spicycronereads's reviews
215 reviews

Had fun reading this as a buddy read but I don’t think I would have finished it otherwise. 

There were occasional moments of poetry and touching scenes, overall it was a miss for me. 

It felt dark for darkness’ sake in ways that didn’t necessarily seem compelling. The mystery at the center is clumsy and predictable. There are lots of loose ends -

what is up with the onyx rings? How was Lanston (not a typo for Langston; his name is really Lanston) at the institute at the same time as Crosby when the missing patients went missing 10 years ago? Was Wynn really just traumatized by piano lessons?!?

I know the author says that the treatment facility is her fantasy of what a treatment center could be, but is is so far removed from reality, it is jarring. 

I found the spicy scenes pretty cringe, with little buildup or sense. And the “love story” was too insta-love for my liking. The enemies to lovers quality of it fell flat.

Two stars for the occasional moments of lyrical prose. ⭐️⭐️/ 0 🌶️

Who needs plot when there is so much banter and spice! 😂

This keep my attention but the characters were a bit flat.

Cute and fluffy. I was entertained. Gets a bit didactic in the epilogues.

So much fun! This book adds a romantasy twist to the trademark. Maggie Maren humor, heart, and spice. 

I want I’m to celebrate Yule the way these characters do! 😍🎄🥵

A fat witchy FMC meets a fish out it water ancient fertility MMC. He sees the magic in her right away. And they keep each other warm☺️

Absolutely loved getting more of Mische - her origin story, her new adventures, etc. 

The love story is ultra swoony - who doesn’t love a shadow daddy and enemies to lovers? The spice is a slow burn, but when it hits… 🌶️🌶️🌶️

The only real secondary character is a dog-like being, Luce, and she is totally lovable

In terms of diverse representation, Asar is described as dark skinned and both he and Mische have extensive scarring. I might be grasping here but it seems like someone with chronic pain or scarring might recognize elements of their story? 

Overall, I really enjoyed it. This is the second year in a row where my first completed read has been a Carissa Broadbent book and it was a five star read. 

Can’t wait for book 4! 

I have two print copies of this book, so it was a relief when I finally read it and actually enjoyed it. But buckle up, because I have OPINIONS. 

Let’s start with the good - the author is very good at setting the scene and establishing atmosphere. She writes rich, lush descriptions that engage all the senses. 

Her depictions of Corvina were compelling and it was fun to see her character arc. 

Some of the spicy scenes were quite good (the one in the Black Ball? 🔥). 

All of that said, I have a lot of gripes about this one. Most of these things could have been fixed with a firm developmental and line edit. 

The minor: As much as I love his aesthetic and possessiveness, Deverell is actually fairly flat as a character. Some of the spicy scenes are clumsy or downright terrible. The first seggs scene was awful and had me cringing for Corvina. 😬

As I mentioned above, the author is good at establishing atmosphere. The settings and descriptions establish Verenmore as almost out of time. Corvina seems a bit naive and even old fashioned, but then there would be these moments of dialogue that would completely change the tone. For example,

Corvina telling Vad “good luck getting your 🍆 wet.”

it was so out of place with the overall tone and voice, it was jarring. And there are dialogue moments like that throughout.

The pacing is a bit uneven, with certain scenes feeling rushed. They needed to be given more time to breathe. Like after

finding the weird shack, it never comes up again until the end.

 

Which brings me to the book’s  relationship to Gothic literature. *pushes glasses up the bridge of my nose* Based on the chapter heading artwork and epigraphs, it seems reasonable to assume that RuNyx is a fan of Gothic literature (though that Beetlejuice epigraph felt like a bit of a stretch…). So it was disappointing that the plot left several potentially supernatural loose ends. If the Gothic typically deals with allegory for social anxieties and the female gothic particularly centers on the power of seggsuality, there was such an opportunity to tie the “preternatural” events as she termed them to Corvina’s seggsuality. It could have been so seggs positive and affirming. But by

leaving the possibility of Corvina having schizophrenia and the weird loose ends with the disappearances and five new skulls,

it instead leaves medical and supernatural forces in play. Could have been cool social allegory. Instead it was just a spooky, ghost tale. A definite missed opportunity.

The book does have some representation of schizophrenia though I am not informed enough to know if it was a beneficial representation. No other diverse representation. Which is…strange…in this day and age. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It kept me entertained. I wish it had had one more pass with a firm editorial hand. Disappointing that Bramble didn’t have her work with an editor once they picked it up.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 🌶️🌶️🌶️