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Agía Sahnta #1
Helfyre
The Bookish Box Exclusive Luxe Edition details:
- Concept + Direction by Stephanie Brown
- Front Dust Jacket, Reverse Dust Jacket, Hard Case, and Stenciled Edges Artwork by Kasia Jasmina
- Endpaper Artwork by Diana Dworak
Two immortal creatures. One dangerous bargain.
After the death of her mother, Aheia finds herself stained by more blood than she can hide in the perpetual daylight of her home of Keloseros. She escapes the realm but pays the price: giving up her immortality and her powers–once a Mithra with light at her fingertips, she becomes near-mortal. Her desperate search for asylum leads her to the doorstep of the only place out of her abusive family’s reach—a realm that deals in death and darkness unapologetically—Aljira.
But nothing in this world is free, and to buy her way to dubious safety, she’s forced to give up the only thing she has left to barter.
Her soul in exchange for seven days in the devil's realm.
Arioch, the ruler of the Nephilim, is eager to dangle his new little pet in front of the Mithra who have caused irreparable damage in his life, but he doesn’t expect the effect Aheia’s soul has on both of them once it's stamped on his arm. The pull between them is all-consuming-- they crave each other, between sharp words and angry exchanges in an increasingly passionate bond that threatens to shatter the delicate balance of everything.
Arioch and Aheia...
Keloseros and Aljira…
Even life and death.
- Concept + Direction by Stephanie Brown
- Front Dust Jacket, Reverse Dust Jacket, Hard Case, and Stenciled Edges Artwork by Kasia Jasmina
- Endpaper Artwork by Diana Dworak
Two immortal creatures. One dangerous bargain.
After the death of her mother, Aheia finds herself stained by more blood than she can hide in the perpetual daylight of her home of Keloseros. She escapes the realm but pays the price: giving up her immortality and her powers–once a Mithra with light at her fingertips, she becomes near-mortal. Her desperate search for asylum leads her to the doorstep of the only place out of her abusive family’s reach—a realm that deals in death and darkness unapologetically—Aljira.
But nothing in this world is free, and to buy her way to dubious safety, she’s forced to give up the only thing she has left to barter.
Her soul in exchange for seven days in the devil's realm.
Arioch, the ruler of the Nephilim, is eager to dangle his new little pet in front of the Mithra who have caused irreparable damage in his life, but he doesn’t expect the effect Aheia’s soul has on both of them once it's stamped on his arm. The pull between them is all-consuming-- they crave each other, between sharp words and angry exchanges in an increasingly passionate bond that threatens to shatter the delicate balance of everything.
Arioch and Aheia...
Keloseros and Aljira…
Even life and death.
545 pages, Hardcover
First published March 21, 2022
3033 people are currently reading
36289 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,447 reviews
April 1, 2022
I really wanted to love this book! It had so much potential with the dark, sexy, and violent romance, set in a high fantasy world. I did appreciate the author’s writing style and most of the world building.
However the pacing was very odd and slow, in the strangest of places throughout the story. Also there were so many typos, missing words & punctuation, and general formatting issues, that were very distracting while reading. Although I did enjoy the author’s descriptive writing, it was a bit too description heavy throughout the book. At times I would know more about the room decor than the actual plot. Considering I almost DNF this book, I probably wouldn’t recommend.
However the pacing was very odd and slow, in the strangest of places throughout the story. Also there were so many typos, missing words & punctuation, and general formatting issues, that were very distracting while reading. Although I did enjoy the author’s descriptive writing, it was a bit too description heavy throughout the book. At times I would know more about the room decor than the actual plot. Considering I almost DNF this book, I probably wouldn’t recommend.
March 29, 2022
If you’re the author, please don’t read this review. I’m writing it right after reading and my emotions are everywhere.
I’m so annoyed. First of all, this book was confusing. So confusing that I found myself going, “what?” Every few seconds. There was so much going on that I couldn’t keep up. Secondly, the relationship between Aheia and Arioch was terrible. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between them. It was literally all lust until up to the end where it suddenly dissipated. Thirdly, Arioch was annoying. So annoying that I just wanted to wring his neck. It was like the author was trying to make him a morally-grey/villain that we’re supposed to love. I ended up hating him. I actually liked his shadows much more than him. Lastly, there were way too many characters introduced too quickly, and way too many povs. I could not keep up with anything. My brain hurt while reading and I couldn’t wait to finish the book.
There were so many “A” names that I couldn’t differentiate them until towards the end. And even then I kept getting confused.
The plot and characters had so much potential, but it fell flat for me. I won’t be reading the next book.
I’m so annoyed. First of all, this book was confusing. So confusing that I found myself going, “what?” Every few seconds. There was so much going on that I couldn’t keep up. Secondly, the relationship between Aheia and Arioch was terrible. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between them. It was literally all lust until up to the end where it suddenly dissipated. Thirdly, Arioch was annoying. So annoying that I just wanted to wring his neck. It was like the author was trying to make him a morally-grey/villain that we’re supposed to love. I ended up hating him. I actually liked his shadows much more than him. Lastly, there were way too many characters introduced too quickly, and way too many povs. I could not keep up with anything. My brain hurt while reading and I couldn’t wait to finish the book.
There were so many “A” names that I couldn’t differentiate them until towards the end. And even then I kept getting confused.
The plot and characters had so much potential, but it fell flat for me. I won’t be reading the next book.
March 19, 2022
Before I was lucky enough to have this ARC dropped on my Kindle, I knew it would be good. Murs teased us for months about what to expect which obviously made my anticipation grow. What I did not expect, however, is truly what a debut masterpiece this turned out to be.
I won’t go into heavy detail but there are a few things I’d like to highlight:
Characters:
Well hello Arioch and Aheia!
Ari - everything we love in a morally grey MMC and more. Ari is no sugar, lots of spice and not much nice and hot damn is it more than I imagined.
Aheia - what I love our our girl ks that she js a pure firecracker BUT also not afraid to show us her emotional sides. And not just us, there are a number of times where her vulnerability is front and centre. It was so refreshing to see a strong FMC that isn’t afraid to also showcase a very real side of her. It made her even more relatable to me and I am now the president of the Aheia fan club.
Lúc - dear, sweet baby Lúc. I love you so much. I have so much more to say but I don’t want to give spoilers! Just trust me when I say you will love him too.
The island of misfit toys - Ari is the King here and again, please trust me when I tell you these misfit toys are delectable, savage and all around a group of people I would happily hang out with (but also want to know more, Murs!!)
The writing itself is…. Inspiring, refreshing, unbelievably good. I have read many (MANY!) traditional published authors that could never hold a candle to the word wizard that Murs is. It’s beautiful, haunting, funny and will crawl under your skin like a parasite you’d happily welcome.
I am in absolute awe of this story. The world, the characters, the language (and you bet your ass our girl gifted us with a pronunciation guide, glossary and other guides we consistently wish for at the beginnings of books).
I want to end this with one particular quote that struck me at my core:
“It was all too much, and if she kept the darkness wrapped around her, she could pretend it was simply one of her dreams.”
Never, in my entire 22 years of struggling with my mental health, has any one sentence described it for me personally. I can never thank you enough for that Murs.
If you haven’t already, preorder Helfyre. She will drop to you on Monday and I promise you my entire whisky collection (it’s a lot) you will not be disappointed.
Brain dump notes of my highlights:
Glossary/pronunciation guide at the beginning 👏🏼👏🏼
FMC that is 28!!!
Violence straight out of the gate 👍🏼
Chapter 2 already 🥵
7% our first good girl 👏🏼
First Luc line and I already love him.
I love that Aheia is a firecracker but also shows her emotions without anything thought or worrykb
Love a beautiful Hel
I am Lúc. Lúc is me.
Honey
Chapter 8 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵
Aheia likes praise
Shadow play
Chapter 22
Koutávi 🐕
All our favorite tropes but wrapped up in a different present
Arioch is the king on the island of misfit toys
Didn’t see that coming
Ruhi means my soul
I will hear you.
I won’t go into heavy detail but there are a few things I’d like to highlight:
Characters:
Well hello Arioch and Aheia!
Ari - everything we love in a morally grey MMC and more. Ari is no sugar, lots of spice and not much nice and hot damn is it more than I imagined.
Aheia - what I love our our girl ks that she js a pure firecracker BUT also not afraid to show us her emotional sides. And not just us, there are a number of times where her vulnerability is front and centre. It was so refreshing to see a strong FMC that isn’t afraid to also showcase a very real side of her. It made her even more relatable to me and I am now the president of the Aheia fan club.
Lúc - dear, sweet baby Lúc. I love you so much. I have so much more to say but I don’t want to give spoilers! Just trust me when I say you will love him too.
The island of misfit toys - Ari is the King here and again, please trust me when I tell you these misfit toys are delectable, savage and all around a group of people I would happily hang out with (but also want to know more, Murs!!)
The writing itself is…. Inspiring, refreshing, unbelievably good. I have read many (MANY!) traditional published authors that could never hold a candle to the word wizard that Murs is. It’s beautiful, haunting, funny and will crawl under your skin like a parasite you’d happily welcome.
I am in absolute awe of this story. The world, the characters, the language (and you bet your ass our girl gifted us with a pronunciation guide, glossary and other guides we consistently wish for at the beginnings of books).
I want to end this with one particular quote that struck me at my core:
“It was all too much, and if she kept the darkness wrapped around her, she could pretend it was simply one of her dreams.”
Never, in my entire 22 years of struggling with my mental health, has any one sentence described it for me personally. I can never thank you enough for that Murs.
If you haven’t already, preorder Helfyre. She will drop to you on Monday and I promise you my entire whisky collection (it’s a lot) you will not be disappointed.
Brain dump notes of my highlights:
Glossary/pronunciation guide at the beginning 👏🏼👏🏼
FMC that is 28!!!
Violence straight out of the gate 👍🏼
Chapter 2 already 🥵
7% our first good girl 👏🏼
First Luc line and I already love him.
I love that Aheia is a firecracker but also shows her emotions without anything thought or worrykb
Love a beautiful Hel
I am Lúc. Lúc is me.
Honey
Chapter 8 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵
Aheia likes praise
Shadow play
Chapter 22
Koutávi 🐕
All our favorite tropes but wrapped up in a different present
Arioch is the king on the island of misfit toys
Didn’t see that coming
Ruhi means my soul
I will hear you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2022
2.5⭐️ DNF
I really tried to carry on with this book and got just under half-way before DNFing. The writing style was fine, if a bit heavy on the descriptors, but there was just too much world building with more added each chapter before you’ve even fully understood the last bit. I didn’t care about the characters and their chemistry felt generic.
Half the time I had no idea what I was reading or why it was relevant to the plot. There were a lot of sentence structural mistakes too which kept taking me out of the story when it came to like commas etc changing the meaning. Overall, it was a struggle, I was bored and I couldn’t see the relationship being a good enough pay out to make finishing the book worth while.
I do feel like this could have used a strict edit to pare back on some of the descriptors in places and also to give the reader the world building in a slower and more organic way than just big swaths of text with words and language thrown in that we have to remember. Overall, kudos for the debut and I liked the writing style, I just didn’t find anything fresh or interesting to keep me reading past the overwhelming world building.
I really tried to carry on with this book and got just under half-way before DNFing. The writing style was fine, if a bit heavy on the descriptors, but there was just too much world building with more added each chapter before you’ve even fully understood the last bit. I didn’t care about the characters and their chemistry felt generic.
Half the time I had no idea what I was reading or why it was relevant to the plot. There were a lot of sentence structural mistakes too which kept taking me out of the story when it came to like commas etc changing the meaning. Overall, it was a struggle, I was bored and I couldn’t see the relationship being a good enough pay out to make finishing the book worth while.
I do feel like this could have used a strict edit to pare back on some of the descriptors in places and also to give the reader the world building in a slower and more organic way than just big swaths of text with words and language thrown in that we have to remember. Overall, kudos for the debut and I liked the writing style, I just didn’t find anything fresh or interesting to keep me reading past the overwhelming world building.
October 1, 2024
3.75 I THINK??? the ending got me hooked and I MUST read on
April 7, 2022
I was really excited about this book after all the hype I was seeing on bookstagram and tiktok. And the premise sounded A+. I went into this as a buddy read with one of my friends and we both quickly came to realize we weren't going to be able to finish it. It usually takes quite a bit for me to DNF a book, I always want to give a story the benefit of the doubt and am usually able to power through out of sheer stubbornness. This book may have been the fastest that I actually made it to the DNF decision.
As other reviews have mentioned the overabundance of description in this book is apparent and distracting. Things that could have been described succinctly are drawn out into run on sentences that take away from immersing you into the story.
The guide/glossary at the beginning of the book is overwhelming. When the words/terms from the guide are used within the story...you are left to either hope for some context clues to figure out the meaning (which the context clues aren't there...at least not as far as I made it into the book) or you have to flip all the way back to the guide for answers (which takes you out of the story).
The character names are a bit distracting too as there are so many that start with an A it's hard to keep them straight.
I think if this book was a bit more edited and flushed out/streamlined, the story would be GREAT. It's unique and has the potential to be captivating. But the story itself isn't quite there yet. It felt a bit like the author had trouble translating the complexities of the story she based the idea on into a cohesive story for the reader to enjoy.
It's clear the author put a lot of love and thought into this, though, and I'd be interested to try it again if some changes were made. The imagery in the marketing I've seen the author doing is beautiful and I really wanted to love it.
As other reviews have mentioned the overabundance of description in this book is apparent and distracting. Things that could have been described succinctly are drawn out into run on sentences that take away from immersing you into the story.
The guide/glossary at the beginning of the book is overwhelming. When the words/terms from the guide are used within the story...you are left to either hope for some context clues to figure out the meaning (which the context clues aren't there...at least not as far as I made it into the book) or you have to flip all the way back to the guide for answers (which takes you out of the story).
The character names are a bit distracting too as there are so many that start with an A it's hard to keep them straight.
I think if this book was a bit more edited and flushed out/streamlined, the story would be GREAT. It's unique and has the potential to be captivating. But the story itself isn't quite there yet. It felt a bit like the author had trouble translating the complexities of the story she based the idea on into a cohesive story for the reader to enjoy.
It's clear the author put a lot of love and thought into this, though, and I'd be interested to try it again if some changes were made. The imagery in the marketing I've seen the author doing is beautiful and I really wanted to love it.
April 28, 2022
DNF this book. I really really wanted to love this but I just couldn’t. I even stepped away for a week and tried to come back and get into it again… but had to give up.
First of all, the amount of errors in grammar and punctuation were maddening. Pomeroy would have really benefited from a professional editor of some sort to catch all the missing punctuation, spaces and bad grammar… Let alone an actual story editor to help with the story building, character building and pacing (of which both were clunky here).
Second of all, the writing is detailed to the point of distraction. We’d be given paragraphs long descriptions of a room, but part way through I found myself skimming and my mind wandering because I was bored of that much detail. I literally would have to read paragraphs multiple times to comprehend what was happening because my mind kept wandering off or I was distracted but the awkward writing.
Third - We were thrown new characters with no introduction or explanation. I had a really hard time keeping characters straight. All of the A names were incredibly confusing. All of the different names and references to characters were super confusing… I was confused what was considered a character’s race or title or whatever. Arioch is referred to as like three other things and I don’t understand any of them.
There was serious potential here but it fell so so flat. I understand self publishing comes with a certain amount of ‘scrappiness’ to get that first book out there (i.e. lack of a proper editor) but whew, this one missed the mark. Wish I could have finished, but I just couldn’t.
First of all, the amount of errors in grammar and punctuation were maddening. Pomeroy would have really benefited from a professional editor of some sort to catch all the missing punctuation, spaces and bad grammar… Let alone an actual story editor to help with the story building, character building and pacing (of which both were clunky here).
Second of all, the writing is detailed to the point of distraction. We’d be given paragraphs long descriptions of a room, but part way through I found myself skimming and my mind wandering because I was bored of that much detail. I literally would have to read paragraphs multiple times to comprehend what was happening because my mind kept wandering off or I was distracted but the awkward writing.
Third - We were thrown new characters with no introduction or explanation. I had a really hard time keeping characters straight. All of the A names were incredibly confusing. All of the different names and references to characters were super confusing… I was confused what was considered a character’s race or title or whatever. Arioch is referred to as like three other things and I don’t understand any of them.
There was serious potential here but it fell so so flat. I understand self publishing comes with a certain amount of ‘scrappiness’ to get that first book out there (i.e. lack of a proper editor) but whew, this one missed the mark. Wish I could have finished, but I just couldn’t.
April 23, 2022
I didn’t understand half of the world building, couldn’t keep any of the characters straight as a lot of the names started with A and there was just too many side characters and not enough background . I was also super distracted by the use of Arabic as their language, I spent most of the time wondering if it was Egyptian Arabic or some other dialect.
The typos, missing words etc also threw me off. Will not be continuing.
Also, I follow the author on Instagram and I didn’t appreciate when she accused everyone who gave her a 1-2 star review for not even reading the book; just want to let you know that I did read it.
The typos, missing words etc also threw me off. Will not be continuing.
Also, I follow the author on Instagram and I didn’t appreciate when she accused everyone who gave her a 1-2 star review for not even reading the book; just want to let you know that I did read it.
May 1, 2025
This will be one of those books that I will wish I could read again for the first time. . .
Mariel Pomeroys debut is impressive! The characters laid themselves bare for all to see (whether you like em or not!) & the story kept me hooked until the end. My god the world building is just perfect for me!
And before anyone says it yes, the trigger warnings are there for a reason & need be heeded if you are to read this book.
Update 10.08.23 for reread.its the way Arioch and Aheiah develop their feelings, attraction first, then all the emotions. Perfection, 5 ⭐️
Update 01.05.25 MY MOONLIGHT BOOK SPECIAL EDITIONS HAVE ARRIVED 😍😍😍
Mariel Pomeroys debut is impressive! The characters laid themselves bare for all to see (whether you like em or not!) & the story kept me hooked until the end. My god the world building is just perfect for me!
And before anyone says it yes, the trigger warnings are there for a reason & need be heeded if you are to read this book.
Update 10.08.23 for reread.its the way Arioch and Aheiah develop their feelings, attraction first, then all the emotions. Perfection, 5 ⭐️
Update 01.05.25 MY MOONLIGHT BOOK SPECIAL EDITIONS HAVE ARRIVED 😍😍😍
July 27, 2023
Second Read: Kindle Edition
Soooooo much better. So, I decided to read the kindle edition this time around since it had the latest updates and corrections. Dude, so much better. I still wish there was a map, and I do wish she would repeat characters throughout the book, like "this is xyz and this is how we know this person," because there are soo many characters. SO MANY. At some point I just gave up and went along with it.
I've picked up this time around that there is a lot of opportunity for spinoffs and for this world to continue - riffs, alternate worlds, mortal world, etc.. And I feel like she kind of fed into a few opportunities for them. I'm curious to know where that's going to go.
As of right now, I definitely want to read the second book. After the first go I just wasn't sure if I could trust Mariels writing, despite my love for her imagination. But these corrections proves to me that this human can write, and I am so curious to know what happens to Aheia.
______________________________________
What the actual f***
I can’t rate or review this book until I collect my thoughts. Thanks
2.5 stars
Updated:
Mariel, please don't hate me for my review because I am really banking on us being friends in the future! But I really do hope you read my review.
That being said, here we go....
I'm a fan of the imagination of Mariel, this book and the plot; I am not a fan of her writing... right now.
I felt as though it was a little choppy, the transitions were a bit muggy, and some twists just weren't all that jaw-dropping.
There were also a lot of issues with the grammar - and I am not the queen of grammar, but it was enough even for me to know what was and was not correct. There was a part in the book where there was a repetition of 2-3 full paragraphs - I'm assuming it was a copy and paste error. There was just enough issues where I questioned if the editor actually read the book.
I also wish there was more world building and descriptions. I didn't know what kind of building they were in until halfway through the book -- it, in fact, was not a castle, but a compound. Who fills the compound? Who resides there?
I just think this world is amazing, but I don't want my imagination to fill in the gaps. Example: The sky in Aljira is always dark and full of galaxies -- PLEASE DESCRIBE THAT. Is it cosmic? Can you see actual galaxies? Nebulas? What colors can you see. This sounds magical and I.WANT.MORE description!
That, and I need a map. I would almost replace the pronunciation guide with a map.
I just think her writing needs some work when it comes to descriptions, world building and transitions, and she needs to get a good editor who can help her organize her thoughts and catch the grammar issues. I think if she executes these two things that she’ll be more on the level of Laura Thalassa or HD Carlton, which are two of my favored authors.
I REALLY want Honey to be good. I REALLY want to be fully invested in the story in the second book because I want to know about Aheia, what happens to her, the potential for her and Arioche, and the fate of the two realms. But in order for that to happen the writing needs to improve.
Mariel - girl, keep writing! PLEASE keep writing, because I am rooting for you. I NEED your skills to evolve and improve so that my mind can be blown and totally immersed in your imagination. Because you've got gold in there, you just need to refine your writing 💛
Soooooo much better. So, I decided to read the kindle edition this time around since it had the latest updates and corrections. Dude, so much better. I still wish there was a map, and I do wish she would repeat characters throughout the book, like "this is xyz and this is how we know this person," because there are soo many characters. SO MANY. At some point I just gave up and went along with it.
I've picked up this time around that there is a lot of opportunity for spinoffs and for this world to continue - riffs, alternate worlds, mortal world, etc.. And I feel like she kind of fed into a few opportunities for them. I'm curious to know where that's going to go.
As of right now, I definitely want to read the second book. After the first go I just wasn't sure if I could trust Mariels writing, despite my love for her imagination. But these corrections proves to me that this human can write, and I am so curious to know what happens to Aheia.
______________________________________
What the actual f***
I can’t rate or review this book until I collect my thoughts. Thanks
2.5 stars
Updated:
Mariel, please don't hate me for my review because I am really banking on us being friends in the future! But I really do hope you read my review.
That being said, here we go....
I'm a fan of the imagination of Mariel, this book and the plot; I am not a fan of her writing... right now.
I felt as though it was a little choppy, the transitions were a bit muggy, and some twists just weren't all that jaw-dropping.
There were also a lot of issues with the grammar - and I am not the queen of grammar, but it was enough even for me to know what was and was not correct. There was a part in the book where there was a repetition of 2-3 full paragraphs - I'm assuming it was a copy and paste error. There was just enough issues where I questioned if the editor actually read the book.
I also wish there was more world building and descriptions. I didn't know what kind of building they were in until halfway through the book -- it, in fact, was not a castle, but a compound. Who fills the compound? Who resides there?
I just think this world is amazing, but I don't want my imagination to fill in the gaps. Example: The sky in Aljira is always dark and full of galaxies -- PLEASE DESCRIBE THAT. Is it cosmic? Can you see actual galaxies? Nebulas? What colors can you see. This sounds magical and I.WANT.MORE description!
That, and I need a map. I would almost replace the pronunciation guide with a map.
I just think her writing needs some work when it comes to descriptions, world building and transitions, and she needs to get a good editor who can help her organize her thoughts and catch the grammar issues. I think if she executes these two things that she’ll be more on the level of Laura Thalassa or HD Carlton, which are two of my favored authors.
I REALLY want Honey to be good. I REALLY want to be fully invested in the story in the second book because I want to know about Aheia, what happens to her, the potential for her and Arioche, and the fate of the two realms. But in order for that to happen the writing needs to improve.
Mariel - girl, keep writing! PLEASE keep writing, because I am rooting for you. I NEED your skills to evolve and improve so that my mind can be blown and totally immersed in your imagination. Because you've got gold in there, you just need to refine your writing 💛
March 25, 2022
Alright. I was really looking forward to this book. Followed the authors journey in writing her debut novel.
The plot was good. I did enjoy the story.
However, it was exhausting. The first half of the book had very little dialogue which left a lot of story telling. Nearly all the names, including cities, in the book started with an “A”. So it was hard to keep track. Then it would switch from the name, nickname, species, and then pet names which added to the confusion of keeping track of who was who. I found myself skimming the paragraphs starting with the word “The” as it became a pattern of long winded metaphors and similes describing a chair, a room, someone breathing…I don’t know. But it eventually was irrelevant to the story so I moved on. Descriptions are obviously necessary to set the scene, but leave some gaps for me to fill in in my own. It helps imagine it in my mind when I have input. When it’s all spelled out you lose focus on everything else, such as the mood, emotion, and overall tone of the scene.
By the second half, the characters really started bonding, dialogue picked up, and I stopped reading about metaphorical descriptions of everything. I ultimately found myself unable to put the book down but man, did it take a while for me to get there.
Lastly, what I really enjoyed was the third person perspective but focused on specific characters. It allowed you to connect with the characters more and gain their insight in what was happening without going into first person. That was a nice change of pace from a traditional third person.
Will I buy and read the sequel….yes…yes I will.
The plot was good. I did enjoy the story.
However, it was exhausting. The first half of the book had very little dialogue which left a lot of story telling. Nearly all the names, including cities, in the book started with an “A”. So it was hard to keep track. Then it would switch from the name, nickname, species, and then pet names which added to the confusion of keeping track of who was who. I found myself skimming the paragraphs starting with the word “The” as it became a pattern of long winded metaphors and similes describing a chair, a room, someone breathing…I don’t know. But it eventually was irrelevant to the story so I moved on. Descriptions are obviously necessary to set the scene, but leave some gaps for me to fill in in my own. It helps imagine it in my mind when I have input. When it’s all spelled out you lose focus on everything else, such as the mood, emotion, and overall tone of the scene.
By the second half, the characters really started bonding, dialogue picked up, and I stopped reading about metaphorical descriptions of everything. I ultimately found myself unable to put the book down but man, did it take a while for me to get there.
Lastly, what I really enjoyed was the third person perspective but focused on specific characters. It allowed you to connect with the characters more and gain their insight in what was happening without going into first person. That was a nice change of pace from a traditional third person.
Will I buy and read the sequel….yes…yes I will.
August 29, 2024
This book took far to long to grab me. I was over 3 quarters of the way through the book before I felt a real connection to the characters emotions. Then, almost immediately, the male MC lost all of my trust.
While this book has all the elements to make a "great" book, that I have loved in many other series. Including, but not limited to, alpha males, angels v. demons, upper world v. lower world, other humanoid creatures, and many spicy scenes. I felt like this book fell short when it came to pacing and emotionally connecting the reader to the characters.
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Spoilers.
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Why should I care about the MC? Yes, she's an abused princess that is seeking shelter, literally, underneath another king, but I don't know hardly anything else about her.
Why should I care about the male MC? He is an over-bearing alpha, but he frequently thinks about killing his female love interest. Not protecting her. He has these really flashy interesting friends, but we barely know anything about them.
I needed more from the first book in terms of character building and world building.
While this book has all the elements to make a "great" book, that I have loved in many other series. Including, but not limited to, alpha males, angels v. demons, upper world v. lower world, other humanoid creatures, and many spicy scenes. I felt like this book fell short when it came to pacing and emotionally connecting the reader to the characters.
.
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.
.
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Spoilers.
.
.
.
.
.
Why should I care about the MC? Yes, she's an abused princess that is seeking shelter, literally, underneath another king, but I don't know hardly anything else about her.
Why should I care about the male MC? He is an over-bearing alpha, but he frequently thinks about killing his female love interest. Not protecting her. He has these really flashy interesting friends, but we barely know anything about them.
I needed more from the first book in terms of character building and world building.
January 1, 2025
✨ARC Review ✨
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
-First and foremost, thank you so much Murs for the ARC. I am completely honored that you trusted me with it.
-Quick reminder that this is an adult high fantasy that contains dark content so always make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading.
-Now on to the review, I am completely blown away and speechless with this book. It is Murs’s debut novel and it has exceeded all the exceptions I had for it. If this is her debut novel, I cannot wait to see what else she writes!
-I adore her FMC Aheia, complete adore her. She is strong, she is feisty but she’s also vulnerable at times and there was a few times where I thought “she needs to be protected at all cost.” She broke my heart at times but she’s push through every time.
-Arioch and his shadows,
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
-First and foremost, thank you so much Murs for the ARC. I am completely honored that you trusted me with it.
-Quick reminder that this is an adult high fantasy that contains dark content so always make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading.
-Now on to the review, I am completely blown away and speechless with this book. It is Murs’s debut novel and it has exceeded all the exceptions I had for it. If this is her debut novel, I cannot wait to see what else she writes!
-I adore her FMC Aheia, complete adore her. She is strong, she is feisty but she’s also vulnerable at times and there was a few times where I thought “she needs to be protected at all cost.” She broke my heart at times but she’s push through every time.
-Arioch and his shadows,
February 26, 2023
How do you write a review and rate a book that you absolutely loved, but the writing was so trippy you had to constantly reread parts to know what just happened. I’ve never struggled so much reading a book and yet still enjoyed it. The writing and confusion screams one star, yet my enjoyment level was nothing short of five stars.
World Building; once you understand what building is going it’s not so bad, there’s a lot of detail yet I couldn’t tell you what the city looks like, that was well and truly lost on me. However I can probably sketch the bathrooms from the way you turn the shower on and where it falls from the ceiling perfectly. I could also tell you what everything feel ls like, every wall, ceiling and floor surface, we now know, how it would feel to rub your hand across a wall and fall to your knees on the ground.
“Don’t believe the truths told to you by the light. The brightness you’re used to casts the most vicious of shadows.”
Fantasy; when shadows/darkness/mist/smoke and all encompassing the depth of darkness drifting through the air. I am always going to be bias, it truly is my favourite little gift (since being a kid). Helfyre, probably has one of the most beautiful methods of using it. It may be in the way that Mariel Pomeroy writes with so much texture and detail you have a real grasp on how Arioch gift moves. However it also could be due to the fact that it’s nearly it’s own character. The rest of the fantasy/magic is all pretty standard above and below, light and dark. Shifters, “gods blessed” whom think they are so amazing etc.
“You can’t control it can you, little goddess? You can’t hold onto those masks you hide behind while you’re playing with demons.”
The Characters/Romance; I’m going to be brief, every character had a purpose and brought something to this novel. With the amount of charters and very random insight you get into their lives or history it all felt very rushed. I imagine it’ll pay off in the long run with the sequels however as much as I enjoyed them I have no bond to any of them. Except Lúc, I would be devastated if I don’t get to see more of this characters POV.
“However, I don’t see that now. You should be terrified— dangling that fragile life of yours over certain death, but you’re not. You should have been terrified in that room, but instead, you stood your ground. So, tell me what makes a creature that doesn’t fear death run with such resolution?”
My biggest love for this book does come from the portrayal of violence. All the fight scenes are very well written Mariel Pomeroy does not shy away from blood and gore. Especially with Lúc. I do appreciate a book that can make my heart race when someone is being chased/attacked.
when Arioch stood behind her with such strength. If she truly was his toy, his pet, his thing, she should have felt lesser. But when she looked up at him, and those eyes burned watching her and only her, she felt seen and fucking powerful instead.
Finally the spice, smut what ever you want to call it, I’m pretty over it in books, and I tend to just skim over these parts. However the way the Helfyre structures these scenes it actually felt like they impacted the power balance of the characters. I’m less keen on how quickly everything developed, and wished there was less of it and more actual communication, however given the circumstances it did work. And was of all things very well written and not confusing. This book is very, driven by smut plot lust fairly early on, again but there’s enough other going’s on that it doesn’t completely take over.
Side note: Do not read this book when tired nothing will take.
World Building; once you understand what building is going it’s not so bad, there’s a lot of detail yet I couldn’t tell you what the city looks like, that was well and truly lost on me. However I can probably sketch the bathrooms from the way you turn the shower on and where it falls from the ceiling perfectly. I could also tell you what everything feel ls like, every wall, ceiling and floor surface, we now know, how it would feel to rub your hand across a wall and fall to your knees on the ground.
“Don’t believe the truths told to you by the light. The brightness you’re used to casts the most vicious of shadows.”
Fantasy; when shadows/darkness/mist/smoke and all encompassing the depth of darkness drifting through the air. I am always going to be bias, it truly is my favourite little gift (since being a kid). Helfyre, probably has one of the most beautiful methods of using it. It may be in the way that Mariel Pomeroy writes with so much texture and detail you have a real grasp on how Arioch gift moves. However it also could be due to the fact that it’s nearly it’s own character. The rest of the fantasy/magic is all pretty standard above and below, light and dark. Shifters, “gods blessed” whom think they are so amazing etc.
“You can’t control it can you, little goddess? You can’t hold onto those masks you hide behind while you’re playing with demons.”
The Characters/Romance; I’m going to be brief, every character had a purpose and brought something to this novel. With the amount of charters and very random insight you get into their lives or history it all felt very rushed. I imagine it’ll pay off in the long run with the sequels however as much as I enjoyed them I have no bond to any of them. Except Lúc, I would be devastated if I don’t get to see more of this characters POV.
“However, I don’t see that now. You should be terrified— dangling that fragile life of yours over certain death, but you’re not. You should have been terrified in that room, but instead, you stood your ground. So, tell me what makes a creature that doesn’t fear death run with such resolution?”
My biggest love for this book does come from the portrayal of violence. All the fight scenes are very well written Mariel Pomeroy does not shy away from blood and gore. Especially with Lúc. I do appreciate a book that can make my heart race when someone is being chased/attacked.
when Arioch stood behind her with such strength. If she truly was his toy, his pet, his thing, she should have felt lesser. But when she looked up at him, and those eyes burned watching her and only her, she felt seen and fucking powerful instead.
Finally the spice, smut what ever you want to call it, I’m pretty over it in books, and I tend to just skim over these parts. However the way the Helfyre structures these scenes it actually felt like they impacted the power balance of the characters. I’m less keen on how quickly everything developed, and wished there was less of it and more actual communication, however given the circumstances it did work. And was of all things very well written and not confusing. This book is very, driven by smut plot lust fairly early on, again but there’s enough other going’s on that it doesn’t completely take over.
Side note: Do not read this book when tired nothing will take.
July 3, 2023
2,5 stars
"The knife looks good on you."
This is a two POV book, told by the POV´s of Aheia and Arioch.
I have to say that Aheia felt a little too one dimensional to me. I guess most of that is due to the fact that we know absolutely nothing about her background story until the 3/4 mark of the book; which in my opinion came a little bit too late. I like that she is quite fiery and brave but I would have wished for a little more depth for her character. I liked Arioch; I have to say that the names being so similar to each other did throw me off a bit at the beginning and I needed some getting used to it; especially since he doesn´t really have a background story until much later either.
With side characters I liked Luc, he seems to be the "comedic relief" of the book and I liked his witty answers. Other than that most side characters are from Arioch´s side, there are barely any from Aheia´s side. Most of them lack in the background story department since this was already an issue I had with the MC´s.
Plotwise I have to say I didn´t really enjoy the romance. It was okay but nothing ground-breaking for me. The slow burn didn´t really work in my opinion, since she is basically smitten by him the moment she sees him and then just "tries to hate him". (You know when you have a crush and you try to persuade yourself that you don´t even though you fully well know you do!? Yeah, like that.) I just expected more from it being promoted as enemies to lovers. I wanted hateful dagger to the throat moments with her absolutely loathing him. The story itself was okay as well, it did have leave some open questions for me that weren´t cleared in this book (maybe they will in Book 2). Especially the background story of most of the characters I found a bit lacking. The smut scenes were good, however I would have loved a little bit more plot with it. I like my books action packed and for me this was moving too slowly/too little happened. The pacing is mostly okay, but felt slow to me at parts, especially when there were scenes, where they only talked.
Overall it was an average read that was okay.
trigger warnings: drugs, self harm (mentioned), domestic abuse, attempted rape (mentioned), torture, death/murder
"The knife looks good on you."
This is a two POV book, told by the POV´s of Aheia and Arioch.
I have to say that Aheia felt a little too one dimensional to me. I guess most of that is due to the fact that we know absolutely nothing about her background story until the 3/4 mark of the book; which in my opinion came a little bit too late. I like that she is quite fiery and brave but I would have wished for a little more depth for her character. I liked Arioch; I have to say that the names being so similar to each other did throw me off a bit at the beginning and I needed some getting used to it; especially since he doesn´t really have a background story until much later either.
With side characters I liked Luc, he seems to be the "comedic relief" of the book and I liked his witty answers. Other than that most side characters are from Arioch´s side, there are barely any from Aheia´s side. Most of them lack in the background story department since this was already an issue I had with the MC´s.
Plotwise I have to say I didn´t really enjoy the romance. It was okay but nothing ground-breaking for me. The slow burn didn´t really work in my opinion, since she is basically smitten by him the moment she sees him and then just "tries to hate him". (You know when you have a crush and you try to persuade yourself that you don´t even though you fully well know you do!? Yeah, like that.) I just expected more from it being promoted as enemies to lovers. I wanted hateful dagger to the throat moments with her absolutely loathing him. The story itself was okay as well, it did have leave some open questions for me that weren´t cleared in this book (maybe they will in Book 2). Especially the background story of most of the characters I found a bit lacking. The smut scenes were good, however I would have loved a little bit more plot with it. I like my books action packed and for me this was moving too slowly/too little happened. The pacing is mostly okay, but felt slow to me at parts, especially when there were scenes, where they only talked.
Overall it was an average read that was okay.
trigger warnings: drugs, self harm (mentioned), domestic abuse, attempted rape (mentioned), torture, death/murder
April 10, 2022
2.5 stars
I really wanted to enjoy this. I found the world that the author created had a lot of potential, but I found it extremely hard to follow, especially when the invented language was combined with the world building.
The author's writing is beautiful, but often lead to unnecessarily long scene descriptions and forced the book to move much slower than it needed to. I didn't particularly enjoy any of the characters except for one very minor character which made it difficult for me to maintain interest.
The spice is pretty damn spicy, but felt extremely gratuitous. I am definitely not one to be bothered by a bit/a lot of spice in a book, but the multiple scenes felt out of place, and the link definitely wasn't my cup of tea. I feel like the author was torn between writing porn without plot and writing a high fantasy: She almost needed to pick one or the other.
The grammar and spelling mistakes were also very difficult for me to work past, making it hard to understand what certain sentences were implying, or making the dialogue seem unnatural. Although this is an Indie publication, I think proper editing is fundamental prior to release, and a lot of edits were required.
I almost DNF'd this, but skim read the last 50 pages in the hope that we would have some kind of big reveal or hook... But felt that it didn't capture me like I was anticipating.
There is definitely potential in this series - with fine tuning and clarity, the world building could really make for an interesting continuation.
I really wanted to enjoy this. I found the world that the author created had a lot of potential, but I found it extremely hard to follow, especially when the invented language was combined with the world building.
The author's writing is beautiful, but often lead to unnecessarily long scene descriptions and forced the book to move much slower than it needed to. I didn't particularly enjoy any of the characters except for one very minor character which made it difficult for me to maintain interest.
The spice is pretty damn spicy, but felt extremely gratuitous. I am definitely not one to be bothered by a bit/a lot of spice in a book, but the multiple scenes felt out of place, and the link definitely wasn't my cup of tea. I feel like the author was torn between writing porn without plot and writing a high fantasy: She almost needed to pick one or the other.
The grammar and spelling mistakes were also very difficult for me to work past, making it hard to understand what certain sentences were implying, or making the dialogue seem unnatural. Although this is an Indie publication, I think proper editing is fundamental prior to release, and a lot of edits were required.
I almost DNF'd this, but skim read the last 50 pages in the hope that we would have some kind of big reveal or hook... But felt that it didn't capture me like I was anticipating.
There is definitely potential in this series - with fine tuning and clarity, the world building could really make for an interesting continuation.
April 12, 2022
OVERHYPED BOOKSTAGRAM BACK AT IT AGAIN - I don't know how this has so many high reviews.
Honestly, I didn't hate it but I also didn't really enjoy it either. I purely kept reading so I didn't DNF books in a row. I wanted to see what the hype on this book was. I get that she is a new author but this book had ways to be improved. For example, simple grammar and spell checking, removing extra letters that were clearly mistyped. There was parts where commas were used and broke the sentence up where it didn't grammatically make sense, I recall a sentence where she clearly confused two names, wish I recorded the page to refer back to.
The story gave me whiplash and I'm fucking confused by half of it. The first half was trying to world build and show you what made Aheia and how she got where she is. By the way, also too many names starting with A, many characters thrown in there most likely to break up the FMC & MMC without really having much value.
I have a real issue with consent not being adhered to, even if Aheia says no but her mind and body she wants the sexual experience, she still mother fucking said NO. Not a turn on and a big reason why I almost DNF the book. But alas I kept reading.
Can we all agree that nobody wants to see milking used to describe a certain act? Instant ick!
I will NOT be reading the sequel when it's released.
Honestly, I didn't hate it but I also didn't really enjoy it either. I purely kept reading so I didn't DNF books in a row. I wanted to see what the hype on this book was. I get that she is a new author but this book had ways to be improved. For example, simple grammar and spell checking, removing extra letters that were clearly mistyped. There was parts where commas were used and broke the sentence up where it didn't grammatically make sense, I recall a sentence where she clearly confused two names, wish I recorded the page to refer back to.
The story gave me whiplash and I'm fucking confused by half of it. The first half was trying to world build and show you what made Aheia and how she got where she is. By the way, also too many names starting with A, many characters thrown in there most likely to break up the FMC & MMC without really having much value.
I have a real issue with consent not being adhered to, even if Aheia says no but her mind and body she wants the sexual experience, she still mother fucking said NO. Not a turn on and a big reason why I almost DNF the book. But alas I kept reading.
Can we all agree that nobody wants to see milking used to describe a certain act? Instant ick!
I will NOT be reading the sequel when it's released.
April 12, 2022
Writing a decent book takes time and hard work. I think this one could have used more of both before being released.
Stars grudgingly given for the effort (as I said, writing is hard work) and original idea. Stars detracted for basically everything else.
Typos, missing words, and grammar issues abound. Find a goddamn copy editor.
Pacing was poor. By the halfway point I was increasingly bored and confused, and it wasn't because of the story itself, just the telling of it. By the time the final cliffhanger came around, I was just glad to be done.
I think most of my criticism stems from the writing style. It might be artful with some polishing. I could see flickers of really nice phrasings and pockets of detailed imagery. But, as a whole, descriptions didn't leave me with clear images of characters, settings, or sequences of events. Kind of like watching a movie with bad lighting and sound mixing so you have to squint and turn on the captions to figure out what's going on most of the time.
I hate to disparage such a promising but story when a better editing process could have made it perfectly good and enjoyable. I wish it had been better executed.
Stars grudgingly given for the effort (as I said, writing is hard work) and original idea. Stars detracted for basically everything else.
Typos, missing words, and grammar issues abound. Find a goddamn copy editor.
Pacing was poor. By the halfway point I was increasingly bored and confused, and it wasn't because of the story itself, just the telling of it. By the time the final cliffhanger came around, I was just glad to be done.
I think most of my criticism stems from the writing style. It might be artful with some polishing. I could see flickers of really nice phrasings and pockets of detailed imagery. But, as a whole, descriptions didn't leave me with clear images of characters, settings, or sequences of events. Kind of like watching a movie with bad lighting and sound mixing so you have to squint and turn on the captions to figure out what's going on most of the time.
I hate to disparage such a promising but story when a better editing process could have made it perfectly good and enjoyable. I wish it had been better executed.
dnf
February 10, 2023I feel so bad. I tried to read this as I wanted to support small authors and the premise seemed great. I very rarely dnf a book but I couldn’t get far. The beginning glossary is overwhelming and not explained in context. The descriptions are borderline absurd and distracting. I found myself rewording and rewriting sentences that were grammatically incorrect or awkward. Sorry.
October 12, 2024
[dnf @ 60%] the most BORING fantasy book i’ve ever read.
August 31, 2025
Helfyre is Mariel Pomeroy's debut novel, and I can already tell that she has some great things planned for the sequel (if there is one) to Helfyre.
Here are my main points:
1) The writing style: I thoroughly enjoyed the author's writing style throughout the book, but at times I felt that it just seemed to make scenes go on and on, because of all of the description. The style was highly descriptive, and lyrical, which at some points gave a lot of depth and details to a scene, but in others, caused the book to drag, and made the characters seem annoying, based upon how descriptive it was.
2) The characters: During the majority of this book, there were new characters introduced around every ~10 chapters or so. I may be a little picky about this, but I felt that there were too many characters and not enough character descriptions. I found myself every so often wondering who was who, in the story, other than Arioch, and Aheia, for example.
3) The formatting: I am cutting this author a little slack on this, as it is her debut novel and her friend was her editor, but a book written by any author that has multiple books published should evidently avoid these few mistakes that I found in this book:
a) There were some spaces missing after characters spoke, but very few.
b) A couple times, it seemed like a few commas were missing in spots that they should be.
c) There were a few doubles of letters, for example, "Was s amazing."
I really liked this book, especially as it had enemies to lovers, a bit of the "Who did this to you?" trope, and was obviously influenced by Hades and Persephone. 3/5 stars.
Here are my main points:
1) The writing style: I thoroughly enjoyed the author's writing style throughout the book, but at times I felt that it just seemed to make scenes go on and on, because of all of the description. The style was highly descriptive, and lyrical, which at some points gave a lot of depth and details to a scene, but in others, caused the book to drag, and made the characters seem annoying, based upon how descriptive it was.
2) The characters: During the majority of this book, there were new characters introduced around every ~10 chapters or so. I may be a little picky about this, but I felt that there were too many characters and not enough character descriptions. I found myself every so often wondering who was who, in the story, other than Arioch, and Aheia, for example.
3) The formatting: I am cutting this author a little slack on this, as it is her debut novel and her friend was her editor, but a book written by any author that has multiple books published should evidently avoid these few mistakes that I found in this book:
a) There were some spaces missing after characters spoke, but very few.
b) A couple times, it seemed like a few commas were missing in spots that they should be.
c) There were a few doubles of letters, for example, "Was s amazing."
I really liked this book, especially as it had enemies to lovers, a bit of the "Who did this to you?" trope, and was obviously influenced by Hades and Persephone. 3/5 stars.
April 2, 2022
I’m giving this 2 stars but really I would like to give it 1.5 I did finish it and some parts were interesting. The majority? Confusing and very annoying to read. What the hell was the plot of this even? Not to mention the names were horrendous. They mingle together they are so close in spelling but you do not get to know a single character enough to remember who is who other then the two that have sex.
April 3, 2022
The book had potentials, but the heavy descriptions, slow pacing and different languages just murdered it. Most of time, I'd either get bored with descriptions about the world building or long metaphors used to describe the character's emotions. There were too many long paragraphs on descriptions, and too little dailogues to get the plot moving. It felt like I was reading an essay...
April 20, 2022
Not really sure what happened here. Felt like there was a lot of potential but the story just got lost in a lot of words. The writing and story telling was disjointed even if it was just a smut novel, the smut wasn’t that great either. Didn’t feel drawn to any of the characters. Almost stopped reading but powered through to the end. Moving on…
May 23, 2022
3.60⭐️ (weird rating I know)
NOOOOOOOO THE CLIFFHANGER I AM CONFUSION, I AM RAGE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I NEEED THE SEQUEL GIVE ME THE SEQUEL-
*breathes*
This was really good. Loved the relationship between Arioch and Aheia. A bit slow at times and the info-dump chapters felt a bit unnecessary at times. But still, really enjoyed this and the characters. THAT ONE 👯SCENE👯 DID THINGS TO ME.
Read this please
NOOOOOOOO THE CLIFFHANGER I AM CONFUSION, I AM RAGE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I NEEED THE SEQUEL GIVE ME THE SEQUEL-
*breathes*
This was really good. Loved the relationship between Arioch and Aheia. A bit slow at times and the info-dump chapters felt a bit unnecessary at times. But still, really enjoyed this and the characters. THAT ONE 👯SCENE👯 DID THINGS TO ME.
Read this please
July 27, 2023
Updated to five stars, cause I literally can’t stop raving about it.
My review was humbly brought to you by Honey by Halsey & my personal discovery of Spiderman gifs*
Okay, oh my god.
I--Where do I begin?
The Characters / Story
The story revolves around two characters, Arioch and Aheia (whose names, I'll admit, I got heavily mixed up when I started the story last night at 2am in the morning).
Aheia is the first character we are introduced to. A young woman who is created to embody light from her white hair to her incredibly pale skin. She's portrayed as fragile and malnourished from abuse and. . . her personality?
Well, to summarize she's constantly placed in a position of danger and somehow manages to shift the narrative to make it sexy. I don't know how she does it, let alone every time. But here we are. She's very obviously based on Persephone (or Persephone-esque) narratives. However, I really enjoy how it seemingly pulls on the more queen of darkness vibe.
Arioch is the second character and obvious love interest in this story whose personality mimics that of Hades. He frustrates me at times, because his character growth… exists. But at the same time frustrates the ever living hell out of me. Nonetheless, you won me with his dark hair and tattoos. >_>
AND THAT CLIFF HANGER!!
The ~Spice~
This gif summarizes it pretty well . . . or this one:
Basically, it's pretty on-point and fits the Halsey lyrics, "She was sweet like honey, and all I could taste was the blood in my mouth." The writing is overall spectacular and well-done. Also . . . everyone's over here talking about shadowplay. . . but it was the "honey" and "ruhi" meaning over here for me. The spice was delivered at the best moments truly.
The Writing Style
This is where people aren't going to like me. Look, I know the author struggled and placed a lot of pain and tears into this novel. And it paid off! Except for in some of the multi-POV writing style. There were gaps in the story, and some of the dialogue felt forced. I also did not like some of the side characters because their personalities felt wishy-washy. That being said, we all have a rough start. Keep working hard as I fully believe your next book will blow this review out of the water.
Content Warnings
- Choking - Honestly, I'm surprised I got through this novel. I'm pretty easily triggered by choking, so the fact that I read this all without DNF'ing is shocking. I give heavy props to the author for involving such a dark subject without being so descriptive that it hurts the readers (Please note, this is only my experience, not everyone will feel the same).
- Abuse (Both sexual and physical)
- Panic Attacks
- Perceived Self-Harm
- Suicidal Ideations
- Violence
- Blood
- Dubcon
My review was humbly brought to you by Honey by Halsey & my personal discovery of Spiderman gifs*
Okay, oh my god.
I--Where do I begin?
The Characters / Story
The story revolves around two characters, Arioch and Aheia (whose names, I'll admit, I got heavily mixed up when I started the story last night at 2am in the morning).
Aheia is the first character we are introduced to. A young woman who is created to embody light from her white hair to her incredibly pale skin. She's portrayed as fragile and malnourished from abuse and. . . her personality?
Well, to summarize she's constantly placed in a position of danger and somehow manages to shift the narrative to make it sexy. I don't know how she does it, let alone every time. But here we are. She's very obviously based on Persephone (or Persephone-esque) narratives. However, I really enjoy how it seemingly pulls on the more queen of darkness vibe.
Arioch is the second character and obvious love interest in this story whose personality mimics that of Hades. He frustrates me at times, because his character growth… exists. But at the same time frustrates the ever living hell out of me. Nonetheless, you won me with his dark hair and tattoos. >_>
AND THAT CLIFF HANGER!!
The ~Spice~
This gif summarizes it pretty well . . . or this one:
Basically, it's pretty on-point and fits the Halsey lyrics, "She was sweet like honey, and all I could taste was the blood in my mouth." The writing is overall spectacular and well-done. Also . . . everyone's over here talking about shadowplay. . . but it was the "honey" and "ruhi" meaning over here for me. The spice was delivered at the best moments truly.
The Writing Style
This is where people aren't going to like me. Look, I know the author struggled and placed a lot of pain and tears into this novel. And it paid off! Except for in some of the multi-POV writing style. There were gaps in the story, and some of the dialogue felt forced. I also did not like some of the side characters because their personalities felt wishy-washy. That being said, we all have a rough start. Keep working hard as I fully believe your next book will blow this review out of the water.
Content Warnings
- Choking - Honestly, I'm surprised I got through this novel. I'm pretty easily triggered by choking, so the fact that I read this all without DNF'ing is shocking. I give heavy props to the author for involving such a dark subject without being so descriptive that it hurts the readers (Please note, this is only my experience, not everyone will feel the same).
- Abuse (Both sexual and physical)
- Panic Attacks
- Perceived Self-Harm
- Suicidal Ideations
- Violence
- Blood
- Dubcon
March 21, 2022
Best debut novel I ever read
Helfyre is a debut novel, and I had the privilege of reading this arc pre release. This book is a dark romance, with some violence (which we all love) and a lot of smutty scenes that will curl your toes.
This book is everything I didn’t realise I wanted and needed in my life 🙈❤️
I expected for this book to be great, Murs spend so much time doing edits, I knew it would be enjoyable. BUT I did NOT expect it to be so incredible. This by far is the best debut novel I have ever read.
The writing is phenomenal, Murs was hiding her talent on us this whole time. After reading this, I know she will be my “instant buy” author from now on.
So what’s the book about? Aheia flees her home desperately looking for safety, she arrives in Aljira, and is met by Arioch (basically the devil 😎) who takes her soul as a price for her safety. Checkout goodreads for a better summary.
Arioch is honestly the type of man I always wanted in dark romance books. He is powerful, dominant, violent, sexy as sin and possessive. Thank you Murs for writing literally the perfect MALE. I know I will be re-reading this book many, many times.
Honestly guys. This is my top highlight of the year so far and I think it’s going to be very hard to top. Murs, so fucking proud of you, your are talented beyond words. I cannot wait to see what else you write ❤️
Helfyre is a debut novel, and I had the privilege of reading this arc pre release. This book is a dark romance, with some violence (which we all love) and a lot of smutty scenes that will curl your toes.
This book is everything I didn’t realise I wanted and needed in my life 🙈❤️
I expected for this book to be great, Murs spend so much time doing edits, I knew it would be enjoyable. BUT I did NOT expect it to be so incredible. This by far is the best debut novel I have ever read.
The writing is phenomenal, Murs was hiding her talent on us this whole time. After reading this, I know she will be my “instant buy” author from now on.
So what’s the book about? Aheia flees her home desperately looking for safety, she arrives in Aljira, and is met by Arioch (basically the devil 😎) who takes her soul as a price for her safety. Checkout goodreads for a better summary.
Arioch is honestly the type of man I always wanted in dark romance books. He is powerful, dominant, violent, sexy as sin and possessive. Thank you Murs for writing literally the perfect MALE. I know I will be re-reading this book many, many times.
Honestly guys. This is my top highlight of the year so far and I think it’s going to be very hard to top. Murs, so fucking proud of you, your are talented beyond words. I cannot wait to see what else you write ❤️
February 10, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I can’t recommend this book enough, not only was it 😮💨😮💨😮💨SPICY but the writing is amazing!! Shadow d€mons are my new kink I guess hahaha
I love the combo of dark romance & fantasy!! I am obsessed with not only Aheia & Aroich but also their enemies to lovers connection. ALSO THE WORLD BUILDING... I can't get over that this is her first book, it's honestly so amazing.
It makes me sad to see some of the 1 and 2 star rating because this book deserves the world.
I can’t recommend this book enough, not only was it 😮💨😮💨😮💨SPICY but the writing is amazing!! Shadow d€mons are my new kink I guess hahaha
I love the combo of dark romance & fantasy!! I am obsessed with not only Aheia & Aroich but also their enemies to lovers connection. ALSO THE WORLD BUILDING... I can't get over that this is her first book, it's honestly so amazing.
It makes me sad to see some of the 1 and 2 star rating because this book deserves the world.
November 25, 2023
4.25 Stars
Likes - The world building was really good and I am dying to see where the story will go next. There was a lot of set up and hints for future plot twists and I’m excited to see those unfold! The spice was also really good! 😍
Dislikes - I would have liked to connect with the characters just a little bit more. I care about them, don’t get me wrong, just not like I wanted to.
Likes - The world building was really good and I am dying to see where the story will go next. There was a lot of set up and hints for future plot twists and I’m excited to see those unfold! The spice was also really good! 😍
Dislikes - I would have liked to connect with the characters just a little bit more. I care about them, don’t get me wrong, just not like I wanted to.
September 27, 2024
[dnf @ 60%] the most BORING fantasy book i’ve ever read.
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