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Starlight Gods #1
Dark Wish
What do you get when you add free and dumb?
FREEDOM
My name is Makoto Heart and I’ve always wished for a chance at freedom. Every day, I prayed before the Starlight gods, asking for their divine assistance in accomplishing such a difficult task.
Being an experiment for as long as I can remember, my hopes of obtaining freedom have diminished, drastically. The disappointment haunted me, as myself and my spirits struggled to survive. I had no hope left, believing my final plea fell upon deaf ears, yet again.
But what happens when my prayers are finally answered? I’m thrust into fulfilling a destiny, with the help of six star knights. Suddenly, I am no longer experiment 555, but the stolen princess of Heila.
Freedom, how you have teased my troubled soul. May the Starlight gods guide me and my knights, on this path towards the unknown.
~In Stars We Trust~
Dark Wish is an extraordinary new paranormal reverse harem series.
Recommended for 18+ audience, containing mature sexual content and strong language.
FREEDOM
My name is Makoto Heart and I’ve always wished for a chance at freedom. Every day, I prayed before the Starlight gods, asking for their divine assistance in accomplishing such a difficult task.
Being an experiment for as long as I can remember, my hopes of obtaining freedom have diminished, drastically. The disappointment haunted me, as myself and my spirits struggled to survive. I had no hope left, believing my final plea fell upon deaf ears, yet again.
But what happens when my prayers are finally answered? I’m thrust into fulfilling a destiny, with the help of six star knights. Suddenly, I am no longer experiment 555, but the stolen princess of Heila.
Freedom, how you have teased my troubled soul. May the Starlight gods guide me and my knights, on this path towards the unknown.
~In Stars We Trust~
Dark Wish is an extraordinary new paranormal reverse harem series.
Recommended for 18+ audience, containing mature sexual content and strong language.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2017
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February 3, 2023
~Blog Tour ~February 22nd, 2018 ~ Dark Wish BY Yumoyori Wilson~
Full Review on my blog!
I don’t even know where to start!
Okay, first off, I LOVE the cover~
This book is incredible! The characters, plot, world-building is so amazing, unique, and unlike anything, I’ve read before. Dark Wish will hook you from the start, and you won’t want to stop reading. I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the description, but wasn’t sure if I’d like it because I thought, “oh no! Is this going to be similar to The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer??”… I mean, the whole “missing princess” but I was proven wrong! Similar in that way only, because Cinder wasn’t kidnapped as a child, like Makoto (Princess Rosalind of Helia).
Dark Wish follows Makoto, the adorable but slightly ‘crazy’ main character. Makoto, kidnapped at a very young age, is a prisoner/slave/experiment to ‘the Owner’ (Blair Aspen). Honestly, this beginning part is the perfect insight into how long she’s been living this life of trials and torment and how she’s the Owners’ favourite.
She does get rescued by 4 of her knights; Ryder, Elias, Daniel, and Marcus, there is a 5th Knight, Kai, but he’s back in Helia. But yeah, she gets rescued, and things finally change for her, in a good way, in a way that she never thought would happen; she gets to live in the ‘real’ world, a world outside of the facility.
Makoto strives to be normal but normal is hard when she was born to be different, and stand out. There is a prophecy about her that the Starlight Gods will bless her with 4 spirits (which is VERY rare, and no one ever has coped with that many spirits). But Makoto is such a strong character, that she can in fact cope with all of them! Also, having all these spirits makes Makoto soo powerful. She wields a power unlike any ever seen before, which is why the “Owner” favoured her. We also get to know and love her 4 spirits; Rose, Lexi, Lilly, Hope, and a ‘split personality’, Midnight. (There’s a reason I quoted “split personality” which I can’t say because of spoilers for the second book, which I just recently finished.) She converses with these spirits/powers in her mind. And it is hilarious! I absolutely loved Makoto and her shifter inhabitants. It’s one of my favourite things about this book! I love how it affected Makoto. It seemed perfectly reasonable that she would be a little too inside her head… orrrrr not, sometimes taking her internal conversations public without even realizing it, which was amazing btw! And the reactions from the people around her are great!
OMg Chapter 9 “operation badass bitch” was my favourite!! Makoto is such a strong character, and I thought this chapter really showed it!
This book had some of everything; action, romance, suspense, and humor. It really was a fantastic read. I still can’t get over how creative this author is! The world-building and backstory are exceptional. The characters are multi-layered and very intricate. THE CLIFFHANGER THOUGH!!! Brutal and shocking. It made me want to get the second book sooo bad! haha… but in my opinion, the ending felt really sudden…maybe a little tooo sudden… and I’m kinda disappointed with it.
I can’t wait to read more from this author!! I highly recommend it!
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Full Review on my blog!
I don’t even know where to start!
Okay, first off, I LOVE the cover~
This book is incredible! The characters, plot, world-building is so amazing, unique, and unlike anything, I’ve read before. Dark Wish will hook you from the start, and you won’t want to stop reading. I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the description, but wasn’t sure if I’d like it because I thought, “oh no! Is this going to be similar to The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer??”… I mean, the whole “missing princess” but I was proven wrong! Similar in that way only, because Cinder wasn’t kidnapped as a child, like Makoto (Princess Rosalind of Helia).
Dark Wish follows Makoto, the adorable but slightly ‘crazy’ main character. Makoto, kidnapped at a very young age, is a prisoner/slave/experiment to ‘the Owner’ (Blair Aspen). Honestly, this beginning part is the perfect insight into how long she’s been living this life of trials and torment and how she’s the Owners’ favourite.
She does get rescued by 4 of her knights; Ryder, Elias, Daniel, and Marcus, there is a 5th Knight, Kai, but he’s back in Helia. But yeah, she gets rescued, and things finally change for her, in a good way, in a way that she never thought would happen; she gets to live in the ‘real’ world, a world outside of the facility.
Makoto strives to be normal but normal is hard when she was born to be different, and stand out. There is a prophecy about her that the Starlight Gods will bless her with 4 spirits (which is VERY rare, and no one ever has coped with that many spirits). But Makoto is such a strong character, that she can in fact cope with all of them! Also, having all these spirits makes Makoto soo powerful. She wields a power unlike any ever seen before, which is why the “Owner” favoured her. We also get to know and love her 4 spirits; Rose, Lexi, Lilly, Hope, and a ‘split personality’, Midnight. (There’s a reason I quoted “split personality” which I can’t say because of spoilers for the second book, which I just recently finished.) She converses with these spirits/powers in her mind. And it is hilarious! I absolutely loved Makoto and her shifter inhabitants. It’s one of my favourite things about this book! I love how it affected Makoto. It seemed perfectly reasonable that she would be a little too inside her head… orrrrr not, sometimes taking her internal conversations public without even realizing it, which was amazing btw! And the reactions from the people around her are great!
OMg Chapter 9 “operation badass bitch” was my favourite!! Makoto is such a strong character, and I thought this chapter really showed it!
This book had some of everything; action, romance, suspense, and humor. It really was a fantastic read. I still can’t get over how creative this author is! The world-building and backstory are exceptional. The characters are multi-layered and very intricate. THE CLIFFHANGER THOUGH!!! Brutal and shocking. It made me want to get the second book sooo bad! haha… but in my opinion, the ending felt really sudden…maybe a little tooo sudden… and I’m kinda disappointed with it.
I can’t wait to read more from this author!! I highly recommend it!
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October 25, 2017
DNF @ 10%
I honestly can't believe all the 5-star reviews this book has.
I. Really. Honestly. Do. Not. Understand.
Were we even reading the same book? I'm still on the first goddamn chapter, after dragging myself through the longest-ass prologue I've ever read, and I just can't read on.
So. Many. Errors.
The tenses change every other sentence. The grammar is a fucking mess. Missing punctuation, wrong punctuation, missing spaces between words. And even, in my opinion, wrong words. Words placed that makes no sense in the context, or words placed where I'm pretty sure they don't mean what the author thinks they mean.
This was a clusterfuck.
I honestly can't believe all the 5-star reviews this book has.
I. Really. Honestly. Do. Not. Understand.
Were we even reading the same book? I'm still on the first goddamn chapter, after dragging myself through the longest-ass prologue I've ever read, and I just can't read on.
So. Many. Errors.
The tenses change every other sentence. The grammar is a fucking mess. Missing punctuation, wrong punctuation, missing spaces between words. And even, in my opinion, wrong words. Words placed that makes no sense in the context, or words placed where I'm pretty sure they don't mean what the author thinks they mean.
This was a clusterfuck.
Read
April 1, 2018"All the girls here are so annoying. They only complain about how they want a rich boyfriend to take care of them and buy them pretty things. They can barely run a mile, insisting that their prince charming will come along and protect them from everything. You're the first female i've met who can even use such strong magic, let alone a weapon. [...] Most girls like pretty wands to glue diamonds and rhinestones on, not carrying a huge ass scythe that could slice someone in two."
What a cliché.
Our MC is already a special snowflake because she's a princess, chosen by a goddess and pretty damn powerful. But also because it is universally known that girls are useless gold diggers that only like sparkles and shopping and she is the exception.
The heroine is kind of cute and i was enjoying the book. Also the book ends on a high note and a big cliffy, enough to be very curious about what is going to happen. But really, guys? I hate those kind of grand sayings that I'm pretty sure authors don't even think.
But yes, I will probably read the next book because Yumoyori's stories are fun, period. It has magic, action, drama, romance, pink stuff, tragedy, comedy, pretty much everything. It's almost like watching a very colorful anime, actually. And I'm looking forward to see her evolve as a writer and not kill her books with those eyerolling discours.
What a cliché.
Our MC is already a special snowflake because she's a princess, chosen by a goddess and pretty damn powerful. But also because it is universally known that girls are useless gold diggers that only like sparkles and shopping and she is the exception.
The heroine is kind of cute and i was enjoying the book. Also the book ends on a high note and a big cliffy, enough to be very curious about what is going to happen. But really, guys? I hate those kind of grand sayings that I'm pretty sure authors don't even think.
But yes, I will probably read the next book because Yumoyori's stories are fun, period. It has magic, action, drama, romance, pink stuff, tragedy, comedy, pretty much everything. It's almost like watching a very colorful anime, actually. And I'm looking forward to see her evolve as a writer and not kill her books with those eyerolling discours.
November 27, 2017
I found this book a bit too cheesy for my preference. The heroine just seemed a bit too naïve and upbeat to have been held captive for so many years. All she seemed to do was be worshipped by those around her, giggle some, lust after all the men that were devoted to, and giggle. Throw in a cliffhanger style ending and I was disappointed. I'll give this writer another shot, I just don't think this particular series is for me.
October 20, 2017
Incoherent. Also weirdly ridiculous ... recovered kidnapped princess returned to ... school? instead of her parents? After 15 years? oookey.
September 15, 2017
Love/dislike for Mako but good book overall
First off I loved the world building in this book. Very cool concept with the shifters, different planes, and gods. I also really liked how Mako and her men interacted together. They were very sweet and the author wrote a little bit from each of their point of views so you got to know them a bit better.. I had a few issues with this book (which led to me giving it 3 stars) and all revolve around the main character, Mako. 1st at one point she is slut shaming 3 girls for sleeping with multiple partners and then seriously in the next paragraph she talks about her 4 men ( although she hasn't slept with them she has kissed them all). This is a reverse harem..... where the hell does Mako get off on slut shaming anyone when she is in relationships with 4 men. 2nd she outs one girl as being bisexual in front of the girls two friends. I am bisexual myself and let me say that if anyone had outed me before I was ready I would have been devastated. 3rd Mako also is apparently super judgemental on a person's looks. A few times in the book she looks down on others for not being astoundingly good looking. 4th Mako has just left a facility where people were tortured and raped regularly, she also saw her best friend raped at a very young age. On top of that she has also been almost raped I believe twice. But miraculously so far no sexual hang ups. She kisses easily, sits in mens laps easily, is fine sleeping and sitting in men's beds. I find that really hard to believe. 4th Mako and her men are in their 20's (oldest being 27) yet sometimes when reading it felt like they were all 16. 5th multiple times people of a lesser rank are considered not as worthy. Ryder legit states that because someone is silver rank they are not worthy of being around Mako. They also look down on Leonardo for being red rank ( I know he's a whiney shit but why even bring up his lower rank like it's some terrible thing). I know it seems like I've dissed this book a lot but it has a lot of potential. Besides these things, which were a small part although they bugged the crap out of me, the book was good. Mako does have good points as well. She is a strong female lead that does have relatable vulnerable moment. She treats her star knights with respect and affection. I love her interactions with her spirits. It was definitely a love/dislike with her. As for the book as a whole I felt engaged as a reader and I will definitely read the next book in the series. I like Yumoyuri's writing style, she is very descriptive and the flow of the book was nice. Good book overall with a few personal character dislikes.
First off I loved the world building in this book. Very cool concept with the shifters, different planes, and gods. I also really liked how Mako and her men interacted together. They were very sweet and the author wrote a little bit from each of their point of views so you got to know them a bit better.. I had a few issues with this book (which led to me giving it 3 stars) and all revolve around the main character, Mako. 1st at one point she is slut shaming 3 girls for sleeping with multiple partners and then seriously in the next paragraph she talks about her 4 men ( although she hasn't slept with them she has kissed them all). This is a reverse harem..... where the hell does Mako get off on slut shaming anyone when she is in relationships with 4 men. 2nd she outs one girl as being bisexual in front of the girls two friends. I am bisexual myself and let me say that if anyone had outed me before I was ready I would have been devastated. 3rd Mako also is apparently super judgemental on a person's looks. A few times in the book she looks down on others for not being astoundingly good looking. 4th Mako has just left a facility where people were tortured and raped regularly, she also saw her best friend raped at a very young age. On top of that she has also been almost raped I believe twice. But miraculously so far no sexual hang ups. She kisses easily, sits in mens laps easily, is fine sleeping and sitting in men's beds. I find that really hard to believe. 4th Mako and her men are in their 20's (oldest being 27) yet sometimes when reading it felt like they were all 16. 5th multiple times people of a lesser rank are considered not as worthy. Ryder legit states that because someone is silver rank they are not worthy of being around Mako. They also look down on Leonardo for being red rank ( I know he's a whiney shit but why even bring up his lower rank like it's some terrible thing). I know it seems like I've dissed this book a lot but it has a lot of potential. Besides these things, which were a small part although they bugged the crap out of me, the book was good. Mako does have good points as well. She is a strong female lead that does have relatable vulnerable moment. She treats her star knights with respect and affection. I love her interactions with her spirits. It was definitely a love/dislike with her. As for the book as a whole I felt engaged as a reader and I will definitely read the next book in the series. I like Yumoyuri's writing style, she is very descriptive and the flow of the book was nice. Good book overall with a few personal character dislikes.
November 20, 2017
DNF'd at like ten pages. Personally, I thought it read like the wish fulfillment fantasy of a thirteen year-old girl, but I'll let this quote speak for itself:
"Let's see... my name is Makato Heart, but I'm referred to as experiment 555. I'm twenty-two cycles. I've been stuck in this hellhole for as long as I can recall. I don't remember anything before I reached six cycles. Doesn't really bother me... though, I ponder sometimes if I even had a childhood. I have long, brown hair, though it can sometimes change colour depending on my magic usage. My lips are naturally light red; my eyes are a bright turquise blue. Oh, did I mention they changed colour too? My favourite colour is pink, and I like to swear a lot. Shit is my favourite word... is it weird for a swear word to be my favourite? I wonder if I'm weird... hmm, being weird isn't bad though. Would I want to be normal? Nah, I would be dead if I was normal...so scratch that..."
"Let's see... my name is Makato Heart, but I'm referred to as experiment 555. I'm twenty-two cycles. I've been stuck in this hellhole for as long as I can recall. I don't remember anything before I reached six cycles. Doesn't really bother me... though, I ponder sometimes if I even had a childhood. I have long, brown hair, though it can sometimes change colour depending on my magic usage. My lips are naturally light red; my eyes are a bright turquise blue. Oh, did I mention they changed colour too? My favourite colour is pink, and I like to swear a lot. Shit is my favourite word... is it weird for a swear word to be my favourite? I wonder if I'm weird... hmm, being weird isn't bad though. Would I want to be normal? Nah, I would be dead if I was normal...so scratch that..."
March 16, 2018
DNF 48% - Good premise but something was off in the execution. The book ended up dragging and I found myself bored quite often. I tried to keep going but it was really not working out. Maybe I’ll try it again in the future.
Shelved as 'avoiding'
February 15, 2018I was planning to read this for my romance blog, especially after discovering reverse harem, but sadly, I can't bring myself to read more than a few pages. I've been a proofreader since I was young, in the sense that as soon as I learned spelling and grammar rules, I started automatically noticing errors as I was reading. Now, I can excuse a few mistakes here and there, but I become very distracted by grammatical errors, and there were just to many in the first few pages for me to consider reading on.
Based on not making it more than a few pages in, I have decided to not give the book a rating (thereby bringing the average down), but to simply leave this warning in place for anyone else who struggles to focus on the story when there are too many errors.
Based on not making it more than a few pages in, I have decided to not give the book a rating (thereby bringing the average down), but to simply leave this warning in place for anyone else who struggles to focus on the story when there are too many errors.
November 6, 2017
How to review this book. First of all, I'm not sure how to classify it - alternate universe sci-fi mixed with fantasy? Yeah that'll work.
The worldbuilding is first class, rich in mythology and the basic explanations weren't overly complicated, leaving room for so much growth as to be a little astounding. Like the story was great, the characters well-thought out (and the MC may be in my top 5. Flawed, damaged, but sense of humor and deeply interesting), and I really, really, really, really want to see where it goes from here.
4 stars for story, worldbuilding, character building, and general imagination. A few typos that will probably be fixed in later versions
Side note, if you're bad with cliffhangers, hold out till the next book ok? It's a doozy.
The worldbuilding is first class, rich in mythology and the basic explanations weren't overly complicated, leaving room for so much growth as to be a little astounding. Like the story was great, the characters well-thought out (and the MC may be in my top 5. Flawed, damaged, but sense of humor and deeply interesting), and I really, really, really, really want to see where it goes from here.
4 stars for story, worldbuilding, character building, and general imagination. A few typos that will probably be fixed in later versions
Side note, if you're bad with cliffhangers, hold out till the next book ok? It's a doozy.
June 1, 2018
I have a few thoughts about this book but I honestly have no idea how to organize them. So this is just going to be a jumble of thoughts. Enjoy.
Okay so I struggled with the beginning of this book. It really wasn't explained what was happening. I understand that we aren't suppose to know who she is. But it just jumps right into her demon talking to her and her angel in her head. It was kind of confusing at first. But once I figured out that she has "spirits" in her and that they are kind of different people inside her. I honestly don't know how to explain what they are and how they work. But I get it in my head.. I think. Anyways once I kind of figured it out, I thought it was super cool. It is unlike anything I have read before. I loved Makoto and I loved all the guys. I am excited to see what the hell happens in the next one. There was a major cliff hanger.
Okay so I struggled with the beginning of this book. It really wasn't explained what was happening. I understand that we aren't suppose to know who she is. But it just jumps right into her demon talking to her and her angel in her head. It was kind of confusing at first. But once I figured out that she has "spirits" in her and that they are kind of different people inside her. I honestly don't know how to explain what they are and how they work. But I get it in my head.. I think. Anyways once I kind of figured it out, I thought it was super cool. It is unlike anything I have read before. I loved Makoto and I loved all the guys. I am excited to see what the hell happens in the next one. There was a major cliff hanger.
November 26, 2018
I loved this so much more than I thought I would. There was enough to the story to keep me interested throughout the entire book. And I couldn't help but love all of the guys. I'm super excited to meet the rest of the squad in the next books.
Mako was such a good character to read about. She was absolutely a perfect character. And all the other stuff that has to do with her. My gosh. So good.
Mako was such a good character to read about. She was absolutely a perfect character. And all the other stuff that has to do with her. My gosh. So good.
September 9, 2017
This book is incredible. Yumo does an amazing job of building a world unlike any others I've read about. Sure it shares some similarities with other books, but that's just life. It is undoubtedly unique. I was a little apprehensive when I first started the book to find a sort of "key" of the worlds/realms and the gods. Then we got a brief history of how things came to be the way the are. I tend to NOT like books that need that much upfront explanation. They can get overly complex. That is NOT the case with this book. The intro/history is kept brief. And then you jump into the REAL story. And wow is it a good one.
Makoto is a prisoner/slave/experiment to "The Master". We get a little insight into how long she's been living this life and that she's the Master's favorite for some reason. Then she's rescued and made to live in the "real" world out from under the thumb of her captor for the first time in over a decade. She's grown up in the very limited world provided to her by the Master.
You also know that she has at least four spirits. She converses with these spirits/powers in her mind. And it's hilarious! I love how it affected Makoto. It seems perfectly reasonable that she would be a little too inside her own head (or NOT as it turns out, sometime taking her internal conversations public without realizing it).
She's immensely powerful. She wields powers unlike any ever seen before. This is why she was the Master's favorite.
Her rescuers are her knights. 4 boys roughly her own age (22 cycles/years ish) and each possesses a spirit to mirror one of her own for the most part. They're all quite interesting characters. This first book was very much so focusing on Makoto so you don't get to learn TOO much about the boys. You do get a decent sense of their personalities though. There's definitely some interesting twists there.
Makoto is deliciously naive and yet self-assured. It makes perfect sense and yet is ridiculously endearing. She's a character that I can't really find myself in, but that's perfectly fine. Because I still care about her nonetheless. I NEED to know more about her and what happens with her life.
Warning, this book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. But it's the yummy kind. This book has a great story arc that builds slowly. You get a few glimpses/shows of power. And then there's the big battle at the end.
This is an INCREDIBLE book and I cannot believe it's this author's first. I cannot wait to see what she does with this storyline as well as anything else she writes in the future. I'm sure we will all be reading more great works by this author.
Makoto is a prisoner/slave/experiment to "The Master". We get a little insight into how long she's been living this life and that she's the Master's favorite for some reason. Then she's rescued and made to live in the "real" world out from under the thumb of her captor for the first time in over a decade. She's grown up in the very limited world provided to her by the Master.
You also know that she has at least four spirits. She converses with these spirits/powers in her mind. And it's hilarious! I love how it affected Makoto. It seems perfectly reasonable that she would be a little too inside her own head (or NOT as it turns out, sometime taking her internal conversations public without realizing it).
She's immensely powerful. She wields powers unlike any ever seen before. This is why she was the Master's favorite.
Her rescuers are her knights. 4 boys roughly her own age (22 cycles/years ish) and each possesses a spirit to mirror one of her own for the most part. They're all quite interesting characters. This first book was very much so focusing on Makoto so you don't get to learn TOO much about the boys. You do get a decent sense of their personalities though. There's definitely some interesting twists there.
Makoto is deliciously naive and yet self-assured. It makes perfect sense and yet is ridiculously endearing. She's a character that I can't really find myself in, but that's perfectly fine. Because I still care about her nonetheless. I NEED to know more about her and what happens with her life.
Warning, this book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. But it's the yummy kind. This book has a great story arc that builds slowly. You get a few glimpses/shows of power. And then there's the big battle at the end.
This is an INCREDIBLE book and I cannot believe it's this author's first. I cannot wait to see what she does with this storyline as well as anything else she writes in the future. I'm sure we will all be reading more great works by this author.
September 25, 2017
First of all I need to come out and say… this book divided me straight down the middle. The concept was great, the unique characters were great, the world building was not bad and the writing was good. Dark Wish had so much potential – just did not hit that potential for me.
Mako has been a prisoner for around 18 cycles (18 years), she has been subjected to and witnessed atrocities including murder, rape, torture and mind games. She has four souls that coexist in her body/mind and she suffers from a split personality (no shit), sleepwalking and thinking out loud (which comes in extremely useful to give us information dumps). Mako has been subject to extensive testing at the facility she is being kept prisoner at. But she has also been given special privileges compared to the other prisoners, even if she is still chained in her cell at night (oh but that’s only for the last few years). Mako has also undergone extensive weapons training and conditioning but she is clumsy? We don’t really see this during the book but we are led to believe that clumsiness is one of her more endearing traits, yeah maybe it has more to do with imprisonment and malnourishment.
After years of imprisonment, Mako is rescued by four gorgeous men. Yay. Except when we first meet them in the dingy cells where Mako is chained at night, they rescue Mako from being raped and then proceed to make jokes and laugh at her odd behaviour. Also in the first few sentences they call her ‘some shifter’ and then suddenly she is ‘princess’. Wait, what?
Mako is whisked away to, not counselling or a hospital (mind you she does get medical aid) or even the parents who have been desperately searching for her for all these years, but to school. Umm okay. Where she is proceeded to be enrolled and paraded in front of everyone, but that’s okay, Mako’s badass.
Ahhh, this book was so frustrating. There are too many contradicting aspect to the plot and to Mako’s character. I loved the uniqueness of the characters and the original premise of the story but in all fairness for me, this book was a 2.5 star rating. I will be reading the next book in the series just for the interesting and unique concepts that Yumoyori Wilson has created and hopefully will not feel like throwing my kindle by the end of it.
Mako has been a prisoner for around 18 cycles (18 years), she has been subjected to and witnessed atrocities including murder, rape, torture and mind games. She has four souls that coexist in her body/mind and she suffers from a split personality (no shit), sleepwalking and thinking out loud (which comes in extremely useful to give us information dumps). Mako has been subject to extensive testing at the facility she is being kept prisoner at. But she has also been given special privileges compared to the other prisoners, even if she is still chained in her cell at night (oh but that’s only for the last few years). Mako has also undergone extensive weapons training and conditioning but she is clumsy? We don’t really see this during the book but we are led to believe that clumsiness is one of her more endearing traits, yeah maybe it has more to do with imprisonment and malnourishment.
After years of imprisonment, Mako is rescued by four gorgeous men. Yay. Except when we first meet them in the dingy cells where Mako is chained at night, they rescue Mako from being raped and then proceed to make jokes and laugh at her odd behaviour. Also in the first few sentences they call her ‘some shifter’ and then suddenly she is ‘princess’. Wait, what?
Mako is whisked away to, not counselling or a hospital (mind you she does get medical aid) or even the parents who have been desperately searching for her for all these years, but to school. Umm okay. Where she is proceeded to be enrolled and paraded in front of everyone, but that’s okay, Mako’s badass.
Ahhh, this book was so frustrating. There are too many contradicting aspect to the plot and to Mako’s character. I loved the uniqueness of the characters and the original premise of the story but in all fairness for me, this book was a 2.5 star rating. I will be reading the next book in the series just for the interesting and unique concepts that Yumoyori Wilson has created and hopefully will not feel like throwing my kindle by the end of it.
September 29, 2017
The MC was pretty quirky which was refreshing. It was kind of difficult to accept how she just ended up quirky and not psychotic after her upbringing - but I just went with it and enjoyed the story.
I think this is labeled as a reverse-harem, but I think that's a stretch. Still a good story, and I'll continue on.
I think this is labeled as a reverse-harem, but I think that's a stretch. Still a good story, and I'll continue on.
October 18, 2017
Though I absolutely LOVED the plot and characters in this book, I had a hard time reading past the copious grammatical mistakes. I know I was warned that there may be British or Canadian spelling throughout the book, but that does not account for a complete absence of apostrophes.
December 29, 2018
This was just a mess, and I have no idea why I finished (I first contemplated dropping it at 8%). I could fill the character limit two times over talking about how bad it was, but I just want to finish thinking about this book and move on. The writing was horrendous, the MC had too much going on, and the guys were just sort of there. Also, if you decide for some godforsaken reason to read this book despite reading this review, be forewarned that it has a huge cliffhanger. Still, as big as it is, I am not even remotely interested in finding out what happens next.
The writing is probably this book’s biggest obstacle because each page has several errors. I could fill the characters limit just talking about the mechanics issues, so instead, I’m just going to talk about the issues I saw in the first 25% of the book. Tons of things were capitalized unnecessarily or to emphasize words in dialogue, which was annoying. Also, the books had many instances of apostrophes in plural non-possessive words (e.g., “the one’s that didn’t make it”) and missing apostrophes from possessive words (e.g., “the other shifters chattering teeth”). Furthermore, the author had problems determining whether to include a space in just about every compound word: for example, she used “blood shed” instead of “bloodshed” (though she spelled it correctly soon after), “comeback” instead of “come back,” and “wrong doings” instead of “wrongdoings.” She also included question marks after statements (e.g., “I told you to behave while I was gone and look what you all did?”). Furthermore, she incorrectly used many words (e.g., “thus why you’re sitting here,” “faithful” instead of “fateful,” “coincide” instead of “coexist,” “pleading” instead of “pledging,” “lopping” instead of “loping,” “explained” instead of “asked,” and “compliment” instead of “complement”) and phrases (e.g., “till your hearts content” instead of “to your heart’s content”). I also saw nonsensical dangling modifiers: “Guns were his weapon of choice, having witnessed him use the silver weapon to kill off the remaining failed experiments after our trial sessions.” Also, the author used “thy” about a million times in this book and rarely used it correctly: for example, “Thy shall not take upon the role of the gods.” “Thy” is possessive, so “thou” should be used there instead. Furthermore several sentences just didn’t make sense:
• “‘If it didn’t nullify my magic, I’d burn it to a crisp.’ I smirked, a gentle voice echoed in my head.” Because “I” follows that dialogue, the authors implies that the narrator said that sentence. However, it actually came from that echoing head voice.
• “His rimless round, black, framed glasses.” Maybe I just don’t understand glasses terminology, but how can glasses be rimless and have frames?
• “The realization that our roles as knights were set in stone, but I also felt afraid.” That’s just a mess.
Also, the author handled the MC description/exposition in the worst way I’ve ever seen. It was just a large paragraph of her talking to herself and saying everything she knows about herself and her appearance “to distract [herself] from waking to another day in this torturous hellhole.” COME. ON. The author also had a terrible habit of using commas to separate subjects from verbs and verbs from direct object, but here are some examples of bigger punctuation issues: “I’m working on my social skills. In the event, I finally get out of this hellhole and have no choice but to communicate with intellectual shifters,” “Who in their right mind would break into here? The fortress of death,” and “Being five-five had its advantages, for example; your feet not touching the ground.” The verb tense also had several issues: for example, “How dare he take what was ours for his own selfish reasons and doing it not once, but twice” and “as he continued explained.” I also saw spelling errors such as “intrust” instead of “entrust”. Furthermore, the author alternated between using US and British English spelling. The last issue is more a matter of personal preference, but I didn’t like the way the author handled onomatopoeia: for example, “the zzzzzzz of his zipper as he slowly pulled it down.” Again, these issues and examples are all from the first 25% of the book. The book does not get better. Some issues made me think that this author might not be a native English speaker (I say this as someone who professionally edits for people who are not native English speakers). There’s nothing wrong with that in itself, but if you write in a language other than your native language, you need to go out of your way to get an amazing editor, and that did not happen here.
The writing had non-mechanical issues as well, including some inconsistencies:
• The MC refers to Ryder’s angel, but he has a demon and not an angel.
• The MC says the shy guys are the ones you have to watch out for, but she has literally no dating experience from which to make that conclusion.
• She knows the guys swore a permanent oath to her but then talks about how she won’t take them away from their friend, as if they won’t follow her wherever she goes.
• The guys say that they need to send a messenger to Kai to tell him that they found the MC, but I could have sworn there was something about the knights immediately knowing if any of the other knights swear the oath, in which case he would not need to be notified.
• Late in the book, the MC talks about needing courage to kiss one of the guys, but she’s already been kissing them for forever, so wtf.
Also, the author awkwardly repeated the character introductions in the first chapter as if we hadn’t just read the prologue. I was also confused in the following sentences: “We sat there, holding hands till the early hours of the morning, enjoying each other’s company. I rubbed at my eyes, attempting to clear the little specs of sand dust that lingered on my lashes.” Apparently there’s a time jump between those sentences because she’s suddenly waking up with no mention of going to sleep. The author also repeatedly chose to give exposition/recaps in high-tension moments when the MC had bigger things to worry about. We also got some awkward villain monologuing.
As for the MC (Makoto or Mako) herself . . . ugh. Mako is a shifter who can shift into multiple creatures, meaning that she has multiple creatures’ voices in her head. So OF COURSE she has a split personality on top of all of that mess. As annoying as it could be at times, I overall liked that Mako talked to herself because it would not be believable if this character with all these traumas and voices in her head acted totally normally. I also thought that her sleepwalking and love for milk were amusing. However, she had some TSTL. For example, near the end of the book, she contemplated returning to the evil facility—the facility where, as she says, “no one I care about gets hurt.” The book literally began with her best friend being murdered there, so wtf. The author also loved to repeat how Mako “isn’t like other girls.” It’s the guys’ favorite thing to say: “Why are females so envious of one another? Why can’t girls on this campus be like Mako?” That’s annoying in and of itself, but Mako doesn’t act different from them at all. Apparently the big problem with other girls is that they’re bitchy whores, but when Mako confronts them, she says, “Just because you were working out, didn’t mean you had to look horrendous” and she then outs a girl and says “I don’t hate female on female action. Hmm…can’t deny it’s hot in a sense.” W. T. F. At one point, someone says that these girls “should focus on their own reputations and maybe try to commit to one guy in a week instead of the multiple male students they were sleeping with.” Look, the MC has a harem, so stfu.
I don’t have much to say about the guys, partly because the end of this review is in sight. I guess the twist with Elias is interesting, but I figured it out early and I don’t really see the point of it. This book already has enough going on. I guess it’s to make him relate well to the MC? Oh well. The only reason I kept going after I initially wanted to drop this book was because I always try to last at least long enough to meet the guys in an RH, and similarly, my only temptation to read the next book is the fact that we still haven’t met the last harem member. That temptation isn’t nearly big enough, though. The guys were fine and no one was rapey, and I guess that’s good enough? I did think it was cute that they were possessive of their designated stools. They got cheesy as hell at time, though: for example, “‘Why do you all call her Firefly?’ Stryker questioned. I don’t know…maybe cause she’s the light we all need to get away from the darkness within.” Gag.
I’m not even going to give this review some sort of conclusion because I just want to move on.
PROGRESS UPDATES
5% Awful dialogue: “It was brilliant hahaha.”
8% This really isn’t good. I doubt I’ll make it far in this one.
18% I feel like I need to make a PSA because I’m sick of seeing this even in otherwise well-written books (which this is not): “LED” is the past tense of the verb “lead.” When “lead” is pronounced as “led,” it is a noun rather than a verb. Stop saying things like “he lead me to the store yesterday.”
30% Wtf, I can’t do anything but laugh at this point. The MC just lit a guy’s finger on fire, he got mad, and the other people present were just like, “That’s just how she is Leonardo. Be a man and suck it up.”
90% I’m just skimming at this point and hoping this will end soon.
96% Seriously, the whole book is like this: “My transportation car had arrived.”
The writing is probably this book’s biggest obstacle because each page has several errors. I could fill the characters limit just talking about the mechanics issues, so instead, I’m just going to talk about the issues I saw in the first 25% of the book. Tons of things were capitalized unnecessarily or to emphasize words in dialogue, which was annoying. Also, the books had many instances of apostrophes in plural non-possessive words (e.g., “the one’s that didn’t make it”) and missing apostrophes from possessive words (e.g., “the other shifters chattering teeth”). Furthermore, the author had problems determining whether to include a space in just about every compound word: for example, she used “blood shed” instead of “bloodshed” (though she spelled it correctly soon after), “comeback” instead of “come back,” and “wrong doings” instead of “wrongdoings.” She also included question marks after statements (e.g., “I told you to behave while I was gone and look what you all did?”). Furthermore, she incorrectly used many words (e.g., “thus why you’re sitting here,” “faithful” instead of “fateful,” “coincide” instead of “coexist,” “pleading” instead of “pledging,” “lopping” instead of “loping,” “explained” instead of “asked,” and “compliment” instead of “complement”) and phrases (e.g., “till your hearts content” instead of “to your heart’s content”). I also saw nonsensical dangling modifiers: “Guns were his weapon of choice, having witnessed him use the silver weapon to kill off the remaining failed experiments after our trial sessions.” Also, the author used “thy” about a million times in this book and rarely used it correctly: for example, “Thy shall not take upon the role of the gods.” “Thy” is possessive, so “thou” should be used there instead. Furthermore several sentences just didn’t make sense:
• “‘If it didn’t nullify my magic, I’d burn it to a crisp.’ I smirked, a gentle voice echoed in my head.” Because “I” follows that dialogue, the authors implies that the narrator said that sentence. However, it actually came from that echoing head voice.
• “His rimless round, black, framed glasses.” Maybe I just don’t understand glasses terminology, but how can glasses be rimless and have frames?
• “The realization that our roles as knights were set in stone, but I also felt afraid.” That’s just a mess.
Also, the author handled the MC description/exposition in the worst way I’ve ever seen. It was just a large paragraph of her talking to herself and saying everything she knows about herself and her appearance “to distract [herself] from waking to another day in this torturous hellhole.” COME. ON. The author also had a terrible habit of using commas to separate subjects from verbs and verbs from direct object, but here are some examples of bigger punctuation issues: “I’m working on my social skills. In the event, I finally get out of this hellhole and have no choice but to communicate with intellectual shifters,” “Who in their right mind would break into here? The fortress of death,” and “Being five-five had its advantages, for example; your feet not touching the ground.” The verb tense also had several issues: for example, “How dare he take what was ours for his own selfish reasons and doing it not once, but twice” and “as he continued explained.” I also saw spelling errors such as “intrust” instead of “entrust”. Furthermore, the author alternated between using US and British English spelling. The last issue is more a matter of personal preference, but I didn’t like the way the author handled onomatopoeia: for example, “the zzzzzzz of his zipper as he slowly pulled it down.” Again, these issues and examples are all from the first 25% of the book. The book does not get better. Some issues made me think that this author might not be a native English speaker (I say this as someone who professionally edits for people who are not native English speakers). There’s nothing wrong with that in itself, but if you write in a language other than your native language, you need to go out of your way to get an amazing editor, and that did not happen here.
The writing had non-mechanical issues as well, including some inconsistencies:
• The MC refers to Ryder’s angel, but he has a demon and not an angel.
• The MC says the shy guys are the ones you have to watch out for, but she has literally no dating experience from which to make that conclusion.
• She knows the guys swore a permanent oath to her but then talks about how she won’t take them away from their friend, as if they won’t follow her wherever she goes.
• The guys say that they need to send a messenger to Kai to tell him that they found the MC, but I could have sworn there was something about the knights immediately knowing if any of the other knights swear the oath, in which case he would not need to be notified.
• Late in the book, the MC talks about needing courage to kiss one of the guys, but she’s already been kissing them for forever, so wtf.
Also, the author awkwardly repeated the character introductions in the first chapter as if we hadn’t just read the prologue. I was also confused in the following sentences: “We sat there, holding hands till the early hours of the morning, enjoying each other’s company. I rubbed at my eyes, attempting to clear the little specs of sand dust that lingered on my lashes.” Apparently there’s a time jump between those sentences because she’s suddenly waking up with no mention of going to sleep. The author also repeatedly chose to give exposition/recaps in high-tension moments when the MC had bigger things to worry about. We also got some awkward villain monologuing.
As for the MC (Makoto or Mako) herself . . . ugh. Mako is a shifter who can shift into multiple creatures, meaning that she has multiple creatures’ voices in her head. So OF COURSE she has a split personality on top of all of that mess. As annoying as it could be at times, I overall liked that Mako talked to herself because it would not be believable if this character with all these traumas and voices in her head acted totally normally. I also thought that her sleepwalking and love for milk were amusing. However, she had some TSTL. For example, near the end of the book, she contemplated returning to the evil facility—the facility where, as she says, “no one I care about gets hurt.” The book literally began with her best friend being murdered there, so wtf. The author also loved to repeat how Mako “isn’t like other girls.” It’s the guys’ favorite thing to say: “Why are females so envious of one another? Why can’t girls on this campus be like Mako?” That’s annoying in and of itself, but Mako doesn’t act different from them at all. Apparently the big problem with other girls is that they’re bitchy whores, but when Mako confronts them, she says, “Just because you were working out, didn’t mean you had to look horrendous” and she then outs a girl and says “I don’t hate female on female action. Hmm…can’t deny it’s hot in a sense.” W. T. F. At one point, someone says that these girls “should focus on their own reputations and maybe try to commit to one guy in a week instead of the multiple male students they were sleeping with.” Look, the MC has a harem, so stfu.
I don’t have much to say about the guys, partly because the end of this review is in sight. I guess the twist with Elias is interesting, but I figured it out early and I don’t really see the point of it. This book already has enough going on. I guess it’s to make him relate well to the MC? Oh well. The only reason I kept going after I initially wanted to drop this book was because I always try to last at least long enough to meet the guys in an RH, and similarly, my only temptation to read the next book is the fact that we still haven’t met the last harem member. That temptation isn’t nearly big enough, though. The guys were fine and no one was rapey, and I guess that’s good enough? I did think it was cute that they were possessive of their designated stools. They got cheesy as hell at time, though: for example, “‘Why do you all call her Firefly?’ Stryker questioned. I don’t know…maybe cause she’s the light we all need to get away from the darkness within.” Gag.
I’m not even going to give this review some sort of conclusion because I just want to move on.
PROGRESS UPDATES
5% Awful dialogue: “It was brilliant hahaha.”
8% This really isn’t good. I doubt I’ll make it far in this one.
18% I feel like I need to make a PSA because I’m sick of seeing this even in otherwise well-written books (which this is not): “LED” is the past tense of the verb “lead.” When “lead” is pronounced as “led,” it is a noun rather than a verb. Stop saying things like “he lead me to the store yesterday.”
30% Wtf, I can’t do anything but laugh at this point. The MC just lit a guy’s finger on fire, he got mad, and the other people present were just like, “That’s just how she is Leonardo. Be a man and suck it up.”
90% I’m just skimming at this point and hoping this will end soon.
96% Seriously, the whole book is like this: “My transportation car had arrived.”
September 19, 2017
Dark Wish is the story of Makoto Heart, a special young lady. In a world where people are given the gift of one or two spirits by the Starlight gods, Mako has 3 spirits, an Angel Hope, a Demon Rose, and a Dragon Lexi. She later received the gift of a Phoenix spirit she named Lily and is a split personality; her other self named Midnight. She holds no memories of her childhood before age 6, but since then has been raised by her Owner in a facility where she has been experimented on and tortured. She lost her only friend under traumatic circumstances and has been brutalized and ostracized daily. Still after enduring all of this she is not ruined. She may be hurt, she may be adorably odd, but she is sweet, caring, smart, and resilient. More than anything she wants freedom and a home to call her own. When it seems that the worst ending has arrived, she is rescued by 4 starlight knights and the truth comes out. She's more than experiment 555, she's the kidnapped Princess of Heila. She is prophesied to bring peace to all the realms. The knights take her to hide at an academy while they get word to her family that she is safe. There she gets to know her knights, makes a friend, makes an enemy or four, learns about her world, strengthens her magic, and gets her familiar, Nightmare. Her knights are Ryder, the leader who has a demon spirit; Daniel, the healer who has an Angel spirit, Marcus, the warrior with the Dragon spirit, and Elias, the mystery. There is a 5th guard Kai back on her home realm. "Her best friend Eli appears to possibly be a fairy." And her familiar is a powerful furball named Nightmare.
This is a wonderfully original book. Very creative writing. The world building and back story are exceptional. The characters are multi-layered, very intricate. Mako is the star of the book. She is amazing. The love her spirits and her split share with her; her quirkiness; her love of milk, her sleepwalking, her missions are fantastic. Her abilities are awesome. But her happiness is what makes her special. This girl is full of life. The fact that she is full of love and joy is incredible. She is incredible. The knights reactions to her are perfect and so is her friendship with Eli. I love how she can be so strong and so fragile all at once. Operation Bada** B***. Priceless!
My only complaint was the editing. Tenses were a problem and we'll became well periodically. There were other times this was an issue, but these examples will do. The errors were items that would escape spellcheck. Nothing horrible, but for a book this good, I wish that they had been caught.
This book had some of everything; action, romance, suspense, humor, danger, anger, sadness. It really was a fantastic read. The ending was brutal and left me in shock. I have so many questions about what comes next. The Owner? The Knights? What about Kai? I need an explanation about the unexpected flash of light. I need more of Mako and her knights, more of Mako and her spirits. I can't wait for Tainted Rose in November.
This is a wonderfully original book. Very creative writing. The world building and back story are exceptional. The characters are multi-layered, very intricate. Mako is the star of the book. She is amazing. The love her spirits and her split share with her; her quirkiness; her love of milk, her sleepwalking, her missions are fantastic. Her abilities are awesome. But her happiness is what makes her special. This girl is full of life. The fact that she is full of love and joy is incredible. She is incredible. The knights reactions to her are perfect and so is her friendship with Eli. I love how she can be so strong and so fragile all at once. Operation Bada** B***. Priceless!
My only complaint was the editing. Tenses were a problem and we'll became well periodically. There were other times this was an issue, but these examples will do. The errors were items that would escape spellcheck. Nothing horrible, but for a book this good, I wish that they had been caught.
This book had some of everything; action, romance, suspense, humor, danger, anger, sadness. It really was a fantastic read. The ending was brutal and left me in shock. I have so many questions about what comes next. The Owner? The Knights? What about Kai? I need an explanation about the unexpected flash of light. I need more of Mako and her knights, more of Mako and her spirits. I can't wait for Tainted Rose in November.
Read
January 9, 2021Audiobook - Hoopla
I want to give this two separate ratings. For creativity and general ideas, I’d give it 4 stars. For execution, probably 2 stars.
The idea behind this story is creative; it’s a fun balance of fantasy with some sci-fi/lab experimentation. The premise is that a young girl was kidnapped and kept captive as an experiment for 16 years, until she is freed, and discovered to be a lost princess.
This is where things get muddy for me. This girl has been tortured and held captive and made to watch while her friends were raped and killed. She has killed on another’s order. She is so psychologically damaged that she has a split personality that takes over to protect her when things get rough. So...as soon as you get her out of her dungeon, you wash her up and put her in with a bunch of snobby kids at a school? Better yet...she totally understands social constructs and excels? No. I don’t believe it. There is too much trauma for her reactions to be believable.
The plot of this one reminded me (in parts) of Anne Bishop’s The Others series, and I couldn’t help but think that Bishop got the social aspects of coming out of trauma right, and this author just missed the mark. Yes, I realize I’m nitpicking a RH story.
I want to give this two separate ratings. For creativity and general ideas, I’d give it 4 stars. For execution, probably 2 stars.
The idea behind this story is creative; it’s a fun balance of fantasy with some sci-fi/lab experimentation. The premise is that a young girl was kidnapped and kept captive as an experiment for 16 years, until she is freed, and discovered to be a lost princess.
This is where things get muddy for me. This girl has been tortured and held captive and made to watch while her friends were raped and killed. She has killed on another’s order. She is so psychologically damaged that she has a split personality that takes over to protect her when things get rough. So...as soon as you get her out of her dungeon, you wash her up and put her in with a bunch of snobby kids at a school? Better yet...she totally understands social constructs and excels? No. I don’t believe it. There is too much trauma for her reactions to be believable.
The plot of this one reminded me (in parts) of Anne Bishop’s The Others series, and I couldn’t help but think that Bishop got the social aspects of coming out of trauma right, and this author just missed the mark. Yes, I realize I’m nitpicking a RH story.
July 10, 2018
Great Start
Welcome to the world of the Starlight Gods and the incredibly detailed universe they created. Incredible world building that had me amazed without even adding Makoto with her knights. We meet her as a prisoner under the control of her owner. After years of suffering a group of men who call themselves her Star Knights rescue her. This opens the way for massive secrets as well as plots only to end with a cliff hanger that leaves you wanting more. If you want to enter a whole new fantasy world with Gods, spirits, and magic then you have to check this out. I really enjoyed it so I give it 4/5 stars.
Welcome to the world of the Starlight Gods and the incredibly detailed universe they created. Incredible world building that had me amazed without even adding Makoto with her knights. We meet her as a prisoner under the control of her owner. After years of suffering a group of men who call themselves her Star Knights rescue her. This opens the way for massive secrets as well as plots only to end with a cliff hanger that leaves you wanting more. If you want to enter a whole new fantasy world with Gods, spirits, and magic then you have to check this out. I really enjoyed it so I give it 4/5 stars.
July 14, 2018
I love the world that Yumoyori has created. The MC is a complex and quirky character.
The dialogues with her spirits is hilarious and actually makes me laugh out loud. Each of her spirits contribute to what make Mako the special character that she is. And her five knights are just plain hot! Is it weird I’m kinda jealous? Oh well.. I’m off to the next book in the series
The dialogues with her spirits is hilarious and actually makes me laugh out loud. Each of her spirits contribute to what make Mako the special character that she is. And her five knights are just plain hot! Is it weird I’m kinda jealous? Oh well.. I’m off to the next book in the series
June 21, 2018
KU 3.5
The first thing about this is the absolutely deplorable editing, enough so that it does actually detract from the story. The next thing is that the storyline is actually a good one. Shame about the execution - pun intended.
The first thing about this is the absolutely deplorable editing, enough so that it does actually detract from the story. The next thing is that the storyline is actually a good one. Shame about the execution - pun intended.
May 6, 2018
I love a bit crazy
September 5, 2022
I keep saying this but avery did it again! Created pure epicness! I know that this is a revamp but this is my first time reading Dark Wish and I'm absolutely in love with this series! I can't wait for book 2! I love mako she is literally the perfect combo, sweet, adorable, humorous, smart, fiesty, and a concoction of bad assery! Her knights make you wish you would have them just pop up in your life and save you lmao but seriously I love how avery created the world in dark wish, the different realms and the different shifters and ranks and how much detail she put into describing everything is just wow I'm in love lol avery is literally my favorite author because she puts so much depth into her stories you fall in love with her characters and literally feel all the emotions I cried and laughed and felt anger, its a emtional roller coaster ride that you dont wanna get off of ive said this before but i wish all her fmcs were real so we could be best friends! I can't wait to see more of them and this cliffhanger as my mind going crazy I need more lol I just also want to say thank you to avery because through my ups and downs your epic stories have always been there for me and I can't say enough how much I appreciate everything you do! Your amazing!! ❤
January 10, 2018
What a great start to this series!!
From page 1 this book grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I absolutely loved all the different characters and the storyline, it was very refreshing. The concepts of spirits is super amazing, I loved seeing all the different nuisances of each kind. I adored Mako and her spirits, they truly do act like sisters and it was cool to see how they were there for her and I couldn't help but giggle with all the internal monologues. I thought it would be weird that her spirits would be attracted to the guy's various spirits, but it was very well done and I really enjoyed the interactions between them all.
I don't know how I can decide on a favorite guy to be honest. I think my favorites are Marcus and Elias, but Daniel and Ryder have characteristics that I fall for so it's really a toss up. Yay for #whychoose! Yumoyori created a great villain, he was pretty badass, but actual had some human traits still so the reader could sometimes see his point of view/felt for him in that situation.
I can't wait to read more from this series, I highly recommend Dark Wish to anyone wanting to get sucked into a great story. I can't wait to meet all the characters mentioned but not seen and to see some of the questions get answered in Book 2.
From page 1 this book grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I absolutely loved all the different characters and the storyline, it was very refreshing. The concepts of spirits is super amazing, I loved seeing all the different nuisances of each kind. I adored Mako and her spirits, they truly do act like sisters and it was cool to see how they were there for her and I couldn't help but giggle with all the internal monologues. I thought it would be weird that her spirits would be attracted to the guy's various spirits, but it was very well done and I really enjoyed the interactions between them all.
I don't know how I can decide on a favorite guy to be honest. I think my favorites are Marcus and Elias, but Daniel and Ryder have characteristics that I fall for so it's really a toss up. Yay for #whychoose! Yumoyori created a great villain, he was pretty badass, but actual had some human traits still so the reader could sometimes see his point of view/felt for him in that situation.
I can't wait to read more from this series, I highly recommend Dark Wish to anyone wanting to get sucked into a great story. I can't wait to meet all the characters mentioned but not seen and to see some of the questions get answered in Book 2.
January 15, 2018
Better than I imagined
I'm giving this book five starts because of how amazing it is. Mako and her hard life as a child easily makes you want to cry in the beginning of the story. But we don't just see a little scared girl. Little by little she shows her defiance and wishes for her freedom. Once she obtains that, she grows into a strong shifter who can defend herself in more ways than one. I really loved whating the relationships between her and her knights bloom. I also was still guessing at what Elias was till the very end. It's a perfect story that I know I can always come back to re-read!
I'm giving this book five starts because of how amazing it is. Mako and her hard life as a child easily makes you want to cry in the beginning of the story. But we don't just see a little scared girl. Little by little she shows her defiance and wishes for her freedom. Once she obtains that, she grows into a strong shifter who can defend herself in more ways than one. I really loved whating the relationships between her and her knights bloom. I also was still guessing at what Elias was till the very end. It's a perfect story that I know I can always come back to re-read!
September 5, 2022
“Did she just say unicorns are in the bible?” 🖤🦄
never know what’s going to come out of Mako’s mouth, but she’s got an interesting backstory … absolutely love Mako and her knights … fabulous world building and cannot wait for book 2 cuz that ending 😱
never know what’s going to come out of Mako’s mouth, but she’s got an interesting backstory … absolutely love Mako and her knights … fabulous world building and cannot wait for book 2 cuz that ending 😱
January 3, 2018
I don't see why this book is even getting a three star, four star or five star review. 😕 It sooooooo long and drawn out for no reason. I skipped pages just to hurry and get done. Mako was funny in some parts and it kept me going for a while, but then for crazy reasons she couldn't go home, telling her that they are sending word to her parents which will take like 9 days and I am thinking to myself, why didn't they just take her home right away? 😐 they keep her at a school close to a portal that will take her back to a prison, they just saved her from and then made it so her final exam is there on the planet(yes) that they saved her from. This who!e book was a cluster f**k. Excuse my language. I could see the potential in it, but ugh!!!! I just can't.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2017
This story is one of the best books I have read this year.
First, Yumoyori provides us with a story that is unique and refreshing. The idea of various worlds and spirits inhabiting people given to them by a deities, the Starlight Gods. When the people possess various spirits they are able to shift into those particular spirits - this is completely new take on shifters that isn't just reserved to the usual shifting creatures like wolves, panthers and dragons but includes demons and angels. The story is incredibly well written and I was experiencing all the feelings reading this book. I was angry, sad, happy and at multiple times, I laughed out loud at Makoto and the way she acted in a certain situation or some of her "inner monologues"
The characters within this book are incredibly well developed, especially the FMC Makoto. She is a perfect mixture of naive, innocent, strong and vulnerable and she acts the way that one would in her situation. I am loving the multiple spirits she has and the internal conversations she has with them. I love every single one of them, especially Rose. I especially love how her inner monologue is mostly spoken out loud, I find that pretty damn realistic considering she has four people inside her head. I also love that her angel isn't all goody goody, which angels are mostly always portrayed to be. That she can have a mischievous and devilish side. It is wonderful to read when she gets like this.
Her knights in shining armour (not literally, but they are called knights) are. . . There are no words to describe just how wonderful they are. I love how accepting they are of her little quirks, quirks other people would usually push her away for. The knights are absolutely hot as and I love every single one of them, but Ryder and Elias, who are my favourite. I also love the other secondary characters in this book, her professor, Matthew, Karen and Eli. They are all fantastic characters and again, are very accommodating and accepting of Makoto and I love that, they treat her like a person and doesn't treat her any differently.
This is such a perfect start to the series and the book ends feeding you all the feels. I was not expecting it to end the way it did and still reeling from it. I'm very interested to know what direction the story is going to go and where Yumoroi is going to take us. I could literally gush about this book all day, it is such a fantastic read and she has done a brilliant job for her first book. I will continue to read her books and am hanging for the second book. If you want a book that will make you feel them feels and is highly enjoyable, then I recommend this book, you won't be disappointed one bit.
First, Yumoyori provides us with a story that is unique and refreshing. The idea of various worlds and spirits inhabiting people given to them by a deities, the Starlight Gods. When the people possess various spirits they are able to shift into those particular spirits - this is completely new take on shifters that isn't just reserved to the usual shifting creatures like wolves, panthers and dragons but includes demons and angels. The story is incredibly well written and I was experiencing all the feelings reading this book. I was angry, sad, happy and at multiple times, I laughed out loud at Makoto and the way she acted in a certain situation or some of her "inner monologues"
The characters within this book are incredibly well developed, especially the FMC Makoto. She is a perfect mixture of naive, innocent, strong and vulnerable and she acts the way that one would in her situation. I am loving the multiple spirits she has and the internal conversations she has with them. I love every single one of them, especially Rose. I especially love how her inner monologue is mostly spoken out loud, I find that pretty damn realistic considering she has four people inside her head. I also love that her angel isn't all goody goody, which angels are mostly always portrayed to be. That she can have a mischievous and devilish side. It is wonderful to read when she gets like this.
Her knights in shining armour (not literally, but they are called knights) are. . . There are no words to describe just how wonderful they are. I love how accepting they are of her little quirks, quirks other people would usually push her away for. The knights are absolutely hot as and I love every single one of them, but Ryder and Elias, who are my favourite. I also love the other secondary characters in this book, her professor, Matthew, Karen and Eli. They are all fantastic characters and again, are very accommodating and accepting of Makoto and I love that, they treat her like a person and doesn't treat her any differently.
This is such a perfect start to the series and the book ends feeding you all the feels. I was not expecting it to end the way it did and still reeling from it. I'm very interested to know what direction the story is going to go and where Yumoroi is going to take us. I could literally gush about this book all day, it is such a fantastic read and she has done a brilliant job for her first book. I will continue to read her books and am hanging for the second book. If you want a book that will make you feel them feels and is highly enjoyable, then I recommend this book, you won't be disappointed one bit.
August 29, 2017
Dark wish follows Mako, the slightly crazy, but adorable main character who has essentially been under lock and key her whole life. Mako’s life has been a series of trials and torment, but when 4 strangers come to her rescue, things are about to change for her in ways she never thought possible.
The introduction of these men into her life start a series of chain reactions that were all predestined by the Stargods.
Mako faces trials of an all new kind, she has to venture into the world of other shifters and has to find her feet with every new revolation thrown her way.
Mako is actually kind of weird, but in a completely adorable way. She is striving to be normal, but normal is hard when you were born to stand out. Not to mention Rose, Lexi, Lily and hope all living within her brain, sharing her space. I absolutely loved all of Mako and her shifter inhabitants, everything about her just made me want to reach out and squeeze her into a hug.
I loved that she refused to be weakened from her experience, she was just as big a bad ass when she was pushed as the boys and that was awesome.
Ryder, the sexy leader of the group, I loved how invested he was in everything Mako did, he was there and supporting her with 100% of his being, his kindness just melted my heart.
Elias the sexy bad boy, I loved his soft side, even though he radiated anger a lot of the time. He was just so gentle and understanding with her, it as beautiful.
Marcus, the sexy funny man of the group. He was the one who tried to make Mako laugh, who enjoyed traingin with her and just tried to give Mako his support and never judged her. When some of his past was revealed I almost cried and started to understand his connection to Mako a whole lot better.
Daniel, the sexy softer and calm one of the group. I so wish we had seen some more of him, he just seemed utterly kind hearted and so genuine in his desire to help Mako in everyway he can. Everything about him made me want to hug him.
The secondary characters were really interesting too. Eli I have some suspicions about, but as far as her friendship with Mako goes, it was lovely. Seeing them bond as friends was so nice to see.
Leo, ugh, I want to punch in the head hard.
Matthew and Karen I love, like adoptive parents for Mako, they seem so lovely. And finally Mako’s familiar, all I can say is omg I want one!!!
There are so many things left unanswered about this book that I cannot wait to discover. Congratulations Yumo on such a great debut!
The introduction of these men into her life start a series of chain reactions that were all predestined by the Stargods.
Mako faces trials of an all new kind, she has to venture into the world of other shifters and has to find her feet with every new revolation thrown her way.
Mako is actually kind of weird, but in a completely adorable way. She is striving to be normal, but normal is hard when you were born to stand out. Not to mention Rose, Lexi, Lily and hope all living within her brain, sharing her space. I absolutely loved all of Mako and her shifter inhabitants, everything about her just made me want to reach out and squeeze her into a hug.
I loved that she refused to be weakened from her experience, she was just as big a bad ass when she was pushed as the boys and that was awesome.
Ryder, the sexy leader of the group, I loved how invested he was in everything Mako did, he was there and supporting her with 100% of his being, his kindness just melted my heart.
Elias the sexy bad boy, I loved his soft side, even though he radiated anger a lot of the time. He was just so gentle and understanding with her, it as beautiful.
Marcus, the sexy funny man of the group. He was the one who tried to make Mako laugh, who enjoyed traingin with her and just tried to give Mako his support and never judged her. When some of his past was revealed I almost cried and started to understand his connection to Mako a whole lot better.
Daniel, the sexy softer and calm one of the group. I so wish we had seen some more of him, he just seemed utterly kind hearted and so genuine in his desire to help Mako in everyway he can. Everything about him made me want to hug him.
The secondary characters were really interesting too. Eli I have some suspicions about, but as far as her friendship with Mako goes, it was lovely. Seeing them bond as friends was so nice to see.
Leo, ugh, I want to punch in the head hard.
Matthew and Karen I love, like adoptive parents for Mako, they seem so lovely. And finally Mako’s familiar, all I can say is omg I want one!!!
There are so many things left unanswered about this book that I cannot wait to discover. Congratulations Yumo on such a great debut!
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