— 3.5 stars ★
okay, so i enjoyed this! apparently this has some similarities to the vampire academy, which i haven't read yet, so that kind of sucks. the vampire academy is on my list to read at some point but haven't gotten around to it. now i think that series is pushed back since i don't really feel like reading the same book twice. it might take several months to start that LOL.
ANYWAYS, let's talk about this book. i really like jennifer l. armentrout's writing. i'm in the process of reading her blood & ash series and i've been enjoying those books a lot. she's easy to read and when worldbuilding is needed, i think she succeeds at creating an environment that isn't confusing. i read the "Daimon" novella provided in the book first, and i felt like the story was starting a little slow. i wasn't really geared up to read the rest of the book but once i got more into the main story, i felt excited to pick up the book! the pacing is good after the novella, but some of the chapters can get pretty lengthy. if you're anything like me and look ahead to see how many pages are in a chapter before deciding whether or not it's actually time to go to bed, then be wary of jennifer's books!
so, alex was really immature, annoying, reckless, eye-twitchingly bothersome BUT i think it works because she's 17. she's not supposed to make the best decisions or say things that aren't cringy. i mean, when she said "it's on like donkey kong," i actually think a piece of me died inside. but thinking back to when i was 17, i probably would have said the same thing. i also probably would have been just as irrational.
honestly i think alex is the main reason for the rating. i just really hated how irrational she was LOL. i recognize it's the writing of her age but she made me want to bang my head over and over anytime she interrupted someone, didn't follow rules, or did something stupid. for me, it became frustrating to read when she would complain about not knowing something when if she would have just waited and listened, she would have known.
this book didn't really blow me away but i still liked it. i do have the rest of the series, so i plan on finishing it out. i'm hoping that this is a "we can only go up from here" situation because i'd like to see alex grow into a more mature state!