Remy Pendergast and his royal vampire companions return to face an enemy that is terrifyingly close to home in Rin Chupeco’s queer, bloody Gothic epic fantasy series for fans of Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree and the adult animated series Castlevania.
Remy Pendergast, the vampire hunter, and his unexpected companions, Lord Zidan Malekh and Lady Xiaodan Song, are on the road through the kingdom of Aluria again after a hard-won first battle against the formidable Night Empress, who threatens to undo a fragile peace between humans and vampires. Xiaodan, severely injured, has lost her powers to vanquish the enemy’s new super breed of vampire, but if the trio can make it to Fata Morgana, the seat of Malehk’s court—dubbed “the Court of Wanderers”—there is hope of nursing her and bringing them back.
En-route to the Third Court, Remy crosses paths with his father, the arrogant, oftentimes cruel Lord of Valenbonne. He also begins to suffer strange dreams of the Night Empress, whom he has long suspected to be Ligaya Pendergast, his own mother. As his family history unfolds during these episodes, which are too realistic to be coincidence, he realizes that she is no ordinary vampire—and that he may end up having to choose between the respective legacies of his parents.
Posing as Malek and Xiaodan’s human familiar, Remy contends with Aluria’s intimidating vampire courts and a series of gruesome murders with their help—and more, as the three navigate their relationship. But those feelings and even their extraordinary collective strength will be put to the test as each of them unleashes new powers in combat at what may be proven to be the ultimate cost.
I…do not know what to say. But to get the main point out of the way quickly, I don't know that I've ever experienced such a steep decline in quality from a first book to its sequel.
If you follow me anywhere you'll know that when I read Silver Under Nightfall I went FERAL. I was OBSESSED with that book it was so good. Five stars and of the 108 books I read in 2023 it's easily in my Top 5. I cannot adequately describe how much I love that book and when I got the notification that I'd been approved for the ARC of this sequel I lost my mind.
So what happened!?
If I had to say just two words about this book, they would be: messy and rushed. This book is a mess. The plot is messy, the writing is messy, and the whole thing feels like it was rushed out which is bizarre for a book that was pushed back five or six months from its original release date.
Honestly, it feels like this book needs to go totally back to the drawing board. The pacing is terrible, the plot is overly convoluted and yet largely stagnant (and as someone who typically LOVES Political Fantasy, the plot of this book is almost entirely politics and it just didn't work), characters are not consistent with the first book, the action is sub-par and always rushed, there’s an overreliance on sex to simulate character development and fill empty air time, and worst of all I was often just bored.
Almost everything that was great about Silver Under Nightfall is bad in this book, or non-existent at best. - The action? Poorly writtten. - The tension? What tension? - The monsters? Rarely seen. - The worldbuilding? boring and there's so much of it for the second book in a duology. Why are we introducing so many brand new world concepts that don't seem to mesh with the first book? - The pacing? A whole entire mess. It jumps from agonizingly slow to outrageously rushed and back again.
And not to mention that there are some things that just fundamentally do not make sense in this book. There are leaps of logic in expository dialogue that I simply couldn't follow, would assume I'd misread something, re-read the preceding paragraphs, and realize that no I think the A to B connection they just made really just didn't make any sense. At least one massive plot thread is completely dropped in such a way that I actually do think it needs to be fixed before this book is released in April, and I typically never expect changes beyond copy editing between ARCs and final publication. (NOTE: I read a digital ARC of this book in November of 2023) One big character from SUN has a completely different personality for no reason. Not a redemption/fall arc because there is no arc, they've just done a total 180 from who they were in that book to this one for no dicsernible reason and Chupeco never addresses it. It's like they forgot the character they wrote in the first book.
I am so grateful I had a friend who read this ARC shortly before I did that I could talk with about this book because I needed constant sanity checks. There were a lot of "Am I crazy or is this...bad" messages and she kept reassuring me that I was not, in fact, crazy. ;__;
What I did like about this book comes down to individual scenes and never the book or plot as a whole, and those scenes are always with Remy/Malekh/Xiaodan. Even with them though, I feel that this book so heavily relies on far too much sex just to fill pages and pass time between scenes where it's not needed. "Too much sex" is another critique about this book I never would have believed if you'd told me before I read it, but it just feels like it's masking a lack of any real character growth or development from anyone and like it's being dangled in front of me like a shiny set of keys to distract from the everything else about the book being a mess.
Y'all. I am DEVASTATED. I will still be shouting my love for Silver Under Nightfall from the rooftops until my dying day, but I think I'll be recommending it as a standalone.
I refuse to believe that this is the sequel to one of my favorite books of all time. Even months after reading this I can't process the dramatic drop in quality (both in the cover art and the content). This sequel did not deliver any of the development or character moments that I was hoping for. I think the book’s biggest flaw is its attempt to be plot-focused rather than character-focused. The strength of this series is the characters and their relationship. Rather than providing any meaningful development for Remy, Xiaodan, and Malekh, Court of Wanderers is a messy, rushed attempt at political world-building plagued by plot holes and inconsistencies.
The plot of Court of Wanderers lacks everything that made Silver Under Nightfall interesting. The monsters are barely present, the action scenes are dull and rare, and there is no drama or tension. The political fantasy plot was boring and honestly didn’t make any sense. There is an unreasonable amount of brand-new world-building for a second book. We are introduced to so many new concepts that feel tacked on to the world established in Silver Under Nightfall. They are inconsistent and boring and yet dominate the story. Entire plot threads are completely dropped, the logic behind decisions is often unclear, and characters from the first book are not consistent.
The change in Remy’s father from book one to book two actually pissed me off. It's not even a redemption arc. He just acts like a completely different person in this book. And it completely undermines the abuse and suffering Remy experienced at his hand.
There are moments in this book that remind me why I loved Silver Under Nightfall. These are almost entirely relationship moments between Remy, Xiaodan, and Malekh. Though I still loved their dynamic I am devastated by the lack of proper relationship development. The book relies on sex scenes to give the illusion of a strong relationship rather than putting any effort into growing their bond. I am particularly disappointed that we did not get more time with Malekh. One of my critiques of Silver Under Nightfall was the uneven emphasis on Xiaodan and Remy and sadly Court of Wanderers does nothing to fix this. This book actively robbed me of scenes that I was looking forward to.
I have tried for MONTHS to talk myself into enjoying this book but time has just made me realize how devastated I am. I would have waited years for a sequel worthy of Silver Under Nightfall and as far as I am concerned it is a standalone now.
Court of Wanderers is a sequel that dares to ask: What if we put everything good about the first book on the back burner and instead added in a bunch of unnecessary, poorly done worldbuilding and politics? (The answer is nothing good). I would describe this as a SJM-esque romantasy with queer and poly main characters, so if that’s your jam, maybe you’ll enjoy the whole duology. It is not my jam, and I would recommend stopping after book one.
My least favorite part of Silver Under Nightfall was by far the end fight, so it is unsurprising that I found the fight scenes to be poorly done, but on top of that a bunch of politics and worldbuilding was added that didn’t really make sense and felt silly to add in a last book. There was so much going on at all times but I couldn’t connect at all emotionally. A lot of stuff that was brought up was also brought up for the first time in the same chapter it was resolved which lessened the stakes significantly for me. I felt no tension in any of this book and was just waiting to start caring.
The biggest issue I have with this book was the complete 180 one character made between books one and two (which was weird especially considering this one picks up right where book one ends). Every time this character was shown in a positive light and Remy interacted with them in, I wanted to be sick. The development was incredibly poor and nothing they had done previously done that could’ve redeemed them this much. I cannot go into spoilers, but if you know you know and it’ll probably make you angry too.
I actually did enjoy some aspects of this book. Well, one aspect of this book. I really enjoyed the relationship between Remy and the Night Empress and found it to be incredibly compelling. While I have some issues with how the Night Empress was depicted, their interactions were raw and had the most emotional impact. I also enjoyed Malekh a lot in this book, but found myself wanting to see the development of his and Remy’s relationship beyond just sex. Where Silver Under Nigthfall had great relationship dynamics, Xiodan, Remy, and Malekh’s relationship relied too heavily on sex in general during this one. There was no forward motion with their relationship, just sex. It was disappointing to see especially since their relationship was my favorite part of book one.
It’s always disappointing when a really enjoyable book has a disappointing sequel, but I would still recommend reading Silver Under Nightfall as a standalone. Where this book fell flat, that one really did excel.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc
I would like to thank Edelweiss and S&S/Saga Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
🔥Court of Wanderers was dynamic, OTT entertainment, and I loved every wild, sex and fangs and flame filled moment of it! There was a ton of action, a ton of sex, some soft vampy court politics with a bit of murdery intrigue! I FELT all kinds of feelings for my boy Remy, and his emotional journey through some very turbulent times, and even got teary eyed at the end because lbr when it hit it hits!💔🥺 This was unadulterated entertainment, and for me it read like every vampy movie/videogame in existence and i ate that up because vampires are epic (and Castlevania is epic) and that's all there is to it! I adored Remy and I can 100% Fk with Malekh!❤️🔥 my guy set fire to my bones he was such a growly Boss 🫠 so YES to ALL of that to ♾️💘 🏰I enjoyed the lulls in the action, the vampy egos, the 8763645786385 vampire courts, the betrayals, the lore, the fact that i guessed the ending but i still gasped (bad guy) and teared up (poor remy) anyway! This book was by no means perfect, but it was perfect for me!✌🏽 ⚔️👾The monsters were abominable.👏🏽 We love the grotesque menagerie, especially since Chupeco went in the direction of scientific blood mutations instead of demon action, and i very much appreciated this flex!🩸 The action was gory and spectacular and for obvs reasons I loved it!
🩸It's been a while since i'd read Silver Under Nightfall, but this wasn't a complicated story. What Chupeco has created here is some uncomplicated, exhilarating fun, that I was able to dial into and have a blast with! Most importantly, I enjoyed this book EVEN MORE than Silver Under Nightfall , so overall this was super fun reading.😄
⚜️fun to visualize. fun to chill with. fun that feeds nostalgia. fun with some feels that i can get down with because i resonate with this vibe completely. i'm a fan of all of THIS. The ending satisfied me, but i'm hoping there's more to this fantastic world of Reapers and kindred still to come in the future because i could happily read this vibe forever!👑
“Never love anyone so much that it makes them the death of you.”
4.25 ⭐️
i listened to the recap of Silver Under Nightfall before starting this but i still didn’t remember some key points and chose to just dive into it, which may be why i was unclear about the vampire court politics and who’s who. anyway, that didn’t stop me from swooning over the characters so there’s a silver lining there!
THE PLOT the plot was super fun but i was more invested in the polyam throuple that was xiaodang x remy x malekh. their easy bond and sexy chemistry was truly one for the books. i also have plenty of unholy thoughts about the three of them (despite the book not leaving much to the imagination) but i obviously won’t be revealing them this review *coughs*.
the writing is also great and i loved the sarcastic edge to the prose because it’s perfect since it’s being narrated from remy’s POV. i’ll admit i didn’t care much about the fantasy aspect of the book as i was fully taken with the poly ship that went all three ways but i still enjoyed the night empress plot-line though, i wasn’t that interested in it. around the 60% mark things start to get really interesting and my interest was piqued. the action amps up towards the end and the chapters get more thrilling. we get a hooded assassin on the loose and a murder mystery well past the 50% mark which was a pleasant surprise! it also lowkey felt like the author suddenly decided she was done with the smut and wanted to show some real action instead. either of which worked well for me so i have no complaints.
THE CHARACTERS malekh is stoic and has a cold exterior but on the inside his heart is as soft as wax. this much was clear from his interactions with remy and the way he cares for his kin as well as humans alike. xiaodang is basically the glue that holds the throuple together and the chemistry is insane between the three of them. they also make a good team.
their steamy scenes were to die for and not only that, i loved how well they communicated their fears and concerns with each other. their relationship was equal parts lust and romance and i enjoyed all of it.
FINAL THOUGHTS overall, it was a decent conclusion to an action packed duology but the ending felt a little “meh” to me. i was expecting an epilogue chapter to wrap things up more neatly. that’s the only point that stopped me from giving the book full stars. regardless, this was still fun to read with multi dimensional characters, diversity and amazing queer rep. i’d highly suggest all fantasy lovers to pick this up because you won’t be disappointed!
this sequel was a downgrade i'm sorry :( it lacked the tension and character development that had me in silver under nightfall. the plot was fine in book 1 but managed to be even more of a bore in this one. i'd read pages and pages but the plot moved at a snail's pace, if any at all.
i rarely find authors do well in maintaining that tension in the following books when they have their pairing get together at the end of the first book. remy was once again asking "why me?" ...if you don't shut up and take their love. remy was fine in SUN but i found him more intolerable in this book😔🤚🏻
i really wish i loved this book bc a historical, paranormal fantasy book with polyamorous vampires sounds like a dream !! i'll treat SUN like a stand-alone. thank you Saga Press for the arc ♡
you know. this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. maybe i kind of overhyped it in my mind after my re-read of silver under nightfall and thats why i didn't love it as much as i wanted to, but... idk. this just felt weaker over all. it feels like a ghost writer read the outline and notes for a sequel and just decided to go their own way with it. the fun action from the first book takes a complete backseat to the politics and court drama, which would be okay if said politics and court drama was good.
i feel like the entire point of introducing all these new vampires and courts and shit was really just to set up the raunchy pet play scenes, and as much as i thought those and the other sex scenes were still as fun as the first book's, the scenes around them felt like they were written FOR the sex scenes instead of the sex just being a fun addition- do you know what i mean?
the conflict in this feels unresolved, the true "villain" changes every 50 pages and i just felt confused and unsatisfied.
where this book and this universe still shines is with the characters, my favorite moments in this book was the span of time the trio was at zidan's court just enjoying life and remy was teaching the young children how to fight. we don't really get to see any development between them, though, because xiaodan is passed out for a lot of the time and zidan is acting like being distant and brooding is cool, and then when the two of them ARE present in the scenes its either automatically sex or something to progress the plot that just felt. out of place? weird?
man. i dont know. i feel kind of bummed out by this. it's nice to get a conclusion, but it wasn't the one i was hoping for. by the time i got to the last page, i forgot why i was even really hyped in the first place for such a lackluster finish.
this is a 2.5 rounded up. part of me wishes this book is some fan's interpretation of what a sequel to silver under nightfall WOULD have looked like, and that we all are just left with an incomplete story at the end of the first book.
It turns out I don't care anymore what will happen in this sequel!
DNF 65%
Reaper Series had the potential but I think it couldn't use it. In the world of reapers, vampires, humans, and different courts and kingdoms, with the deceptions and ways of diplomats, old secrets, and conspiracy...
We face with ... NOTHING.
I was hoping this book would explore the potential of Silver Under Nightfall, but it failed to deliver. The story continued even flatter than before, at least, till I the where I read.
As for the romance, which was the main focus of the book, and caused other important elements to be sacrificed, well, sorry I am saying that...
But the romance was the most unbelievable I've ever read.
I enjoyed listening to the audio version of the book, which was narrated by Matthew Spencer, thanks to Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley for ARC. I hope this works for you better as wasn't for me, and it is set to be published on 2 April 2024.
3.5 rounded up to 4. While not having quite the same bite as its predecessor, Court of Wanderers was a decent close to this Castlevania-inspired duology.
Rating represents three and a half rounded up. Thanks to Saga Press via Netgalley for a copy of this to review; this title released last week and is available now!
This is a mixed review, to my dismay; I found the first three-quarters very difficult to get through, but the final quarter finally had some satisfying emotional resolutions, as well as the usual final battle badassery.
Saddened to find I do agree with many of the middling reviews, at least for the first few legs of the book; there was a lot of new worldbuilding material introduced in this, for a second and concluding volume of a duology, and most everything otherwise was an overabundance of sex scenes between our favorite throuple. But lovable and funny characters remained just that, and the world was still refreshingly diverse (with even disability accommodations in vampire castles!) with some unique lore. Rin Chupeco is an auto-buy for me, and though this conclusion to the Reaper duology disappointed a bit, they will remain one.
Now, the part romance played in this rating: this is so hard to explain, because there are endearing scenes of affection and building the relationship between the throuple, which I love, but more often there are sex scenes for the first majority of the book. Some of these are fun and peppered with humor and sarcasm, they just...became too much. At a certain point I think these spicy interludes slowed down the overall story, particularly when the next passage would be another chunk of worldbuilding exposition. Porn without plot vampire stories can exist, but this duology bit off too much story to tell (and too much that was introduced in this volume), and sacrificed it for spice in this conclusion. The best parts are the casual cuddling or embraces, and Xiaodan and Malekh liking Remy simply for who he is, a foul-mouthed, kind of dumb guy with a noble heart. I'd like to think this is leading the charge for polyam rep in the book world.
One of the concepts broached in this second part is the reconciling of Remy, a mortal, being in a relationship with immortals, and to become one or not. I know it makes no sense but I personally hate this issue when it comes up, and would prefer books talk around it; I like the idea of a 'weaker' person who finds ways to keep up inhuman strength, etc. I very much enjoyed how Chupeco treated the concept in the end.
If I'm honest, making Silver Under Nightfall a standalone, and about two hundred pages longer, would have been the best idea here. While I enjoyed the last quarter of this book, it was way harder to get there than it should have been, given that Nightfall was a five-star read for me.
Remy accompanies Xiaodan and Malekh, playing the part of a familiar as they venture into vampire court territory, determined to find a way to bring down the cruel Nightcourt and the chimera monstrosities running rampant and growing stronger.
I think I actually preferred the plot and pacing of this book to book one, which seems at odds with the rest of the reviews.
This was a bit more sexual than book one, but again, the scenes were fairly fade to black. But it was a lot more prominent as Remy plays the part of a pet or, what Xiodan endears, puppy. Yeah, um, not for me. Keep it in the fanfiction.
Again, I have to express my disappointment for this series as I went in with such high expectations coming from her other books and hearing the hype it got on social media.
I just want to leave this last quote but basically sums up the series. Remy, I love you, but…
"Remy, I swear to every thing you consider holy that sometimes you are the densest person I have ever met."
Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for providing an arc in exchange for a review.
You know a book is good when your brain blocks out the fact this is the second part of a duology, you're reminded of this in the author's acknowledgments, and your first reaction is devastation at not being able to go on more adventures with these characters.
This book was an utter delight. It was my most anticipated ARC of the year and did not disappoint in the slightest. My only critique was the foreshadowing felt like an ACME anvil at times, but I found myself not caring because the journey was such a joy to go on with these characters.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about the polyamory rep in this book. Take note publishers and editors alike - love triangles are out and healthy polyamory rep is in. Our three MCs are so loving, tender, and caring toward each other. The way imbalances of power, insecurities of being the new person in a polycule, and the importance of consent were handled with such care while never feeling cheesy.
****Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review. ****
Review after finishing: while definitely not as a good as the first, I think it was completely serviceable and stands as a solid conclusion. I let reviews of this book scare me off from reading it all these months since the release, and I do think I should've reread the first one since its been like 2 years. But other than that it was good. It was very court politic-y which took up a lot of the plot,it had me really missing the action scenes. My only main complaint is how stagnant the characters were in their relationship. There was a lot of sex scenes, sure, but they didn't really grow as characters as much as I'd hoped (besides remy). I hold alot of love in my heart for this series so I'm glad it didn't disappoint. I think they would've been better enjoyed read back to back.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free via Netgalley, and am voluntarily leaving my honest thoughts. Many thanks to Saga Press for the opportunity!
3.5 rounded down. I absolutely loved the first book for the atmospheric vibes and of course the main throuple so I was suuuuper excited to see how the developments would go for book 2. While the continuation of the relationship was okay, it lacked the depth I was hoping we would get. The focus was way too much on the court politics in this book, and I didn't feel invested in basically any of the new characters. The atmospheric vibes that I loved in the first book didn't really continue here, imo, either.
There were definitely some nice moments between Remy, Xiaodan and Zidan, but especially with the continuation of the fade to black and lack of relationship building, I felt there were many missed opportunities as things just kind of felt a little too on the surface. I was hoping for more exploration of relationship dynamics and while the mystery of Remy and his mother was kind of compelling, it felt a little too drawn out and the mysteries of the murders wasn't as intriguing as the first book's questions.
The ending was okay, but felt a little rushed due to the lack of more character-focused build-up. One thing that I really liked in the first book was that we did get to connect a little more with Remy and his point of view of things, and here it would've been nice to get more inner thoughts from the vampire or at least Remy navigating through the vampire courts. Instead, I felt the view was a little too zoomed out to connect with the events. I think the pacing of a duology could have worked if the plot was a little tightened up and we got more from the characters.
I missed them sm. While the political aspects were a slow for me at times, I didn’t really mind because I love the characters so much, but the tone was just different from the first book so that’s what upsets me. I saw someone say they wished the book was more character-driven and I can’t help but agree. Honestly, it felt a little bit like it’s got second book syndrome, but don’t get me wrong I still liked it. It didn’t hit the way the first one did. I don’t know If there’s going to be another book but I’m kinda hoping there will be.
As I said I’m obsessed with the characters, I got approved of the e-arc yesterday and didn’t even sleep..my brain was so fixated on them, love that for me.
Anyway, I adore the first book so much, I’m grateful that I got to read an e-arc of the second book. thank you, to the publisher and NetGalley :)
Much like the first, this had a lot of action. No shortage of combat scenes with vampires and hunters and mutated creatures. There was a bit more court intrigue this time though. Not as much as I was expecting, but that’s fine.
The characters were lovable! (Again.) Xiaodan was her sweet, somewhat mischievous self, but I feel like we got to see the other two show a bit more emotion or come out of their shells more. Zidan is very stoic and hard on the outside but kind and protective on the inside. And Remy has always been a caring person and was finally able to be more friendly and teasing and relaxed once he was with people who accepted him.
Speaking of which, the last book was the romance, whereas this one was more of an established relationship, and it was very sweet. Essentially no relationship drama, which was the right choice for this story, because it was so nice to see a character who’d been shunned or used by most people all his life finally find love and happiness with the right people (or, rather, vampires). There could’ve been more focus on the non-sex parts of the relationship (which feels weird to say because the sex was mostly vague or fade-to-black), but I still enjoyed their romance.
There were also some side characters I liked, and one who surprised me. I have mixed feelings about Remy’s dad because it was interesting to see a different side of him, but I didn’t love how it sort of put aside his abuse.
The audiobook narration by Matthew Spencer was great! (Also again.) He sounded natural, brought the right emotion to the scenes, and made characters sound different enough to avoid confusion. The voice he did for Zidan was especially sexy.
Overall, I enjoyed this duology, and this was an ending that wrapped everything up nicely! It had vampires and hunters and action and a sweet romance with three people all loving and supporting each other.
Recommended For: Fans of Book 1 in Rin Chupeco's Silver Under Nightfall series. Anyone who likes high fantasy, sexy vampires, action-packed fight scenes, and queer throuple romance.
It felt really nice to spend more time with Remy, Zidan and Xioadan. I love how this book shows a poly couple in all their glory, loving each other wholeheartedly. (side note: the voice that the audio narrator gave Zidan was absolutely mouthwatering)
The first book gave us sex scenes in tasteful doses, but here some of the sexual antics was felt contrived; as if they were added to the plot itself just so the author had an excuse to make the book smutty. I didn't mind it per se, just didn't feel wholly authentic to the first book.
I loved the first book for its character dynamics, so having this book be more plot focused, was not fit to my preferences. The vampire lore and political machinations were quite intriguing, but they didn't keep my interest as much as the character moments did.
So this wasn't a complete hit because I wished it was more character focused and authentic to the tone of the first book, but I still enjoyed it and am glad I read it.
DNF. Unlike book 1, this book was slower than a parked car. I got about 40% into this with nothing happening apart from the 'bonk fest' on nearly every page. There was one point when one of the main characters disappeared, and I thought this is it, finally, something is happening, but no, they just went for a walk. Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the ARC Unfortunately, this was not for me.
No one speak to me for a few days I am in mourning!! Silver Under Nightfall was one of my favorite reads of 2023 and I was so excited to read this (even after some early not so great reviews came in) and I am utterly disappointed.
Everything was just so meh. The plot didn’t get interesting to me until over halfway through and the ending felt so rushed. It really had so much potential 😭 the part that hurts my heart the most is the romance and dynamic between Remy Xiaodan and Zidan. Like way happened? It was missing all the charm, angst and tension from book 1???
I am literally so sad about this y’all don’t even understand. This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024 and something (everything) was missing. Silver Under Nightfall will always hold a special place in my heart. But I just wanted this to be so much more than it was. 😢😩
Thank you Saga Press for sending me an ARC. My review is my honest opinion.
I have to give up on this, at least for now. I’m not going to call it an official DNF because I didn’t get very far into it. But I was BORED. It was putting me into a reading slump. I’ll try again in the future.
Not as good as the first book (though I should have refreshed myself on that one)
The plot was just boring imo and bc of my qualms with the stuff below, I just felt very meh about the whole thing. There just didn’t feel like there were any stakes to the story.
I finally realized what bothered me about this series: there is no internal thoughts or monologues. These things are vital in developing character depth. The very little internal thoughts that Remy was even given was almost reserved to showcase how horny he was. The writing is purely dialogue and narrating actions happening on page. We’re always told what other characters are feeling or what their personality is instead of using descriptions to actually DESCRIBE that emotion.
For example, there were a couple of times Remy would state personality traits of Lady Song or the emotion on her face, instead of maybe saying “her brows turned down and her lips pinched” for example to maybe showcase her displeasure.
If each character can blandly be summed up in 2 descriptions then I think that shows a lack of depth.
Remy: talkative and horny Lady Song: kind and horny Lord Zidan: responsible and horny
…,and that’s basically it. See what I mean?
Also, not sure how you can make a vampire throuple plot boring but it was. No tension or cute relationship development happening. It was stagnant which should never be happening to anyone since characters and people are constantly growing and changing. Due to this the throuple just became really boring and I lost interest in them quickly.
I have no idea if there will be more in this series. It seems like the ending had solid closure.
I absolutely loved my time with this duology-- a fun story about a dumpster himbo being whisked away by his two sexy vampire daddies as they gallivant to 4,972 castles on the backs of their skeletal (and lightning fast) helhests, smashing up zombvampire mutations as they go.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me a digital copy of the arc to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.