I found this book because goodnovel put out the first couple of chapters on Facebook and I was intrigued by Lola. That being said, I was wholly unprepared for how much it would cost me to read this book because it is on a pay-by-chapter platform, which I was unfamiliar with. It is a good story premise, and you get drawn into it... which turns into spending A LOT of money to read. *** IT COST ME $42.64 TO READ THIS BOOK** On content alone, the book is a solid 4 stars. However, that price....
I will say that the book moves at a relatively good pace for most of the time as far as action is concerned. It was not a boring read, despite there being occasions where the author would circle back and repeat the same events through the eyes of a different character. On one hand, it helped amp up the suspense but on the other hand, it can be a little annoying. The author's voice/writing style matures a bit as the book progresses.
The sex scenes were pretty good, and I love a good dom/sub scene (as long as consent is established). I will say that there was a lot of repetition with the sex scenes (she does a lot of clenching her legs/clenching her core/ "wet slit"/etc- you'll see what I mean when you read it. It doesn't detract from each individual scene, but as a whole it wouldn't hurt the author to come up with some more creative phrasing.
I love Lola. I love that she is unapologetically her. I love that she embraces her flaws, but also tries to work on them (being late, speaking without thinking, impulsiveness, etc). I love that she is fiery and sassy and strong. I get really tired of reading the Mary Sue trope, and Lola is no ones Mary Sue. I found myself really enjoying her.
Alpha Asher's character evolved some and I liked him a bit more. I will say that the evolution seemed like an over night thing, but I guess that could be attributed to the 'mate-bond". My biggest issue with his character may not be with the character, but in the description of him... he was always glaring, narrowing his eyes, smirking, etc.
Lola's Grandmother is an awesome character- almost a trope, but not quite. I will say that I suspected she was a witch before it was outed in the book. Lola's thought that her grandmother was a witch right about the time I was considering it myself, but she dismissed it and I disagreed with her. Also, this book should absolutely come with grandma's recipe for Lavender Brownies.
I really loved that Sean, Lola's brother, is gay and his mate was another male. That is a refreshing break from the "usual" trope. I suspected after Kanyon's death, when Sean took it so hard and left the pack for a sabbatical (only to get captured and forced into gladiator to-the-death style fighting), that was the case because it was mildly reminiscent of Lola running away after losing Tyler to Brittany. To be fair, as soon as the author noted that Tyler tried to control what Lola wore, I hated his character. So, when he found a mate that wasn't Lola, and then had his heart ripped out... no tears shed on my end.
I wish Lola's Dad and Mom were more flushed out as characters. I also wish that there was less repetition with Mason and Breyona than "the look of shuttered/veiled/whatever pain in their eyes" over and over again.
I enjoyed Mason's character, but he is definitely a "friend zone" trope. Of course he fell for Lola and she only thought of him as a friend... saw that coming from miles off. I am so glad that they put his backstory in there and flushed him out some.
Luna Freya, Brittany's Mom, always gave me odd vibes. It was no surprise when she turned out to be a traitor and Lola had to kill her.
I'm very back and forth about Tristan. I don't trust him, but I do like him... kind of. I appreciate that he is in a precarious situation, but I do not appreciate his lack of understanding of consent (at one point, he kisses Lola and feels her up without her consent- i.e. sexual assault).
I like Holly, and I like that Lola feels a kinship with her- most importantly, I like that it is based at least partly on vibes/who Holly is, not just "oh, she's my sister so *instalove*.
I'm not sure how I felt about having Lola come into heat during the battle, but it worked out well. It meant the book ended with a sex scene (and pillow talk) and added another plot twist, but I didn't like that it rendered Lola completely powerless. I don't like the whole "hormones can render females of any species vulnerable/useless for anything but breeding and sex", but I did love that it was Sean, the gay brother, who came to her rescue.
I know there is a continuation of this book coming, as the author's not at the end of the last current chapter (Chapter 99 is as high as it goes at this moment). I would be interested to see how they go about reuniting the vampires and werewolves to make a better world, what happens with Tristan, Sean, Mason, Breyona and Giovanni- but I doubt I'll read it on this platform. Again, it cost me $42.64 to read this book. I could have bought MANY other books for this price. This is, by far, the most I have ever spent to be entertained by a book and, while I enjoyed the world and the characters, much like the cost of the shadows, the price is too steep. Jane Doe, if you read this, understand that many of your readers would gladly pay for your books on audible/kindle- but you will find that very few of us would pay this kind of money to read another book.