wtf? There are so many examples of this. I don't think it leaves plot holes, but that's because there is not a plot to put holes into! The plot is a hula hoop. But Katee Robert is a strong author! She writes fairly well, and this book obviously met it's audience in me! But will it work for you? I don't know!
Here's another thing: avoid this book (and series) if you do not like insta-love.
Book 1 AND book 2 have insta-love. Is some of the "insta" feeling coming from the book being so short and time passing so weirdly? Yes, but also, the human characters are agreeing to stay in the monster's kingdom FOREVER after a only few months of staying there! The whole deal is they stay for 7 years, and if they want to go back home, they can and they'll get their prize from Azazel. I can totally see why these women are choosing to stay. If my current partner was a cool demon guy who is somehow *even better* in bed, then yeah, I would stay! Sorry, not sorry! But I think it would take me at least some time to decide that the Kraken who is pointedly rude and *see below* is worth my time! Catalina, girl, spend some of that infinite money from Azazel on THERAPY and MEDICATION, and you will finally believe that you deserve love and find someone who loves you and treats you right (consistently)!
Another issue I had is Thane's obvious lack of care and respect for Catalina for the majority of the book. I continue this in the next two paragraphs, but Thane just doesn't seem to see Catalina as an independent person with thoughts and feelings and physical constraints. He is so pissed with Catalina after he chooses her (because he's mad at himself for thinking she's sexy), that he completely neglects Catalina's physical capabilities as a human and almost kills her trying to get her to his kingdom fast as hell? And then, she defends him. Sure, she doesn't want his territory taken away because she's empathetic. Whatever. But the fact that it's "no, he did nothing wrong" and not "yes, he did do something wrong, but we should try to give him another chance" blows my mind. And it's like that *every* time.
Another thing that gets me is the multiple abandonments. Thane completely abandons Catalina multiple times, despite her biggest traumas being related to abandonment and neglect. Granted, he doesn't know that about her, but it's disrespectful at BEST to abandon someone you just essentially bought, abusive at worst. He gets her to his kingdom, fucks her, and then is so mad at himself that he abandons her. She interacts with like, three people a handful of times, and she wants to get a job to give herself something to do, which leads to this "SEE BELOW" point I keep referring to. Why the hell does Thane lock her in a TOWER? ALONE? for A WEEK?
No, because, what the hell is going on? Let me get this straight. Catalina makes a deal with a demon to escape her terrible life. She meets a sexy kraken king who barely gives her the time of day for no reason other than she pranked him... kind of. They go to his kingdom, and he almost kills her. She tries to find a way to be helpful because she feels terrible and feels abandoned and lonely which are two huge triggers for her because of her aforementioned TERRIBLE LIFE. And then... he gets so nervous about her getting hurt & him getting in trouble that he decides he cannot be anywhere near her... So he takes her away, fucks her (no comfort, btw, despite it being a brat situation), and proceeds to LOCK HER IN A TOWER to eat only BREAD for a WEEK and have NO OUTSIDE CONTACT? HER BIGGEST TRIGGER? no cuz WHAT the hell was that. What was that, Katee? and then she defends Thane EVERY TIME he is questioned and decides to STAY WITH HIM FOREVER? what. i mean. seriously, what.
Thane really has no arc that makes sense. He's really mean to Catalina a lot of the time. After the tower situation, he doesn't go to her and apologize because he's worried that she's going to seduce him or something. To which I say, he'd be LUCKY if I ever breathed in his space AGAIN after that. For the majority of the book, he's sort of an asshole to her all the time, and then suddenly he's like "oh shit... she has feelings!" Okay, so, he doesn't think to ask about contraception (that he knows more about), she doesn't know anything about magic contraception, he gets her pregnant, and then we're supposed to cheer when he says "oh, I won't force you to get pregnant, and I'm okay with you 'getting rid of' the child"? I don't think that's okay with me. I don't know why I should cheer for a man having common decency and respect for women because they're people, too. He gets so mad at himself for not thinking about contraception that he talks to Catalina more about that than she talks about recovering from her ABORTION. huh?
Now, I'm sure you think I hated this book. If you loved this book, you're getting pissed. You might have stopped reading. If you're Katee Robert, I'm so sorry and I actually am not angry about anything. Truly, I'm just feeling so passionate. So sorry. Anyway! However, that is not true. I think this book was mainly fine. As you can see above, I took off 2-3 stars for good reasons. I could understand why people might take more off. Katee does do a great job of listing a lot of the triggers in the book, which is good, but I just don't know if we can really say that all of the triggers were necessary. If you want more info RE: triggers, check this out: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1069268?index1=-1&index2=-1
Here's the thing, I LOVED Catalina. Catalina SAVED this plot. I loved her. I could relate to her. She was beautiful. She was funny, and witty, and flirty, and cool, and strong. I only got upset with her when she just let Thane get away with stuff. I just think that she has gone through so much, and all she wants is someone to love her, but she can't figure out how to let them in in a "normal" or "typical" way. So she has to taunt him until he can't resist her anymore and then they have great sex during which she continues to be bratty. I loved her! She was a great and complex woman, and I wanted to see more of her!
Thane was okay. He pissed me off a lot. He took a lot of his feelings out on Catalina, and I feel like his personal growth was WAY too fast. I'm glad he learned and was occasionally nice to Catalina, but I also think he needed more time to simmer in the self-growth soup, you know what I mean? His saving grace is that he is a huge man with big hands and cool tentacles. Tentacles don't really do anything for me, but they clearly did for Catalina and that's what matters! He did things with his tentacles that I have not considered before. Catalina liked things that I do not know if I could enjoy. But! They both had fun!
Overall, I think that if you're already invested in this series, read this book and then keep going. If you haven't read this series and you're thinking of trying it, read The Dragon's Bride and then decide if you can tolerate that. If you can, try it out! If you're already irate after reading this review, don't! I think this is a really fun "brain-off" book, and if you can relax and get into it, it could be totally fun for you. Just don't go into it expecting "A Tale of Two Cities" (or whatever people think the peak of literature is right now). I am reading to have a good time, and Katee Robert gives it to me.
Okay. I read this book 24 hours ago, and it took me about two hours (?) to read. This series is fun. It isn't high literature, it's easy to read, and they're quick to get through. Book 1 was interesting, and I liked it a decent amount. Book 2 was shorter (by only 8 pages, so probably 2 pages of actual text) and read just as quickly. I liked Catalina (most of the time), and I tolerated Thane. I liked Ramanu more in this one than the first. The plot... is questionable. Don't read this book for the plot! Read it for the smut (and to get to the third book, if you want to read that). Don't go into this book expecting things to make sense, move at a regular pace, or have any clear transitions.
TLDR for a huge thing you need to know about this series: time long, book short.
The book is 180 pages. In that length, multiple months pass, and people fall in love. Honestly, they're falling in love left and fucking right in these books. Time does NOT move normally. I think this series by Katee Robert could actually have appealed to a larger audience if she *expanded upon certain events and characters!* Ramanu and Catalina's friendship... more info please? Thane and Catalina's actual relationship... again, more? That time Thane *see below*... wtf? There are so many examples of this. I don't think it leaves plot holes, but that's because there is not a plot to put holes into! The plot is a hula hoop. But Katee Robert is a strong author! She writes fairly well, and this book obviously met it's audience in me! But will it work for you? I don't know!
Here's another thing: avoid this book (and series) if you do not like insta-love.
Book 1 AND book 2 have insta-love. Is some of the "insta" feeling coming from the book being so short and time passing so weirdly? Yes, but also, the human characters are agreeing to stay in the monster's kingdom FOREVER after a only few months of staying there! The whole deal is they stay for 7 years, and if they want to go back home, they can and they'll get their prize from Azazel. I can totally see why these women are choosing to stay. If my current partner was a cool demon guy who is somehow *even better* in bed, then yeah, I would stay! Sorry, not sorry! But I think it would take me at least some time to decide that the Kraken who is pointedly rude and *see below* is worth my time! Catalina, girl, spend some of that infinite money from Azazel on THERAPY and MEDICATION, and you will finally believe that you deserve love and find someone who loves you and treats you right (consistently)!
Another issue I had is Thane's obvious lack of care and respect for Catalina for the majority of the book. I continue this in the next two paragraphs, but Thane just doesn't seem to see Catalina as an independent person with thoughts and feelings and physical constraints. He is so pissed with Catalina after he chooses her (because he's mad at himself for thinking she's sexy), that he completely neglects Catalina's physical capabilities as a human and almost kills her trying to get her to his kingdom fast as hell? And then, she defends him. Sure, she doesn't want his territory taken away because she's empathetic. Whatever. But the fact that it's "no, he did nothing wrong" and not "yes, he did do something wrong, but we should try to give him another chance" blows my mind. And it's like that *every* time.
Another thing that gets me is the multiple abandonments. Thane completely abandons Catalina multiple times, despite her biggest traumas being related to abandonment and neglect. Granted, he doesn't know that about her, but it's disrespectful at BEST to abandon someone you just essentially bought, abusive at worst. He gets her to his kingdom, fucks her, and then is so mad at himself that he abandons her. She interacts with like, three people a handful of times, and she wants to get a job to give herself something to do, which leads to this "SEE BELOW" point I keep referring to. Why the hell does Thane lock her in a TOWER? ALONE? for A WEEK?
No, because, what the hell is going on? Let me get this straight. Catalina makes a deal with a demon to escape her terrible life. She meets a sexy kraken king who barely gives her the time of day for no reason other than she pranked him... kind of. They go to his kingdom, and he almost kills her. She tries to find a way to be helpful because she feels terrible and feels abandoned and lonely which are two huge triggers for her because of her aforementioned TERRIBLE LIFE. And then... he gets so nervous about her getting hurt & him getting in trouble that he decides he cannot be anywhere near her... So he takes her away, fucks her (no comfort, btw, despite it being a brat situation), and proceeds to LOCK HER IN A TOWER to eat only BREAD for a WEEK and have NO OUTSIDE CONTACT? HER BIGGEST TRIGGER? no cuz WHAT the hell was that. What was that, Katee? and then she defends Thane EVERY TIME he is questioned and decides to STAY WITH HIM FOREVER? what. i mean. seriously, what.
Thane really has no arc that makes sense. He's really mean to Catalina a lot of the time. After the tower situation, he doesn't go to her and apologize because he's worried that she's going to seduce him or something. To which I say, he'd be LUCKY if I ever breathed in his space AGAIN after that. For the majority of the book, he's sort of an asshole to her all the time, and then suddenly he's like "oh shit... she has feelings!" Okay, so, he doesn't think to ask about contraception (that he knows more about), she doesn't know anything about magic contraception, he gets her pregnant, and then we're supposed to cheer when he says "oh, I won't force you to get pregnant, and I'm okay with you 'getting rid of' the child"? I don't think that's okay with me. I don't know why I should cheer for a man having common decency and respect for women because they're people, too. He gets so mad at himself for not thinking about contraception that he talks to Catalina more about that than she talks about recovering from her ABORTION. huh?
Now, I'm sure you think I hated this book. If you loved this book, you're getting pissed. You might have stopped reading. If you're Katee Robert, I'm so sorry and I actually am not angry about anything. Truly, I'm just feeling so passionate. So sorry. Anyway! However, that is not true. I think this book was mainly fine. As you can see above, I took off 2-3 stars for good reasons. I could understand why people might take more off. Katee does do a great job of listing a lot of the triggers in the book, which is good, but I just don't know if we can really say that all of the triggers were necessary. If you want more info RE: triggers, check this out: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1069268?index1=-1&index2=-1
Here's the thing, I LOVED Catalina. Catalina SAVED this plot. I loved her. I could relate to her. She was beautiful. She was funny, and witty, and flirty, and cool, and strong. I only got upset with her when she just let Thane get away with stuff. I just think that she has gone through so much, and all she wants is someone to love her, but she can't figure out how to let them in in a "normal" or "typical" way. So she has to taunt him until he can't resist her anymore and then they have great sex during which she continues to be bratty. I loved her! She was a great and complex woman, and I wanted to see more of her!
Thane was okay. He pissed me off a lot. He took a lot of his feelings out on Catalina, and I feel like his personal growth was WAY too fast. I'm glad he learned and was occasionally nice to Catalina, but I also think he needed more time to simmer in the self-growth soup, you know what I mean? His saving grace is that he is a huge man with big hands and cool tentacles. Tentacles don't really do anything for me, but they clearly did for Catalina and that's what matters! He did things with his tentacles that I have not considered before. Catalina liked things that I do not know if I could enjoy. But! They both had fun!
Overall, I think that if you're already invested in this series, read this book and then keep going. If you haven't read this series and you're thinking of trying it, read The Dragon's Bride and then decide if you can tolerate that. If you can, try it out! If you're already irate after reading this review, don't! I think this is a really fun "brain-off" book, and if you can relax and get into it, it could be totally fun for you. Just don't go into it expecting "A Tale of Two Cities" (or whatever people think the peak of literature is right now). I am reading to have a good time, and Katee Robert gives it to me.