cbr17bingo – border: there are territorial disputes
I think this is my first monster romance, so that was interesting. This is a romantasy set in a world divided into countless Planes within the Void. While anyone can—with help— traverse the Season-Locked Planes in which the book is set, Voidwalkers like main character Fi are able to do so independently. The book is focused primarily on the Winter Plane, which is ruled by monsters known as daeyari, who rely on human sacrifices. Antal is the lenient ruler of Fi’s home territory, and when he is overthrown by a much worse daeyari, Fi sets out to help him get his territory back.
I generally enjoyed the book. There’s some good banter between Fi and Antal, interspersed with more meaningful interactions, which helps the romance feel less rushed. While there is at least one plot hole, I enjoyed the overall plot of the book and getting to know some of the side characters, like Fi’s brother and ex-girlfriend. The book is a bit dark, which makes the light-hearted chapter titles feel tonally off, and I didn’t care for the too-frequent repetition of certain words and phrases. In some ways, this made the book feel almost like more of a debut than the author’s first book, which actually was a debut.
While the book could perhaps be a bit shorter, I looked forward to picking it up, and I expect I will read the sequel once it’s released. However, this doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, so readers can be content with reading this now instead of worrying that they’ll be left hanging.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for the eARC. All opinions are my own.