listen, i get this book is super loved and hyped up. i understand why people love it too. i wish i could've said the same, but unfort➳ i am so sorry ☆
listen, i get this book is super loved and hyped up. i understand why people love it too. i wish i could've said the same, but unfortunately ghosted didn't land for me. i did not read the blurb or anyone else's review before diving into this book, so that might be a skill issue on my part. when it comes to romances, i truly prefer to go in blind so i don't make prior assumptions or biases that can affect my rating. in this case, i am wondering if that would've been the wiser choice. if you want to read this book, i still recommend it because i know this will 100% be THE second chance romance for people. take all of this will a bucket of salt. there will be some spoilers so i can explain why this didn't work for me. please don’t hate me. this isn’t that serious.
★ ── uneven pacing of the plot the first thing that was blaring to me was the actual movement of the story. everything felt extremely static and blockish instead of dynamic. this sluggish drag really ended up setting the tone for the reminder aspects since it negatively affected the remaining parts of this book. a lot of the scenes between our main character were blurring together with little to no explanation on HOW or WHY we got there. there is a characteristic the author includes in this book which i love—past and present timelines. however, this only furthered the incongruous pacing making the vibe feel bloated and muggy.
★ ── the romance yikes. i tried, i really did. i felt next to nothing when it came to our main characters. this is the plot that should've been the main focus of the story. instead, there was a lot of hooting and hollering of zilch which did nothing but ruin their relationship. jonathan and kennedy's relationship has been built on a past and what happened in that past, told in a dual timeline. after i read the first ten chapters, i was expecting a heart wrenching story about two people destined to be together...i would rather watch paint dry. everything moves at snail's pace until one day BOOM, everybody is flying to get things done and the question is how the fuck did we get here? i have no idea. apparently, the author doesn't either.
★ ── the characters just a mess honestly. i can't stress how much i tried to see their connection, their chemistry—a reason they should be together. the arc for them is one sided with jonathan being the developed character and kennedy always getting the short end of the stick. kennedy was left to do all the work—physical, emotional, mental, and physiological—while jonathan was off doing fuck shit. personally, the more i read about LOSERS in books, especially losers who are men, i just get more annoyed. is jonathan the worst MMC? no, of course not. however, the propaganda that was holier than thou made me irate. their story being, “HE slept around while SHE stayed celibate”…are we in the 1800's? women will never be free from this preternatural rhetoric. free us ALL from the deadbeat alcoholic man who has a child dad, trying to save his ass. calling men like this a father is insulting to my eyes and ears. i looked at my dad and cried. i can’t read anymore abusive neglectful parents—dad’s. just stop with this mess.
this is why i just don't vibe with second chance romances. it's ALWAYS a piss poor redemption of abusive or flop failure men that get to loaf around pule and I—heavy on the I—have to sit here and say, yeah i love him. LMFAO get out. again, if you like this—love this even...I AM HAPPY FOR YOU. however, if you know me and my taste and somewhat can relate to my opinions, you would not vibe with these two at all. there is a huge similarity between people loving magnolia parks, and this book. if you are a fan of bjparks—you would love this couple. most of you already know my feelings of that series, characters, AND author. just uncanny as fuck. i rest my case.
this really let me down. the only good part of this book is the fact that i buddy read this with one of➳ why is the main character's name rodrick??? ☆
this really let me down. the only good part of this book is the fact that i buddy read this with one of my favorite people, veerali. this genuinely bored me to tears and i am really disappointed as i was expecting to LOVE this book. the flaws really shined in this since neither main character is interesting enough to carry this story. the novel is in first person pov, from our main character sybil, which further suffers the overall feeling of the book.
★ ── the characters this is the most important part of a book. unfortunately, this is where all of my issues lie with this book. i literally did not care about any of the characters or their motivations. the only character i found pleasant was the gargoyle. other than that, neither rodrick or sybil stand out in this world, and their development—or lack thereof—was superfluous to the plot. bartholomew really carried this story for me. i think me and vee both agreed that he was our favorite.
★ ── the worldbuilding this might be an unpopular opinion, but i actually liked what rachel was trying to do with the setting. i am not well-versed or have read a lot of books with religious undertones, so this was a little new for me. i don't think this takes away from the plot, but i can see why some people either gravitate towards this or would prefer to stay away from it all together. overall, i do think she tries to go a little out of the box with her fantasy worlds that is seen as non-traditional. in this case, i don't think all the nonessential fluff was needed for the plot. good concept, but beyond sub-par execution.
★ ── the romance going back to what i previously mentioned, i did not care for either main character, making the romance fall flat. i felt like they had immediate lust for each other which eventually led nowhere because the entire premise of this book was everyone going around in circles. another issue i personally felt was that rachel saw the success the shepard king duology had and felt as though she was trying to replicate this in sections. as someone who did not enjoy those books, i would still choose that series over this. all in all, i felt like the chemistry was lacking and their development was beyond unvaried.
★ ── the writing the last notable aspect that i wanted to touch on was the writing. listen, i am not the smartest, nor have i ever claimed to be. but this book truly made me lose 10 years of my life. i found a lot of the over descriptive words and the elucidatory flowery usage of certain verbiage to be extremely jarring in nature. at no point in this story was any of this shit necessary. at times, it felt like she was trying too hard to over explain the most random of things, which took me out of the narrative.
i am probably not continuing this series.
✄┈┈┈┈┈┈
lastly, thank you to my bff, vee! i can't wait to read every book with you. i love you. xx...more
lindsay straube, you have officially abused, butchered, fried, destroyed, demolished, cut up, tortured, slaughtered, crushed,➳ my worst read of 2025 ☆
lindsay straube, you have officially abused, butchered, fried, destroyed, demolished, cut up, tortured, slaughtered, crushed, annihilated, dissolved, and desolated my braincells. these are the most appalling, awful, creepy, disgraceful, distasteful, egregious, horrid, nasty, revolting, shameful, and vile characters i have read about. i hated everything about this. this was so stupid, i am sorry.
‼️‼️‼️‼️there will be spoilers‼️‼️‼️‼️
manas is back with her hate reviews. real hate reviews. PLEASE do not take this seriously. this is legit snake smut. i have nothing against the author or anyone who liked it. this will be mean, and this will be critiquing the BOOK. i am sure the author is a great person, it really is never that serious. i only finished this because of my buddy read and so i can fully form my opinion. if i were to DNF, i would not be able to fully form my thoughts. i gave it a chance and i regret everything. my eyes, ears, and brain have never been so abused.
★ ── the romance aka, the snake porn. what. the. fuck. besties. i am dying laughing. there is NO romance. this was reptile smut cover to cover. it wasn't good either. there are several characters that our main character, tem was just fucking for the sake of fucking. i legit mean everything and everyone. i was so taken aback by her bullshit. how can one be this horny as a human??? at one point—it hurts. nothing about her character made any sense to me. girl was banging and panging everything that moved—then whined when she didn't get attention from random characters. loyalty is not in her vocabulary. tem is fucking two princes, their enemies, their dads??? while simultaneously having the entire town and their mother watch. i am crashing out.
★ ── the worldbuilding who the fuck lied to me and said this was fantasy??? come to the front, now. there is legit no description of this book online because the author said it’s best to go in clueless. i went into this as blind as possible and came out of it pissed off. calling this a fantasy is insulting in every capacity. from the get-go of this novel, she is just a sex toy with no substance if you are gonna write porn, fucking write porn. this was so basic and bland with no spice. i am not being mean, i just don't understand anything that happened. WHAT. THE. HELLY.
★ ── the sequel now... i am all for the lunacy but why does this need another book??? this is just cover to cover cheaply written sex. it wasn't even different or new. this is 700 pages of the exact same thing with no development. at this point, you could've at least made her get with a wall, as every man in this disgusting me so bad. i am extremely insulted that this was ever published. i cannot believe this is getting a part two. props to the author, because i could never write this. the narrators also deserve compensation for reciting this foolishness aloud.
whoever recommended this to me deserves nothing good. i hope you have hot pillows for the rest of your life. i hope you have all your spines cracked. i hope your books have dog ears. i hope you have 1 star reads.
i just know everyone in this book STINKS. not one mention of a shower.
[image] meagan and i have suffered enough. ily for reading this with me. ...more
goddamn. i read everyone's most hyped-up release of 2025. this really is the fourth wing of the d➳ முட்டாள் ☆
i am going to try to be serious for once.
goddamn. i read everyone's most hyped-up release of 2025. this really is the fourth wing of the dystopian fantasy world. while both of these novels are not remotely similar, there is an array of unnecessary plot devices, embarrassing plot armor, horrendous smut, and a stupid cast of characters to top off this mess. i really went into this with expectations from the gods and came out wanting 3 days of my life back.
when i say, i am genuinely trying to write a proper review with what worked and what didn't, i really am. i know i am the biggest troll and hater, which has garnered lots of people to read and like my reviews (i am eternally grateful). i do think sometimes, i need to be serious and actually do my job and seriously tell you why this flopped—for me.
★ ── the characters brother, what? i am sorry, but what am i missing here? nobody in this novel is special. at all. their characterization and motivations are elementary school level at best and have zero compatible characteristics with each other. every. single. characters. temperament. had me wanting to smash my head into a drywall. one of the issues this book seriously has is the lack of consistency with their characters traits. wren is our main character who has powers she has been forced to conceal for her safety. you read that and you think : ok, typical fantasy/dystopia...fine. however, dani francis, cannot seem to keep her motivations in uniform, and felt like i was reading about a new person in every chapter.
★ ── the romance i am going to crash the fuck out. this was SO bad. i need authors to stop. legitimately. stop. writing this trope where this very “liberal” woman goes after a very clearly “republican” man who has a history of oppressing people. like, what are we doing here? this is becoming a cheap plot device thrown in for the sake of “tension”, when in reality it is extremely uncomfortable to read about. speaking of the two leads—wren & cross had potential to be lukewarm, yet we got hot wet piss. i felt nothing for these two after the 30% mark and that is saying something. towards the 50-60% range, we get uncouthly displays of behavior from both our leads which turn into them boning every 5 minutes. boring, yawning, sleepy, lazy, what. the. helly.
★ ── the identity of dani francis part two of : i am going to crash the fuck out. at this point, i do not care who this woman is, if she even is one. this is so clearly done to gather views and attention to entice people and audiences to pick up this book. i have seen the funniest assumptions of who wrote this book all way the from CoHo making a rebrand to fucking J.D Vance??? this whole situation just made me more bored of this book. when someone said it’s AI maga, i died. if your reasoning for writing dystopia is because you want spice, you need a new hobby. i really don't wanna hear about this anymore, as it feels shoved up my ass. bring back authentic book launches. i’m tired.
we could've had a cunty cowboy romance. instead, we got a country yeehaw mess.we could've had a cunty cowboy romance. instead, we got a country yeehaw mess....more
characters = mid. setting = mid. plot = mid. writing = mid. instant lust = obviously. concept = mid. development = mid. pacing = mid. smut = what the fawk??? romance = disgrace. my braincells = butchered. reading the sequel = fuck no. youssra = made me laugh the whole time. <3
what a goddamn SHITSHOW. this was beyond horrible and i do not feel bad saying this. absolute tomfoolery at its finest. i have never read from this author and i fear this made the worst first impression for me. getting through this book—which is drier than a desert—was a fucking nightmare. youss and i could not stop making fun of this. she is the only reason i am even here writing this review. every character was cornier than corn and had no, absolutely NO separating qualities from each other. i had to ask youss the plot every five seconds because i truly had no fucking idea what was happening. i really don't think i had the big brains for this.
⌞world building + setting⌝
i am well versed with greek myth, however, nothing makes any damn sense in this book. it feels like jasmine had no idea what to write and started yapping about shit that is irrelevant to the actual plot. the entire duration of this novel is so jarring since she had no direction of where she wanted this story to go. almost everything felt bereft and inadequate. she was constantly introducing random plots onto her already flimsy story which starting to drag the entire book. while i understand this is the first book in a series, that does not warrant the work to be a below average sub-par novel. this reads like a first draft. zeroes across the board.
⌞characters + romance⌝
this is a reverse harem. i know this. everybody who was getting on my ass about that... i am not that stupid. however, she has literally NO CHEMISTRY with any one of these guys. not one. not only are they completely irrelevant for over half of this 500+ page novel. once they start to have a prominent role (if you can even call it that) they all read like the same character. i cannot differentiate between any of them. not one. the only reason i was even able to make it through this LONG ASS DISASTER is because i switched to the audiobook. teddy & aiden ate up their five minutes of narration. everything else??? jasmine promised us a tale of “dark obsession” + “dark romance”??? instead we got zodiac academy from temu. a whole damn mess.
⌞ending⌝
i cried knowing i was never gaining this time back in my life.
while this was a huge ass flop for me and youssra, our next buddy read will be so much better. i feel it. i love you bestie!
releasing this mess on our birthday has to be considered a hate crime. thanks for the laughs, heather!releasing this mess on our birthday has to be considered a hate crime. thanks for the laughs, heather!...more
➳ welcome to the northshore—where everyone is crusty, dusty, and musty ☆
i don't know who spread the lies that these circus clowns were getting redemp➳ welcome to the northshore—where everyone is crusty, dusty, and musty ☆
i don't know who spread the lies that these circus clowns were getting redemption arcs, character development, a reformed presence—but you need to answer for your crimes. step up to the front so i can hate on you publicly. absolutely shameful. this is a full hate review. a hate review of the book, of the writing, of the characters, and hell—at this point, even the author herself. i am lola king's number one hater. if you get offended easily or are going to argue with me on my take of this...just clock out. i don't have the time for that. it's never that serious.
jade is our fmc; the most hated character up until this point—with the promise of loving her when we get her story. jade, the caricature that you are. when i first read about this buffoon in beautiful fiend, i knew i was in for a nightmare. her actions, her behavior, her violence, and deportment; screamed problematic—very problematic. caden tells us quite quickly, jade is an indian; with an indian mother. with this in mind, since lola king is a british white woman, she should know that writing about a minority group—a minority group that has a rich history of culture, values, traits, and practices that aren't aligned with british white people—comes with care, effort, research, and thought. none of those traits are present in this novel, with these characters, with their behavior. lola decided to make jade—an indian woman—a slave/pet to two caucasian brothers—ethan & elltiot—who have a history of abusing and assaulting people.
i really don't care what anyone says about me, thinks about me; but this is disgusting. absolutely disgusting. i am scratching the surface here on how egregious this was written, how revolting and shameful. i am deeply ashamed this was ever published, that lola was so proud to learn hindi from her friends, thinking she incorporated that in this book. all the while, it is not hindi—it's punjabi and it's spelled completely fucking wrong. this is the definition of colonizer fanfiction. my people will never be free. literally go fuck yourself.
if you thought she was done butchering people of color—butchering ethnic groups, ethnic groups that she has no idea how to write, no idea on how to tell their story, then you would be wrong. heartless beloved is really popular and i have no idea why, or how. this is one of the worst books i have ever read, and that is being generous. i got a lot of hate for stating my opinion—my opinion of her depiction of muslim characters. lola king has stated that it is her depiction of how she sees this dynamic since her step in laws are muslim, but that does not mean you are not exempt from critiques.
i have several muslim friends—guy friends—who hate how ziad was depicted. he was violent, abusive, a rapist, a predator, who seemingly charms his way out of everything. this is not your story to tell. not a single one of my arab or muslim friends is happy with this, is ok with this, thinks this is normal. i am not listening to anyone but them—just them. it also does not take a genius to note that arab mothers, indian mothers have their own culture, practices, and values that they preach and follow. if you don't understand the group you are representing, shut. the. fuck. up. this is not a time for one of your rape fantasies to come to life under the guise of dark romance. this is harmful and extremely problematic. people of color are not your fanfiction fantasies and token diversity card. we don't need your horrid representation just to fill some fantasies. there are real people, real muslim men, real indian women that get abused on the daily for just that—being a person of color. i find it really embarrassing lola king thought it was appropriate to write these stories, to publish them. if i were a better woman, i would've dropped it and been on my way, but i am not. leave us the fuck alone and for the love of god, literally shut up.
thank you to my favorite girl veerali for suffering through this. please check out her review. she sums up everything perfectly. i love you....more