So I felt like I was reading two different books/writing styles in this one. I thought the first half of this audiobook was a 4-5 stars easily. I was gripped by the storyline, I really liked Belladonna about halfway through the water kingdom and then her personality changed and I was so confused to be honest. I understand she needed to adapt as she got more mates, she had things thrust at her, but I did not like her as she left the water kingdom and especially not in the fire kingdom and beyond. She was a totally different character than I fell for. Also the way things were described and plot was jumbled after the halfway point.
I loved how Bella overcame over the adversity against her, how her father got his just rewards, how she got her first two mates. They were amazing and I loved how their love grew and how those challenges happened. I was wondering what happened to Ari all of a sudden, she just disappeared never to be heard from. I enjoyed Caiden’s family, Hollis’ kingdom was different but also I enjoyed it. I was so engrossed in this storyline and the pacing was great. Then we got to the water kingdom and things shifted. Suddenly things weren’t really explained, random twists/info was dropped on us and it made me feel jostled (the previous kingdoms the plot and execution was smooth in terms of the writing and it fit the style I like, but the 2nd half was a different story). I understand the twist when it came to the mate and the tension and battles that ensued. I had no issues with that, I appreciated the plot twist, but Bella started acting different. things that weren’t consistent with her previously. I love Sebastian and feel like we didnt get enough time to get to know him, based on the circumstances. I usually am not a huge fan of standalones with this many guys in the harem with this type of epic plot because you sometimes don’t get enough time with the relationship building and I think that happened for our adorable water mater. Now, things went off the handle once we got to the fire kingdom. The whole point of not going there first was to create stability for Bella and her harem. It felt like the author forgot this and everything went to the type of mate the fire mate was and all things were about him and the others were thrown to the wayside. Also Bella became an unlikable character for me. She was supposed to defend Caiden and how much she loved him but she was like...they won’t understand I love Egon more and he is the one for me. Like that isn’t the point of RH, where 1 is more important than the others. If I had known this I probably wouldn’t have read this. The last couple hours were a chore to listen to because I felt so bad for the guys who I had already fallen for. I think his would have been better as M/F with just Bella and her fire mage to be honest, with how this author wrote it. She pretty much used them for their powers and then couldnt stop touting how much of a king Egon was and how perfect he was for her. Sorry for being honest, I just was confused and felt let down by this the rest of the book was executed compared to how amazing it was in the beginning. I will probably give this author another chance because this one had so much potential and the first half of this book was fabulous, I just will be keeping levelheaded and be ready for what she did here to happen again, just so I am not disappointed again like I was here. I did love another audiobook of this authors, and I hope more of it comes to audio so I can continue that storyline, but this one just didnt hit the mark for me overall.
Again I loved the first half, I would have given it 4 or 5 stars for each category, but the 2nd half was 2 stars for me so even out was a 3. I thought the way they did the powers was great, how things progressed once each mate was brought on. The specialty tasks in each land was fun and so different than I have seen. I did appreciate the sexy scenes for most of the book. I wouldn’t say this is M/M, there were like “the guys took care of each other” except the last scene where there was some but maybe like a minute of airtime. Again that is why it felt like the 3 guys were side pieces, when they had to keep consoling each other, had sexy times together than we didnt get to be a part of, etc.
Narration was alright, I liked the female narrator but the male narrator was hit or miss for me. I did not lie how he did Egon’s voice, it was not for me. I thought he did a good job with the other 3 and the side characters. I appreciated the emotion we got mostly in the 1st half (some in the second). I was confused a lot by the end with her other family members. It didn’t make sense to me/was very abrupt, especially with one of them after what we saw in the first half of the book. Her emotions made sense there, the devastation was done well, but I didnt get from the family members the emotions I had wanted (was partially hindered by how the author portrayed it all as well).
🎧 Audiobook Obsession Reviewer - Flock Team 🎧