This book is so conflicting for me to review. I really don't know exactly how to go about it, so let's start at the beginning, which is a very good place to start.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (2.85/5)
This book was immediately intriguing. You basically have a Rapunzel, who locked up in a castle but secretly sneaks out so that she can experience the world. From the beginning you have a Chosen One trope, but this time it's a female and not a male, so obviously that results in her being constantly locked up, protected, and chastised for her unladylike behavior. I actually was pretty interested in the world and the romance which was set up from chapter 1. Of course the beginning of a huge high fantasy book is always slow, but that wasn't what frustrated me about the beginning of the book. I actually found the pacing appropriate and while the first 40% of this 700 page tome is mainly setup, I didn't find myself bored as I learned more about the world. The frustration I had was that nothing was explained when it should have been, so by the time I got to 50%, I still didn't understand the major aspects of this fantasy world. I understand not wanting to be info-dumpy, but if I still have no idea what's going on after 300 pages there's a problem with the integration of worldbuilding in the story.
So after the beginning is the middle, which to be honest does not stick in my brain that much. I know I just complained that the beginning was confusing, but at least it was very enjoyable and intriguing. The middle 25% (50%-75%) was fine, it just didn't feel as exciting as it should have considering all the buildup from the first half of the book. I was expecting a big adventure to come into the plot with fighting and traveling, and what we got was really just a lot of sex. Yes, I realize it's a romance book, but some of those scenes seemed ill-timed and took away from the fantasy aspect of the story.
I'm not kidding when I say that the last 20% of the book absolutely ruined it for me. The plot twist at 80% was fine. I mean I saw it coming because it was predictable, but I wasn't mad about it until the next chapter. SPOILER I was expecting a situation where you find out the main love interest is working for the bad guy, but then you find out that after he met the girl he fell in love so now he regrets betraying her blah blah blah, but no. Hawke shows no remorse for leading Poppy on, and he does nothing to show he actually cares for her, and the girl still falls down at his feet. She had a lot of inner monologue about how she couldn't trust him anymore, but then all her actions show her as a weak little girl who follows the beck and call of an overbearing, manipulative man. Her character development was just so backwards. She starts the book being a strong woman who wants to fight to save her people etc., and then ends the book as a complicit, wavering young woman with no convictions about her beliefs. It was unbelievable. When you add in the fact that Hawke was so infuriatingly manipulative and abusive, I just can't. The way he would tell her she "didn't have an option" and implied he would force her to do things was so abusive, and Poppy just talked about it like it was because he cared about her, which is a really bad message to be sending to the audience. When a man forces a woman to do ANYTHING, he doesn't love her, he's an abuser and that's not love or even romance. And then there's that weird scene where she stabs him in the heart, and then HAS SEX WITH HIM. Like okay, being bitten makes you really horny, I get that, but then afterward there's no resolution and she just goes back to following his every word and talking about how she's in love with him when he still doesn't show that he loves or cares about her at all. As a feminist, I just can't support it. END SPOILER In a good fantasy romance, you shouldn't have to cut down your female protagonist and make her smaller in order to further the romantic plot. It was unbearable to read.
A few more issues I had that followed throughout the book: even before Poppy became Hawke's effectual slave, the amount of times she talked about how he was right was infuriating. I just hate male love interests that come in and have no apparent flaws and just know everything. Poppy says "He was right", no less than 10 times in the novel, and I got really tired of him being right all the time. Speaking of him, let's talk about him. It got really old in the last 10% of the book how Poppy would say "he" or "him" every single time. I was just so over it.
The ending of this book was hot mess, and for that reason alone I don't recommend it. I just can't support the messages that are in the book and backwards character development and the messy worldbuilding. I still give the book some credit for being intriguing and enjoyable for the first half at least, but in general if you're looking for fantasy romance I would just skip this one and head on over to the SJM shelf.
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