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The Rising #4
The Rising
Once upon a time, in a parallel universe, there existed the continent of Triton…
The Beast has risen!
Airen is at war. The queen is dead. The coven is incomplete. And things are uncertain under the sea.
Now, the unicorns and mermaids and witches and warriors and the strangers from other lands all must band together to face The Beast and save Triton.
The unions have been realized. Silence and Mars, True and Farah, Cassius and Elena and Aramus and Ha-Lah are at their fullest powers.
But the gods require sacrifice. The sacrifice of pure love. If it isn’t given, the Beast will prevail, and Triton will fall.
It cannot be escaped; they must use all their might and magic…
The Rising is nigh!
The Beast has risen!
Airen is at war. The queen is dead. The coven is incomplete. And things are uncertain under the sea.
Now, the unicorns and mermaids and witches and warriors and the strangers from other lands all must band together to face The Beast and save Triton.
The unions have been realized. Silence and Mars, True and Farah, Cassius and Elena and Aramus and Ha-Lah are at their fullest powers.
But the gods require sacrifice. The sacrifice of pure love. If it isn’t given, the Beast will prevail, and Triton will fall.
It cannot be escaped; they must use all their might and magic…
The Rising is nigh!
532 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2020
504 people are currently reading
1673 people want to read
About the author
Kristen Ashley
139 books39.5k followersKristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!).
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 281 reviews
December 30, 2021
this is going to be my ‘review’ (whatever that meant) for the WHOLE series, and im going to copy whatever i wrote and paste in on the review section of each book because i dont care and i want to be done with this shit.
1) biggest issue for me was how these books were written.
instead of focusing on one couple per book, KA decided to have all four of them in one book. on top of that, there were side characters to keep track of as well. it was overwhelming, and it just wasnt what i expected. to tell you the truth, it pissed me off. so much so that it TOTALLY ruined the series for me. idk why i didnt quit reading, i just didnt want to. but i also didnt make an effort to be interested and pay attention to what was going on with the story. basically, i listened to the whole thing with a half ear and doing it half-heartedly. it wasnt like i couldnt multi-task while doing it. so, no precious time wasted.
2) from what i could gauge, the plot wasnt bad. in fact, it was quite brilliant.
idk why KA decided to do what i said in point 1, but im sad that i never got over how disappointed i was with it because i ended up skipping so much that if there was such a thing as the audiobook police, i’d have been arrested by now. the plot grew more complex and more convoluted as it progressed in each book. it was a big pile of hot mess that i didnt care enough to sift through. at the same time, i marveled at how KA managed to write such intricate storyline (even if it was a clusterfuck) and did it with many main AND supporting characters. her brilliance never ceased to amaze me.
3) world-building went under appreciated by moi.
ive read Fantasyland series. since this is the spin off, i know what a marvelous (at least for me) world KA had created under there. theres all kinds of beings, from elves, gnomes, unicorns, DRAGONS, and freakin MERMAIDS. in fact, im pretty sure the King of Mer looks like Aquaman. thats how i pictured him even though i never paid attention if he was ever given physical description. theres magic and superpowers, different lands and different races, different religions and different cultures. my point is, all of it was lost on me and im sad that i couldnt fully appreciate it.
4) FOUR REPETITIVE ROMANCES WHATS THE FUCKING POINT.
i mean, even if they hadnt been simultaneously written in one book, who can say that there wouldnt be any similarities? who am i kidding. ive read 50+ KA books and i know how she builds her romance. regardless, having them shoved in my face at once instead of four (interconnected) standalones was NOT IT. all of them had the same dynamics, and the repetitiveness showed everytime there was an argument or news they had to react to. so like, you’d see each couple arguing or reacting about the same thing in four different scenes. i do have a favorite couple though! i really liked Mars & Silence and Aramus & Ha-Lah (my #1).
5) too many POVs.
KA literally added everyones POV; main characters, supporting characters, their mothers fathers, the witches, the bad guys, the cameos (characters from Fantasyland series). holy heck, basically everyone involved in the plot. though only the female (i think) MCs were written in first person, while the rest in third. this was a problem because while i generally didnt care about all of them, there were characters i favored more than others, and it was frustrating and irritating having to share the whole book with those i didnt give a single eff about. so i often skipped those and kept to ones i liked, which were mostly the MCs POVs.
6) audio production was DA BOMB.
the suck-iest (?!) part was that the audiobook was full casted and everyone was doing such a fabulous job with the narration. different voices, different accents, it was a fucking GREAT production and y’all know how much of a audiobook fanatic i am. too bad that i wasnt so drawn to the story. so again, it went under appreciated. i would also like to note that IMO the writing was immaculate. i mean, you could still tell that it had KAs flair, but you could also see the difference between her contemporary series and this fantasy one. im so sad that she chose to go about the series this way (meaning not writing them as standalones).
im just going to give each book three stars. it probably shouldve been lower, but i feel like im also to blame for this not going the way i wanted. also, i just dont have the heart to rate KA books below three stars if i could help it.
(read as an audiobook)
1) biggest issue for me was how these books were written.
instead of focusing on one couple per book, KA decided to have all four of them in one book. on top of that, there were side characters to keep track of as well. it was overwhelming, and it just wasnt what i expected. to tell you the truth, it pissed me off. so much so that it TOTALLY ruined the series for me. idk why i didnt quit reading, i just didnt want to. but i also didnt make an effort to be interested and pay attention to what was going on with the story. basically, i listened to the whole thing with a half ear and doing it half-heartedly. it wasnt like i couldnt multi-task while doing it. so, no precious time wasted.
2) from what i could gauge, the plot wasnt bad. in fact, it was quite brilliant.
idk why KA decided to do what i said in point 1, but im sad that i never got over how disappointed i was with it because i ended up skipping so much that if there was such a thing as the audiobook police, i’d have been arrested by now. the plot grew more complex and more convoluted as it progressed in each book. it was a big pile of hot mess that i didnt care enough to sift through. at the same time, i marveled at how KA managed to write such intricate storyline (even if it was a clusterfuck) and did it with many main AND supporting characters. her brilliance never ceased to amaze me.
3) world-building went under appreciated by moi.
ive read Fantasyland series. since this is the spin off, i know what a marvelous (at least for me) world KA had created under there. theres all kinds of beings, from elves, gnomes, unicorns, DRAGONS, and freakin MERMAIDS. in fact, im pretty sure the King of Mer looks like Aquaman. thats how i pictured him even though i never paid attention if he was ever given physical description. theres magic and superpowers, different lands and different races, different religions and different cultures. my point is, all of it was lost on me and im sad that i couldnt fully appreciate it.
4) FOUR REPETITIVE ROMANCES WHATS THE FUCKING POINT.
i mean, even if they hadnt been simultaneously written in one book, who can say that there wouldnt be any similarities? who am i kidding. ive read 50+ KA books and i know how she builds her romance. regardless, having them shoved in my face at once instead of four (interconnected) standalones was NOT IT. all of them had the same dynamics, and the repetitiveness showed everytime there was an argument or news they had to react to. so like, you’d see each couple arguing or reacting about the same thing in four different scenes. i do have a favorite couple though! i really liked Mars & Silence and Aramus & Ha-Lah (my #1).
5) too many POVs.
KA literally added everyones POV; main characters, supporting characters, their mothers fathers, the witches, the bad guys, the cameos (characters from Fantasyland series). holy heck, basically everyone involved in the plot. though only the female (i think) MCs were written in first person, while the rest in third. this was a problem because while i generally didnt care about all of them, there were characters i favored more than others, and it was frustrating and irritating having to share the whole book with those i didnt give a single eff about. so i often skipped those and kept to ones i liked, which were mostly the MCs POVs.
6) audio production was DA BOMB.
the suck-iest (?!) part was that the audiobook was full casted and everyone was doing such a fabulous job with the narration. different voices, different accents, it was a fucking GREAT production and y’all know how much of a audiobook fanatic i am. too bad that i wasnt so drawn to the story. so again, it went under appreciated. i would also like to note that IMO the writing was immaculate. i mean, you could still tell that it had KAs flair, but you could also see the difference between her contemporary series and this fantasy one. im so sad that she chose to go about the series this way (meaning not writing them as standalones).
im just going to give each book three stars. it probably shouldve been lower, but i feel like im also to blame for this not going the way i wanted. also, i just dont have the heart to rate KA books below three stars if i could help it.
(read as an audiobook)
March 24, 2020
The question is, should I have read it first?
Fantasyland - OR - The Rising? - Did I prefer one over the other? Did it work better reading or listening first? Should it have been one couple per instalment or journey to the end as a team?
It’s not a question of if I liked one over the other storyline/character-wise, more about how it was presented. While I absolutely love listening to audiobooks, I feel you somewhat lose the impact of a truly good story while listening. A slight distraction can have you missing key information. If you’re not careful, you could miss that you’ve skimmed over a key plot point. When a narrator changes character without the listener knowing, it can become confusing as to who said what and did what. I guess my feelings are that a ‘read’ tells the story and a listen will enhance an already awesome story.
In Fantasyland and The Rising, we are introduced to powerful and passionate characters, wonderful imagery, and love stories that are intense, magical and sensual. These are also stories that will test your boundaries. They make you a witness to abuse, greed and selfishness, as well as having to learn to love characters that are initially unlikeable. In reading or listening to a story that centres on one couple, you can gradually see the characters develop and grow. When the characters are lumped together, it sometimes seems like the unlikeable characters instantly change to likeable. With both series you are bombarded with information but, is it easier to absorb characters, worlds and emotions through reading or listening?
While I have really enjoyed listening to The Rising, I am pretty convinced that my experience listening to Fantasyland was better. This is because I had read and absorbed everything I needed to know about the characters and the storyline. Listening to Fantasyland was a complete joy because I could sit back and relax, knowing that every word wasn’t crucial to my understanding. I wanted the performance to enhance what I loved about my favourite characters and see if the emotional upheavals were matching.
Don’t get me wrong, I thought the narrating in The Rising was exceptional. I loved the accents, variety and emotions that each narrator brought to the story. When the narrators changed, the sound of their voice would bring excitement or dread, depending on who they played. There was one character, a priest and his narration made my skin crawl…it was PERFECTLY done. Then there was Cassius…HOLY MOLY, I COULD LISTEN TO HIM FOR HOURS!! Elena’s narrator was probably my favourite, but I think it had a lot to do with my love for her character. I would love a revisit with Cassius and Elena…hint, hint, nudge, nudge.
In the end, I really enjoyed The Rising and thought this final instalment was a great ending to the series. I know that ideally, I would have been better off reading it first but there was NO way I would have been able to let a KA just sit there and not listen to it. I’m not known for my patience and the temptation was too big. I think the biggest question would be…would the first instalment be easier to follow if it is read instead of listened to? Maybe??? I still feel like there was too much going on to follow and even reading might not have helped.
I’m glad I’ve done it and I know I will be reading The Rising series in the future…and probably listening again, a time or two. Next step, wouldn’t it be awesome to see both Fantasyland and The Rising on the big screen? Pretty, please with sugar on the top.
Fantasyland - OR - The Rising? - Did I prefer one over the other? Did it work better reading or listening first? Should it have been one couple per instalment or journey to the end as a team?
It’s not a question of if I liked one over the other storyline/character-wise, more about how it was presented. While I absolutely love listening to audiobooks, I feel you somewhat lose the impact of a truly good story while listening. A slight distraction can have you missing key information. If you’re not careful, you could miss that you’ve skimmed over a key plot point. When a narrator changes character without the listener knowing, it can become confusing as to who said what and did what. I guess my feelings are that a ‘read’ tells the story and a listen will enhance an already awesome story.
In Fantasyland and The Rising, we are introduced to powerful and passionate characters, wonderful imagery, and love stories that are intense, magical and sensual. These are also stories that will test your boundaries. They make you a witness to abuse, greed and selfishness, as well as having to learn to love characters that are initially unlikeable. In reading or listening to a story that centres on one couple, you can gradually see the characters develop and grow. When the characters are lumped together, it sometimes seems like the unlikeable characters instantly change to likeable. With both series you are bombarded with information but, is it easier to absorb characters, worlds and emotions through reading or listening?
While I have really enjoyed listening to The Rising, I am pretty convinced that my experience listening to Fantasyland was better. This is because I had read and absorbed everything I needed to know about the characters and the storyline. Listening to Fantasyland was a complete joy because I could sit back and relax, knowing that every word wasn’t crucial to my understanding. I wanted the performance to enhance what I loved about my favourite characters and see if the emotional upheavals were matching.
Don’t get me wrong, I thought the narrating in The Rising was exceptional. I loved the accents, variety and emotions that each narrator brought to the story. When the narrators changed, the sound of their voice would bring excitement or dread, depending on who they played. There was one character, a priest and his narration made my skin crawl…it was PERFECTLY done. Then there was Cassius…HOLY MOLY, I COULD LISTEN TO HIM FOR HOURS!! Elena’s narrator was probably my favourite, but I think it had a lot to do with my love for her character. I would love a revisit with Cassius and Elena…hint, hint, nudge, nudge.
In the end, I really enjoyed The Rising and thought this final instalment was a great ending to the series. I know that ideally, I would have been better off reading it first but there was NO way I would have been able to let a KA just sit there and not listen to it. I’m not known for my patience and the temptation was too big. I think the biggest question would be…would the first instalment be easier to follow if it is read instead of listened to? Maybe??? I still feel like there was too much going on to follow and even reading might not have helped.
I’m glad I’ve done it and I know I will be reading The Rising series in the future…and probably listening again, a time or two. Next step, wouldn’t it be awesome to see both Fantasyland and The Rising on the big screen? Pretty, please with sugar on the top.
August 7, 2020
5 Fabulous ⭐️ for the series!
Simply the best fantasy romance series I’ve read so far, this year 😘.
So, when I started read book #1, I didn’t even realise this series about those kingdoms across the ocean which mentioned for a few times in Fantasyland series. I’ve never thought she would write a series about them, not until a few chapters in book #1 when we met Frey and 26yo Viktor. Yup, that’s right, Frey and Finnie’s son is an adult now and ready to be in charge one of his grandma’s territory, after that I feel like I couldn’t read fast enough 😂.
Anyway, this series wrote were slightly different from Fantasyland.
There are 155 chapters in the whole series and each couple didn’t get their own book. All their stories have been told in those chapters because they are strongly connected. Yes, that’s why I couldn’t stop reading, once I started 😘.
So, if you love Fantasyland, I think you will love this series too.
If you don’t, but you like Fantasy romance, you probably still going to like it too. Beware though, this series more brutal than Fantasyland. Yes, there’re gang rapes, because the villains are super evil. And also one of the kingdom have a polyamory culture, so mm, ff, mfm, mmf, to be expected.
Don’t worry, I know this information is important for some of you, our four H/h are committed couple regardless their culture and stopped seeing others once they met. And no extreme hero like Dax Lahn, if you know what I mean 😬.
The romances between the H/h in this story were strong, funny and sweet despite the many brutality in the story. And there are mermaids too, but I won’t tell you more 😘.
Just read the book, don’t bother or try to find the storyline from the reviews. Because what’s actually happening is part of the fun reading this series! 😘❤️
Btw, all of those H/h from Fantasyland made appearance in this series too ❤️.
One more thing, just in case you didn’t know yet. Our world Dax Lahn and parallel universe Circé have their HEA in Midnight Soul, Fantasyland #5. It wasn’t their book 😒 but they got quite a lot pages there and it was lovely 😊.
❤️❤️❤️
Dear Ms. Ashley,
Would you write Jorie’s story next?
And yes please, those adventures stories in Mystics will fantastic too 😘.
Mac’s story, he deserves one too ❤️.
Thank you 🙏
Simply the best fantasy romance series I’ve read so far, this year 😘.
So, when I started read book #1, I didn’t even realise this series about those kingdoms across the ocean which mentioned for a few times in Fantasyland series. I’ve never thought she would write a series about them, not until a few chapters in book #1 when we met Frey and 26yo Viktor. Yup, that’s right, Frey and Finnie’s son is an adult now and ready to be in charge one of his grandma’s territory, after that I feel like I couldn’t read fast enough 😂.
Anyway, this series wrote were slightly different from Fantasyland.
There are 155 chapters in the whole series and each couple didn’t get their own book. All their stories have been told in those chapters because they are strongly connected. Yes, that’s why I couldn’t stop reading, once I started 😘.
So, if you love Fantasyland, I think you will love this series too.
If you don’t, but you like Fantasy romance, you probably still going to like it too. Beware though, this series more brutal than Fantasyland. Yes, there’re gang rapes, because the villains are super evil. And also one of the kingdom have a polyamory culture, so mm, ff, mfm, mmf, to be expected.
Don’t worry, I know this information is important for some of you, our four H/h are committed couple regardless their culture and stopped seeing others once they met. And no extreme hero like Dax Lahn, if you know what I mean 😬.
The romances between the H/h in this story were strong, funny and sweet despite the many brutality in the story. And there are mermaids too, but I won’t tell you more 😘.
Just read the book, don’t bother or try to find the storyline from the reviews. Because what’s actually happening is part of the fun reading this series! 😘❤️
Btw, all of those H/h from Fantasyland made appearance in this series too ❤️.
One more thing, just in case you didn’t know yet. Our world Dax Lahn and parallel universe Circé have their HEA in Midnight Soul, Fantasyland #5. It wasn’t their book 😒 but they got quite a lot pages there and it was lovely 😊.
❤️❤️❤️
Dear Ms. Ashley,
Would you write Jorie’s story next?
And yes please, those adventures stories in Mystics will fantastic too 😘.
Mac’s story, he deserves one too ❤️.
Thank you 🙏
Read
March 9, 2020The narrators did a good job. I would have preferred the narrators each read their person's part otherwise the multicast doesn't make sense to me.
I can't give this book any star rating at this time because the book was good and the story was good but I'm ANGRY. Why KA why did you do it? Teddy deserved an HEA and I didn't see this coming or expect this from you. When Teddy died I was positive something miraculous was going to happen after I pulled myself together from the shock of it but it never came. I didn't care anything about the last few chapters my only focus was how was KA going to fix Teddy. The epilogue pissed me off more because it felt like KA was just pouring salt into the wound where she ripped out my heart.
I AM DEVASTATED!!
I can't give this book any star rating at this time because the book was good and the story was good but I'm ANGRY. Why KA why did you do it? Teddy deserved an HEA and I didn't see this coming or expect this from you. When Teddy died I was positive something miraculous was going to happen after I pulled myself together from the shock of it but it never came. I didn't care anything about the last few chapters my only focus was how was KA going to fix Teddy. The epilogue pissed me off more because it felt like KA was just pouring salt into the wound where she ripped out my heart.
I AM DEVASTATED!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2023
Still love! 1/2/22
4+ "Love and Sacrifice" Stars!
This was good! A lot of swooney romance a little action. A bit of gibby, gibby this and that. These books are looong. You know KA. Overall though, this series was awesome. Oh and my most favorite barbarian savage Dax Lahn makes a brief but quite memorable appearance that made me squeee!!! Lol! For fans of Kristen Ashley's Fantasyland series I recommend this series. Happy reading!
4+ "Love and Sacrifice" Stars!
This was good! A lot of swooney romance a little action. A bit of gibby, gibby this and that. These books are looong. You know KA. Overall though, this series was awesome. Oh and my most favorite barbarian savage Dax Lahn makes a brief but quite memorable appearance that made me squeee!!! Lol! For fans of Kristen Ashley's Fantasyland series I recommend this series. Happy reading!
August 1, 2020
Spoilers ahead
For some reason I can't find the ebook version on my gr, that's an issue for another day....for now my problem is the fucked up ending of this book. Teddy did some shit but for crying out loud he didn't deserve this!!! WTF! And for the other three to end up married is a disgrace! Every secondary romance in this series had tragedy but he'd already been through so much he deserved a HEA dammit.
The series was ok at best....full review sometime
***the sex scenes in this book with the secondary characters was basically the honey series shoved down my throat. #notcoolauthor #IsaidwhatIsaid
For some reason I can't find the ebook version on my gr, that's an issue for another day....for now my problem is the fucked up ending of this book. Teddy did some shit but for crying out loud he didn't deserve this!!! WTF! And for the other three to end up married is a disgrace! Every secondary romance in this series had tragedy but he'd already been through so much he deserved a HEA dammit.
The series was ok at best....full review sometime
***the sex scenes in this book with the secondary characters was basically the honey series shoved down my throat. #notcoolauthor #IsaidwhatIsaid
July 27, 2020
Check out my review for the first book, The beginning of Everything in the series since the below reviews don't rehash stuff I've already mentioned or go into details about the story. More just random thoughts. I listened to these when they came out, earlier this year but didn't get around to posting reviews.
Overall: 2.5 stars
Narration: 4 stars
Story: 2.5 stars
Sigh can't believe how small the actual 'big' battle was ??? All that talk and built up etc and we get a very small amount of it. Not to mention them having help from the mystics etc was questionable because weren't the couples supposed to be responsible. If the mystics hadn't been there, there would have been more damaged and bloodshed or maybe perhaps the couples would have done more (which I would have perferred). I get it the author wanted to intrigue the reader about them since they are getting their book(s) etc. I love PNR so I will probably end up at some point trying them but not it if its more about Serena and Chu, I won't be reading that, had enough of her...
I would definitely like stories of the Mermaids though! Not enough Mermaid romance books.
Anyways back to this, loads of sex, rape, torture like the other books in the series.
I still didn't care for Teddy, but I felt like that he was gonna die to complete his redemption arc but like I said I didn't care. Glad he helped people out, become someone better and sad for Fornus (but he's found happiness too at the end so like...) If Kristen Ashley had spent some time in the first book making his character more interesting and sowing some seeds to making him reluctant to be bad or something than having him be a bad guy, then become good because he got tortured by his fellow bad guys and great sex and minimal amount of caring from good people.
Some characters really felt 2D, kinda the same with Serena, bad or not a good person to a good person. I dont know, its frustrating, just felt they lacked real internal motivation for things, the external things caused them to do 'good' things.
Other than that, I liked Elena and Cass along with Tru, Felt like Ha-Lah needed some more screen time, I did like her!
Also the part where they getting 'gifts' it was just so bland, like something more should have been done, they lost people their loved ones sacrificed and that was it ??
That ending was pretty frustrating as well, because Fornus is with Moira, who he was calling his SISTER not a few chapters ago because of Teddy so it felt super icky to me. What the hell? Why he couldn't have been with some other guy/girl if he had decided to move on.
Also there is trying to be like GOT aspect of this series, the whole people writing down history and the book aspect, I mean readers already know this if they have read fantasyland but it was the whole atmosphere...
I have other quibbles but I'm too tired to write them...
I didn't hate the series or anything but I just had greater expectations and some times it felt like oh we are finally getting somewhere before its just back to same old. It was underwhelming when I expected to more overwhelmed with everything happening and wowed.
Narration was really good though, they really bought the characters to life.
I'm finally done though, took ages. Pretty sure I could have read dozen books in the time it took to complete this. Maybe I would have preferred having this read as books first, I know I definitely would have liked if the couples had separate books.
I don't know if I'd actually recommend The Rising series as a whole, there are aspects of it that I like that could have been better but they never came to fruition.
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Overall: 2.5 stars
Narration: 4 stars
Story: 2.5 stars
Sigh can't believe how small the actual 'big' battle was ??? All that talk and built up etc and we get a very small amount of it. Not to mention them having help from the mystics etc was questionable because weren't the couples supposed to be responsible. If the mystics hadn't been there, there would have been more damaged and bloodshed or maybe perhaps the couples would have done more (which I would have perferred). I get it the author wanted to intrigue the reader about them since they are getting their book(s) etc. I love PNR so I will probably end up at some point trying them but not it if its more about Serena and Chu, I won't be reading that, had enough of her...
I would definitely like stories of the Mermaids though! Not enough Mermaid romance books.
Anyways back to this, loads of sex, rape, torture like the other books in the series.
I still didn't care for Teddy, but I felt like that he was gonna die to complete his redemption arc but like I said I didn't care. Glad he helped people out, become someone better and sad for Fornus (but he's found happiness too at the end so like...) If Kristen Ashley had spent some time in the first book making his character more interesting and sowing some seeds to making him reluctant to be bad or something than having him be a bad guy, then become good because he got tortured by his fellow bad guys and great sex and minimal amount of caring from good people.
Some characters really felt 2D, kinda the same with Serena, bad or not a good person to a good person. I dont know, its frustrating, just felt they lacked real internal motivation for things, the external things caused them to do 'good' things.
Other than that, I liked Elena and Cass along with Tru, Felt like Ha-Lah needed some more screen time, I did like her!
Also the part where they getting 'gifts' it was just so bland, like something more should have been done, they lost people their loved ones sacrificed and that was it ??
That ending was pretty frustrating as well, because Fornus is with Moira, who he was calling his SISTER not a few chapters ago because of Teddy so it felt super icky to me. What the hell? Why he couldn't have been with some other guy/girl if he had decided to move on.
Also there is trying to be like GOT aspect of this series, the whole people writing down history and the book aspect, I mean readers already know this if they have read fantasyland but it was the whole atmosphere...
I have other quibbles but I'm too tired to write them...
I didn't hate the series or anything but I just had greater expectations and some times it felt like oh we are finally getting somewhere before its just back to same old. It was underwhelming when I expected to more overwhelmed with everything happening and wowed.
Narration was really good though, they really bought the characters to life.
I'm finally done though, took ages. Pretty sure I could have read dozen books in the time it took to complete this. Maybe I would have preferred having this read as books first, I know I definitely would have liked if the couples had separate books.
I don't know if I'd actually recommend The Rising series as a whole, there are aspects of it that I like that could have been better but they never came to fruition.
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February 26, 2020
I. AM. BROKEN 🥺 KA why you gotta do us dirty like that 😭😭😭 I loved this book! I will admit I was a bit underwhelmed with the battle and I was a little deflated for the last 2 chapters of the book due to this! Aside from those 2 things! I can't complain about anything! The character growth/progression was on point but I was most impressed by TeDre or Teddy, Serena and Silence' growth, it was so rewarding to see how much they developed throughout all 4 books and I was so glad to be able to experience it as if I were with them!! I loved that we got to know more about Juri and his story! Overall I was engrossed, teary eyed, angry, extremely upset 😡 and happy!! I mean I'd have to be all those things to listen to it in one full day 😬🤣
July 30, 2020
I'm in the minority, but overall this series was disappointing. I don't regret picking it up, or slugging through 4 books to get a conclusion, but I won't be rereading.
For me the 3rd & 4th books were the best, probably because I finally figured out all the players and connections. I'd recommend picking up the glossary from KA's website before starting the series -https://www.kristenashley.net/wp-cont.... It would have helped immensely if I had it from the beginning.
3.5 Stars - Book 4
For me the 3rd & 4th books were the best, probably because I finally figured out all the players and connections. I'd recommend picking up the glossary from KA's website before starting the series -https://www.kristenashley.net/wp-cont.... It would have helped immensely if I had it from the beginning.
3.5 Stars - Book 4
May 28, 2020
And so it ends! Overall, I enjoyed this installment. There’s a lot to delve into, so I’ll be back later when I’m thinking more clearly
March 17, 2021
The series as a whole for me is 4.9 stars. It would have worked better if the story telling was done concentrating on each couple per book and the bigger story going through the whole series, as opposed to everything being said at once, because now we have too many characters and a lil, of what is happening gets confusing, but also the character development and the romance isn’t as shown of the main couple as well as it could have been shown. Though the character development of Teddy and Serena was beautifully done. And the friendship shown was beautiful, though some deaths in particular need not have happened in my humble opinion. The story as a whole is dark with light shining through and I appreciated the terrorism parallel that it drew. Some lines are quote worthy which I love. Loved that magic was used. Cheers to the dragons, mermaids and unicorns in the story. Though I was confused about unicorns being in stables instead protected at the end there.
I’m looking forward to Serena and Jorie’s stories. Though I’m a lil peeved about Serena loosing herself a lil in her romance and also there was real scope for angst there. And whats with Elena being as cool with Cassius’s love for his dead wife. He kept comparing them and their weddings and I just felt like Cassius hadn’t moved on at all.(but I acknowledge that is just Kristen’s writing style, because her heroine are always going like, I wish she hadn’t died and you still were with her) so there is that. Loved Mars and Silence. True and Farah were good too. And at the beginning I don’t really know why Aramus and Ha-lah dint talk to each other other than it being related to whales. But they were cute together too. True loves.
The ending fight was so confusing, and I felt like it happened soon and felt like something was missing from it. But, True love always triumphs evil. So all is good that ends well. I liked this series but it’s not going to takeover my brain like her other couple of series did.
I’m looking forward to Serena and Jorie’s stories. Though I’m a lil peeved about Serena loosing herself a lil in her romance and also there was real scope for angst there. And whats with Elena being as cool with Cassius’s love for his dead wife. He kept comparing them and their weddings and I just felt like Cassius hadn’t moved on at all.(but I acknowledge that is just Kristen’s writing style, because her heroine are always going like, I wish she hadn’t died and you still were with her) so there is that. Loved Mars and Silence. True and Farah were good too. And at the beginning I don’t really know why Aramus and Ha-lah dint talk to each other other than it being related to whales. But they were cute together too. True loves.
The ending fight was so confusing, and I felt like it happened soon and felt like something was missing from it. But, True love always triumphs evil. So all is good that ends well. I liked this series but it’s not going to takeover my brain like her other couple of series did.
December 2, 2020
I had mixed feelings regarding this fantasyland spin-off. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed it, and all in all, this was a good ending. However, I've had some issues with the M/M, MMF, and brutality depicted throughout each installment. Also, there were many characters' storylines to keep track of; the main story somewhat became muddled. Regardless, I liked the four main couples and their journey towards love.
December 28, 2020
4.5 for this one too.
So close to a 5 star but not quite.
I loved it and was sorry to see the end.
BUT
It alludes to a new series that will be connected to this one and Fantasyland!
That makes me very, VERY happy! 😊😀😄
It was a great adventure.
Could have been better, but it was satisfying.
So close to a 5 star but not quite.
I loved it and was sorry to see the end.
BUT
It alludes to a new series that will be connected to this one and Fantasyland!
That makes me very, VERY happy! 😊😀😄
It was a great adventure.
Could have been better, but it was satisfying.
November 9, 2020
Amazing, epic journey.
I struggled through the first bit of book 1 and then I was GONE - lost in the story.
Books 2 and 3, I devoured.
Book 4 took me from release date until this weekend to finish. I savoured this slowly. Quite honestly, I was a little frustrated in the beginning so took a breather and then savoured the rest by reading a bit a few times a week.
A beautiful ending and the absolute BEST epilogues.
SO much crying. So many happy tears, too.
KA is the queen and my favourite author for a reason and one of those reasons is how she does her epilogues. EXTREMELY satisfying.
Loved this series so much.
I struggled through the first bit of book 1 and then I was GONE - lost in the story.
Books 2 and 3, I devoured.
Book 4 took me from release date until this weekend to finish. I savoured this slowly. Quite honestly, I was a little frustrated in the beginning so took a breather and then savoured the rest by reading a bit a few times a week.
A beautiful ending and the absolute BEST epilogues.
SO much crying. So many happy tears, too.
KA is the queen and my favourite author for a reason and one of those reasons is how she does her epilogues. EXTREMELY satisfying.
Loved this series so much.
July 6, 2021
I don't even know where to start.... ❤️❤️❤️
I love it for so many reasons!
Full review to come later.
I love it for so many reasons!
Full review to come later.
February 28, 2020
Amazing set of books. These might be her best stories to date for me. I love fantasy books, and Kristen these made me run the gambit of emotions. I loved loved loved the path to redemption for Teddy. There is beauty and tragedy in his journey. Through all the books I have tried to pick a favorite Hero. I simply cant. That is good story telling. THIS should become a major film, it would be stupendous! Im in awe...
May 2, 2022
I "reread" the series via audiobooks which are only available in Audible. (I think) The audio is really great, there is a cast with each character getting their own voice, and they all do a great job. It made it easier to follow along... and easier for me to skip over characters I don't really care about (Farah, Ha-lah, etc.) BUT I only recommend listening as a reread.... There's SO MUCH going on in the series that it would be hard to juggle everything without the ability to look back.
I walked away with the same feelings this time around. I was again frustrated with the weakness of all the powerful witches. Elena is a warrior princess, so she always kicked ass, and Silence got stronger and actually used her power... but the other two were ridiculous. The scene where they are being attacked and are hiding/grabbing shovels was 🙄🙄. YOU ARE POWERFUL WITCHES!! You don't need a damn shovel or to hide behind a male librarian... go kick ass. Did anyone notice that while their males and guards were racing to rescue them... Lahn and Frey knew their women would be safe?? ...because they were actually using their magic to protect themselves. 🤦🏻♀️
And what was up with them crawling on their husbands' shoulders to fight the beast?? This isn't a chicken fight during a pool party... you're the chosen ones... act like it.
******Original Review*****
**These books must be read in order. Spoilers from the previous book**
Whew… I’ve finally made it to the last book. This one picks up at chapter 118 right where we left off. The Beast has risen, and Cassius and crew are running into battle where they’re hugely outnumbered. The rest is the countdown to the big Beast showdown, which if I’m honest… felt a bit of a dud.
I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked that these powerful witches finally showed us some power… it only took 4 books. I love 🦄’s so that part was pretty awesome. There was a better balance with the couple page distribution which is a + and a -. I’ve been Team Cassius/Elena since the second book, so I loved to see their wedding, but was spoiled because the last book was predominately from their POV. The other couples aren’t awful, I just wasn't really into them. There're some sad moments when we lose characters in the various battles.
The ending gets really choppy as I felt she skipped around a lot leading up to the big Beast showdown. I believe she even FFW 2 weeks when the couples realized what was going on. Then poof we’re on a different path racing for the finish line. (I guess they discussed/decided their plan of attack during the 2 weeks we weren’t privy too.) And I’ve got to say, after like 1000’s pages leading up to this, it wasn’t long or riveting… until the end when she SPOILER And that felt sort of lazy and SUCKED because he deserved a HEA.
Ok, mini rant coming which isn’t my thing, but I think it’s worth mentioning. This series is heavy with M/M, which is fine and all, but 95% of it is handled in an abusive, demeaning, negative manner. We have the evil priests raping each other or sexing it up after raping and killing the virgins. We have the Beast raping his victims. We even have Lorenz initially using Teddy for his wife’s enjoyment leaving him feeling humiliated. There’s really only one scenario of an actual relationship, and it’s handled completely different than the M/F relationships. For example… SPOILER
Bottom Line- I don’t regret reading the series, but can’t say I’m satisfied with it. I really liked certain parts… Teddy and Serena’s development, Cassius and Elena’s relationship. I hated the format, I hated part of the ending, and I wanted more of an epilogue, but that’s me. This was certainly darker than her Fantasyland series, but I liked it better. It looks like she might do another spinoff with the Mystics. Maybe with Serena and Chu.
*Fantasyland crossover- The men are still around popping in and out, but mostly just talked about like Apollo is riding with Cassias, etc. Lahn kicks ass when Mar-el is being attacked and saves the day/Chu & Serena.
I walked away with the same feelings this time around. I was again frustrated with the weakness of all the powerful witches. Elena is a warrior princess, so she always kicked ass, and Silence got stronger and actually used her power... but the other two were ridiculous. The scene where they are being attacked and are hiding/grabbing shovels was 🙄🙄. YOU ARE POWERFUL WITCHES!! You don't need a damn shovel or to hide behind a male librarian... go kick ass. Did anyone notice that while their males and guards were racing to rescue them... Lahn and Frey knew their women would be safe?? ...because they were actually using their magic to protect themselves. 🤦🏻♀️
And what was up with them crawling on their husbands' shoulders to fight the beast?? This isn't a chicken fight during a pool party... you're the chosen ones... act like it.
******Original Review*****
**These books must be read in order. Spoilers from the previous book**
Whew… I’ve finally made it to the last book. This one picks up at chapter 118 right where we left off. The Beast has risen, and Cassius and crew are running into battle where they’re hugely outnumbered. The rest is the countdown to the big Beast showdown, which if I’m honest… felt a bit of a dud.
I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked that these powerful witches finally showed us some power… it only took 4 books. I love 🦄’s so that part was pretty awesome. There was a better balance with the couple page distribution which is a + and a -. I’ve been Team Cassius/Elena since the second book, so I loved to see their wedding, but was spoiled because the last book was predominately from their POV. The other couples aren’t awful, I just wasn't really into them. There're some sad moments when we lose characters in the various battles.
The ending gets really choppy as I felt she skipped around a lot leading up to the big Beast showdown. I believe she even FFW 2 weeks when the couples realized what was going on. Then poof we’re on a different path racing for the finish line. (I guess they discussed/decided their plan of attack during the 2 weeks we weren’t privy too.) And I’ve got to say, after like 1000’s pages leading up to this, it wasn’t long or riveting… until the end when she SPOILER And that felt sort of lazy and SUCKED because he deserved a HEA.
Ok, mini rant coming which isn’t my thing, but I think it’s worth mentioning. This series is heavy with M/M, which is fine and all, but 95% of it is handled in an abusive, demeaning, negative manner. We have the evil priests raping each other or sexing it up after raping and killing the virgins. We have the Beast raping his victims. We even have Lorenz initially using Teddy for his wife’s enjoyment leaving him feeling humiliated. There’s really only one scenario of an actual relationship, and it’s handled completely different than the M/F relationships. For example… SPOILER
Bottom Line- I don’t regret reading the series, but can’t say I’m satisfied with it. I really liked certain parts… Teddy and Serena’s development, Cassius and Elena’s relationship. I hated the format, I hated part of the ending, and I wanted more of an epilogue, but that’s me. This was certainly darker than her Fantasyland series, but I liked it better. It looks like she might do another spinoff with the Mystics. Maybe with Serena and Chu.
*Fantasyland crossover- The men are still around popping in and out, but mostly just talked about like Apollo is riding with Cassias, etc. Lahn kicks ass when Mar-el is being attacked and saves the day/Chu & Serena.
July 16, 2020
Definitely a captivating series. It just barely qualifies as adventure but still a captivating series. After waiting so long for the great evil to rise and threaten the earth we get an exciting battle with magic, dragons, and zombies. Then its over cause romantic stuff has to happen. Urgh!! I really felt done with the four couples and their nauseatingly sweet lovey doveyness. I would rather cut on the romance and have a full on war against the forces of evil. Not a tiny little battle. And!!! *Minor spoilers ahead* After all the belly aching of the prophecized couples and how their budding love will save the world NONE of them dealt the killing blow. No that honor was saved for a side character who had a death flag on their head since book 2. It's like if in GOT if Potpie wound up killing the Night King. It really took away from the main characters and plot. Why a prophecy about royal couples if any brave smuck can just take the demon down? I loved that smuck with ever fiber of my heart and super bummed he died, but what was the point of the prophecy if none of the royals thwarted the demon with their 'love'?? "Prophecy says they must make sacrifices to overcome the beast". Its called compromise, every couple does it. And it does nothing to thwart evil demons. I knew it sounded like bull that luuurve would save the world, but I thought there would be some corny pretense at least. The fact of it is, this book has the exciting shiny exterior of a fantasy adventure but the sugary nougat filling of a harlequin romance. So if you bite into it with adventure in your head your going to be disappointed. It was a nice journey and I'm grateful it didn't end on a cliffhanger but oh it could've been so much greater.
March 12, 2020
Kristen Ashley is now on my list of fav authors. Although I was introduced to her while trying to find my "big listen" reads for a book club, an oh what a suprise it was when I picked the first in this series.
The Rising, the 4th in this series was just truly amazing. The heros and heroines and other host minor characters were outstanding. The development of some of the characters were written well over the series and you can see the growth in this 4th book. The suspense leading up to the big climax and the stars of the showdown was nicely done.
I really didn't think I would enjoy this series that much but it was truly a wonderful fantasy story, with mystery, love, suspense, twists and turns, magical and just overall a nicely well written fantasy story.
In summary, I would recommend this audiobook series.
5-Stars
The Rising, the 4th in this series was just truly amazing. The heros and heroines and other host minor characters were outstanding. The development of some of the characters were written well over the series and you can see the growth in this 4th book. The suspense leading up to the big climax and the stars of the showdown was nicely done.
I really didn't think I would enjoy this series that much but it was truly a wonderful fantasy story, with mystery, love, suspense, twists and turns, magical and just overall a nicely well written fantasy story.
In summary, I would recommend this audiobook series.
5-Stars
December 16, 2020
Enjoyed the finale. And, let’s face it, any author who can make tears stream down my face while reading deserves those stars! Also, I love the extended epligues that Ms. Ashley gifts us with. The reader is always able to close the book with all ends tied up and a contented smile on their face.
February 27, 2020
All my love (and tears) is/are for Teddy
March 5, 2020
This series was AMAZING!!! I'm sorry it's over but what a wild ride!!!
July 28, 2020
OOOOOOOOOOOOH LORD give me a bit this book offing killed me
Took me a while but I finally got to this review, because this series deserves a review for each installment!
This book. MY GOD THIS BOOK.
It was everything, it made me cry and laugh and smile and just. Ugh so many emotions for a fictional world with fictional people.
This series was such a rollercoaster of emotions so if you like a less graphic game of thrones mixed with fantasyland vibes with cultural differences, prejudice and sexism conflict, redemption, love, well deserved karma, and absolute WTFery tied up with a happy ending give this whole series a read
Now on to the spoilers
Took me a while but I finally got to this review, because this series deserves a review for each installment!
This book. MY GOD THIS BOOK.
It was everything, it made me cry and laugh and smile and just. Ugh so many emotions for a fictional world with fictional people.
This series was such a rollercoaster of emotions so if you like a less graphic game of thrones mixed with fantasyland vibes with cultural differences, prejudice and sexism conflict, redemption, love, well deserved karma, and absolute WTFery tied up with a happy ending give this whole series a read
Now on to the spoilers
March 7, 2020
3.5 stars
This was the culmination of a whole lot of story telling so it is long and in depth and there’s a lot going on. However it closes up so many storylines and gives us little kernels for what could be the future. There’s war and death and love and life and while these books aren’t for the faint of heart they are one interesting tale.
This was the culmination of a whole lot of story telling so it is long and in depth and there’s a lot going on. However it closes up so many storylines and gives us little kernels for what could be the future. There’s war and death and love and life and while these books aren’t for the faint of heart they are one interesting tale.
August 6, 2020
I am blown away and I don’t know why I am so surprised. I’ve read and re-read the Fantasyland series and this takes place in the same world. I don’t know why it didn’t resonate with me then, and maybe it did and I just don’t recall, but this series, I am astounded by Kristen Ashley’s ability to build these worlds. To write stories about lands that don’t exist. To write magic. It is no secret she is one of my favorites, probably my favorite in the M/F world. She’s a Queen to me. I just love her. But this? I don’t know how else to say it but BLOWN AWAY. Her ability to write words that created pictures in my head and transported me to this world, just wow.
But, unfortunately, being astounded by the world doesn’t necessarily equal love for the story and this series, just missed the mark for me and I am not exactly sure why. Up until this book I had been giving the other books in the series an easy 4★ rating. I was on a roll and had to immediately start the next book, the future was bright. But, I was tired by this book. I won’t say bored but maybe I was borderline bored. With all four couples being written together I felt there was a lot of repetition. If it happened to one couple it had to happen three more times. Everything had to be fair and equal. There were also a lot of other couples in the story so there was just so much emphasis on everyone getting page time. So, again, I think I just felt tired by the time I got here.
I was interested in all the goings on but the main going on, The Beast, I just seemed to not care. Once he was free I was pretty much over it and it seemed such a small part of the story when really, it was the reason there was a story at all. Maybe it just took so long to get here.
I get adding emotional punches to a story, believe me I do. It’s probably not my favorite thing, I’m not a fan of heart pain, but in this series, there was a lot of loss and some, I didn’t agree with. I know, I know, this isn’t my story and the author can do whatever she wants to her characters but really, I just wish, for at least three it hadn’t happened. I don’t think it improved the story. And one of those losses, almost ruined the entire story for me.
The end. This book can’t get 4★'s from me. This book, how it wrapped itself up hurt me and angered me so much I almost feel everything I read before it just didn’t matter and lost all my love. I don’t know why it had to happen and to add insult to injury what became of the HUGE FUCKING LOSS just about ruined more than the series for me. I questioned my loyalty to this author for a second. I just couldn’t believe this was how she wrapped up the story. I still, about a week later can’t believe it.
Enough of that.
Overall, holy shit, the world building blew me away. I loved the fated mates for the prophecy and how the fates truly picked so well. I loved, mostly, watching the couples learn each other and fall in love. Silence wore on me at times if I’m honest, but it was a treat to see them come together on their own not because of the prophecy. I loved all the secondary characters and how well they played their parts. I loved, loved, loved the M/M loving represented in the series, I still hold out hope she’ll write us a straight up (haha) M/M Contemporary Romance at some point. The cameos from the origination series were the best! Overall, it was a great series and would have been 4★'s across the board if not for the ending. I won’t apologize for that.
My tribute to “Our Brother Golden Hair” is a ★.
I do look forward to traveling to the Mystics and hope that really happens.
But, unfortunately, being astounded by the world doesn’t necessarily equal love for the story and this series, just missed the mark for me and I am not exactly sure why. Up until this book I had been giving the other books in the series an easy 4★ rating. I was on a roll and had to immediately start the next book, the future was bright. But, I was tired by this book. I won’t say bored but maybe I was borderline bored. With all four couples being written together I felt there was a lot of repetition. If it happened to one couple it had to happen three more times. Everything had to be fair and equal. There were also a lot of other couples in the story so there was just so much emphasis on everyone getting page time. So, again, I think I just felt tired by the time I got here.
I was interested in all the goings on but the main going on, The Beast, I just seemed to not care. Once he was free I was pretty much over it and it seemed such a small part of the story when really, it was the reason there was a story at all. Maybe it just took so long to get here.
I get adding emotional punches to a story, believe me I do. It’s probably not my favorite thing, I’m not a fan of heart pain, but in this series, there was a lot of loss and some, I didn’t agree with. I know, I know, this isn’t my story and the author can do whatever she wants to her characters but really, I just wish, for at least three it hadn’t happened. I don’t think it improved the story. And one of those losses, almost ruined the entire story for me.
The end. This book can’t get 4★'s from me. This book, how it wrapped itself up hurt me and angered me so much I almost feel everything I read before it just didn’t matter and lost all my love. I don’t know why it had to happen and to add insult to injury what became of the HUGE FUCKING LOSS just about ruined more than the series for me. I questioned my loyalty to this author for a second. I just couldn’t believe this was how she wrapped up the story. I still, about a week later can’t believe it.
Enough of that.
Overall, holy shit, the world building blew me away. I loved the fated mates for the prophecy and how the fates truly picked so well. I loved, mostly, watching the couples learn each other and fall in love. Silence wore on me at times if I’m honest, but it was a treat to see them come together on their own not because of the prophecy. I loved all the secondary characters and how well they played their parts. I loved, loved, loved the M/M loving represented in the series, I still hold out hope she’ll write us a straight up (haha) M/M Contemporary Romance at some point. The cameos from the origination series were the best! Overall, it was a great series and would have been 4★'s across the board if not for the ending. I won’t apologize for that.
My tribute to “Our Brother Golden Hair” is a ★.
I do look forward to traveling to the Mystics and hope that really happens.
March 30, 2020
THIS.IS.AMAZING! What a ride! This really exceeded my expectations. I love the Fantasyland series hard and was doubtful this one was going to be as good. Well, it’s better! I am in love with this world, as usual, the wiring sucks you in from the start and haven’t let go not even now that I’m finished. And so many characters to love. I’m glad I waited for all the audios to be available, didn’t stop listening. I really hope this two series get their own and very well deserved TV shows. Great job, Kristen!!!
May 22, 2024
4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this series overall but unusually I wasn't sad to come to the end. I think that's because I read all four back to back but I also think (I can't believe I'm going to say this about a KA) the books were too long!!
One of the things I love about KA is that you get a lot of her for a few quid but in this case I feel maybe the main characters became established too soon and a lot of the story then rested on the secondary characters and I LOVED them but I then felt like I wasn't getting enough of them. I also felt like this was another 'shoehorning former characters into a new book' situation. The characters from The Fantasy Land series made an appearance and to be honest the felt slightly out of place most of the time and the rest of the time I forgot about them. Let me clarify that. I forgot about Dax Lahn. Dax!!! Lahn!!!
I think there were already SO MANY characters to keep track of that adding characters from Fantasy Land was unnecessary. I wouldn't have been surprised to see the Rock Chicks pop up tbh!
To be clear, I thoroughly enjoyed the series overall. I hope we get some more books from the Mystics and I will likely reread these again some day but it is unlikely to be an all time favourite KA for me and that's okay! I'm probably just bitter about some stuff that happened at the end!
I really enjoyed this series overall but unusually I wasn't sad to come to the end. I think that's because I read all four back to back but I also think (I can't believe I'm going to say this about a KA) the books were too long!!
One of the things I love about KA is that you get a lot of her for a few quid but in this case I feel maybe the main characters became established too soon and a lot of the story then rested on the secondary characters and I LOVED them but I then felt like I wasn't getting enough of them. I also felt like this was another 'shoehorning former characters into a new book' situation. The characters from The Fantasy Land series made an appearance and to be honest the felt slightly out of place most of the time and the rest of the time I forgot about them. Let me clarify that. I forgot about Dax Lahn. Dax!!! Lahn!!!
I think there were already SO MANY characters to keep track of that adding characters from Fantasy Land was unnecessary. I wouldn't have been surprised to see the Rock Chicks pop up tbh!
To be clear, I thoroughly enjoyed the series overall. I hope we get some more books from the Mystics and I will likely reread these again some day but it is unlikely to be an all time favourite KA for me and that's okay! I'm probably just bitter about some stuff that happened at the end!
March 6, 2020
Utter perfection! Weirdly I felt it was a soft Focus game of thrones! I was a tiny bit disappointed And how the characters from previous series were used. At times it felt like there was no need for them to be there and they weren’t moving certain things along. ??
I don’t want to say very much more because I don’t want any spoilers but I Gave this five stars because it was, as I said , perfection.
I saw some negative comments here to say that she brought her harder erotica writing to her fantasy series, but to be honest, I don’t think people realise how much stereotypical male female sexual relations they have imbibed.
I don’t want to say very much more because I don’t want any spoilers but I Gave this five stars because it was, as I said , perfection.
I saw some negative comments here to say that she brought her harder erotica writing to her fantasy series, but to be honest, I don’t think people realise how much stereotypical male female sexual relations they have imbibed.
March 5, 2020
Ok, i got over my snit and now i rate this. Awesome. And the courage of the author to do what she did to such a beloved character! (Insert slow clap here).
Loved it.
Though I would've liked a better final battle. Oh, well... No one's perfect.
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Seriously!!???!! I mean, SERIOUSLY????!!!! You get rid of the character with the BEST story arc of all of your books (present and past)????? I. Am. Suffering. Such a good series and then we come to this??? :( Not fair!!!!
Cant even rate it right now.
Loved it.
Though I would've liked a better final battle. Oh, well... No one's perfect.
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Seriously!!???!! I mean, SERIOUSLY????!!!! You get rid of the character with the BEST story arc of all of your books (present and past)????? I. Am. Suffering. Such a good series and then we come to this??? :( Not fair!!!!
Cant even rate it right now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2020
5 Epic Ending stars!!
Yup! You heard it here. I LOVED this book!!
I think I might add more to this not-saying-much review later, but till I actually have a few extra minutes to do just that, it would remain thus.
Yup! You heard it here. I LOVED this book!!
I think I might add more to this not-saying-much review later, but till I actually have a few extra minutes to do just that, it would remain thus.
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