This novel was a mixed bag. It was entertaining, which counts for a lot. Unfortunately, I had a lot of little nitpicky issues. If you turn off your brain and don’t think too hard this can be an enjoyable novel to take for a whirl; unfortunately, that isn’t how I like to read.
The Good: This was an interesting story, it had good worldbuilding without being infodumppy, and there were some fun moments.
The Bad:
-This was supposed to be a fake-dating story. The fake dating plotline was essentially abandoned immediately, or at least the author didn’t do anything fun with it. This part of the story could have essentially been removed without affecting the plot in the slightest.
-Jordan never mentioned to Sky that they were “fated mates”. It was a big plot point for it to never be mentioned. The beginning set it up like there would be a reveal which I was looking forward to, but we didn’t get anything of the sort. I wanted to see Sky’s reaction to that reveal and what her thoughts were. In fact, I don’t think they ever really discussed their relationship, they simply started being intimate.
-Relationship development: was there any? I think this novel leaned hard on the “fated mates” trope because there wasn’t really any relationship development, or any reasons identified as to why they liked each other. There was an inexplicable draw between them and that was about it. This isn’t the worst thing, but they also never talked about that factor either!
-So apparently the human (with no experience fighting that we were told of) can fight against a top-tier vampire and not only survive but potentially win? How on earth does that make any sense. The human can be badass or squishy, but not both as it suits the plot!
-Inconsistent vampire abilities. They apparently move so fast they can barely be seen by regular humans, they are strong enough to tear off the limbs of creatures much stronger than humans, yet the MC can successfully fight against them? And win?
-The actions scenes just didn’t make sense. Action flowed or stopped in order to make room for monologues and conversations, or to wait for plot related reasons. It was also certainly convenient that Sky was able to carry around a near-unlimited stack of potions and powders in her purse for the big fight scene.
-The witches are significantly more powerful than the vampires, yet a single vampire slaughtered a huge number of them (the same vamp that a single human can overpower…..). The witches also never bothered with revenge, or taking action to protect themselves?
-I never really understood the villain’s plan. Why wait until the literal last second to take action, when they had the ability to take out the protagonists at essentially any point prior? Waiting for all of their enemies to be gathered together, instead of picking them off separately at their leisure, is actually the worst plan. Seems like a cartoon villain.