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The Heart #1
Daggermouth
Set in a corrupt surveillance state ruled by the masked elite, this true enemies-to-lovers dystopian romance that’s Conform meets V For Vendetta follows a mercenary who botches the assassination of the president’s son and ends up forced to marry him.
The first thing you’ll learn in New Found Haven is that mercy doesn’t exist. The second thing is that, from the highest glass atrium in the Heart to the windowless slums of the Boundary, the Veyra are always watching.
The last lesson is the hardest, but you must remember it: Love outside of your ring is a death sentence.
The city is carved into rings of privilege and poverty, ruled by the masked elite who will do whatever it takes to hold onto power. Obedience is demanded. Rebellion is crushed.
Greyson Serel has spent his life caught between two worlds. Publicly, he’s the flawless heir to the presidency. Privately, he’s entangled in secrets that could topple the regime. But when he’s forced into a political marriage meant to bind him tighter to the government’s brutal laws, he finds himself shackled to a bride as lethal as she is unwilling.
Shadera Kael is a mercenary raised to kill, not to wed. Yet when her bullet misses its mark, survival leaves her tied to the very man she was sent to eliminate. Trapped inside the corrupt heart of the city, she becomes both prisoner and wife, her every step watched, her every move tested.
Their union is no love story—it’s a battlefield. As secrets come to light and betrayals fester within the walls of power, Greyson and Shadera must decide between annihilating each other or burning the city to the ground together.
In a world where passion has consequences and loyalty is paid for in blood, their forced bond may be the spark that ignites a revolution. Or the fire that consumes them both.
The first thing you’ll learn in New Found Haven is that mercy doesn’t exist. The second thing is that, from the highest glass atrium in the Heart to the windowless slums of the Boundary, the Veyra are always watching.
The last lesson is the hardest, but you must remember it: Love outside of your ring is a death sentence.
The city is carved into rings of privilege and poverty, ruled by the masked elite who will do whatever it takes to hold onto power. Obedience is demanded. Rebellion is crushed.
Greyson Serel has spent his life caught between two worlds. Publicly, he’s the flawless heir to the presidency. Privately, he’s entangled in secrets that could topple the regime. But when he’s forced into a political marriage meant to bind him tighter to the government’s brutal laws, he finds himself shackled to a bride as lethal as she is unwilling.
Shadera Kael is a mercenary raised to kill, not to wed. Yet when her bullet misses its mark, survival leaves her tied to the very man she was sent to eliminate. Trapped inside the corrupt heart of the city, she becomes both prisoner and wife, her every step watched, her every move tested.
Their union is no love story—it’s a battlefield. As secrets come to light and betrayals fester within the walls of power, Greyson and Shadera must decide between annihilating each other or burning the city to the ground together.
In a world where passion has consequences and loyalty is paid for in blood, their forced bond may be the spark that ignites a revolution. Or the fire that consumes them both.
564 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2025
23598 people are currently reading
149166 people want to read
About the author
H.M. Wolfe
4 books1,861 followersH. M. Wolfe writes with her heart wide open, chasing the thrill of chaos and the sting of heartbreak on every page. Based in Central Florida, she shares her days with her husband and three loyal dogs—her writing partners and adventure crew through every twist of her literary journey.
Wolfe crafts stories where romance tangles with fantasy and unforgettable characters drive the action, inviting readers to disappear into worlds brimming with magic and meaning. She’s fiercely passionate about mental health advocacy and the messy, powerful work of self-discovery, believing deeply that everyone deserves to see themselves represented in the stories they love.
As you turn the final page of her books, Wolfe hopes you’ll find a new kind of strength—ready to take on the world and own your story like the warrior she knows you are.
Wolfe crafts stories where romance tangles with fantasy and unforgettable characters drive the action, inviting readers to disappear into worlds brimming with magic and meaning. She’s fiercely passionate about mental health advocacy and the messy, powerful work of self-discovery, believing deeply that everyone deserves to see themselves represented in the stories they love.
As you turn the final page of her books, Wolfe hopes you’ll find a new kind of strength—ready to take on the world and own your story like the warrior she knows you are.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,258 reviews
February 27, 2026
This was a strong 4.5 stars up until the last 10% and then it was a 5 star. Absolutely gobsmacked need the next book
February 15, 2026
4.5 stars ✨
"She was going to die here. But so was he. Their eyes locked, assassin and heir, caught in a moment of perfect, terrible understanding."
This was EVERYTHING. No doubt this was not perfect, but at the same time it's imperfections and it's flaws added to the sheer beauty of how powerfully raw this book was. It's definitely not for the faint hearted with how it's dark and graphic and yet I found myself completely in awe of it.
This was a whole experience from page one. It's quite an immersive read. I won't lie, there are certain points when it gets too descriptive and slow- which is the only reason it lost 0.5 from me. But other than that, the dystopian world is well crafted and easy to understand, dive into. The concept of masks was interesting and different but it worked. The control and rebellion aspects worked out.
My favorite thing about it all were the characters. Each and every one of them were complex, had an emotional depth and a connection I formed except for the evil snake of a leader- Maximus, he can rot in all seven hells 🤢
But coming back to our traumatized main characters and their very interesting romances-
❤🔥 Shadera, raised as a mercenary, she's a badass. I swear, the woman can fight and she's so fierce in everything she does. I do think she's quick to temper but it's understandable I suppose. Her dynamic with Greyson , the heir and executioner is quite interesting. He's stoic, broody and a man of many secrets that makes him both morally grey and honorable. I loved how that was carried out because it was eliminating of insta lust. There who assassin x heir who try to kill each other was brilliant. The spice and the tension between the two thoroughly edged me 🥵🫣
But in my eyes, the two don't hold a candle to ❤ Lira and Callum. Y'all the way I was floored by them. I'm not big on second chance trope especially when it's a big five year gap between them but OH MY GOD that was everything I could have wanted and more... And more (IYKYK). Lira is such a quiet strength sort of woman who deserves the world. She doesn't do loud. She doesn't do bold. But when she unleashes, she does it cunningly and impactful. My kinda woman tbh. As for Callum, now that is a man who can yearn, worship and stay devoted. He is the perfect man for her who has his own merits but never overshadows her. The spice and angst here is absolutely breathtaking 😩😩
Special mentions to our another yearner boy, Jameson. I see a lot of potential for him. But I don't want his personality reduced to just going after a woman who won't even pick him at the end of the day.
Anyhoo, coming to the ending that had my heart in my throat. Because although, some of it was predicable, especially a certain character reveal. Majority of it was still action packed like the rest of the book. The twists and turns had my jaw on the floor. And I cannot believe it ended on such a cliffhanger 😩😩
Also while we're at it, to the people who finished this book....about that one specific scene, that was a blank bullet right? RIGHT?! My heart is not going to break right?! RIGHT?! I can still have hope right?! RIGHT?! Someone reassure me 😭
~•~•~
OMGGG so excited for this!!! A dark dystopian romance? And majority of you guys loved it. I MUST read this now
"She was going to die here. But so was he. Their eyes locked, assassin and heir, caught in a moment of perfect, terrible understanding."
This was EVERYTHING. No doubt this was not perfect, but at the same time it's imperfections and it's flaws added to the sheer beauty of how powerfully raw this book was. It's definitely not for the faint hearted with how it's dark and graphic and yet I found myself completely in awe of it.
This was a whole experience from page one. It's quite an immersive read. I won't lie, there are certain points when it gets too descriptive and slow- which is the only reason it lost 0.5 from me. But other than that, the dystopian world is well crafted and easy to understand, dive into. The concept of masks was interesting and different but it worked. The control and rebellion aspects worked out.
My favorite thing about it all were the characters. Each and every one of them were complex, had an emotional depth and a connection I formed except for the evil snake of a leader- Maximus, he can rot in all seven hells 🤢
But coming back to our traumatized main characters and their very interesting romances-
❤🔥 Shadera, raised as a mercenary, she's a badass. I swear, the woman can fight and she's so fierce in everything she does. I do think she's quick to temper but it's understandable I suppose. Her dynamic with Greyson , the heir and executioner is quite interesting. He's stoic, broody and a man of many secrets that makes him both morally grey and honorable. I loved how that was carried out because it was eliminating of insta lust. There who assassin x heir who try to kill each other was brilliant. The spice and the tension between the two thoroughly edged me 🥵🫣
But in my eyes, the two don't hold a candle to ❤ Lira and Callum. Y'all the way I was floored by them. I'm not big on second chance trope especially when it's a big five year gap between them but OH MY GOD that was everything I could have wanted and more... And more (IYKYK). Lira is such a quiet strength sort of woman who deserves the world. She doesn't do loud. She doesn't do bold. But when she unleashes, she does it cunningly and impactful. My kinda woman tbh. As for Callum, now that is a man who can yearn, worship and stay devoted. He is the perfect man for her who has his own merits but never overshadows her. The spice and angst here is absolutely breathtaking 😩😩
Special mentions to our another yearner boy, Jameson. I see a lot of potential for him. But I don't want his personality reduced to just going after a woman who won't even pick him at the end of the day.
Anyhoo, coming to the ending that had my heart in my throat. Because although, some of it was predicable, especially a certain character reveal. Majority of it was still action packed like the rest of the book. The twists and turns had my jaw on the floor. And I cannot believe it ended on such a cliffhanger 😩😩
Also while we're at it, to the people who finished this book....about that one specific scene, that was a blank bullet right? RIGHT?! My heart is not going to break right?! RIGHT?! I can still have hope right?! RIGHT?! Someone reassure me 😭
~•~•~
OMGGG so excited for this!!! A dark dystopian romance? And majority of you guys loved it. I MUST read this now
February 23, 2026
I NEED BOOK 2!!
February 17, 2026
When you read a dystopian romance but catch yourself thinking “is this fiction or just the daily news/non-fiction, because the line is looking really thin right now”, that was Daggermouth for me. H.M. Wolfe is very clearly writing from the current dystopia people are living in right now, as well as the systemic oppression and state sanctioned violence Black people and other marginalised folk have experienced for centuries.
But combining it with romance was where I was really impressed. Because I think dystopian romance can be pretty tricky to balance in genre. The way I see it is that dystopia is meant to be a warning about oppression, subjugation and or totalitarianism, so mixing that genre with romance can risk undermining or softening those themes with vibes and aesthetics. And that can be fine if that’s what a reader wants because reading is subjective, escapism is valid, etc. But it does change the function of the genre.
However, Daggermouth wants you angry and wants you to question kings, presidents, narratives and the systems we are complicit in. And that’s why I’m so in awe of it. I think if anything, the romance sharpens the critique, because the romances (plural) are shaped by trauma and survival. And within that framework, Daggermouth delivers one of the most tension-filled, angsty enemies-to-lovers arcs I’ve read in a long time without undercutting the political commentary.
And it’s TRUE enemies, not like where someone is mildly rude at a ball yet they think the other person is hot and wants to jump their bones. Before the marriage of inconvenience kicks off, Greyson stabs Shadera and Shadera puts a bullet in Greyson. And the reason is ideological hatred, not to mention the fact that Greyson’s father, President Maximus Serel, (who I loathed more than President Snow, which I didn’t think was possible), executed Shadera’s parents. If that’s not true enemies, I don’t know what is, lol.
On top of that, I could really feel the emotion coming through in the prose. I could feel the grief, fury and devastation about capitalism, classism, about “elites” (billionaires) hoarding resources while people starve and even more so, the feminine rage. The Veyra officers may remind you of other real life widely despised presidential lapdogs who wear masks and murder people in the US of A. It really hurts to read because fiction is not so far from fact. The comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale (“The Heart endures” = “Blessed be the Fruit/May the Lord open”, iykyk), The Hunger Games and V for Vendetta make perfect sense to me.
Anyway, something small but meaningful. The characters are in their 30s. It was refreshing.
Okay and that ending. My heart palpitated and then it broke. And then, my jaw dropped and I stayed that way for ages, like one of those clown machines. I genuinely do not think many if any will see it coming because it is a masterclass in pulling the rug out of the reader, in my opinion. And it left me staring at the page saying what the actual fuckity fuck just happened.
And finally, this is cinematic af. So if you are a film or TV person reading this, please option Daggermouth. Immediately, if possible. Because I predict the cultural relevance is going to make this story skyrocket and it will be the kind of project Hollywood industry people will kick themselves over for passing on when it inevitably hits its moment. My advice is for you to be the one who gets ahead of it.
Okay I’m done. To conclude, Daggermouth is dark, political and uncomfortable in the way dystopia should be. It’s a scathing and on point critique of patriarchy, fascism, capitalism and state violence. It is also angry, romantic, spicy (where the spice is earned) and emotionally devastating. Lots of triggers, please mind them [listed here, bottom of the blog post].
Thrilled to hear this has been picked up by a trad publisher.
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The comps say Handmaid’s Tale x V for Vendetta x Hunger Games with true enemies to lovers and a marriage of inconvenience. 🏃🏽♀️
But combining it with romance was where I was really impressed. Because I think dystopian romance can be pretty tricky to balance in genre. The way I see it is that dystopia is meant to be a warning about oppression, subjugation and or totalitarianism, so mixing that genre with romance can risk undermining or softening those themes with vibes and aesthetics. And that can be fine if that’s what a reader wants because reading is subjective, escapism is valid, etc. But it does change the function of the genre.
However, Daggermouth wants you angry and wants you to question kings, presidents, narratives and the systems we are complicit in. And that’s why I’m so in awe of it. I think if anything, the romance sharpens the critique, because the romances (plural) are shaped by trauma and survival. And within that framework, Daggermouth delivers one of the most tension-filled, angsty enemies-to-lovers arcs I’ve read in a long time without undercutting the political commentary.
And it’s TRUE enemies, not like where someone is mildly rude at a ball yet they think the other person is hot and wants to jump their bones. Before the marriage of inconvenience kicks off, Greyson stabs Shadera and Shadera puts a bullet in Greyson. And the reason is ideological hatred, not to mention the fact that Greyson’s father, President Maximus Serel, (who I loathed more than President Snow, which I didn’t think was possible), executed Shadera’s parents. If that’s not true enemies, I don’t know what is, lol.
On top of that, I could really feel the emotion coming through in the prose. I could feel the grief, fury and devastation about capitalism, classism, about “elites” (billionaires) hoarding resources while people starve and even more so, the feminine rage. The Veyra officers may remind you of other real life widely despised presidential lapdogs who wear masks and murder people in the US of A. It really hurts to read because fiction is not so far from fact. The comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale (“The Heart endures” = “Blessed be the Fruit/May the Lord open”, iykyk), The Hunger Games and V for Vendetta make perfect sense to me.
Anyway, something small but meaningful. The characters are in their 30s. It was refreshing.
Okay and that ending. My heart palpitated and then it broke. And then, my jaw dropped and I stayed that way for ages, like one of those clown machines. I genuinely do not think many if any will see it coming because it is a masterclass in pulling the rug out of the reader, in my opinion. And it left me staring at the page saying what the actual fuckity fuck just happened.
And finally, this is cinematic af. So if you are a film or TV person reading this, please option Daggermouth. Immediately, if possible. Because I predict the cultural relevance is going to make this story skyrocket and it will be the kind of project Hollywood industry people will kick themselves over for passing on when it inevitably hits its moment. My advice is for you to be the one who gets ahead of it.
Okay I’m done. To conclude, Daggermouth is dark, political and uncomfortable in the way dystopia should be. It’s a scathing and on point critique of patriarchy, fascism, capitalism and state violence. It is also angry, romantic, spicy (where the spice is earned) and emotionally devastating. Lots of triggers, please mind them [listed here, bottom of the blog post].
Thrilled to hear this has been picked up by a trad publisher.
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The comps say Handmaid’s Tale x V for Vendetta x Hunger Games with true enemies to lovers and a marriage of inconvenience. 🏃🏽♀️
January 10, 2026
I feel like I just wasted a lot of my time.
Normally when I don't enjoy a book, I find a one or two star review that matches my experience, I read it, I feel vindicated, I move on. There are currently no such reviews for this book, thus I feel obligated to write one.
To begin, I must say that this Author clearly can write well, has excellent command of language, and an interesting overall concept, so I allowed an extra star for this. I still read the entire book because I was determined to give it the benefit of the doubt, and that is honestly a win. I WANTED to like this book.
Additionally, I usually forgive spelling errors and/or typos, but this one had a lot. I started reporting them after I let a bunch slide. Gave me something fun to do while trying to drag my way through the story.
The plot does not make sense, I'm afraid. If Maximus had planned all along to wipe out the outer rings, he could have just done it. He didn't need to plant Brooker, he didn't need to lure in Shadera, he CERTAINLY did not need to force Greyson to marry her. He was an incomprehensible caricature of evil for the sake of evil with no real motivation or rhythm to his actions. The overt bludgeoning we received in lieu of characterisation would necessitate the following:
- Maximus would have killed Mikel and probably Elara as soon as he discovered their affair. In fact, he probably would have had Mikel killed as soon as he vowed with Elara purely for being her former lover.
- If he didn't do that, he for sure would have killed them all once he figured out that Greyson wasn't his.
- Once schmucky mcgee and her family witnessed Greyson with his mask off, Maximus, man we were led to believe he was, would have JUST KILLED THEM. 'Oh now he has to take the vow because of the loophole' no. Simply kill the witnesses. Is this your first day as an evil dictator?
- At the end he complains that he would have just kept Shadera imprisoned in order to manipulate Jameson and Jaeger, but because of Greyson removing his mask he had to change tactics. No, you didn't. Just be an evil dictator about it? This particular little mechanism felt to me like the author reeeally wanted to write a forced proximity, arranged marriage type situation and tried to strongarm the plot to comply.
- Maximus had people executed for relationships across the rings. Why would Greyson unmasking suddenly override this law?
Other issues I have:
- Omniscient Maximus became tedious. I'm all for villains being one step ahead but there's only so many gloating reveals I can tolerate.
- The political benefit to forcing Shadera and Greyson to vow is insultingly flimsy. Why would you need to send a message to the boundary when you're on the brink of fully exterminating the boundary anyway?!
- lots of telling instead of showing. For example, we could have easily ascertained that Maximus was a raging misogynist without needing to be so on the nose by calling women 'lesser' and 'lower' and 'subservient'. Men who actually believe these things just don't talk like that. I just felt like I was being hit over the head with things that should have been more subtle, and it made me as a reader feel like the Author had no faith whatsoever in my comprehension skills.
- Making gang r@pe part of the vow ceremony seemed like it was just for shock value. There is no way that Lira just happened to discover some paperwork at the last minute that said 'by the way, during the consummation ceremony, all the top government officials get to have a go', and this was not something that anyone had ever mentioned? Especially when it was apparently common knowledge that the couple would go into the chambers and be *watched* for the first bit. I understand the Author was attempting to show how women were treated, and that the fear and continued abuse kept them quiet about it, but it was stated that it was done IN FRONT OF THE HUSBANDS WHO WERE FORCED TO WATCH. Even in a society where married women are not allowed to speak, surely the men would discuss this particular experience amongst themselves.
- We are told that purity is sooo highly valued for Elite women and yet Maximus pimps out Lira to his buddies. Yes, it's to show he's a monster, and to give Lira motivation blah blah. It doesn't make sense. Another case of being told something that doesn't align with what we're shown.
- Lira runs after the family dinner and hides out with Callum. She also attends rebel meetings. Maximus says he knows where she is (pesky omniscient Maximus) but for some reason she's allowed to pick Shadera's wedding dress, leave notes and medicine in the apartment, AND she's on the platform, running the ceremony and the media feeds?! You're telling me Maximus wouldn't have had the Veyra drag her ass back, and either imprisoned her or executed her? No?
- Maximus is so determined for this vow to happen. He forces Greyson and Shadera to live together to 'get to know each other' but then acts like it's some horror that Greyson may have slept with her? My brother, you are making them get married.
- Maximus, who is all about control, image, propaganda, had Shadera and Greyson beaten right before the vow ceremony. They, particularly Shadera, are visibly injured. Why would he want that?! I kept expecting some kind of elite healing technology or at least a makeup team but no, apparently he needs to force a vow for appearances and simultaneously doesn't care about appearances. Baffling.
- There's just a significant lack of medical care going on. Yes, it's supposed to be a 'dark' story full of violence and whatnot but Shadera takes a fair few EXTREME beatings in an incredibly short window of time, either has no access to or refuses medical help, and beyond some wincing and/or blacking out when getting dressed or undressed, it's never again ADdressed. Yeah she's a badass, but the human body does in fact have limits.
- Why would the vow ceremony in the Heart be completely different to whatever goes on in the outer rings? Greyson explains it to Shadera like she's never heard of the concept before. She's a mercenary who sneaks into the Heart for contracts, and she's banging the top spy in the outer rings, yet she doesn't know anything about the very public Heart vow ceremonies?! Do people in the outer rings not get married?
- The Callum/Lira love scene dragged for what seemed like 83 pages. The whole book seemed far longer than necessary, to be fair, but that scene in particular dragged. Also, we had been told that they had been lovers five years prior, and yet Callum was talking like it was their first time. It sort of felt like the scene had originally been written as a 'first time' scene, and then the Author went back and wrote that they had been together before, but forgot to adjust the spicy bit.
- Lira's abuse was really just plonked in out of nowhere. I would have expected that to have had some kind of impact on her intimacy with Callum but there's no connection between the two. I feel it disrespected the gravity of what she went through, and definitely made it seem like the scene between her and Callum was just there for the sake of it.
- Speaking of sex for the sake of it, what the hell was the point of Greyson's scene with the prostitute? Friend with benefits?!?? Plot device to inspire jealousy in Shadera later???? I feel like being rough with a sex worker doesn't line up with who Greyson is supposed to be. It's giving 'I have no say in my life so I take it out on someone I see as lower than myself so I can have a little power trip and feel in control for once' and that is NOT a good look for our MMC.
- Shadera's intimate scene with Jameson makes a tiny bit more sense because we get to see how he's in love with her but she really isn't in love with him. SO THEN WHY does she act like he means so much more to her once she is threatened by bloody Omniscient Maximus?
- Schmucky Mcgee (Greyson's original fiancee, so irrelevant I can't remember her name) and her family are never mentioned again. For people that would have allegedly caused significant problems, they certainly disappeared perfectly fine from the narrative.
- The masks make no sense. There, I said it. 'Oh but it's a metaphor for loss of identity and conforming and being oppressed' so then why is it the elite only that are required to wear them?! Especially in such a Big Brother Is Watching You ass society (OMNISCIENT MAXIMUS) surely you'd want to strip people of any kind of privacy or ability to hide. Also shocked nobody was impersonating anyone else at any point, because THEY ALL HAVE BLOODY MASKS.
- The cardinal ring folk don't mask because they're not elite. Unless they're working in the Heart for members of the elite. Then they have to mask. Even though masking is supposed to be a status symbol. Say it with me once again, The Masks Make No Sense!
- Why did so many people have their guns on Maximus, only for each of them to take the time to deliver him a monologue or whatever?! After Shadera and Greyson's little bet I would have thought a bullet would have gone into his skull a LOT faster. Even Elara took her damn time just for the sake of what, a cool reveal? When the platform was overrun with Veyra?? Take the shot from behind the altar, you fool. Should have done it a LOT earlier.
I am beyond frustrated.
I think, if you enjoyed Powerless, but wanted something a bit darker, more violent, and spicy, you might enjoy this book.
I did not enjoy Powerless.
Normally when I don't enjoy a book, I find a one or two star review that matches my experience, I read it, I feel vindicated, I move on. There are currently no such reviews for this book, thus I feel obligated to write one.
To begin, I must say that this Author clearly can write well, has excellent command of language, and an interesting overall concept, so I allowed an extra star for this. I still read the entire book because I was determined to give it the benefit of the doubt, and that is honestly a win. I WANTED to like this book.
Additionally, I usually forgive spelling errors and/or typos, but this one had a lot. I started reporting them after I let a bunch slide. Gave me something fun to do while trying to drag my way through the story.
The plot does not make sense, I'm afraid. If Maximus had planned all along to wipe out the outer rings, he could have just done it. He didn't need to plant Brooker, he didn't need to lure in Shadera, he CERTAINLY did not need to force Greyson to marry her. He was an incomprehensible caricature of evil for the sake of evil with no real motivation or rhythm to his actions. The overt bludgeoning we received in lieu of characterisation would necessitate the following:
- Maximus would have killed Mikel and probably Elara as soon as he discovered their affair. In fact, he probably would have had Mikel killed as soon as he vowed with Elara purely for being her former lover.
- If he didn't do that, he for sure would have killed them all once he figured out that Greyson wasn't his.
- Once schmucky mcgee and her family witnessed Greyson with his mask off, Maximus, man we were led to believe he was, would have JUST KILLED THEM. 'Oh now he has to take the vow because of the loophole' no. Simply kill the witnesses. Is this your first day as an evil dictator?
- At the end he complains that he would have just kept Shadera imprisoned in order to manipulate Jameson and Jaeger, but because of Greyson removing his mask he had to change tactics. No, you didn't. Just be an evil dictator about it? This particular little mechanism felt to me like the author reeeally wanted to write a forced proximity, arranged marriage type situation and tried to strongarm the plot to comply.
- Maximus had people executed for relationships across the rings. Why would Greyson unmasking suddenly override this law?
Other issues I have:
- Omniscient Maximus became tedious. I'm all for villains being one step ahead but there's only so many gloating reveals I can tolerate.
- The political benefit to forcing Shadera and Greyson to vow is insultingly flimsy. Why would you need to send a message to the boundary when you're on the brink of fully exterminating the boundary anyway?!
- lots of telling instead of showing. For example, we could have easily ascertained that Maximus was a raging misogynist without needing to be so on the nose by calling women 'lesser' and 'lower' and 'subservient'. Men who actually believe these things just don't talk like that. I just felt like I was being hit over the head with things that should have been more subtle, and it made me as a reader feel like the Author had no faith whatsoever in my comprehension skills.
- Making gang r@pe part of the vow ceremony seemed like it was just for shock value. There is no way that Lira just happened to discover some paperwork at the last minute that said 'by the way, during the consummation ceremony, all the top government officials get to have a go', and this was not something that anyone had ever mentioned? Especially when it was apparently common knowledge that the couple would go into the chambers and be *watched* for the first bit. I understand the Author was attempting to show how women were treated, and that the fear and continued abuse kept them quiet about it, but it was stated that it was done IN FRONT OF THE HUSBANDS WHO WERE FORCED TO WATCH. Even in a society where married women are not allowed to speak, surely the men would discuss this particular experience amongst themselves.
- We are told that purity is sooo highly valued for Elite women and yet Maximus pimps out Lira to his buddies. Yes, it's to show he's a monster, and to give Lira motivation blah blah. It doesn't make sense. Another case of being told something that doesn't align with what we're shown.
- Lira runs after the family dinner and hides out with Callum. She also attends rebel meetings. Maximus says he knows where she is (pesky omniscient Maximus) but for some reason she's allowed to pick Shadera's wedding dress, leave notes and medicine in the apartment, AND she's on the platform, running the ceremony and the media feeds?! You're telling me Maximus wouldn't have had the Veyra drag her ass back, and either imprisoned her or executed her? No?
- Maximus is so determined for this vow to happen. He forces Greyson and Shadera to live together to 'get to know each other' but then acts like it's some horror that Greyson may have slept with her? My brother, you are making them get married.
- Maximus, who is all about control, image, propaganda, had Shadera and Greyson beaten right before the vow ceremony. They, particularly Shadera, are visibly injured. Why would he want that?! I kept expecting some kind of elite healing technology or at least a makeup team but no, apparently he needs to force a vow for appearances and simultaneously doesn't care about appearances. Baffling.
- There's just a significant lack of medical care going on. Yes, it's supposed to be a 'dark' story full of violence and whatnot but Shadera takes a fair few EXTREME beatings in an incredibly short window of time, either has no access to or refuses medical help, and beyond some wincing and/or blacking out when getting dressed or undressed, it's never again ADdressed. Yeah she's a badass, but the human body does in fact have limits.
- Why would the vow ceremony in the Heart be completely different to whatever goes on in the outer rings? Greyson explains it to Shadera like she's never heard of the concept before. She's a mercenary who sneaks into the Heart for contracts, and she's banging the top spy in the outer rings, yet she doesn't know anything about the very public Heart vow ceremonies?! Do people in the outer rings not get married?
- The Callum/Lira love scene dragged for what seemed like 83 pages. The whole book seemed far longer than necessary, to be fair, but that scene in particular dragged. Also, we had been told that they had been lovers five years prior, and yet Callum was talking like it was their first time. It sort of felt like the scene had originally been written as a 'first time' scene, and then the Author went back and wrote that they had been together before, but forgot to adjust the spicy bit.
- Lira's abuse was really just plonked in out of nowhere. I would have expected that to have had some kind of impact on her intimacy with Callum but there's no connection between the two. I feel it disrespected the gravity of what she went through, and definitely made it seem like the scene between her and Callum was just there for the sake of it.
- Speaking of sex for the sake of it, what the hell was the point of Greyson's scene with the prostitute? Friend with benefits?!?? Plot device to inspire jealousy in Shadera later???? I feel like being rough with a sex worker doesn't line up with who Greyson is supposed to be. It's giving 'I have no say in my life so I take it out on someone I see as lower than myself so I can have a little power trip and feel in control for once' and that is NOT a good look for our MMC.
- Shadera's intimate scene with Jameson makes a tiny bit more sense because we get to see how he's in love with her but she really isn't in love with him. SO THEN WHY does she act like he means so much more to her once she is threatened by bloody Omniscient Maximus?
- Schmucky Mcgee (Greyson's original fiancee, so irrelevant I can't remember her name) and her family are never mentioned again. For people that would have allegedly caused significant problems, they certainly disappeared perfectly fine from the narrative.
- The masks make no sense. There, I said it. 'Oh but it's a metaphor for loss of identity and conforming and being oppressed' so then why is it the elite only that are required to wear them?! Especially in such a Big Brother Is Watching You ass society (OMNISCIENT MAXIMUS) surely you'd want to strip people of any kind of privacy or ability to hide. Also shocked nobody was impersonating anyone else at any point, because THEY ALL HAVE BLOODY MASKS.
- The cardinal ring folk don't mask because they're not elite. Unless they're working in the Heart for members of the elite. Then they have to mask. Even though masking is supposed to be a status symbol. Say it with me once again, The Masks Make No Sense!
- Why did so many people have their guns on Maximus, only for each of them to take the time to deliver him a monologue or whatever?! After Shadera and Greyson's little bet I would have thought a bullet would have gone into his skull a LOT faster. Even Elara took her damn time just for the sake of what, a cool reveal? When the platform was overrun with Veyra?? Take the shot from behind the altar, you fool. Should have done it a LOT earlier.
I am beyond frustrated.
I think, if you enjoyed Powerless, but wanted something a bit darker, more violent, and spicy, you might enjoy this book.
I did not enjoy Powerless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2026
This book lived up to hype. Not a normal read for me buttttttt
6⭐️
Also there is a sequel to this?? After that ending?? Excited to see where it goes
6/5
PS I’m not normally into tropes but this is how you do enemies to lovers
6⭐️
Also there is a sequel to this?? After that ending?? Excited to see where it goes
6/5
PS I’m not normally into tropes but this is how you do enemies to lovers
January 31, 2026
THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A DYSTOPIAN ROMANCE!! This story had so many layers, the characters had so much depth, the world, the system, everything H.M. Wolfe has done in this book has been executed in such a dark, beautiful, devastating way. I loved that the third person POV allowed for so many twists and revelations that you won’t see coming. 5🌟
March 4, 2026
omg the adrenaline, rush, and pure joy i felt reading this book… i have to go out there y’all! i have to go out there and save the people! reading this book is every woman’s birthright! 😔‼️
tell me why i looked up the definition of true enemies to lovers and a picture of this book popped up where the definition should’ve been? 🫦lol lowkey hate myself for finding a 5 star read this year in the year bc i fear nothing will top the rush i felt reading this book. i haven’t felt this alive since 1864!!🧨
so the book opens with fmc shadera on her way to kill the infamous executioner and said executioner ‘breaks the law’ when he’s on the brink of death. so naturally, they are forced to get married blah blah blah. property, base name, back story stuff. 😫
thank god for mmc’s like greyson serel because there’s nothing quite poetic like a man riddled with control and duty that completely crumbles at the sight of his girl— that’s not even his girl yet— injured. and vice versa may i add. just 2 grumpy, tortured, sad characters coming together for a joint slay while toying the edged of “let’s fuck already.” it’s very “i hate you” to “that turns me on.” like why is this man getting hard every time she shoots him?!? fuck i need a shot of bleach…
in every possible way a girl like me could have a fictional man, i want greyson fucking serel! that passionate scene when they finally pull their guards down for a passionate kiss?? a war started in my house. the slow burn was exactly the pace it needed to be. you would’ve thought i was a dog chained up about to bite my leg off for some scraps of passion. ohhh and anytime greyson stood up to his cunt of a dad (that was high key very spiritually israel if i may add) omg i stood up and applauded like that was my own blood👻
and let me tell you for a girl that usually tunes out world building and all that other nonsense..no not in this case. i was locked tf in. i was shaking my ass. this is equal parts dystopian and romance. the multiple povs was written in a way that didn’t annoy me. it was a movie in my head that i didn’t wanna click pause on. lowkey could’ve done without the jameson povs because i find that mf annoying as hell and i didn’t learn english for that, whatever it’s fine. 🐥
and the last 50 pages… omg anyone around me would’ve thought i had the nervous system of someone going to war. that shit was my vietnam. i haven’t been this gagged in my entire existence. i was 🤏🏽 close to cussing out the author in their DMs. i did everything but die. 🥀
this quote also made me wanna shield my body over a grenade 🙈
“if you shoot me,” he said voice dropping, “it will only make me wanna fuck you.”
Then, deliberately, she flicked off the safety.
"If you even think about it, I will kill you."
Greyson grinned, the expression feral and hungry. "Then I'm already a dead man."
Then Shadera pulled the trigger.
i was sent into a psychosis ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
tell me why i looked up the definition of true enemies to lovers and a picture of this book popped up where the definition should’ve been? 🫦lol lowkey hate myself for finding a 5 star read this year in the year bc i fear nothing will top the rush i felt reading this book. i haven’t felt this alive since 1864!!🧨
so the book opens with fmc shadera on her way to kill the infamous executioner and said executioner ‘breaks the law’ when he’s on the brink of death. so naturally, they are forced to get married blah blah blah. property, base name, back story stuff. 😫
thank god for mmc’s like greyson serel because there’s nothing quite poetic like a man riddled with control and duty that completely crumbles at the sight of his girl— that’s not even his girl yet— injured. and vice versa may i add. just 2 grumpy, tortured, sad characters coming together for a joint slay while toying the edged of “let’s fuck already.” it’s very “i hate you” to “that turns me on.” like why is this man getting hard every time she shoots him?!? fuck i need a shot of bleach…
in every possible way a girl like me could have a fictional man, i want greyson fucking serel! that passionate scene when they finally pull their guards down for a passionate kiss?? a war started in my house. the slow burn was exactly the pace it needed to be. you would’ve thought i was a dog chained up about to bite my leg off for some scraps of passion. ohhh and anytime greyson stood up to his cunt of a dad (that was high key very spiritually israel if i may add) omg i stood up and applauded like that was my own blood👻
and let me tell you for a girl that usually tunes out world building and all that other nonsense..no not in this case. i was locked tf in. i was shaking my ass. this is equal parts dystopian and romance. the multiple povs was written in a way that didn’t annoy me. it was a movie in my head that i didn’t wanna click pause on. lowkey could’ve done without the jameson povs because i find that mf annoying as hell and i didn’t learn english for that, whatever it’s fine. 🐥
and the last 50 pages… omg anyone around me would’ve thought i had the nervous system of someone going to war. that shit was my vietnam. i haven’t been this gagged in my entire existence. i was 🤏🏽 close to cussing out the author in their DMs. i did everything but die. 🥀
this quote also made me wanna shield my body over a grenade 🙈
“if you shoot me,” he said voice dropping, “it will only make me wanna fuck you.”
Then, deliberately, she flicked off the safety.
"If you even think about it, I will kill you."
Greyson grinned, the expression feral and hungry. "Then I'm already a dead man."
Then Shadera pulled the trigger.
i was sent into a psychosis ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
March 9, 2026
3.85 ⭐️
Omg… what was THAT?? 😨👀 Hello?? And it ended like that??? Definitely worth the hype 🙂↕️🫂
I’m honestly flabbergasted 😭 WHAT JUST HAPPENED??? The last 10% flew by and NO, I’M NOT OKAY 😭 CUZ WDYM!?!? YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS, RIGHT??? 😭🫂 I need those OBX miracles to happen here too 🤧🫠
I’m such a mess right now that I don’t even know what to write 😭 This review is definitely my emotions speaking.
But wow, this book was GOOD 👀 It grabbed my attention right from the start. I wasn’t expecting to get hooked immediately, but woah, it really did 🙂↕️
And let me tell you: don’t trust anyone 😭 The person you think is one thing might actually be something completely different 👀 (in both good and bad ways). This book seriously played with my mind and emotions 😭 Like hello?? Huh?? When did that happen?? Was I sleeping that time?? Apparently not, but Miss Author really played me 😭
Greyson Serel 👀 Hey!! 🤭 Stawp, that man is so good 👀 like YES GAWD YES!!! 🙂↕️ Sir passed me by and took my soul in a second and I didn’t even notice 😔 but am I regretting it!??! Sorry, “no” isn’t an option, I fear 🤭 Umm… do that again please 👀 (wow, please ignore my freaky side 💀).
Then comes my diva Shadera 👀 Lowk wanna salute this girl 🙂↕️ and she deserves more than that. That girl also passed me by and took my heart in a second and I didn’t even realize 🤭 Like ma’am, it’s all yours already 🙂↕️
Talking of divas, how dare I not mention Lira Serel?? 👀 Sorry, I apologize 😔 Make me yours please 🙂↕️ Stoppp, I’m in love with her 🤭 Her character is written so well, and when the past was revealed and the rage I felt??? THE RAGE WAS ALL IN CAPS. I really wanted to jump into that book and the torture I’d have inflicted upon them?? They’d regret ever doing that to her.
Now, let’s talk (or more like cry) about Callum. He’s my favorite 🙂↕️ Maybe… more than Greyson?? Idk why the hell I’m putting question marks — he’s definitely my favorite, more than Greyson 🙂↕️ But y’all 😭 OMG!!! I can’t- let’s just go to another character 🫂🫠😭
Jameson 👀 I was lowk sad cuz Jameson and Shadera looked so perfectly together 🥹 But at the same time, Greyson and Shadera also looked perfectly together 😭 But when the ending came, things started making some sense 👀 and I think I might like that alternative too 🙂↕️ (if I’m right).
Overall, I had such a good time with this one 🥹🥹 I’d have given it 4 stars, but I’m not because of one character. You’ll know once you read the book 😭🫂 Such a good read.
Dystopian romance is usually my least favorite genre, but this one is definitely an exception 🙂↕️
Yea, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶🖤♥️💙
———————————
❤︎ pre-read ❤︎
Let’s see what all the hype is about 👀 It better not disappoint!!! 😭🫂
Omg… what was THAT?? 😨👀 Hello?? And it ended like that??? Definitely worth the hype 🙂↕️🫂
I’m honestly flabbergasted 😭 WHAT JUST HAPPENED??? The last 10% flew by and NO, I’M NOT OKAY 😭 CUZ WDYM!?!? YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS, RIGHT??? 😭🫂 I need those OBX miracles to happen here too 🤧🫠
I’m such a mess right now that I don’t even know what to write 😭 This review is definitely my emotions speaking.
But wow, this book was GOOD 👀 It grabbed my attention right from the start. I wasn’t expecting to get hooked immediately, but woah, it really did 🙂↕️
And let me tell you: don’t trust anyone 😭 The person you think is one thing might actually be something completely different 👀 (in both good and bad ways). This book seriously played with my mind and emotions 😭 Like hello?? Huh?? When did that happen?? Was I sleeping that time?? Apparently not, but Miss Author really played me 😭
Greyson Serel 👀 Hey!! 🤭 Stawp, that man is so good 👀 like YES GAWD YES!!! 🙂↕️ Sir passed me by and took my soul in a second and I didn’t even notice 😔 but am I regretting it!??! Sorry, “no” isn’t an option, I fear 🤭 Umm… do that again please 👀 (wow, please ignore my freaky side 💀).
Then comes my diva Shadera 👀 Lowk wanna salute this girl 🙂↕️ and she deserves more than that. That girl also passed me by and took my heart in a second and I didn’t even realize 🤭 Like ma’am, it’s all yours already 🙂↕️
Talking of divas, how dare I not mention Lira Serel?? 👀 Sorry, I apologize 😔 Make me yours please 🙂↕️ Stoppp, I’m in love with her 🤭 Her character is written so well, and when the past was revealed and the rage I felt??? THE RAGE WAS ALL IN CAPS. I really wanted to jump into that book and the torture I’d have inflicted upon them?? They’d regret ever doing that to her.
Now, let’s talk (or more like cry) about Callum. He’s my favorite 🙂↕️ Maybe… more than Greyson?? Idk why the hell I’m putting question marks — he’s definitely my favorite, more than Greyson 🙂↕️ But y’all 😭 OMG!!! I can’t- let’s just go to another character 🫂🫠😭
Jameson 👀 I was lowk sad cuz Jameson and Shadera looked so perfectly together 🥹 But at the same time, Greyson and Shadera also looked perfectly together 😭 But when the ending came, things started making some sense 👀 and I think I might like that alternative too 🙂↕️ (if I’m right).
Overall, I had such a good time with this one 🥹🥹 I’d have given it 4 stars, but I’m not because of one character. You’ll know once you read the book 😭🫂 Such a good read.
Dystopian romance is usually my least favorite genre, but this one is definitely an exception 🙂↕️
Yea, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶🖤♥️💙
———————————
❤︎ pre-read ❤︎
Let’s see what all the hype is about 👀 It better not disappoint!!! 😭🫂
December 19, 2025
’To the system that thought it could grind us down. That thought it could silence and erase us. We are the power. Our eyes are open.’
Okay yeah the hype is real because that was so good! AFTER THAT ENDING?! 4.5 ⭐️
This is dark dystopian romance with true enemies to lovers!! I had full body chills towards the end of this book, alongside every single plot twist throwing me into a spiral of ‘what the fucks’!
If you want to feel pure rage towards a system that has been setup to oppress and control anyone who doesn't fit into a 'ring of wealth' - to force women into submission, and in general want to feel nothing but loathing towards their ideals and the leaders at the head of it - you gotta pick this up!
Shadera & Greyson aren't a watered down version of enemies to lovers. They literally try to unalive each other on multiple occasions and have personal reasons to hate each other. Their dynamic was done so well with a forced marriage of inconvenience, slow burn, and a reluctance to form some sort of mutual ground. They are both morally grey and I LOVE that. Both layered with different forms of trauma and although they have different experiences from the world they live in, they still find themselves victims of the same harsh and cruel dictator.
Sahera is a strong FMC who isn't afraid to fight for a better world, for fairness and equality - a badass woman working her way through taking these trash ass men down, one by one. I support.
Greyson, oh my sweet, broody, grumpy and tortured man. A true morally grey mmc that you will fall for in an instant. I have emotional damage thinking about him.
The side characters are fleshed out so well and I LOVED the multi-pov. Each character is so well developed.
There is more than one romance plot to fall into and trust me when I say you’ll be weak. Friends to lovers, second chance my goddd, send help.
Callum Thane 😮💨 I am in love with this man.
Then Lira may be my favourite character. This woman has endured horrific things and still stands strong. I cried for her and I was in awe of her strength and resilience.
“I’m a woman in a system designed to grind us down into nothing, to strip us of our worth and dignity and rights. I’ve survived that system and it didn’t make me weak or submissive, it made me angry. So fucking angry that sometimes I can barely breathe through it.”
Overall this book not only screams feminine rage but as a reader you feel it too. I was beyond angry at the similarities this book showcases vs the real world we live in. The author did an incredible job on this front. I am literally ready to ride at dawn.
Welcome To The Revolution.
I will say there were times where I wasn't as invested - but never in a bad way. And as much as I loved Shadera and Greyson's relationship, I do wish we had a few more moments for them to develop together romantically, so we could have had a bit more depth. However I’m so confident we will get more from book 2!
These are my only reasons for not having that 5 star feeling but honestly, no complaints at all - just observations from my personal perspective. Honestly this was a solid 4 star read for me but the ending really ramped everything up! I had to bump my rating up.
So yeah, that ending HAS ME SPRIALING. THAT IS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING AT ALL. This is a book where you turn to last page in shock and then see ‘acknowledgments’ - NO. I will stand firm on my choice to remain delulu until book 2. I must protect my peace from that emotional devastation I just endured.
“Beautiful things are often built on ugly foundations.”
______________
pre-read: the way everyone is screaming about this book… let me get in on that action 🕺🏼dark dystopian fantasy with feminine rage? Hell yah.
Okay yeah the hype is real because that was so good! AFTER THAT ENDING?! 4.5 ⭐️
This is dark dystopian romance with true enemies to lovers!! I had full body chills towards the end of this book, alongside every single plot twist throwing me into a spiral of ‘what the fucks’!
If you want to feel pure rage towards a system that has been setup to oppress and control anyone who doesn't fit into a 'ring of wealth' - to force women into submission, and in general want to feel nothing but loathing towards their ideals and the leaders at the head of it - you gotta pick this up!
Shadera & Greyson aren't a watered down version of enemies to lovers. They literally try to unalive each other on multiple occasions and have personal reasons to hate each other. Their dynamic was done so well with a forced marriage of inconvenience, slow burn, and a reluctance to form some sort of mutual ground. They are both morally grey and I LOVE that. Both layered with different forms of trauma and although they have different experiences from the world they live in, they still find themselves victims of the same harsh and cruel dictator.
Sahera is a strong FMC who isn't afraid to fight for a better world, for fairness and equality - a badass woman working her way through taking these trash ass men down, one by one. I support.
Greyson, oh my sweet, broody, grumpy and tortured man. A true morally grey mmc that you will fall for in an instant. I have emotional damage thinking about him.
The side characters are fleshed out so well and I LOVED the multi-pov. Each character is so well developed.
There is more than one romance plot to fall into and trust me when I say you’ll be weak. Friends to lovers, second chance my goddd, send help.
Callum Thane 😮💨 I am in love with this man.
Then Lira may be my favourite character. This woman has endured horrific things and still stands strong. I cried for her and I was in awe of her strength and resilience.
“I’m a woman in a system designed to grind us down into nothing, to strip us of our worth and dignity and rights. I’ve survived that system and it didn’t make me weak or submissive, it made me angry. So fucking angry that sometimes I can barely breathe through it.”
Overall this book not only screams feminine rage but as a reader you feel it too. I was beyond angry at the similarities this book showcases vs the real world we live in. The author did an incredible job on this front. I am literally ready to ride at dawn.
Welcome To The Revolution.
I will say there were times where I wasn't as invested - but never in a bad way. And as much as I loved Shadera and Greyson's relationship, I do wish we had a few more moments for them to develop together romantically, so we could have had a bit more depth. However I’m so confident we will get more from book 2!
These are my only reasons for not having that 5 star feeling but honestly, no complaints at all - just observations from my personal perspective. Honestly this was a solid 4 star read for me but the ending really ramped everything up! I had to bump my rating up.
So yeah, that ending HAS ME SPRIALING. THAT IS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING AT ALL. This is a book where you turn to last page in shock and then see ‘acknowledgments’ - NO. I will stand firm on my choice to remain delulu until book 2. I must protect my peace from that emotional devastation I just endured.
“Beautiful things are often built on ugly foundations.”
______________
pre-read: the way everyone is screaming about this book… let me get in on that action 🕺🏼dark dystopian fantasy with feminine rage? Hell yah.
February 27, 2026
5⭐️
╰► 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄!
⤿ ⋮ ⌗ ┆ 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝘧𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 20𝘵𝘩 | 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥: 𝘧𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 25𝘵𝘩
.ıllı.ılılıılıı.lllııılı.
𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨:
» [𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚] «
0:26 ———♡——— 2:58
◁◁▐▐ ▷▷
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 💭
╰┈➤ HOLY FUCKING SHIT! this book was so so amazing guys and i think it’s definitely worth the hype that it’s been getting lately! i genuinely did not expect to love it this much but oh my lord—IT DELIVERED 😝
the plot was absolutely fantastical and the author did such a great job with spreading the different character povs among the chapters, making this book even more enjoyable and bingeable! AND THIS IS REAL ENEMIES TO LOVERS!
˙⋆✮ 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝙠𝙖𝙚𝙡 🔪
✶࿐”𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑽𝒆𝒚𝒓𝒂. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ what a badass fucking bitch. shadera is such a strong fmc and i loved the role she played in this book. her strength and determination for whatever situation she was in actually had me hyped up! i just enjoyed watching her navigate and adapt to the new life she was forced into inside of the heart—and seeing how she planned and built foundations for escape, revenge, and rebellion was so fascinating.
also, as i got to know more about shadera—i respected her strength of trying her best to not show weakness as to not give satisfaction to the people who wronged her. i cannot wait to see how the author expands her character in the next book 🤭
˙⋆✮ 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙮𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡 ⛓️
✶࿐“𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒄, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆’𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ i feel like most fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian books don’t usually start off with the mmc, so i think the way we were immediately pushed into greyson’s point of view right off the bat gave us a lot of insight on his character and his relevance to the book. i really loved greyson and i think that—just like shadera—seeing how his role in the book affected the plot in certain circumstances is what had me sitting on the edge of my seat.
he’s obviously an important person as the executioner of the heart—but he was so much more than his role and i think that’s something that really started to connect together earlier on in the book. so, i appreciated that the author gave room for the readers to develop their own opinion of him as well as for all of the other characters.
˙⋆✮ 𝙡𝙞𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡 🕊️
✶࿐“𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ rebellion and freedom for women and what a woman stands for in the world and system they live in is greatly portrayed through lira. i’m not gonna lie, the last few chapters of the book, she had me nervous af. my heart was beating and my hands started shaking 😭
lira is a character that i admired greatly for her resilience. it didn’t become apparent to me how much she endured throughout her life until halfway into the book, and with everything she went through, she persevered and never let it break her. i loved lira so much.
˙⋆✮ 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙚🩸
✶࿐“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ if i don’t get a “hi baby” from callum in the next book, i will not be continuing (iykyk)😭 he was so amazing in this book and i think the fear he inflicted upon the people (making him untouchable and not want to be messed with) gave him so much freedom, unlike other characters in the book.
i genuinely did not find him threatening at all throughout the book even in that one scene inside of greyson’s apartment—he was just a little more endearing to me 🤭 and his relationship with lira… oh how i loved it!
˙⋆✮ 𝙢𝙖𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡 👑
✶࿐“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏”✶࿐
╰┈➤ this motherfucking piece of shit can die in a fucking ditch where no one is around and rot and hopefully decompose so far he makes it to hell so his body will never be useful to new growth in the world. too much? good.
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣🔒
╰┈➤ like the majority of dystopian books, there’s a flawed system and rebels that disrupt it for revolution. this book has actually made me want to start reading more dystopian books! (i’ve only read the shatter me series) i’m so excited for the next book to come out
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀.ೃ࿔°
ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ 𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 ᯓ★ˎˊ˗
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈, “𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔—𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒆𝒚𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕?” 𝑳𝒊𝒓𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓. “𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑬𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆—𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
↠━━━━ღ◆ღ━━━━
❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･pre-read ʚɞ
the fomo is actually bad guys 😭 everyday i check to see how many people have read it, and it increases more and more… i need to read it now because it’s just popping up everywhere, so it better be good
╰► 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄!
⤿ ⋮ ⌗ ┆ 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝘧𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 20𝘵𝘩 | 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥: 𝘧𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 25𝘵𝘩
.ıllı.ılılıılıı.lllııılı.
𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨:
» [𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚] «
0:26 ———♡——— 2:58
◁◁▐▐ ▷▷
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓. 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍, 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕.”
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 💭
╰┈➤ HOLY FUCKING SHIT! this book was so so amazing guys and i think it’s definitely worth the hype that it’s been getting lately! i genuinely did not expect to love it this much but oh my lord—IT DELIVERED 😝
the plot was absolutely fantastical and the author did such a great job with spreading the different character povs among the chapters, making this book even more enjoyable and bingeable! AND THIS IS REAL ENEMIES TO LOVERS!
˙⋆✮ 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝙠𝙖𝙚𝙡 🔪
✶࿐”𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑽𝒆𝒚𝒓𝒂. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ what a badass fucking bitch. shadera is such a strong fmc and i loved the role she played in this book. her strength and determination for whatever situation she was in actually had me hyped up! i just enjoyed watching her navigate and adapt to the new life she was forced into inside of the heart—and seeing how she planned and built foundations for escape, revenge, and rebellion was so fascinating.
also, as i got to know more about shadera—i respected her strength of trying her best to not show weakness as to not give satisfaction to the people who wronged her. i cannot wait to see how the author expands her character in the next book 🤭
˙⋆✮ 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙮𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡 ⛓️
✶࿐“𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒄, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆’𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ i feel like most fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian books don’t usually start off with the mmc, so i think the way we were immediately pushed into greyson’s point of view right off the bat gave us a lot of insight on his character and his relevance to the book. i really loved greyson and i think that—just like shadera—seeing how his role in the book affected the plot in certain circumstances is what had me sitting on the edge of my seat.
he’s obviously an important person as the executioner of the heart—but he was so much more than his role and i think that’s something that really started to connect together earlier on in the book. so, i appreciated that the author gave room for the readers to develop their own opinion of him as well as for all of the other characters.
˙⋆✮ 𝙡𝙞𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡 🕊️
✶࿐“𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ rebellion and freedom for women and what a woman stands for in the world and system they live in is greatly portrayed through lira. i’m not gonna lie, the last few chapters of the book, she had me nervous af. my heart was beating and my hands started shaking 😭
lira is a character that i admired greatly for her resilience. it didn’t become apparent to me how much she endured throughout her life until halfway into the book, and with everything she went through, she persevered and never let it break her. i loved lira so much.
˙⋆✮ 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙪𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙚🩸
✶࿐“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ if i don’t get a “hi baby” from callum in the next book, i will not be continuing (iykyk)😭 he was so amazing in this book and i think the fear he inflicted upon the people (making him untouchable and not want to be messed with) gave him so much freedom, unlike other characters in the book.
i genuinely did not find him threatening at all throughout the book even in that one scene inside of greyson’s apartment—he was just a little more endearing to me 🤭 and his relationship with lira… oh how i loved it!
˙⋆✮ 𝙢𝙖𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡 👑
✶࿐“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏”✶࿐
╰┈➤ this motherfucking piece of shit can die in a fucking ditch where no one is around and rot and hopefully decompose so far he makes it to hell so his body will never be useful to new growth in the world. too much? good.
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣🔒
╰┈➤ like the majority of dystopian books, there’s a flawed system and rebels that disrupt it for revolution. this book has actually made me want to start reading more dystopian books! (i’ve only read the shatter me series) i’m so excited for the next book to come out
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀.ೃ࿔°
ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ 𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 ᯓ★ˎˊ˗
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈, “𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔—𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒆𝒚𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕?” 𝑳𝒊𝒓𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓. “𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑬𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆—𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ ࣪⚝₊ ⊹˚
↠━━━━ღ◆ღ━━━━
❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･pre-read ʚɞ
the fomo is actually bad guys 😭 everyday i check to see how many people have read it, and it increases more and more… i need to read it now because it’s just popping up everywhere, so it better be good
𑣲𝓳𝓪𝓼𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓮
March 3, 2026
i am still torn between 3 stars and 3.5 stars — it took me a few weeks to read this book despite me enjoying the overall plot - but a few major things stood out to me:
1) the ridiculous grammatical errors, especially the errors between the plural and possessive. multiple times throughout the story when a character would refer to a person's expression/belonging/etc. or a group of people (specifically the Daggermouths), the possessive ('s) would be inverted with the plural (s). this frustrated me because it occurred throughout the entirety of the book, but at least the error was consistent? this will certainly be resolved in trad pub editorial, but it occurred enough it took me out of the read.
2) the characters - i felt that the entirety of our cast of characters was a tad too two-dimensional for my liking. a few of our main characters' rebellious actions are not necessarily explained or given much context, and there were aspects of our characters' pasts that were revealed in a very jarring and shock-value way. my biggest complaint is maximus - what was his whole reason and purpose for becoming such a fascist dictating president? there is no lore or background behind his actions, and as another reviewer said, he just appeared comically villainous.
3) this also goes back to maximus, but the laws surrounding the masks the heart elites are forced to wear. what is the lore behind this? maybe i missed it somewhere along the way, but i felt as if it was never fully explained. there are a lot of interesting aspects of this dystopian system that i wish were expanded upon.
with that being said, i did really enjoy the fact that this was not insta-love between shadera and greyson, as that's the worst part of these new dystopian "romances" - their relationship was extremely rocky, but i appreciated that they slowly began to trust one another. i also appreciated that our characters were much older - greyson was 33!! i am sick of dystopian romances focusing on children 21 and under. this was a very refreshing aspect and i applaud our author for making her characters older.
there were a few twists at the very end of the book that i suspected would happen, but the very LAST twist on the LAST page was not something i saw coming for multiple reasons, but i won't go in depth to avoid spoiling for others.
there was also a twist that was very reminiscent of a twist that happened in fourth wing, until there was an additional twist…
overall, this was a decent first book, and i think with a little trad pub editorial help, this will be a big book! i am eager for book two.
——
update 2/22-slowly making my way through, i'm about 100~pages in and while i'm enjoying it, the grammatical errors are kinda pulling me out of the read😭
——
ok everybody and their mother is currently reading this and across the board i have heard nothing but amazing things so PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BE A TRUE DYSTOPIAN (with real romance) amen🙏🏼🤞🏼🩵
1) the ridiculous grammatical errors, especially the errors between the plural and possessive. multiple times throughout the story when a character would refer to a person's expression/belonging/etc. or a group of people (specifically the Daggermouths), the possessive ('s) would be inverted with the plural (s). this frustrated me because it occurred throughout the entirety of the book, but at least the error was consistent? this will certainly be resolved in trad pub editorial, but it occurred enough it took me out of the read.
2) the characters - i felt that the entirety of our cast of characters was a tad too two-dimensional for my liking. a few of our main characters' rebellious actions are not necessarily explained or given much context, and there were aspects of our characters' pasts that were revealed in a very jarring and shock-value way. my biggest complaint is maximus - what was his whole reason and purpose for becoming such a fascist dictating president? there is no lore or background behind his actions, and as another reviewer said, he just appeared comically villainous.
3) this also goes back to maximus, but the laws surrounding the masks the heart elites are forced to wear. what is the lore behind this? maybe i missed it somewhere along the way, but i felt as if it was never fully explained. there are a lot of interesting aspects of this dystopian system that i wish were expanded upon.
with that being said, i did really enjoy the fact that this was not insta-love between shadera and greyson, as that's the worst part of these new dystopian "romances" - their relationship was extremely rocky, but i appreciated that they slowly began to trust one another. i also appreciated that our characters were much older - greyson was 33!! i am sick of dystopian romances focusing on children 21 and under. this was a very refreshing aspect and i applaud our author for making her characters older.
there were a few twists at the very end of the book that i suspected would happen, but the very LAST twist on the LAST page was not something i saw coming for multiple reasons, but i won't go in depth to avoid spoiling for others.
there was also a twist that was very reminiscent of a twist that happened in fourth wing, until there was an additional twist…
overall, this was a decent first book, and i think with a little trad pub editorial help, this will be a big book! i am eager for book two.
——
update 2/22-slowly making my way through, i'm about 100~pages in and while i'm enjoying it, the grammatical errors are kinda pulling me out of the read😭
——
ok everybody and their mother is currently reading this and across the board i have heard nothing but amazing things so PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BE A TRUE DYSTOPIAN (with real romance) amen🙏🏼🤞🏼🩵
February 9, 2026
Have you ever read a book that felt less like escaping into another world and more like walking deeper into the one you already carry inside of you?
That’s what Daggermouth was for me.
I wasn’t fully prepared for how much this story would sit with me. Wolfe didn’t just build a world. She built a system: layered, oppressive, meticulous in the way it shapes, limits, and erases. And the unsettling part? How familiar that architecture felt.
There’s a kind of harm that doesn’t shout. It whispers. It organizes itself into rules, into borders, into expectations about who is allowed to breathe freely and who must move through life in fragments. Reading this book felt like watching those invisible forces move — the ones that wound without ever raising their voice.
Yet within all of that, the characters became a kind of resistance.
I adored every single one of them — not because they were perfect, but because they were trying. Yearning in the dark. Holding loyalty like a lifeline. Choosing each other in a world designed to keep them apart. The Boundary wasn’t just a place; it was a family stitched together through defiance, through tenderness, through the kind of love that grows strongest under pressure.
And yes — there is love here.
Not loud, not sweeping, but present in gestures, in glances, in the ways the characters hold one another up. It blooms quietly amid the heaviness, a soft pulse that reminds you even the smallest tenderness can resist a crushing system.
Some scenes brushed against memories I didn’t expect to feel. Not because Daggermouth mirrors my reality exactly, but because certain forms of power — and the harm it enacts — speak a shared language. Borders, walls, surveillance, the myth of “order,” the cost of being seen as other… those echoes lingered. As a Palestinian reader, that resonance settles differently in me: personal, not universal. But it’s there, humming beneath the story like a second heartbeat.
Daggermouth is heavy, yes — but it’s also alive with warmth, connection, and the slow, quiet assertion of humanity in a place determined to suppress it. It reminded me that even under the shadow of systems that take and take and take, people still find ways to give to one another. And that is its own kind of rebellion.
Huge thank you to H.M. Wolfe for trusting me with this ARC.
For writing something so heavy and so honest.
For giving voice to characters who refuse to break quietly.
For crafting a world that feels imagined and familiar all at once.
If you made it this far in my word-vomit:
please, please, PLEASE read this book when it comes out on December 5th.
Let it sit with you.
Let it challenge you.
Let it remind you of the ways resistance, love, and survival intertwine.
I’ll be thinking about this story — and these characters — for a long time.
That’s what Daggermouth was for me.
I wasn’t fully prepared for how much this story would sit with me. Wolfe didn’t just build a world. She built a system: layered, oppressive, meticulous in the way it shapes, limits, and erases. And the unsettling part? How familiar that architecture felt.
There’s a kind of harm that doesn’t shout. It whispers. It organizes itself into rules, into borders, into expectations about who is allowed to breathe freely and who must move through life in fragments. Reading this book felt like watching those invisible forces move — the ones that wound without ever raising their voice.
Yet within all of that, the characters became a kind of resistance.
I adored every single one of them — not because they were perfect, but because they were trying. Yearning in the dark. Holding loyalty like a lifeline. Choosing each other in a world designed to keep them apart. The Boundary wasn’t just a place; it was a family stitched together through defiance, through tenderness, through the kind of love that grows strongest under pressure.
And yes — there is love here.
Not loud, not sweeping, but present in gestures, in glances, in the ways the characters hold one another up. It blooms quietly amid the heaviness, a soft pulse that reminds you even the smallest tenderness can resist a crushing system.
Some scenes brushed against memories I didn’t expect to feel. Not because Daggermouth mirrors my reality exactly, but because certain forms of power — and the harm it enacts — speak a shared language. Borders, walls, surveillance, the myth of “order,” the cost of being seen as other… those echoes lingered. As a Palestinian reader, that resonance settles differently in me: personal, not universal. But it’s there, humming beneath the story like a second heartbeat.
Daggermouth is heavy, yes — but it’s also alive with warmth, connection, and the slow, quiet assertion of humanity in a place determined to suppress it. It reminded me that even under the shadow of systems that take and take and take, people still find ways to give to one another. And that is its own kind of rebellion.
Huge thank you to H.M. Wolfe for trusting me with this ARC.
For writing something so heavy and so honest.
For giving voice to characters who refuse to break quietly.
For crafting a world that feels imagined and familiar all at once.
If you made it this far in my word-vomit:
please, please, PLEASE read this book when it comes out on December 5th.
Let it sit with you.
Let it challenge you.
Let it remind you of the ways resistance, love, and survival intertwine.
I’ll be thinking about this story — and these characters — for a long time.
January 11, 2026
Someone has to say it: the masks do not make sense. 🙃
January 31, 2026
♾️stars…UM. HELLO?!?! I just finished this book and I am spiraling. Like, genuinely concerned I won’t sleep tonight because my brain refuses to leave this world. Hands-down one of the best books I have ever read in my life and I don’t say that lightly. That ending? Possibly the best ending I’ve ever experienced. This is one of those books where if you didn’t like it… I’m sorry, I simply do not trust your taste or your recommendations.😭😂
There is so much hype around this book, and it’s all deserved.
This is a true enemies-to-lovers. Not a petty rivalry. Not dislike, this is HATE. I mean these two characters beat the ever-loving shit out of each other. They try to kill each other. Even after the initial conflict, they’re still going at it. It was giving Mr. & Mrs. Smith smashing vases over each other’s heads, and I was locked in for every single second. The fact that they’re literally trying to murder each other and I’m sitting here smiling like an idiot… am I okay? Unclear.
This was my first real dystopian read, and it rattled something in my bones. The premise, the way the Heart is set up, the rings, the class system, it’s dark, unsettling, and disturbingly well thought out. There’s a sickness to the world that feels intentional, and It felt uncomfortably relevant to the state of things right now. This story doesn’t just entertain, it says something and I felt it. I was so overwhelmed with emotions for most of this book.😭
The writing style deserves its own moment. It’s detailed without being overwhelming, smooth without being simple, it was SO immersive I literally felt like I was there. I never felt pulled out of the story. My attention was fully captured 100% of the time. Some authors you just click with their writing style and this is definitely one of them.
One of my favorite things about this story is how unapologetically it highlights the power of women. Women who are smart, cunning, and relentless. Women who carry the weight of the world on their backs in systems designed to crush them and still refuse to bow. Still refuse to break. I loved the message threaded through this book: in a world built to keep us small, we don’t survive quietly. We fight back. We rise. And we shatter the chains meant to hold us down.
Shadera was the perfect FMC to deliver this message. She is exactly who she thinks she is. A full baddie. The way she prowls around? The confidence? The relationship she has with her weapon? *bites knuckles* I think I’m in love. But truly, she is such a powerful, complex character. Peeling back her layers made me feel everything. She’s so much more than a mercenary with a gun. Her resilience, her strength, and the way kindness comes naturally to her, even when she doesn’t see it in herself is something special. Despite everything she’s been through, she still shows empathy. Even to people who hurt her. Even to people who feel like enemies. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she is hope. People admire her. They look to her. She is the rebellion’s heart whether she wants that responsibility or not.
Her relationship with Greyson is layered and fascinating. The more they learn about each other, the more they realize how similar they actually are. How they both are fighting similar battles and there is so much more to them.
I loved the way their dynamic was built every interaction felt intentional. Nothing was wasted. Even with what we’ve seen so far, I can already tell these two are going to be an absolute force together. The tension and the chemistry was out of this world. I just know they are gonna be one of those couples that completely rides out for each other.
I highlighted an insane number of lines in this book. Quotes that gave me chills, made my eyes burn, had tears streaming down my face. This story moved me to my core, and the way it was told only amplified how powerful it was.
And Maximus. Oh my god. One of the worst villains I have ever read. Every time he was on the page, my blood was boiling. The author did an incredible job making me hate him on a visceral level my gut twisted every single scene because I knew something diabolical was coming.
I also loved the multiple POVs. Seeing the story unfold from so many perspectives made it so engaging. I loved watching everyone’s position on the chessboard. And of course, I fell in love with every single side character. What a fucking crew.
Now. The ending.
My jaw was on the FLOOR. I was genuinely saying out loud, “You’re lying. Oh my god. Stop. Shut the fuck up.” My emotions were everywhere. There was a moment where I was choking on my tears, had to put my Kindle down, get up, take a lap, drink water, and reset because I felt a full spiral coming on. If you know, you know😭😭😭😭😭. I am currently living in denial but then we followed that devastation with something so iconic, so legendary, with twists I did NOT see coming, that I was fully knocked on my ass.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. Drop everything you’re reading and pick this up immediately. A masterpiece in every sense of the word. Fucking perfection. Zero notes. This is one of those books you don’t just read you feel it in your soul. And now I will be crying myself to sleep while I wait for the next book.
I am going to miss these characters so much. I’m going to need an audiobook so I can reread whenever I want to feel something.
There is so much hype around this book, and it’s all deserved.
This is a true enemies-to-lovers. Not a petty rivalry. Not dislike, this is HATE. I mean these two characters beat the ever-loving shit out of each other. They try to kill each other. Even after the initial conflict, they’re still going at it. It was giving Mr. & Mrs. Smith smashing vases over each other’s heads, and I was locked in for every single second. The fact that they’re literally trying to murder each other and I’m sitting here smiling like an idiot… am I okay? Unclear.
This was my first real dystopian read, and it rattled something in my bones. The premise, the way the Heart is set up, the rings, the class system, it’s dark, unsettling, and disturbingly well thought out. There’s a sickness to the world that feels intentional, and It felt uncomfortably relevant to the state of things right now. This story doesn’t just entertain, it says something and I felt it. I was so overwhelmed with emotions for most of this book.😭
The writing style deserves its own moment. It’s detailed without being overwhelming, smooth without being simple, it was SO immersive I literally felt like I was there. I never felt pulled out of the story. My attention was fully captured 100% of the time. Some authors you just click with their writing style and this is definitely one of them.
One of my favorite things about this story is how unapologetically it highlights the power of women. Women who are smart, cunning, and relentless. Women who carry the weight of the world on their backs in systems designed to crush them and still refuse to bow. Still refuse to break. I loved the message threaded through this book: in a world built to keep us small, we don’t survive quietly. We fight back. We rise. And we shatter the chains meant to hold us down.
Shadera was the perfect FMC to deliver this message. She is exactly who she thinks she is. A full baddie. The way she prowls around? The confidence? The relationship she has with her weapon? *bites knuckles* I think I’m in love. But truly, she is such a powerful, complex character. Peeling back her layers made me feel everything. She’s so much more than a mercenary with a gun. Her resilience, her strength, and the way kindness comes naturally to her, even when she doesn’t see it in herself is something special. Despite everything she’s been through, she still shows empathy. Even to people who hurt her. Even to people who feel like enemies. She doesn’t realize it yet, but she is hope. People admire her. They look to her. She is the rebellion’s heart whether she wants that responsibility or not.
Her relationship with Greyson is layered and fascinating. The more they learn about each other, the more they realize how similar they actually are. How they both are fighting similar battles and there is so much more to them.
I loved the way their dynamic was built every interaction felt intentional. Nothing was wasted. Even with what we’ve seen so far, I can already tell these two are going to be an absolute force together. The tension and the chemistry was out of this world. I just know they are gonna be one of those couples that completely rides out for each other.
I highlighted an insane number of lines in this book. Quotes that gave me chills, made my eyes burn, had tears streaming down my face. This story moved me to my core, and the way it was told only amplified how powerful it was.
And Maximus. Oh my god. One of the worst villains I have ever read. Every time he was on the page, my blood was boiling. The author did an incredible job making me hate him on a visceral level my gut twisted every single scene because I knew something diabolical was coming.
I also loved the multiple POVs. Seeing the story unfold from so many perspectives made it so engaging. I loved watching everyone’s position on the chessboard. And of course, I fell in love with every single side character. What a fucking crew.
Now. The ending.
My jaw was on the FLOOR. I was genuinely saying out loud, “You’re lying. Oh my god. Stop. Shut the fuck up.” My emotions were everywhere. There was a moment where I was choking on my tears, had to put my Kindle down, get up, take a lap, drink water, and reset because I felt a full spiral coming on. If you know, you know😭😭😭😭😭. I am currently living in denial but then we followed that devastation with something so iconic, so legendary, with twists I did NOT see coming, that I was fully knocked on my ass.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. Drop everything you’re reading and pick this up immediately. A masterpiece in every sense of the word. Fucking perfection. Zero notes. This is one of those books you don’t just read you feel it in your soul. And now I will be crying myself to sleep while I wait for the next book.
I am going to miss these characters so much. I’m going to need an audiobook so I can reread whenever I want to feel something.
March 4, 2026
6 STARS!!! WOWOWOW this was so good!!
I had such high expectations after hearing so many good things about this and I’m so happy it delivered! THE FEMALE RAGE!!! THE ENDING!!! Ugh I loved it so much! I cannot wait for the next book now!
some fave quotes <3
“Why don’t I do something about it?” Lira finished for her. “Because I lack the power, the authority, the position. Because I am a woman in a system designed by men to keep power in their hands. Because every time I’ve tried to mitigate suffering, I’ve been reminded of my place.”
“Women are the backbone, the foundation, the immovable force that still does not falter when men stand on our spines to grab power. So no, Callum, I am not fragile. The cracks in my soul aren’t broken places. They are veins cemented together with rage. And it will take more than the hands of men to kill my spirit, to break my will.”
“Then I’ll find whatever’s left of her and bring her home,” Jameson replied without having to think. “And love whoever she’s become.”
“You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted,” he finally said, his voice hoarse, the words unpolished. “The only honest part of me is what I feel for you.”
“But women? That is all we do. We endure. We wait. We survive.”
I had such high expectations after hearing so many good things about this and I’m so happy it delivered! THE FEMALE RAGE!!! THE ENDING!!! Ugh I loved it so much! I cannot wait for the next book now!
some fave quotes <3
“Why don’t I do something about it?” Lira finished for her. “Because I lack the power, the authority, the position. Because I am a woman in a system designed by men to keep power in their hands. Because every time I’ve tried to mitigate suffering, I’ve been reminded of my place.”
“Women are the backbone, the foundation, the immovable force that still does not falter when men stand on our spines to grab power. So no, Callum, I am not fragile. The cracks in my soul aren’t broken places. They are veins cemented together with rage. And it will take more than the hands of men to kill my spirit, to break my will.”
“Then I’ll find whatever’s left of her and bring her home,” Jameson replied without having to think. “And love whoever she’s become.”
“You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted,” he finally said, his voice hoarse, the words unpolished. “The only honest part of me is what I feel for you.”
“But women? That is all we do. We endure. We wait. We survive.”
February 11, 2026
Reading DAGGERMOUTH made me feel like it was 2010 again and I was clutching my little statement necklace while reading THE HUNGER GAMES for the first time. This book is a master class in character building and complex Machiavellian type politics in dystopian structures that serve as chilling allegories for modern-day oppressions.
I loved Shadera and Greyson. She's a cold-blooded mercenary and he's the scion of a brutal tyrant. The central conflict of this book is that they are forced to marry to save the dictatorship's face and cement its optics of power, but oops, they actually both want to kill each other even though they're both hot and have the same kinks so they also want to bang each other, as well. The relationship is slow-burn and done so, so well. I never really found myself questioning any of their decisions or reactions because they both felt so real.
And unlike some romances, where the focus is totally on the main couple (which is okay!), Wolfe spent just as much time developing her side characters in interesting ways, including a secondary romance between the hero's sister, Lira, and a gambling den owner named Callum. And yes, I was just as invested in this relationship as I was in the main relationship, and yes, it did put me in my feelings.
I can see why this book has so much hype circling around it. The hype was what sold me on the book but the execution was what kept me reading (literally and figuratively). There's too many people to thank for recommending this to me, but I DO think you should all have to do a crowd-sourced Venmo to pay me for the therapy bills I'm going to rack up after that ending.
4.5 stars
I loved Shadera and Greyson. She's a cold-blooded mercenary and he's the scion of a brutal tyrant. The central conflict of this book is that they are forced to marry to save the dictatorship's face and cement its optics of power, but oops, they actually both want to kill each other even though they're both hot and have the same kinks so they also want to bang each other, as well. The relationship is slow-burn and done so, so well. I never really found myself questioning any of their decisions or reactions because they both felt so real.
And unlike some romances, where the focus is totally on the main couple (which is okay!), Wolfe spent just as much time developing her side characters in interesting ways, including a secondary romance between the hero's sister, Lira, and a gambling den owner named Callum. And yes, I was just as invested in this relationship as I was in the main relationship, and yes, it did put me in my feelings.
I can see why this book has so much hype circling around it. The hype was what sold me on the book but the execution was what kept me reading (literally and figuratively). There's too many people to thank for recommending this to me, but I DO think you should all have to do a crowd-sourced Venmo to pay me for the therapy bills I'm going to rack up after that ending.
4.5 stars
February 19, 2026
“Women are the backbone, the foundation, the immovable force that still does not falter when men stand on our spines to grab power. So no, Callum, I am not fragile. The cracks in my soul aren’t broken places. They are veins cemented together with rage. And it will take more than the hands of men to kill my spirit, to break my will.”
March 2, 2026
4⭐️
I am speechless. Utterly speechless.
THIS BOOK WAS SO WORTH THE HYPE AND SO MUCH MORE!!
Normally when books are so raved about, I typically have the opposite reaction to most other people. BUT THIS?? THIS WAS AMAZING!
The characters in this book were phenomenal. I really enjoyed Shadera and Greyson and really all the characters in this book. I fell in love with our FMC so fast because of how strong and badass she was and just her entire personality. She was fierce and dedicated and the love she got from those on her side was just so fun. Greyson was extremely lovable as well and I enjoyed the TRUE enemies-to-lovers this book was. I really loved Lira and Callum as well! The side characters and how diverse and unique everyone was was extremely enjoyable.
NOW THE PLOT??? A MASTERPIECE. ART. CHEFS KISS!!
My favorite thing about this book was how high stakes and tense this book was from the very beginning. The plot twists, the pacing, the writing; it was all so good. It was so easy to get lost and binge this book once you got into it. It reads so fast and the next thing you know you've read 100 pages and it's only been an hour. It was exhilarating the entire time and the ending had me uncontrollably sobbing. I DID NOT PREDICT A DAMN THING THE END OF THIS BOOK WENT AND I'M NOT MAD ABOUT IT. Okay I'm a little mad because I knew things were getting too good to be true.
I genuinely can't wait for the second book and I will be anxiously waiting to get back into this universe with these characters. Believe me when I say that the hype and admiration for this book is completely justified. The scream that I scrumpt when I finished this was criminal. So glad I decided to give this a try!
ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ Qᴜᴏᴛᴇꜱ:
Fear is a solvent, Greyson--it dissolves doubt, resistance, the very concept of alternative. But only if administered pure. If you dilute it, even a little, the city will learn to adapt.
"If they want information from her badly enough, they'll get it. And what's left afterwards won't be Kael anymore"
"Then I'll find whatever's left of her and bring her home, and love whoever she's become."
Some promises were made to be broken. And some people were worth dying for.
But beneath that identity, he was also a boy caught in a web. A man created by an evil system whose soul, at the very least, suffered for the pain he'd caused. Evil could sometimes come in the form of beauty.
The woman sent to kill him, was the only woman who had ever made him feel safe.
But revenge wasn't enough anymore. Revenge was reactive, defensive. What she wanted--what she needed--was change.
"If you shoot me, it will only make me want to fuck you."
"Women are the backbone, the foundation, the immovable force that still does not falter when men stand on our spines to grab power. So no, Callum, I am not fragile. The cracks in my soul aren't broken places. They are veins cemented together with rage. And it will take more than the hands of men to kill my spirit, to break my will."
"We are the Heart. We are its power. And we are taking it back."
"Men never truly understand the meaning of patience. You see, men like you can't comprehend the concept of suffering, the lesson to be learned in it. Especially not in silence. But women? That is all we do, We endure. We wait. We survive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭: 🗡️🖤🫀
Everyone and their mom has been talking about this book and alas...
Here I am falling into the hype because I HAVE to know what the deal is with this book 🫣
I am speechless. Utterly speechless.
THIS BOOK WAS SO WORTH THE HYPE AND SO MUCH MORE!!
Normally when books are so raved about, I typically have the opposite reaction to most other people. BUT THIS?? THIS WAS AMAZING!
The characters in this book were phenomenal. I really enjoyed Shadera and Greyson and really all the characters in this book. I fell in love with our FMC so fast because of how strong and badass she was and just her entire personality. She was fierce and dedicated and the love she got from those on her side was just so fun. Greyson was extremely lovable as well and I enjoyed the TRUE enemies-to-lovers this book was. I really loved Lira and Callum as well! The side characters and how diverse and unique everyone was was extremely enjoyable.
NOW THE PLOT??? A MASTERPIECE. ART. CHEFS KISS!!
My favorite thing about this book was how high stakes and tense this book was from the very beginning. The plot twists, the pacing, the writing; it was all so good. It was so easy to get lost and binge this book once you got into it. It reads so fast and the next thing you know you've read 100 pages and it's only been an hour. It was exhilarating the entire time and the ending had me uncontrollably sobbing. I DID NOT PREDICT A DAMN THING THE END OF THIS BOOK WENT AND I'M NOT MAD ABOUT IT. Okay I'm a little mad because I knew things were getting too good to be true.
I genuinely can't wait for the second book and I will be anxiously waiting to get back into this universe with these characters. Believe me when I say that the hype and admiration for this book is completely justified. The scream that I scrumpt when I finished this was criminal. So glad I decided to give this a try!
ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ Qᴜᴏᴛᴇꜱ:
Fear is a solvent, Greyson--it dissolves doubt, resistance, the very concept of alternative. But only if administered pure. If you dilute it, even a little, the city will learn to adapt.
"If they want information from her badly enough, they'll get it. And what's left afterwards won't be Kael anymore"
"Then I'll find whatever's left of her and bring her home, and love whoever she's become."
Some promises were made to be broken. And some people were worth dying for.
But beneath that identity, he was also a boy caught in a web. A man created by an evil system whose soul, at the very least, suffered for the pain he'd caused. Evil could sometimes come in the form of beauty.
The woman sent to kill him, was the only woman who had ever made him feel safe.
But revenge wasn't enough anymore. Revenge was reactive, defensive. What she wanted--what she needed--was change.
"If you shoot me, it will only make me want to fuck you."
"Women are the backbone, the foundation, the immovable force that still does not falter when men stand on our spines to grab power. So no, Callum, I am not fragile. The cracks in my soul aren't broken places. They are veins cemented together with rage. And it will take more than the hands of men to kill my spirit, to break my will."
"We are the Heart. We are its power. And we are taking it back."
"Men never truly understand the meaning of patience. You see, men like you can't comprehend the concept of suffering, the lesson to be learned in it. Especially not in silence. But women? That is all we do, We endure. We wait. We survive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭: 🗡️🖤🫀
Everyone and their mom has been talking about this book and alas...
Here I am falling into the hype because I HAVE to know what the deal is with this book 🫣
Currently reading
February 22, 2026Guys why did it cost me an arm and a leg to acquire the paperback 😭🤚 the lengths I went to for it should be criminal so this better be as good as the hype 🙏
***
Everything about this book sounds incredible and after seeing the reviews I need it in my hands IMMEDIATELY
***
Everything about this book sounds incredible and after seeing the reviews I need it in my hands IMMEDIATELY
February 14, 2026
This book was PHENOMENAL! You fall in love with the characters so easily and the twists are 🤯
February 19, 2026
This is a 6 star read. And I will not be elaborating. That is all.
did-not-finish
January 26, 2026DNF’d at 44%.
While the concept of Daggermouth intrigued me so much, the execution simply was not my favorite. I think H. M. Wolfe’s writing style might not be for me after all. I read her debut and it was just okay to me, but a lot of issues I had with it I also have with Daggermouth. I maintain the unique position that I haven’t read the comp titles that this book is compared to in the same way I hadn’t read the comp titles for her debut, so I feel like I was able to engage with an open mind and a palette ready to be filled with colors. I think if you’re a fan of The Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale you might enjoy this quite a bit; from what I’ve seen in other reviews, a lot people who’ve read and/or watched both really love Daggermouth!
The heavy leaning on similes as well as the stilted dialogue took me out of the story so many times. I feel like there’s a fine line between prose for prose’s sake and prose that serves the narrative; this fell on the side of purple prose for me. I’m not someone who shies away from purple prose to be honest, but a number of things also didn’t work for me, so I started feeling detached and frankly bored.
Shadera, the FMC, was basically that SpongeBob character Fred who’s all battered and bandaged with how many beatings she took, but there wasn’t much in the way of treating the wounds or addressing the high likelihood of head trauma. I get that she’s a badass—and this is a dystopian book so maybe things like blunt force trauma can’t keep a bad bitch down—but the world building didn’t support a lack of medical care. The way the characters engaged with one another didn’t feel natural, and I couldn’t connect with Shadera, Greyson, or the other side characters that also had POVs throughout the story. I didn’t even get to the good stuff as it pertains to the love stories, but I didn’t feel drawn in enough to wait around for things to get there. Ultimately there were too many things that didn’t gel with me as a reader that I wish I was able to overlook because I so badly wanted to be on the Daggermouth train with everyone else—it just didn’t work for me!
Speaking of world building, the concept was very fascinating: an inner “heart” of elite people controlling the outer rings—humming with rebellion—via public executions for ultimately minor infractions. The world is completely under control of one egomaniac—sound familiar? I *loved* that aspect of this! The parallel to modern day politics in America and the potential of what can happen if power remains unchecked is a very important tale to tell. The family dynamic of this powerful man was also executed well in that each member of the family had their own ambitions but they were also engaging in silent rebellion against the president.
Overall, I wish more had gone into fleshing out some of the more interesting aspects, such as the origination of the executions and the escalating violence by the heart (perhaps these questions are answered in parts of the book I didn’t get to, or will be resolved in the conclusion of this duology). Since the reader does get to journey with Shadera, I wish that I was able to see her vulnerability beyond her reluctant attraction to Greyson so that I could connect with her better. I accept that if I had just kept reading I might have had resolutions for many of my issues, but it’s December, I’ve had a so-so reading month so far, and I couldn’t force it for a book of this length.
Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC!
While the concept of Daggermouth intrigued me so much, the execution simply was not my favorite. I think H. M. Wolfe’s writing style might not be for me after all. I read her debut and it was just okay to me, but a lot of issues I had with it I also have with Daggermouth. I maintain the unique position that I haven’t read the comp titles that this book is compared to in the same way I hadn’t read the comp titles for her debut, so I feel like I was able to engage with an open mind and a palette ready to be filled with colors. I think if you’re a fan of The Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale you might enjoy this quite a bit; from what I’ve seen in other reviews, a lot people who’ve read and/or watched both really love Daggermouth!
The heavy leaning on similes as well as the stilted dialogue took me out of the story so many times. I feel like there’s a fine line between prose for prose’s sake and prose that serves the narrative; this fell on the side of purple prose for me. I’m not someone who shies away from purple prose to be honest, but a number of things also didn’t work for me, so I started feeling detached and frankly bored.
Shadera, the FMC, was basically that SpongeBob character Fred who’s all battered and bandaged with how many beatings she took, but there wasn’t much in the way of treating the wounds or addressing the high likelihood of head trauma. I get that she’s a badass—and this is a dystopian book so maybe things like blunt force trauma can’t keep a bad bitch down—but the world building didn’t support a lack of medical care. The way the characters engaged with one another didn’t feel natural, and I couldn’t connect with Shadera, Greyson, or the other side characters that also had POVs throughout the story. I didn’t even get to the good stuff as it pertains to the love stories, but I didn’t feel drawn in enough to wait around for things to get there. Ultimately there were too many things that didn’t gel with me as a reader that I wish I was able to overlook because I so badly wanted to be on the Daggermouth train with everyone else—it just didn’t work for me!
Speaking of world building, the concept was very fascinating: an inner “heart” of elite people controlling the outer rings—humming with rebellion—via public executions for ultimately minor infractions. The world is completely under control of one egomaniac—sound familiar? I *loved* that aspect of this! The parallel to modern day politics in America and the potential of what can happen if power remains unchecked is a very important tale to tell. The family dynamic of this powerful man was also executed well in that each member of the family had their own ambitions but they were also engaging in silent rebellion against the president.
Overall, I wish more had gone into fleshing out some of the more interesting aspects, such as the origination of the executions and the escalating violence by the heart (perhaps these questions are answered in parts of the book I didn’t get to, or will be resolved in the conclusion of this duology). Since the reader does get to journey with Shadera, I wish that I was able to see her vulnerability beyond her reluctant attraction to Greyson so that I could connect with her better. I accept that if I had just kept reading I might have had resolutions for many of my issues, but it’s December, I’ve had a so-so reading month so far, and I couldn’t force it for a book of this length.
Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC!
February 24, 2026
5 stars
I enjoyed this so much! Amazing book! I am defintely reading book 2!
I enjoyed this so much! Amazing book! I am defintely reading book 2!
March 4, 2026
okay i might be in the minority with this one but trust me it took me days to even write a review because i'm very very conflicted about the fact that i thought this book was going to be a 6 star read but unfortunately i'm stuck on 3.5 stars rating here. the story has many strengths, especially its characters and the way it mirrors today’s world. but it also contains a few weaknesses that kept me from loving it completely.
daggermouth is set in a world that feels a lot like our own today. powerful men control everything, and their actions lead to ruin and fear. the author paints a picture of a dystopian society that reminds readers of current events, making the story feel very relevant. the setting is dark and oppressive, and the feeling of living under a harsh regime is strong throughout the pages.
anyways apart from the rant, i can say this book has so many good qualities, the characters are the strongest part of the story. every major figure—shadera, greyson, callum, lira, jameson, jeager, and the others—has a distinct personality and a clear purpose. their morals are blurred between black and grey here. each of them have flaws but their goal is towards one thing: to stop the oppression against boundary. the women, especially shadera and lira, carry the book with confidence and bravery. i was pumping my fist in the air and cheering for them in almost every scene. the author also uses multiple points of view, which lets us see the events from different angles. it helped me to understand the motivations of each character. because of the multiple perspectives, the world feels larger and more lived in.
even with those strengths, the world building sometimes feels thin to me. i felt like there were a lot of things missing here. for example, the society is divided into two groups: the boundary, a lower class treated as backward, and the elite, who are treated as first class. the reason for the rules is hinted at but never fully explained here. we see the elite forced to cover their faces, but we never learn why that tradition started. similarly, the hatred that maximus and the veyra have for the boundary is presented as a fact without any historical background. i kept asking myself as to what events led to this division and why the masks are so important. the lack of clear history left so many questions unanswered and made it harder for me to fully immerse myself in the setting. i would have liked more scenes or dialogue that explored the origins of the oppression, the rise of the elite, and the myths that keep the two groups apart.
apart from the missed details, the main aspect i want to talk about is romance, (well it's a dystopian romance obviously) i felt that shadera and greyson when from enemies to friends to lovers real quick? it just took them two to three interactions to start believing "oh, they're not bad after all" like duh. in a story that deals with deep mistrust and oppression, a quicker emotional shift can feel kinda unrealistic. a slower pace that shows more moments of doubt and gradual trust, would have made their romance more realistic in my opinion or maybe it's just a me problem after all. on the other hand, the relationship between callum and lira was far more satisfying. their chemistry was strong, and i really enjoyed the moments they shared. still, even their story suffers from a 'telling, not showing' problem. the book explains why they were separated, but it rarely shows the emotional pain of that separation. we are told that they once had feelings for each other, but we don’t see many scenes that let us feel that love grow again. a few flashbacks would have made it suffice.
TL;DR the book does offers a convincing dystopian backdrop, strong female leads, and a morally black/grey cast of characters. the multiple povs added so much flavor and the ending delivers a decent sense of closure. however, the world building lacks a bit of the historical details that would make the setting feel complete, and the romance between shadera and greyson moves too fast for my taste. callum and lira’s relationship is the highlight, but it also suffers from a “telling, not showing” issue.
lastly, i want to thank my besties, gary and manas for reading this with me! i love you guys 🥹💗
daggermouth is set in a world that feels a lot like our own today. powerful men control everything, and their actions lead to ruin and fear. the author paints a picture of a dystopian society that reminds readers of current events, making the story feel very relevant. the setting is dark and oppressive, and the feeling of living under a harsh regime is strong throughout the pages.
anyways apart from the rant, i can say this book has so many good qualities, the characters are the strongest part of the story. every major figure—shadera, greyson, callum, lira, jameson, jeager, and the others—has a distinct personality and a clear purpose. their morals are blurred between black and grey here. each of them have flaws but their goal is towards one thing: to stop the oppression against boundary. the women, especially shadera and lira, carry the book with confidence and bravery. i was pumping my fist in the air and cheering for them in almost every scene. the author also uses multiple points of view, which lets us see the events from different angles. it helped me to understand the motivations of each character. because of the multiple perspectives, the world feels larger and more lived in.
even with those strengths, the world building sometimes feels thin to me. i felt like there were a lot of things missing here. for example, the society is divided into two groups: the boundary, a lower class treated as backward, and the elite, who are treated as first class. the reason for the rules is hinted at but never fully explained here. we see the elite forced to cover their faces, but we never learn why that tradition started. similarly, the hatred that maximus and the veyra have for the boundary is presented as a fact without any historical background. i kept asking myself as to what events led to this division and why the masks are so important. the lack of clear history left so many questions unanswered and made it harder for me to fully immerse myself in the setting. i would have liked more scenes or dialogue that explored the origins of the oppression, the rise of the elite, and the myths that keep the two groups apart.
apart from the missed details, the main aspect i want to talk about is romance, (well it's a dystopian romance obviously) i felt that shadera and greyson when from enemies to friends to lovers real quick? it just took them two to three interactions to start believing "oh, they're not bad after all" like duh. in a story that deals with deep mistrust and oppression, a quicker emotional shift can feel kinda unrealistic. a slower pace that shows more moments of doubt and gradual trust, would have made their romance more realistic in my opinion or maybe it's just a me problem after all. on the other hand, the relationship between callum and lira was far more satisfying. their chemistry was strong, and i really enjoyed the moments they shared. still, even their story suffers from a 'telling, not showing' problem. the book explains why they were separated, but it rarely shows the emotional pain of that separation. we are told that they once had feelings for each other, but we don’t see many scenes that let us feel that love grow again. a few flashbacks would have made it suffice.
TL;DR the book does offers a convincing dystopian backdrop, strong female leads, and a morally black/grey cast of characters. the multiple povs added so much flavor and the ending delivers a decent sense of closure. however, the world building lacks a bit of the historical details that would make the setting feel complete, and the romance between shadera and greyson moves too fast for my taste. callum and lira’s relationship is the highlight, but it also suffers from a “telling, not showing” issue.
lastly, i want to thank my besties, gary and manas for reading this with me! i love you guys 🥹💗
March 3, 2026
WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED
I NEED 3-5 BUSINESS DAYS TO PROCESS
6 stars btw 🤯
I NEED 3-5 BUSINESS DAYS TO PROCESS
6 stars btw 🤯
January 5, 2026
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
finished 1.4.26
✧ "showing mercy is a weakness, and weakness will get you killed." ✧
- 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 -
holy shit. ho-ly shit. this book is the DEFINITION of emotional trauma. that ending? hello? i was crying one second then silently cheering the next. i am SPEECHLESS.
- 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 -
i cannot put into words how OBSESSED i am with shadera and greyson. their character building as a couple is gorgeous- i'm talking TRUE enemies to lovers, not just "oh they 'hated' *wink wink* each other." shadera is such a badass, and IM HERE FOR IT!! both her and greyson are morally grey, which is *chefs kiss*. then there's jameson, and he's just a bit delusional. i'll leave it at that. i'm going to also casually point out that the mmcs in this book are named jameson and greyson. like jameson and grayson hawethorn from jlb's the inheritance games. i don't think it means anything, but it's still a somewhat odd detail.
and then we have lira and callum. i almost like lira and callum more than shadera and grey, but not quite. the two of them have the most wholesome relationship, and yeah. im devastated.
- 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 -
this book is fast paced with so many twists and turns that will make you loose your mind. those last few chapters were absolutely devastating, and even a day after reading it, i still haven't recovered. one of my biggest issues with dystopian/fantasy books is that sometimes you can see the plot twists coming from a mile away, but this one kept me on my toes the whole time. surprisingly, the romance didn't overwhelm this one either. the ratio of romance to plot was perfect.
features -
✦ dystopian
✧ third person
✦ multiple povs
✧ violence & death
✦ morally grey mcs
✧ marrige of inconvenience
✦ touch her and die
✧ forced proximity
♪⋆.˚ now playing: 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒚 𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆
“𝑖 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 / 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡'𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑙𝑦”
- preread 🩵 -
already on my second read of 2026! 😭 i feel like im seeing this one everywhere and im nothing but easily influenced, so here we go! 💕
finished 1.4.26
✧ "showing mercy is a weakness, and weakness will get you killed." ✧
- 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 -
holy shit. ho-ly shit. this book is the DEFINITION of emotional trauma. that ending? hello? i was crying one second then silently cheering the next. i am SPEECHLESS.
- 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 -
i cannot put into words how OBSESSED i am with shadera and greyson. their character building as a couple is gorgeous- i'm talking TRUE enemies to lovers, not just "oh they 'hated' *wink wink* each other." shadera is such a badass, and IM HERE FOR IT!! both her and greyson are morally grey, which is *chefs kiss*. then there's jameson, and he's just a bit delusional. i'll leave it at that. i'm going to also casually point out that the mmcs in this book are named jameson and greyson. like jameson and grayson hawethorn from jlb's the inheritance games. i don't think it means anything, but it's still a somewhat odd detail.
and then we have lira and callum. i almost like lira and callum more than shadera and grey, but not quite. the two of them have the most wholesome relationship, and yeah. im devastated.
- 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 -
this book is fast paced with so many twists and turns that will make you loose your mind. those last few chapters were absolutely devastating, and even a day after reading it, i still haven't recovered. one of my biggest issues with dystopian/fantasy books is that sometimes you can see the plot twists coming from a mile away, but this one kept me on my toes the whole time. surprisingly, the romance didn't overwhelm this one either. the ratio of romance to plot was perfect.
features -
✦ dystopian
✧ third person
✦ multiple povs
✧ violence & death
✦ morally grey mcs
✧ marrige of inconvenience
✦ touch her and die
✧ forced proximity
♪⋆.˚ now playing: 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒚 𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆
“𝑖 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 / 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡'𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑙𝑦”
- preread 🩵 -
already on my second read of 2026! 😭 i feel like im seeing this one everywhere and im nothing but easily influenced, so here we go! 💕
December 22, 2025
DNF @ 20% the believability for major parts of the story just were not there for me
⚠️⚠️⚠️ spoiler after this
.
.
.
So she is supposed to be the baddest assassin, like the best at her job, so good at killing but when she sees the MMC’s face she is struck by how handsome he is and can’t kill him? Even though she hates his guts more than anything? And when she is discovered, she had a clear shot to kill him, her last chance because she thinks she’s about to die and she still doesn’t take it?
And then his dad, maker of all the rules the ultimate evil guy, decides this is the one time he needs to follow his own laws and they have to get married??? He is literally marrying his son to his almost assassin and he’s not worried she’s going to just kill him in their bed?
And then the book made a point to tell you they only execute people in public, so that’s why the FMC wasn’t killed on the spot for trying to kill the MMC but then everyone in the prison starts singing so the guards kill every single one of them. That was the final straw, I DNF’ed.
⚠️⚠️⚠️ spoiler after this
.
.
.
So she is supposed to be the baddest assassin, like the best at her job, so good at killing but when she sees the MMC’s face she is struck by how handsome he is and can’t kill him? Even though she hates his guts more than anything? And when she is discovered, she had a clear shot to kill him, her last chance because she thinks she’s about to die and she still doesn’t take it?
And then his dad, maker of all the rules the ultimate evil guy, decides this is the one time he needs to follow his own laws and they have to get married??? He is literally marrying his son to his almost assassin and he’s not worried she’s going to just kill him in their bed?
And then the book made a point to tell you they only execute people in public, so that’s why the FMC wasn’t killed on the spot for trying to kill the MMC but then everyone in the prison starts singing so the guards kill every single one of them. That was the final straw, I DNF’ed.
January 11, 2026
♾️🌟 𝟼
“𝘼𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚”
🖤 🫀 🎭 💀 🔪 ~♡• 𝓪 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓭𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼 •𖥔 ݁ ˖ »
yeah the hype is real!! i was glued to this book. the plot??? so fucking good
the the world h.m wolfe created is dark and devastating and i loved every single moment in it 🫶🏻✨
i immediately became obsessed with all of these characters, their stories and their romances. i cried, i laughed and i screamed. this is a new obsession that i will be thinking about 24/7
༘⋆ 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚢𝚜𝚘𝚗 my sweet baby boy ughhh the more you learn about him the more you end up loving him
༘⋆ 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚊 obsessed with her!! she is such a badass. i love her so much might honestly be a new fav fmc
꧁ᬊᬁ 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚊 + 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚢𝚜𝚘𝚗 ᬊ᭄꧂
the banter, the tension, the slow burn i ate it up💘 watching them slowly discover each other and how much alike they are my heart!!
➵ “𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒” ♡～
༘⋆ 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖 the moment this man was introduced i was barking!! something about him 🤭🤩
༘⋆ 𝚕𝚒𝚛𝚊 love her so much🥹🥹🥹 all im gonna say is ➵𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝟸𝟼
i will be counting down the literal days until we get book 2
the last 20% of this book had me freaking the hell out
and that ending had me screaming!!!!!!!!!!!
what in the fuck. what do you mean.
what do you mean?????
im 💔…🥴…😭
will be crying myself to sleep tonight
“𝘼𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚”
🖤 🫀 🎭 💀 🔪 ~♡• 𝓪 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓭𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼 •𖥔 ݁ ˖ »
yeah the hype is real!! i was glued to this book. the plot??? so fucking good
the the world h.m wolfe created is dark and devastating and i loved every single moment in it 🫶🏻✨
i immediately became obsessed with all of these characters, their stories and their romances. i cried, i laughed and i screamed. this is a new obsession that i will be thinking about 24/7
༘⋆ 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚢𝚜𝚘𝚗 my sweet baby boy ughhh the more you learn about him the more you end up loving him
༘⋆ 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚊 obsessed with her!! she is such a badass. i love her so much might honestly be a new fav fmc
꧁ᬊᬁ 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚊 + 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚢𝚜𝚘𝚗 ᬊ᭄꧂
the banter, the tension, the slow burn i ate it up💘 watching them slowly discover each other and how much alike they are my heart!!
➵ “𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒” ♡～
༘⋆ 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖 the moment this man was introduced i was barking!! something about him 🤭🤩
༘⋆ 𝚕𝚒𝚛𝚊 love her so much🥹🥹🥹 all im gonna say is ➵𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝟸𝟼
i will be counting down the literal days until we get book 2
the last 20% of this book had me freaking the hell out
and that ending had me screaming!!!!!!!!!!!
what in the fuck. what do you mean.
what do you mean?????
im 💔…🥴…😭
will be crying myself to sleep tonight
February 26, 2026
I know I’m in the minority here seeing as so many people loved this book, but sadly this book really didn’t work for me and I’m posting that review also in the hope I see other people feeling the same as me and it will make me feel less alone ahah
I always appreciate dystopian books and the political commentary that comes through their stories. It feels especially relevant right now, considering what is happening in many countries.
Sadly, there were several major things I couldn’t get past in this book.
I had an issue with the marriage of convenience. It felt like the author wanted the FMC and MMC to live together (cue forced proximity), and for that to happen they needed to get married. The problem was that the reasoning behind it made absolutely no sense to me. I also usually love a badass FMC, and I liked that Shade was an assassin. However, we never really see her be good at her job. Her “badass” reputation falls apart when she fails to kill the MMC because he’s hot, and when we learn she didn’t kill his brother years ago because she was drunk and didn’t even check that he was actually dead. Her and others are supposed to be in their thirties but actually act like teenagers to me.
As for the two main characters, the romance was very insta-lust. I know that works for many people, but I didn’t enjoy how it was handled here. They’re enemies for about two seconds and are instantly attracted to each other. There’s even a conversation between the MMC and his friends about how he needs to get close to the FMC to find out who killed his brother, but that never actually happens because he is immediately and overwhelmingly attracted to her, so I this whole discussion felt very pointless.
I also didn’t understand the masks. What do you mean you’re instantly killed if someone accidentally sees your face if your masks falls? And only the elite wear them? None of it really made sense to me. The masks also seemed very distinct, so it felt like you would still be able to tell who was who anyway.
The entire story takes place over a very, very short period of time, and I felt like so much happened without enough world-building. By the end, we still knew very little about why the rings exist, what happened before the story began, what’s going on in other cities, or why people aren’t allowed to leave.
One of the main things I didn’t enjoy was the sheer number of plot twists. So. Many. Plot twists. The plot twists had plot twists, and it became so unbelievable that it pulled me out of the story. The villain was also very cartoonish—extremely evil, completely one-dimensional (we even get his POV just to reinforce how really, really bad he is), and he delivers an actual evil-villain monologue at the end.
The reveal that the eldest son wasn’t dead was fine as a twist—it’s something we often see in fantasy and dystopian books. But learning that he was undercover for that long made no sense when we later discover that the villain’s ultimate goal was to bomb almost everyone anyway. If that was the plan all along, why bother with a marriage of convenience or keeping a son undercover for so many years? I just didn’t understand the logic.
I sadly didn’t get attached to the characters, which meant I didn’t really care whether they lived or died.
Also… are they all fae? Because how else can they be beaten up repeatedly, suffer serious injuries and broken bones, and then be completely fine a few hours later? That was another thing I had trouble getting past, and it repeatedly took me out of the story.
I’m totally okay with violence and gore in books, but here it felt extremely gratuitous. For example, the scene where the sister suddenly discovers—by randomly reading a document—that people who take the vow are forced to have sex immediately afterward, and that women are then abused by multiple men. It was bizarre that something so horrific had supposedly been happening for years and was only discovered by chance. Again, it felt like it existed purely for shock value. (Same goes for the sister traumatic childhood)
I always appreciate dystopian books and the political commentary that comes through their stories. It feels especially relevant right now, considering what is happening in many countries.
Sadly, there were several major things I couldn’t get past in this book.
I had an issue with the marriage of convenience. It felt like the author wanted the FMC and MMC to live together (cue forced proximity), and for that to happen they needed to get married. The problem was that the reasoning behind it made absolutely no sense to me. I also usually love a badass FMC, and I liked that Shade was an assassin. However, we never really see her be good at her job. Her “badass” reputation falls apart when she fails to kill the MMC because he’s hot, and when we learn she didn’t kill his brother years ago because she was drunk and didn’t even check that he was actually dead. Her and others are supposed to be in their thirties but actually act like teenagers to me.
As for the two main characters, the romance was very insta-lust. I know that works for many people, but I didn’t enjoy how it was handled here. They’re enemies for about two seconds and are instantly attracted to each other. There’s even a conversation between the MMC and his friends about how he needs to get close to the FMC to find out who killed his brother, but that never actually happens because he is immediately and overwhelmingly attracted to her, so I this whole discussion felt very pointless.
I also didn’t understand the masks. What do you mean you’re instantly killed if someone accidentally sees your face if your masks falls? And only the elite wear them? None of it really made sense to me. The masks also seemed very distinct, so it felt like you would still be able to tell who was who anyway.
The entire story takes place over a very, very short period of time, and I felt like so much happened without enough world-building. By the end, we still knew very little about why the rings exist, what happened before the story began, what’s going on in other cities, or why people aren’t allowed to leave.
One of the main things I didn’t enjoy was the sheer number of plot twists. So. Many. Plot twists. The plot twists had plot twists, and it became so unbelievable that it pulled me out of the story. The villain was also very cartoonish—extremely evil, completely one-dimensional (we even get his POV just to reinforce how really, really bad he is), and he delivers an actual evil-villain monologue at the end.
The reveal that the eldest son wasn’t dead was fine as a twist—it’s something we often see in fantasy and dystopian books. But learning that he was undercover for that long made no sense when we later discover that the villain’s ultimate goal was to bomb almost everyone anyway. If that was the plan all along, why bother with a marriage of convenience or keeping a son undercover for so many years? I just didn’t understand the logic.
I sadly didn’t get attached to the characters, which meant I didn’t really care whether they lived or died.
Also… are they all fae? Because how else can they be beaten up repeatedly, suffer serious injuries and broken bones, and then be completely fine a few hours later? That was another thing I had trouble getting past, and it repeatedly took me out of the story.
I’m totally okay with violence and gore in books, but here it felt extremely gratuitous. For example, the scene where the sister suddenly discovers—by randomly reading a document—that people who take the vow are forced to have sex immediately afterward, and that women are then abused by multiple men. It was bizarre that something so horrific had supposedly been happening for years and was only discovered by chance. Again, it felt like it existed purely for shock value. (Same goes for the sister traumatic childhood)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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