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The Black Witch Chronicles #4
The Demon Tide
Nothing can stop the demon tide....
Newly exposed as the Black Witch of Prophecy, Elloren Gardner Grey is on the run, not knowing if she'll find friends or foes. With her fastmate, Lukas Grey, either dead or in the hands of High Mage Marcus Vogel, Elloren knows the only chance of turning the tide of the coming war is to seek allies who will listen long enough not to kill her on sight.
In the Eastern Realm, Water Fae Tierney Calix and Elloren's brother Trystan have joined the Wyvernguard to prepare for Vogel's attack. But Trystan is fighting on two fronts, as the most despised and least trusted member of the guard. And Tierney's bond with Erthia's most powerful river has exposed a danger even more terrifying than the looming war.
The Black Witch is back, and the Prophecy is at hand. It's time to fight. But Vogel has one more earth-shattering revelation for them all.
Books in The Black Witch Chronicles:
The Black Witch
The Iron Flower
The Shadow Wand
The Demon Tide
Wandfasted (novella)*
Light Mage (novella)*
*Also available in The Rebel Mages anthology
Newly exposed as the Black Witch of Prophecy, Elloren Gardner Grey is on the run, not knowing if she'll find friends or foes. With her fastmate, Lukas Grey, either dead or in the hands of High Mage Marcus Vogel, Elloren knows the only chance of turning the tide of the coming war is to seek allies who will listen long enough not to kill her on sight.
In the Eastern Realm, Water Fae Tierney Calix and Elloren's brother Trystan have joined the Wyvernguard to prepare for Vogel's attack. But Trystan is fighting on two fronts, as the most despised and least trusted member of the guard. And Tierney's bond with Erthia's most powerful river has exposed a danger even more terrifying than the looming war.
The Black Witch is back, and the Prophecy is at hand. It's time to fight. But Vogel has one more earth-shattering revelation for them all.
Books in The Black Witch Chronicles:
The Black Witch
The Iron Flower
The Shadow Wand
The Demon Tide
Wandfasted (novella)*
Light Mage (novella)*
*Also available in The Rebel Mages anthology
672 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2022
About the author
Laurie Forest
19 books3,352 followersLaurie Forest is a New York Times, USA Today & Internationally Bestselling Author who lives deep in the backwoods of Vermont where she sits in front of a wood stove drinking strong tea and dreaming up tales full of dryads, dragons and wands. She has penned THE BLACK WITCH, THE REBEL MAGES (a compilation of the prequel novels WANDFASTED & LIGHT MAGE), THE SHADOW WAND, THE DEMON TIDE & is currently writing THE DRYAD STORM (Book 5.0 of The Black Witch Chronicles).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 617 reviews
January 24, 2019
Well, hello there Book 4 ;) Just tweaked your working title (title not yet finalized). Book Baby is in twee fledgling state full of ambition and darkness and kissing.
Want to read
February 21, 2021Things I want in this book:
Lukas to not be dead
Yvan to be dead
#teamlukas #prayforlukas
Lukas to not be dead
Yvan to be dead
#teamlukas #prayforlukas
March 3, 2022
My heart is breaking giving this a two-star rating. I'm going to try not to post an utterly emotional review. I think the last time a book affected me this much was "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"...
I have loved this series. I have defended it, praised it, promoted it. I've rated every previous book five stars. I am constantly amazed more people don't know about it. I loved the characters. I loved how the author took on issues like discrimination, hate, and prejudices from the viewpoint of the sheltered main character and had her changing for the better.
"The Demon Tide" feels like it's lost its way on that journey of discovery. And yes, I will talk about the love triangle, but it's so much more than that when it comes to my emotional turmoil over this book.
I've tagged this as spoilers, and I will address different parts of the book, so stop now if you don't want to go down that path.
To start with the positives, the first half of this book was a beautiful escape back into the world of Erthia. Forest does a fantastic job of world-building, and her imagery is so enveloping.
The first 1/4th of the book focuses mainly on Trystan and Tierney. Trystan's story, in particular, was my favorite part. I loved the progression of his relationship with Vothe (his Wyvern shifter "guard") and found myself rooting for them hard. Vothe struggles with his preconceived prejudices while Trystan battles loneliness and isolation, and it's absolutely lovely how they fall into each other.
There is a brief encounter with characters I adore from the companion novellas - Fain, Sage, Ra'Ven - and we finally learn what happened to Tessla's brother Wren. The Lupines appear as well as an interesting, long-lost cousin. Two scenes in particular, where they all come together to help Elloren break free from the trees, I loved loved loved. Those are the moments I was hoping this book would be full of and needed so much more. And also why I'm giving the book two stars instead of just one. And, I love Raz’zor.
Unfortunately, the book's central theme seems to have deviated from social injustice (and maybe climate change) to straight-up romance. Not just Elloren's love triangle; no, that strangely took a back seat to literally EVERY character coupling off. And by every character, I mean we get sexy time from characters like Jules and Lucretia all the way to Professor Hawkyyn. The world is on the brink of utter doom, and in every chapter, I'm reading about the attraction everyone has for each other.
There is a celebrated love moon holiday (insert purple bling fest) in Noi land that's the "date and time" focal point of the entire book, so I could see where Forest was trying to take the story with all the romance, but it was just WAY too much. A little TMI, if I'm being honest. I didn't need to see the behind-the-scenes relationship development of half these characters. The rinse and repeat sequence with each couple of "I like you, it's the moon holiday, let's kiss, here's the Sanjire root, BOOM, oh no Vogel is here!" could have been cut in half. Sanjire root is mentioned at least 12 times.
I've invested multiple hours/days/weeks into reading and then rereading the previous books leading up to this installment. By the fourth book - I want ACTION, which was only in 1/5th of the story, sprinkled in towards the end. This brings me to my next point, and that is how Elloren, for almost the entire book, STILL doesn't have access to her magic. We're four books deep - give me some Black Witch kicking a*s. I'm ready for the battle. I want more of the alliance forming we saw in the first two books (even the third, with Chi Nam/V/Lukas), the teamwork - NOT the continued angst of Elloren over a lost lover.
Now, the gut-wrenching part - which has become the story's focal point - the love triangle. I'm not fond of love triangles. I understand this is a YA book, and love triangles are par for the course, so I went with it and didn't let it pull me out of the overall story. Do I have a preference? Sure, I leaned more towards Lukas. I like morally gray characters as they tend to be deeper and more complex. I also never connected with the push toward Yvan. It felt like Elloren only wanted Yvan because he absolutely hated her, and she couldn't understand it. By the end of the second book, I still had no clear idea who Yvan was as he kept such a tight lid on his background, and it was hard for me to see how Elloren could fall in love without knowing his real core identity. I liked that she and Lukas had a parallel story to her parents and the way they helped each other change - Lukas made her tougher/smarter, and she, in turn, made Lukas open his eyes and see the world without the lens of "power." They made each other better. That being said, after "Iron Flower," I figured the love story was Yvan's. But then... but then we have Lukas in "Shadow Wand," and I couldn't see how Elloren could ever go back to what she had with Yvan without it being incredibly uncomfortable to read.
And I was right. The whole focus of Elloren's story in "The Demon Tide" is her desperately trying to unbind her powers and find Lukas. Once Yvan showed up on the scene, I was so uncomfortable. There's Yvan (my heart hurt so bad for him in this book) with his Wyvern bond and draw to Elloren, who in turn is telling him she loves him but she picked Lukas and has to save him, and Lukas, who is imprisoned and tortured while trying with all the power he has to save Elloren from Vogel. And oh my gods all of that only to lead up to Lukas being killed off and...WHAT? He suicide bombs himself to break Elloren free from the fasting lines that Vogel is controlling her through - while Elloren and Yvan kiss (please pour more salt on the wound), sending their power into Lukas. It all sounds heroic, but the events directly after make it basically a pointless sacrifice.
I have to say I'm confused with the logic of killing off the fan-favorite love interest - and I say this based on multiple polls and comment sections, Lukas is always the favored. Now, Lukas fans will be bummed out his character is gone (I know I am, at least), and Yvan fans have to struggle through what is most definitely going to be an awkwardfest of Elloren working through her grief for Lukas. Really, Yvan deserves better. And Lukas should have been given a chance to be a part of the bigger Vogel battle - AND become a Dryad, dammit.
My dream scenario for this love triangle: (people have made jokes about this, but I say it in all seriousness) I would have LOVED them to form a relationship of three. Lukas already had Yvan's bond so it's not that big of a stretch to have them start experiencing a draw to each other as well as Elloren. There was so much potential to build on that kind of relationship after the brief scene where the three come together to break Lukas's thrall and fill him with magic. Why not have them work together to overthrow Vogel, and then all die so others can live at the end. PLUS, it would be something unique and different in the world of YA's main character romances. Oh well...
If you're still here, bless you. My review is already much longer than I meant it to be, and I haven't even touched on the harmful messaging of EVERY male in the story being obsessed with Tierney now that she's "so hot." I'm just going to keep my peace on that one.
I counted down the days for "The Demon Tide." I can't see myself doing that for the next book. I know I won't be able to stomach the Elloren/Yvan kissing and sexy time scenes - it's uncomfortable to think about on many levels right now. Vogel is also obviously the Icaral of prophecy, so all this "subverting the prophecy" stuff seems inconsequential. Forest has dropped so many Easter eggs that I will be shocked if that's not the story's path. Vogel's hot to the touch, he has PTSD from being called "evil" as a child for something, he has a strangely intense hatred of Icarals, he keeps surviving firebombs, he basically tells Elloren they are the two sides of the prophecy, AND he gives her his Wyvern bonded kiss (gross) that Elloren assumes is a corruption of Yvan's. There are more, but you get the gist.
I truly hope the final book is less "everyone is in love with someone/Elloren's stumbling around" and more "Elloren forms a kick-ass group of allies and they save the world from bigots."
I have loved this series. I have defended it, praised it, promoted it. I've rated every previous book five stars. I am constantly amazed more people don't know about it. I loved the characters. I loved how the author took on issues like discrimination, hate, and prejudices from the viewpoint of the sheltered main character and had her changing for the better.
"The Demon Tide" feels like it's lost its way on that journey of discovery. And yes, I will talk about the love triangle, but it's so much more than that when it comes to my emotional turmoil over this book.
I've tagged this as spoilers, and I will address different parts of the book, so stop now if you don't want to go down that path.
To start with the positives, the first half of this book was a beautiful escape back into the world of Erthia. Forest does a fantastic job of world-building, and her imagery is so enveloping.
The first 1/4th of the book focuses mainly on Trystan and Tierney. Trystan's story, in particular, was my favorite part. I loved the progression of his relationship with Vothe (his Wyvern shifter "guard") and found myself rooting for them hard. Vothe struggles with his preconceived prejudices while Trystan battles loneliness and isolation, and it's absolutely lovely how they fall into each other.
There is a brief encounter with characters I adore from the companion novellas - Fain, Sage, Ra'Ven - and we finally learn what happened to Tessla's brother Wren. The Lupines appear as well as an interesting, long-lost cousin. Two scenes in particular, where they all come together to help Elloren break free from the trees, I loved loved loved. Those are the moments I was hoping this book would be full of and needed so much more. And also why I'm giving the book two stars instead of just one. And, I love Raz’zor.
Unfortunately, the book's central theme seems to have deviated from social injustice (and maybe climate change) to straight-up romance. Not just Elloren's love triangle; no, that strangely took a back seat to literally EVERY character coupling off. And by every character, I mean we get sexy time from characters like Jules and Lucretia all the way to Professor Hawkyyn. The world is on the brink of utter doom, and in every chapter, I'm reading about the attraction everyone has for each other.
There is a celebrated love moon holiday (insert purple bling fest) in Noi land that's the "date and time" focal point of the entire book, so I could see where Forest was trying to take the story with all the romance, but it was just WAY too much. A little TMI, if I'm being honest. I didn't need to see the behind-the-scenes relationship development of half these characters. The rinse and repeat sequence with each couple of "I like you, it's the moon holiday, let's kiss, here's the Sanjire root, BOOM, oh no Vogel is here!" could have been cut in half. Sanjire root is mentioned at least 12 times.
I've invested multiple hours/days/weeks into reading and then rereading the previous books leading up to this installment. By the fourth book - I want ACTION, which was only in 1/5th of the story, sprinkled in towards the end. This brings me to my next point, and that is how Elloren, for almost the entire book, STILL doesn't have access to her magic. We're four books deep - give me some Black Witch kicking a*s. I'm ready for the battle. I want more of the alliance forming we saw in the first two books (even the third, with Chi Nam/V/Lukas), the teamwork - NOT the continued angst of Elloren over a lost lover.
Now, the gut-wrenching part - which has become the story's focal point - the love triangle. I'm not fond of love triangles. I understand this is a YA book, and love triangles are par for the course, so I went with it and didn't let it pull me out of the overall story. Do I have a preference? Sure, I leaned more towards Lukas. I like morally gray characters as they tend to be deeper and more complex. I also never connected with the push toward Yvan. It felt like Elloren only wanted Yvan because he absolutely hated her, and she couldn't understand it. By the end of the second book, I still had no clear idea who Yvan was as he kept such a tight lid on his background, and it was hard for me to see how Elloren could fall in love without knowing his real core identity. I liked that she and Lukas had a parallel story to her parents and the way they helped each other change - Lukas made her tougher/smarter, and she, in turn, made Lukas open his eyes and see the world without the lens of "power." They made each other better. That being said, after "Iron Flower," I figured the love story was Yvan's. But then... but then we have Lukas in "Shadow Wand," and I couldn't see how Elloren could ever go back to what she had with Yvan without it being incredibly uncomfortable to read.
And I was right. The whole focus of Elloren's story in "The Demon Tide" is her desperately trying to unbind her powers and find Lukas. Once Yvan showed up on the scene, I was so uncomfortable. There's Yvan (my heart hurt so bad for him in this book) with his Wyvern bond and draw to Elloren, who in turn is telling him she loves him but she picked Lukas and has to save him, and Lukas, who is imprisoned and tortured while trying with all the power he has to save Elloren from Vogel. And oh my gods all of that only to lead up to Lukas being killed off and...WHAT? He suicide bombs himself to break Elloren free from the fasting lines that Vogel is controlling her through - while Elloren and Yvan kiss (please pour more salt on the wound), sending their power into Lukas. It all sounds heroic, but the events directly after make it basically a pointless sacrifice.
I have to say I'm confused with the logic of killing off the fan-favorite love interest - and I say this based on multiple polls and comment sections, Lukas is always the favored. Now, Lukas fans will be bummed out his character is gone (I know I am, at least), and Yvan fans have to struggle through what is most definitely going to be an awkwardfest of Elloren working through her grief for Lukas. Really, Yvan deserves better. And Lukas should have been given a chance to be a part of the bigger Vogel battle - AND become a Dryad, dammit.
My dream scenario for this love triangle: (people have made jokes about this, but I say it in all seriousness) I would have LOVED them to form a relationship of three. Lukas already had Yvan's bond so it's not that big of a stretch to have them start experiencing a draw to each other as well as Elloren. There was so much potential to build on that kind of relationship after the brief scene where the three come together to break Lukas's thrall and fill him with magic. Why not have them work together to overthrow Vogel, and then all die so others can live at the end. PLUS, it would be something unique and different in the world of YA's main character romances. Oh well...
If you're still here, bless you. My review is already much longer than I meant it to be, and I haven't even touched on the harmful messaging of EVERY male in the story being obsessed with Tierney now that she's "so hot." I'm just going to keep my peace on that one.
I counted down the days for "The Demon Tide." I can't see myself doing that for the next book. I know I won't be able to stomach the Elloren/Yvan kissing and sexy time scenes - it's uncomfortable to think about on many levels right now. Vogel is also obviously the Icaral of prophecy, so all this "subverting the prophecy" stuff seems inconsequential. Forest has dropped so many Easter eggs that I will be shocked if that's not the story's path. Vogel's hot to the touch, he has PTSD from being called "evil" as a child for something, he has a strangely intense hatred of Icarals, he keeps surviving firebombs, he basically tells Elloren they are the two sides of the prophecy, AND he gives her his Wyvern bonded kiss (gross) that Elloren assumes is a corruption of Yvan's. There are more, but you get the gist.
I truly hope the final book is less "everyone is in love with someone/Elloren's stumbling around" and more "Elloren forms a kick-ass group of allies and they save the world from bigots."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
December 13, 2020So this is me, praying for a whole year that this one will be nothing like Shadow Wand. Less kissing and more common sense, pretty please.
Review of Shadow Wand here.
Review of Shadow Wand here.
March 4, 2022
In The Demon Tide Laurie Forest attempts to create build up for a final battle by introducing and bringing back a variety of characters and their back stories. My issue? I don't care about any of them. This book was written all over the place to the point of me not having the slightest clue who is where and why I should care about them. Elloren once again was on the run for 90% of the book, and then at the last moment finds strength to fight against Vogel, but plot twist, s h e c a n ' t and everyone nearly dies to save her sorry arse. Really great witch if you ask me. The book is sprinkled with actually quality writing, but it's so hard to follow that the rich writing gets lost somewhere along with the logical sense of the book. Apologies to anyone who liked this book, but I am disappointed.
March 10, 2022
First, I am a HUGE Black Witch fan! I’ve been telling everyone to read these books and I was eagerly waiting for this release… and I am so disappointed. Hence the 2 stars. I HATE to leave a negative review but I appreciate a kind but honest review as an avid reader myself.
Demon Tide had 18 separate point of views. 18. Some by very (very) minor side characters and some by completely new characters (this is the 4th book in a series, new characters are problematic). It read more like a collection of short stories or even fan fiction and actually did very little to advance the plot/storyline. It needs a ruthless edit to eliminate large chunks of unnecessary content. We spend less than 30% of the book with the main character (Elloren) and by the end of the book she is mostly where she began - hunted by Vogel and lacking the skill to wield her power. Her love triangle is painfully resolving though it’s written so ambiguously the reader isn’t quite sure what happens. It wasn’t a very satisfying read; still so many unanswered questions and very little progress. With only one book left in this series I’ve lost confidence that the author will be able to write a believable and compelling conclusion. From a series that started out so strongly, Demon Tide flounders.
Demon Tide had 18 separate point of views. 18. Some by very (very) minor side characters and some by completely new characters (this is the 4th book in a series, new characters are problematic). It read more like a collection of short stories or even fan fiction and actually did very little to advance the plot/storyline. It needs a ruthless edit to eliminate large chunks of unnecessary content. We spend less than 30% of the book with the main character (Elloren) and by the end of the book she is mostly where she began - hunted by Vogel and lacking the skill to wield her power. Her love triangle is painfully resolving though it’s written so ambiguously the reader isn’t quite sure what happens. It wasn’t a very satisfying read; still so many unanswered questions and very little progress. With only one book left in this series I’ve lost confidence that the author will be able to write a believable and compelling conclusion. From a series that started out so strongly, Demon Tide flounders.
Want to read
September 25, 2021This is me hoping there's more Yvan team people out there? I honestly thought he was the home runner, till I came here and saw the Luka train wagon
March 12, 2022
Oy vey.
Where to start.
First let me say that I have LOVED this series to date. I have recommended it and I really bought into it, and I was so excited for this book. I thought the concept was so unique and as a series, it really tackled some difficult and important issues.
I just don’t know what happened here?
Like….sigh.
Ok. *cracks neck*
Here we go:
1. This book had the most bizarre focus on all of the characters love interests. And when I say all, I mean ALL.
I don’t care about Jules and Lucretia’s romance. Sorry. I really don’t. I barely care about them as characters. I cared about them when they were relevant to the overall plot. They really aren’t in this story. Neither is their awkward less than steamy “romance”. It’s hard to read.
I only half care about Mora and Fyon’s. Half. But not really.
I didn’t mind Sparrow and Thierren’s story, but it didn’t need so much time in the book.
Instead of so many random characters, why didn’t we hear about Rafe and Diana?
We hardly heard about Aislinn and Jarod either?
Tierney we do hear a bit from which I did enjoy. But she doesn’t even get to be with the one exciting character (Viger) and they don’t explore that nearly well enough. The guy who she has this love-hate relationship with (her fellow Ashrai) strangely disappeared 75% of the way through the book and we hear nothing about him again??
I was happy to read more about Trystan and Vothe, that was great.
But then we get to the infamous love triangle.
This really made me angry, I’ll be honest.
Why did we have the previous book focus entirely on Elloren and Lukas (most of it with her grieving Yvan) and investing all the time and energy in that relationship (which was super rushed and a bit strange to begin with), only to kill Lukas off in this one?
We hardly hear from/see him here. They are separated from the end of the last book, and it’s so jarring and strange. This book is the exact same as the last book, but now just with the other guy.
Ugh. I didn’t buy it and it felt contrived.
I feel like it’s such cheap shots for all three of these characters and they all deserve so much more.
- Elloren finds and kisses a guy she likes.
- That guy dies **
- Elloren then grieves the heck out of him and is forced to marry and have sex with this other guy she knows.
- She does and ends up falling for him. (Is it just because they fucked and he was her first? Or does she actually love him for him? I can’t answer this even now. They were together for SUCH a short period of time, it’s hard to say.)
- we all end up buying into the morally gray Lukas and Elloren ship because it’s interesting and he’s interesting and it’s not conventional.
- Lukas is nabbed never to be seen again.
- Yvan is back on the scene and faithful like a dog. Sad that she’s married and all but still devoted to her.
- she wants them both.
- Lukas kills himself to save all three, in a weird vision sharing moment where they can all sense each other.
So. Lukas dies for no reason really, because his exploding did fuck all, except clear the way for Yvan.
Why spend the time writing about him though? Why not rather spend the time cultivating her relationship with Yvan? Who we still know very very little about. I feel like Lukas was cheated out of a story. I feel like Yvan is a shitty consolation prize, because she chose Lukas. Now she’s like…uh. Well. You’re still cool. Or hot. Da dum dum tisssssss.
No, it’s crap.
And Elloren is bouncing between these guys like a tennis ball. It’s crap for all three of them.
Why not be progressive and let them all be in a relationship together and see how that works out? You had the makings of it there with them sharing mental images and visions.
Also, I’d like to point out that Lukas is the guy she “loves”, and when he dies? There’s almost zero grief, and she’s kissing Yvan for his Wyvernfire before the end…wtf? This does not do justice to ANY of their characters! Why do it? It makes it all so cheap and nasty.
I really didn’t like how ALL the love interests came together on Xishlon night. It was unrelenting and seemed suuuuper contrived and fake. I don’t know. It didn’t do it for me at all. I didn’t find the romance to be moving in any way either. So much of it felt desperately awkward, and it wasn’t hot or romantic at all. Like below zero freezing on the steam-o-meter.
2. 80% of the book we have to read about Elloren still not having her powers. Come on. Where is the kick ass Black Witch we have ALL been waiting for? And then we get to see a weird version of her powers as she’s taken over by Vogel? Meh. And in the last pages, literally the last few pages she has access to them but still does nothing with them.
She’s still a helpless damsel waiting on someone to save her. I didn’t like the direction her story arc took in this book.
3. What was that bit at the end when Tierney and Viger suddenly appear in the super secret tree portal area? How? Why? I found their characters being there so strange and intrusive. Also, if they were able to just find her…isn’t everyone else able to just find her? Yes I know the birds took them there but still. It was bizarre.
4. Why are these formidable long lived forest guardians bickering at the end? They came across like petulant children. Are they not supposed to be wise? Thousands of years old? Why was one of them just as prejudiced as the Gardinarians? Meh. Felt like a rinse and repeat on an issue, and I wasn’t sure I bought YET ANOTHER angry prejudiced character hating on someone in the group. Heavens, we get it, but you’re over doing it now with the forest folks too.
5. I didn’t like all the jumping around of the dates and times - it was hard to keep track of. It didn’t read organically and it was a struggle to make sure I was seeing where, who, when exactly and which hour before Xishlon we were now talking about before I could read the story each chapter.
6. I usually love different POV’s. I didn’t love them in this. I felt like most of them were irrelevant. As much as I love Ollily’s character, I didn’t need her POV. Or Freyas from the Amazkaran. We hear from her once. Why not just write it from Wynter’s POV who is there in the scene? I also found Mora to not really add anything of substance to the story. It didn’t advance the overall plot at all. It was an excuse for more romance and it wasn’t even good romance. I didn’t need Lucretia’s POV. Again just another excuse for romance that didn’t even culminate in anything as they were interrupted when they started kissing. It was awkward and felt like reading about my parents kissing. It was again weird to read. Aside from being desperately awkward it did literally nothing for the story.
Too many characters POV’s and honestly only a quarter of them actually advanced the story.
I feel like I could have done without 75% of this book. There was so much fluff and nonsense about who was pairing off with who for one night, that I felt like the actual story suffered. In that not a hell of a lot happened in this book. We heard about how the Noi are just as prejudiced as the West, which was an interesting turn of events, but I didn’t feel like the topic of racism was dealt with as well as in the first book. God that first book was magical.
I feel like the bag of magic has a leak and by this stage of the series we are nearly all out. I’m terrified for the last book because I desperately desperately want it to be knock-your-socks-off amazing. And after this, I have very little hope of that happening.
The last 25% was good, it was well paced and interesting. It has things that actually advance the story.
Unfortunately super disappointed with this one.
Where to start.
First let me say that I have LOVED this series to date. I have recommended it and I really bought into it, and I was so excited for this book. I thought the concept was so unique and as a series, it really tackled some difficult and important issues.
I just don’t know what happened here?
Like….sigh.
Ok. *cracks neck*
Here we go:
1. This book had the most bizarre focus on all of the characters love interests. And when I say all, I mean ALL.
I don’t care about Jules and Lucretia’s romance. Sorry. I really don’t. I barely care about them as characters. I cared about them when they were relevant to the overall plot. They really aren’t in this story. Neither is their awkward less than steamy “romance”. It’s hard to read.
I only half care about Mora and Fyon’s. Half. But not really.
I didn’t mind Sparrow and Thierren’s story, but it didn’t need so much time in the book.
Instead of so many random characters, why didn’t we hear about Rafe and Diana?
We hardly heard about Aislinn and Jarod either?
Tierney we do hear a bit from which I did enjoy. But she doesn’t even get to be with the one exciting character (Viger) and they don’t explore that nearly well enough. The guy who she has this love-hate relationship with (her fellow Ashrai) strangely disappeared 75% of the way through the book and we hear nothing about him again??
I was happy to read more about Trystan and Vothe, that was great.
But then we get to the infamous love triangle.
This really made me angry, I’ll be honest.
Why did we have the previous book focus entirely on Elloren and Lukas (most of it with her grieving Yvan) and investing all the time and energy in that relationship (which was super rushed and a bit strange to begin with), only to kill Lukas off in this one?
We hardly hear from/see him here. They are separated from the end of the last book, and it’s so jarring and strange. This book is the exact same as the last book, but now just with the other guy.
Ugh. I didn’t buy it and it felt contrived.
I feel like it’s such cheap shots for all three of these characters and they all deserve so much more.
- Elloren finds and kisses a guy she likes.
- That guy dies **
- Elloren then grieves the heck out of him and is forced to marry and have sex with this other guy she knows.
- She does and ends up falling for him. (Is it just because they fucked and he was her first? Or does she actually love him for him? I can’t answer this even now. They were together for SUCH a short period of time, it’s hard to say.)
- we all end up buying into the morally gray Lukas and Elloren ship because it’s interesting and he’s interesting and it’s not conventional.
- Lukas is nabbed never to be seen again.
- Yvan is back on the scene and faithful like a dog. Sad that she’s married and all but still devoted to her.
- she wants them both.
- Lukas kills himself to save all three, in a weird vision sharing moment where they can all sense each other.
So. Lukas dies for no reason really, because his exploding did fuck all, except clear the way for Yvan.
Why spend the time writing about him though? Why not rather spend the time cultivating her relationship with Yvan? Who we still know very very little about. I feel like Lukas was cheated out of a story. I feel like Yvan is a shitty consolation prize, because she chose Lukas. Now she’s like…uh. Well. You’re still cool. Or hot. Da dum dum tisssssss.
No, it’s crap.
And Elloren is bouncing between these guys like a tennis ball. It’s crap for all three of them.
Why not be progressive and let them all be in a relationship together and see how that works out? You had the makings of it there with them sharing mental images and visions.
Also, I’d like to point out that Lukas is the guy she “loves”, and when he dies? There’s almost zero grief, and she’s kissing Yvan for his Wyvernfire before the end…wtf? This does not do justice to ANY of their characters! Why do it? It makes it all so cheap and nasty.
I really didn’t like how ALL the love interests came together on Xishlon night. It was unrelenting and seemed suuuuper contrived and fake. I don’t know. It didn’t do it for me at all. I didn’t find the romance to be moving in any way either. So much of it felt desperately awkward, and it wasn’t hot or romantic at all. Like below zero freezing on the steam-o-meter.
2. 80% of the book we have to read about Elloren still not having her powers. Come on. Where is the kick ass Black Witch we have ALL been waiting for? And then we get to see a weird version of her powers as she’s taken over by Vogel? Meh. And in the last pages, literally the last few pages she has access to them but still does nothing with them.
She’s still a helpless damsel waiting on someone to save her. I didn’t like the direction her story arc took in this book.
3. What was that bit at the end when Tierney and Viger suddenly appear in the super secret tree portal area? How? Why? I found their characters being there so strange and intrusive. Also, if they were able to just find her…isn’t everyone else able to just find her? Yes I know the birds took them there but still. It was bizarre.
4. Why are these formidable long lived forest guardians bickering at the end? They came across like petulant children. Are they not supposed to be wise? Thousands of years old? Why was one of them just as prejudiced as the Gardinarians? Meh. Felt like a rinse and repeat on an issue, and I wasn’t sure I bought YET ANOTHER angry prejudiced character hating on someone in the group. Heavens, we get it, but you’re over doing it now with the forest folks too.
5. I didn’t like all the jumping around of the dates and times - it was hard to keep track of. It didn’t read organically and it was a struggle to make sure I was seeing where, who, when exactly and which hour before Xishlon we were now talking about before I could read the story each chapter.
6. I usually love different POV’s. I didn’t love them in this. I felt like most of them were irrelevant. As much as I love Ollily’s character, I didn’t need her POV. Or Freyas from the Amazkaran. We hear from her once. Why not just write it from Wynter’s POV who is there in the scene? I also found Mora to not really add anything of substance to the story. It didn’t advance the overall plot at all. It was an excuse for more romance and it wasn’t even good romance. I didn’t need Lucretia’s POV. Again just another excuse for romance that didn’t even culminate in anything as they were interrupted when they started kissing. It was awkward and felt like reading about my parents kissing. It was again weird to read. Aside from being desperately awkward it did literally nothing for the story.
Too many characters POV’s and honestly only a quarter of them actually advanced the story.
I feel like I could have done without 75% of this book. There was so much fluff and nonsense about who was pairing off with who for one night, that I felt like the actual story suffered. In that not a hell of a lot happened in this book. We heard about how the Noi are just as prejudiced as the West, which was an interesting turn of events, but I didn’t feel like the topic of racism was dealt with as well as in the first book. God that first book was magical.
I feel like the bag of magic has a leak and by this stage of the series we are nearly all out. I’m terrified for the last book because I desperately desperately want it to be knock-your-socks-off amazing. And after this, I have very little hope of that happening.
The last 25% was good, it was well paced and interesting. It has things that actually advance the story.
Unfortunately super disappointed with this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2022
Édit: so just got the book and I’m only a bit over a 100 pages in but you can definitely tell it’s a white person writing about racial discrimination. It’s not looking great guys I’ll update when I finish though
Édit 2: skin read the last half of the book it was awful. I have some things to say about this book. I’ve been team Yvan since the beginning but she pretty much only got with him as a consolation prize. Fuck that. Actually this whole love triangle was awful and Lukas never even should have been a real option in a book with themes centered around race. It’s incredibly insulting to any POC reader.
just to sum up the love triangle real quick. Elloren is constantly saying how she’s in love with both of them but ends up choosing Lukas and Yvan is all nice and like you belong to him now. They both go and save him and Elloren gets controlled by Vogel and Lukas kills himself to save her. And her and Yvan decide to be like fuck the prophecy and bond. This is what I picked up from my skin read of the second half of the book so if there is more to it please feel free to inform me. It’s really uncomfortable to think about. So hopefully in the next book she realize it’s always been Yvan I guess. Now on to my other complaints
It felt like she only stayed with Lukas because she lost her virginity to him. Which sends a horrible message. She kept saying I’ve “committed” to Lukas like she didn’t also commit to Yvan. The only difference is that she had to lose her virginity to one. And y’all Lukas even managed to force kiss her in her dreams. That wasn’t romantic Laurie.
She based a book about racial discrimination around romance. Almost all the chapters were built around romance. A book about racism. RACISM. Was centered around romance. That was not appropriate. I get a headache just thinking about it.
Another not appropriate thing that happened was Sparrow fantasizing about having sex with Thirienne next to a mourning rape victim. I actually had to put the book down for a bit after that.
The other POVS were okay but to be honest they didn’t really add anything besides romance to the story. Almost no plot progression in any other POV besides Elloren’s.
Reading these last to books made me realize why I liked the first two books and Yvan and Elloren’s relationship so much. Besides the fact that it keeps in theme with the story and isn’t offensive. Because the first two books don’t really revolve around romance. They revolve around navigating and trying to solve the problems of a very prejudiced world and the romance happened around that. The romances enhanced the plot but they didn’t drive it. And that made all the romances feel very sincere. It was the opposite in the last two books. The story revolves around the romance which it shouldn’t have done.
I have more to say but I’m just really sad right now so I’ll have to come back. I’m use to taking punches from White Authors who think they can write about race but the first two books handled it so well that I thought Laurie Forest was different. And this one actually hurt I guess.
Édit 2: skin read the last half of the book it was awful. I have some things to say about this book. I’ve been team Yvan since the beginning but she pretty much only got with him as a consolation prize. Fuck that. Actually this whole love triangle was awful and Lukas never even should have been a real option in a book with themes centered around race. It’s incredibly insulting to any POC reader.
just to sum up the love triangle real quick. Elloren is constantly saying how she’s in love with both of them but ends up choosing Lukas and Yvan is all nice and like you belong to him now. They both go and save him and Elloren gets controlled by Vogel and Lukas kills himself to save her. And her and Yvan decide to be like fuck the prophecy and bond. This is what I picked up from my skin read of the second half of the book so if there is more to it please feel free to inform me. It’s really uncomfortable to think about. So hopefully in the next book she realize it’s always been Yvan I guess. Now on to my other complaints
It felt like she only stayed with Lukas because she lost her virginity to him. Which sends a horrible message. She kept saying I’ve “committed” to Lukas like she didn’t also commit to Yvan. The only difference is that she had to lose her virginity to one. And y’all Lukas even managed to force kiss her in her dreams. That wasn’t romantic Laurie.
She based a book about racial discrimination around romance. Almost all the chapters were built around romance. A book about racism. RACISM. Was centered around romance. That was not appropriate. I get a headache just thinking about it.
Another not appropriate thing that happened was Sparrow fantasizing about having sex with Thirienne next to a mourning rape victim. I actually had to put the book down for a bit after that.
The other POVS were okay but to be honest they didn’t really add anything besides romance to the story. Almost no plot progression in any other POV besides Elloren’s.
Reading these last to books made me realize why I liked the first two books and Yvan and Elloren’s relationship so much. Besides the fact that it keeps in theme with the story and isn’t offensive. Because the first two books don’t really revolve around romance. They revolve around navigating and trying to solve the problems of a very prejudiced world and the romance happened around that. The romances enhanced the plot but they didn’t drive it. And that made all the romances feel very sincere. It was the opposite in the last two books. The story revolves around the romance which it shouldn’t have done.
I have more to say but I’m just really sad right now so I’ll have to come back. I’m use to taking punches from White Authors who think they can write about race but the first two books handled it so well that I thought Laurie Forest was different. And this one actually hurt I guess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2022
FINAL REVIEW:
So. Many. Feels.
The Demon Tide made me scream in joy, frustration, and horror. I shed tears of happiness and heartbreak.
The stakes just get impossibly higher, and the romance is the swooniest I've ever had the pleasure of reading. New couples and heart-stopping reunions. The kissing scenes killed me with the hotness. All this beautiful romance is woven with a deep, complex, and gripping plot that left me at the edge of my seat.
A terrifyingly accurate parallel is drawn between Erthia and our world. How prejudice corrupts and blinds even the smartest people. How fear can turn common people into monsters. The emotional trauma that comes with losing faith and discovering the lies imposed on someone since childhood. So many layers create a society that feels entirely real, and it's as magical as it is flawed.
There is, however, some light at the end of the tunnel, a message of hope, and an invitation to defend what's right.
Laurie Forest has become my favorite author and I can't wait for the conclusion of this mind-blowing series.
I wish I could give this magical, purple book a million stars.
___________________________________________
OCT 21 2021
So, I won't spoil anything, but this book is simply AMAZING.
Action, romance, magic, swooning, Elloren being a total badass. It's exquisite.
And #teamyvan since day one. It was love at first scowl for me.
So. Many. Feels.
The Demon Tide made me scream in joy, frustration, and horror. I shed tears of happiness and heartbreak.
The stakes just get impossibly higher, and the romance is the swooniest I've ever had the pleasure of reading. New couples and heart-stopping reunions. The kissing scenes killed me with the hotness. All this beautiful romance is woven with a deep, complex, and gripping plot that left me at the edge of my seat.
A terrifyingly accurate parallel is drawn between Erthia and our world. How prejudice corrupts and blinds even the smartest people. How fear can turn common people into monsters. The emotional trauma that comes with losing faith and discovering the lies imposed on someone since childhood. So many layers create a society that feels entirely real, and it's as magical as it is flawed.
There is, however, some light at the end of the tunnel, a message of hope, and an invitation to defend what's right.
Laurie Forest has become my favorite author and I can't wait for the conclusion of this mind-blowing series.
I wish I could give this magical, purple book a million stars.
___________________________________________
OCT 21 2021
So, I won't spoil anything, but this book is simply AMAZING.
Action, romance, magic, swooning, Elloren being a total badass. It's exquisite.
And #teamyvan since day one. It was love at first scowl for me.
March 6, 2022
This book is not fun for fans of Lukas. Why did he have to die? He could have lived and help them fight the war. Imagine him being in the forest with Yvan & Elloren when she turned driad witch. The fast marks were removed, her wyvern bond was out too. She had a clean slate. I felt like his death was a solution to sort the love triangle so she could be bonded with Yvan again.
I love all her books. Book one & two were 5 stars but book 3 was so much more. I’m a big fan of Lukas’ gray morality character. He was written to be more complex than Yvan. He and Elloren made each other better. Just like Vale & Tessla. While Yvan was written as the hate to love, forbidden YA cliche end game. Why did Lukas’ character have to bloom in book 3 only to be killed off? Such a waste. Also, Yvan getting the girl after felt like a consolation prize. Yvan’s character deserves so much more. Although I am a Lukas fan and I was waiting to see how Laurie would write Yvan better than Lukas in this book if he was end game, she didn’t. So that I could say that yeah she does belong with Yvan.
Lukas - makes her stronger, trains her
Yvan - just keeps saving her
Also, I could do away with all the other characters & their pov. I just wanted to stick to the plot. Honestly, not a lot happened here. I just wanted Elloren to finally be backed up with her power and fight. It’s always, she’s stronger than the black witch. Show us! Let her weild it a bit. No? We’re on book 4 already! Recently the books just keep ending making her sound stronger but it’s still not enough. This was my fav series but I don’t think I’ll be continuing.
I love all her books. Book one & two were 5 stars but book 3 was so much more. I’m a big fan of Lukas’ gray morality character. He was written to be more complex than Yvan. He and Elloren made each other better. Just like Vale & Tessla. While Yvan was written as the hate to love, forbidden YA cliche end game. Why did Lukas’ character have to bloom in book 3 only to be killed off? Such a waste. Also, Yvan getting the girl after felt like a consolation prize. Yvan’s character deserves so much more. Although I am a Lukas fan and I was waiting to see how Laurie would write Yvan better than Lukas in this book if he was end game, she didn’t. So that I could say that yeah she does belong with Yvan.
Lukas - makes her stronger, trains her
Yvan - just keeps saving her
Also, I could do away with all the other characters & their pov. I just wanted to stick to the plot. Honestly, not a lot happened here. I just wanted Elloren to finally be backed up with her power and fight. It’s always, she’s stronger than the black witch. Show us! Let her weild it a bit. No? We’re on book 4 already! Recently the books just keep ending making her sound stronger but it’s still not enough. This was my fav series but I don’t think I’ll be continuing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2022
Warning: I have not had time to process my feelings. So this is purely stream of consciousness. I just finished reading the book minutes ago.
---
I saw one review that went: I feel betrayed.
Yup. That pretty much sums it up. I want to end this whole series with just The Shadow Wand and wish this book out of existence.
Like SERIOUSLY?!
I called this plot two years ago after reading TSW. I predicted Vogel was going to try to corrupt Lukas and then Lukas would have to sacrifice himself, thus freeing the way for Yvan and Elloren to be together. But then I told myself, the author wouldn't do anything that obvious. Right? Right?
WRONG. Yes she did. And she did it in such a cringey way as well. All these multiple POVs that I don't give a sh*t about, everyone pairing up, sharing kisses (honestly, it felt like The Bachelor at one point *barf). And then she fasts Elloren to Vogel (we have chapters named Elloren VOGEL, for crying out loud. It made me want to puke every time I saw it.) And yet again, Elloren has to be rescued, because the girl can't be strong enough to wield her own power, despite the many sacrifices people have made for her.
And speaking of sacrifices. Lukas dying. Lukas giving himself up while having to watch Elloren and Yvan kissing. And then having his sacrifice all for nothing?! He truly was the best character in this book. And it broke my heart to see him killed off.
I don't know. I'm obviously upset. I hate this book. I saw the Lukas death spoiler even before I read this blasted thing, which I wanted to kick myself for in the beginning but now I'm seeing as a blessing in disguise. Because I don't know how I would've handled Lukas' death in real time.
I hate it so much that I don't even know if I'll be reading the last one.
UGH.
---
I saw one review that went: I feel betrayed.
Yup. That pretty much sums it up. I want to end this whole series with just The Shadow Wand and wish this book out of existence.
Like SERIOUSLY?!
I called this plot two years ago after reading TSW. I predicted Vogel was going to try to corrupt Lukas and then Lukas would have to sacrifice himself, thus freeing the way for Yvan and Elloren to be together. But then I told myself, the author wouldn't do anything that obvious. Right? Right?
WRONG. Yes she did. And she did it in such a cringey way as well. All these multiple POVs that I don't give a sh*t about, everyone pairing up, sharing kisses (honestly, it felt like The Bachelor at one point *barf). And then she fasts Elloren to Vogel (we have chapters named Elloren VOGEL, for crying out loud. It made me want to puke every time I saw it.) And yet again, Elloren has to be rescued, because the girl can't be strong enough to wield her own power, despite the many sacrifices people have made for her.
And speaking of sacrifices. Lukas dying. Lukas giving himself up while having to watch Elloren and Yvan kissing. And then having his sacrifice all for nothing?! He truly was the best character in this book. And it broke my heart to see him killed off.
I don't know. I'm obviously upset. I hate this book. I saw the Lukas death spoiler even before I read this blasted thing, which I wanted to kick myself for in the beginning but now I'm seeing as a blessing in disguise. Because I don't know how I would've handled Lukas' death in real time.
I hate it so much that I don't even know if I'll be reading the last one.
UGH.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2022
I don’t understand all the five star ratings… I really don’t.
First, let me say this review has SPOILERS so read at your own risk.
Second, know that I really love the first three books so demon tide was such a sad, frustrating, disappointment.
And third, this will be very long and probably all over the place!
Demon Tide was sooo slow. Literally NOTHING happened until the last 100 pages.
There are approximately 57 different POVs that NO ONE GIVES A CRAP ABOUT. whoops sorry for the caps.
For real though, why not keep it the main characters from the first book? I just wanted Elloren, Lukas, her brother, the lupines, and tierney and aislynn. That’s it!!
The whole purple moon holiday was pointless and dragged the story on forever.
Laurie Forest said this was a “kissing book” and let me tell you there was NO KISSING. at least any that mattered.
Something that was annoying is how beautiful Tierney is now. We get it, but why does everyone want to be with her? And she is all over the place with these guys. The whole Elloren cousin thing for tierney was pointless and wish all of it was skipped.
The East calling Trystan a crow and roach every sentence was so annoying. He has shown them so many times that he is there for them and yet they still try to kill him?! How will you learn if you kill him!!
When everything finally started happening we got like 8 different POVs on what everyone saw from the mountain. That was boring and a waste of my time.
Really Elloren? You dropped the wand? Just dropped it?
This book was just one wrong thing after another. We do need a break and something good once in awhile you know.
This whole bond between Yvan and Elloren that is there, then not, oh wait it’s back, oh no it’s gone, ahh let’s bring it back. Annoying.
Lukas. The MVP of the whole book. At this point. Find someone else because you are too good for Elloren. She is out there kissing Yvan when she supposedly chose you? No.
And what he died for NOTHING. He died while Elloren is smacking lips with Yvan and then hello Vogel is still alive and oh guess what? That army he had in the mountain was nothing compared to what he has else where. So freaking stupid. Bull crap. HE DESERVED BETTER
And apparently Laurie has a thing for dead people not staying dead? But I doubt we will get that courtesy for Lukas.
And look. Yes I am team Lukas. But even team Yvan people should be upset because this is the worst love triangle I have ever read.
Also, the real world has so much political crap going on, I don’t need it excessively in my fantasy books either. It’s like she’s trying to force her own views down our throats.
So apparently Elloren is a type of fae now? She totally just changed races and the forest that tied her lines is now with her. Ok.
This series should have been a triology.
Demon Tide was so bad it’s funny? Haha
What an Xishlon Festival of a book. (A crap show, a dump fire- you get the picture. Some fellow bookstagrammers came up with this new saying and I’m obsessed.)
First, let me say this review has SPOILERS so read at your own risk.
Second, know that I really love the first three books so demon tide was such a sad, frustrating, disappointment.
And third, this will be very long and probably all over the place!
Demon Tide was sooo slow. Literally NOTHING happened until the last 100 pages.
There are approximately 57 different POVs that NO ONE GIVES A CRAP ABOUT. whoops sorry for the caps.
For real though, why not keep it the main characters from the first book? I just wanted Elloren, Lukas, her brother, the lupines, and tierney and aislynn. That’s it!!
The whole purple moon holiday was pointless and dragged the story on forever.
Laurie Forest said this was a “kissing book” and let me tell you there was NO KISSING. at least any that mattered.
Something that was annoying is how beautiful Tierney is now. We get it, but why does everyone want to be with her? And she is all over the place with these guys. The whole Elloren cousin thing for tierney was pointless and wish all of it was skipped.
The East calling Trystan a crow and roach every sentence was so annoying. He has shown them so many times that he is there for them and yet they still try to kill him?! How will you learn if you kill him!!
When everything finally started happening we got like 8 different POVs on what everyone saw from the mountain. That was boring and a waste of my time.
Really Elloren? You dropped the wand? Just dropped it?
This book was just one wrong thing after another. We do need a break and something good once in awhile you know.
This whole bond between Yvan and Elloren that is there, then not, oh wait it’s back, oh no it’s gone, ahh let’s bring it back. Annoying.
Lukas. The MVP of the whole book. At this point. Find someone else because you are too good for Elloren. She is out there kissing Yvan when she supposedly chose you? No.
And what he died for NOTHING. He died while Elloren is smacking lips with Yvan and then hello Vogel is still alive and oh guess what? That army he had in the mountain was nothing compared to what he has else where. So freaking stupid. Bull crap. HE DESERVED BETTER
And apparently Laurie has a thing for dead people not staying dead? But I doubt we will get that courtesy for Lukas.
And look. Yes I am team Lukas. But even team Yvan people should be upset because this is the worst love triangle I have ever read.
Also, the real world has so much political crap going on, I don’t need it excessively in my fantasy books either. It’s like she’s trying to force her own views down our throats.
So apparently Elloren is a type of fae now? She totally just changed races and the forest that tied her lines is now with her. Ok.
This series should have been a triology.
Demon Tide was so bad it’s funny? Haha
What an Xishlon Festival of a book. (A crap show, a dump fire- you get the picture. Some fellow bookstagrammers came up with this new saying and I’m obsessed.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2022
I wanted this book to be on par with the first two, but it fell off the cliff that book 3 was teetering on. Very long and slow with a meandering plot (calling it a plot is generous), a dizzying amount of locations, way too many unnecessary and scattered points of view, stiff and unnatural dialog and overwrought and often repetitive writing, and Elloren is still basically useless for a lot of the book. I’m sorry, how long have you been struggling with your power? This was a really annoying issue for me.
Also, everyone is in love with everyone, and don’t get me started on the love triangles. The romantic relationships were the main focus even though a lot of those characters mean next to nothing to us and the development of the characters and new and existing relationships was weak at best.
Most painful to me is that we get so little of the core group we care about, like the beloved Lupine siblings and Aislinn. And what we do get is a pale echo of the vivid characters we had in the previous books.
What really salted the wound was that the tone was sooooooo formal and serious throughout and there was no spark of heart, just some cliche romantic murmurs sprinkled in between the usual refrain about needing to unite, crush evil, etc etc. Everyone felt so flat and everything was just dull and bleak. What even the heck was this disjointed disaster? I’m so disappointed! I’m mourning all the characters still alive, because they felt like they were replaced with..well shadows of themselves. But not actual monstrous shadow creatures, because that would be too interesting. Oh well, moving on.
Also, everyone is in love with everyone, and don’t get me started on the love triangles. The romantic relationships were the main focus even though a lot of those characters mean next to nothing to us and the development of the characters and new and existing relationships was weak at best.
Most painful to me is that we get so little of the core group we care about, like the beloved Lupine siblings and Aislinn. And what we do get is a pale echo of the vivid characters we had in the previous books.
What really salted the wound was that the tone was sooooooo formal and serious throughout and there was no spark of heart, just some cliche romantic murmurs sprinkled in between the usual refrain about needing to unite, crush evil, etc etc. Everyone felt so flat and everything was just dull and bleak. What even the heck was this disjointed disaster? I’m so disappointed! I’m mourning all the characters still alive, because they felt like they were replaced with..well shadows of themselves. But not actual monstrous shadow creatures, because that would be too interesting. Oh well, moving on.
March 9, 2022
Well, that was utterly disappointing. Nearly 700 pages, and almost nothing of significance happens to further the plot. The Demon Tide is an example of how to ruin a story that had a lot of potential.
I guess I should start my review with the good stuff. Unfortunately, it’s a short list.
- The inclusion of nature, protecting it, and maintaining a natural balance is a nice theme.
- Elloren’s additional family members and the connection to her parents and uncle felt good but also seemed too convenient.
- The only really good part of this book for me was the acceptance and transformation of Trystan Gardner.
Now, for the rest…(minimal spoilers below)
- Elloren is probably the most disappointing protagonist I’ve ever read. Her character development is seriously lacking. She does not grow whatsoever. I tire of her.
- Lukas is a great character that was done wrong. What an insult to a strong character to have him sacrifice himself for nothing at all. Nothing. It’s like the author just discarded him for convenience. He deserves better. I also struggle to understand why so much time would be spent developing him and his relationship with Elloren if he’s not her end game. We could have just skipped book 3 completely.
- I won’t even waste my time with Yvan. Why should I? Forest didn’t. 🤷🏻♀️
- The constant repeating of the same scene through different characters was unnecessary. Who really cares if everyone feels the pull of the moon and falls in love? We don’t need chapters upon chapters of so many characters hooking up. I was desensitized in no time. We also don’t need characters added just to fill this purpose. And what about the main characters? Why spend so much time on all the love interests and leave that out for your main characters completely? I wanted to vomit and was ready for Vogel by the time I read all that nonsense.
- Vogel is not a good villain. No character should have nearly infinite and omniscient power unless his name is God…and he was barely present at the beginning when the story was actually good. I would appreciate his character much more if he had clearly defined boundaries that Forest used in holding herself accountable as she wrote him into being. He’s not mysterious. He’s not scary. He’s not even annoying at this point. He’s just boring and can apparently do whatever he wants with his Shadow Wand.
- I also don’t understand why the permanency of death does not apply to characters in this story. Too many times characters were supposedly dead only to return. It means nothing to me if anyone dies at this point.
- The writing was hard to follow. This book had too many run on sentences and too much moving forward and backward on the timeline, which made it annoying to read.
For the first two books to have been so good and had such potential, I am extremely disappointed with where the story has gone since. I enjoyed book 3 only because I appreciated that she was finally developing a relationship between Elloren and Lukas. Honestly, I didn’t care which one she ended up with as long as it was done well. I thought it was a good attempt and a nice arc for Lukas’s character. This book made me wonder why she wrote it at all. Clearly Elloren was in love with him, considering how little she grieves and how quick she is to accept Yvan in his place. 🙄 I don’t see the point in reading the next book. I wish I’d just stopped at #3.
I guess I should start my review with the good stuff. Unfortunately, it’s a short list.
- The inclusion of nature, protecting it, and maintaining a natural balance is a nice theme.
- Elloren’s additional family members and the connection to her parents and uncle felt good but also seemed too convenient.
- The only really good part of this book for me was the acceptance and transformation of Trystan Gardner.
Now, for the rest…(minimal spoilers below)
- Elloren is probably the most disappointing protagonist I’ve ever read. Her character development is seriously lacking. She does not grow whatsoever. I tire of her.
- Lukas is a great character that was done wrong. What an insult to a strong character to have him sacrifice himself for nothing at all. Nothing. It’s like the author just discarded him for convenience. He deserves better. I also struggle to understand why so much time would be spent developing him and his relationship with Elloren if he’s not her end game. We could have just skipped book 3 completely.
- I won’t even waste my time with Yvan. Why should I? Forest didn’t. 🤷🏻♀️
- The constant repeating of the same scene through different characters was unnecessary. Who really cares if everyone feels the pull of the moon and falls in love? We don’t need chapters upon chapters of so many characters hooking up. I was desensitized in no time. We also don’t need characters added just to fill this purpose. And what about the main characters? Why spend so much time on all the love interests and leave that out for your main characters completely? I wanted to vomit and was ready for Vogel by the time I read all that nonsense.
- Vogel is not a good villain. No character should have nearly infinite and omniscient power unless his name is God…and he was barely present at the beginning when the story was actually good. I would appreciate his character much more if he had clearly defined boundaries that Forest used in holding herself accountable as she wrote him into being. He’s not mysterious. He’s not scary. He’s not even annoying at this point. He’s just boring and can apparently do whatever he wants with his Shadow Wand.
- I also don’t understand why the permanency of death does not apply to characters in this story. Too many times characters were supposedly dead only to return. It means nothing to me if anyone dies at this point.
- The writing was hard to follow. This book had too many run on sentences and too much moving forward and backward on the timeline, which made it annoying to read.
For the first two books to have been so good and had such potential, I am extremely disappointed with where the story has gone since. I enjoyed book 3 only because I appreciated that she was finally developing a relationship between Elloren and Lukas. Honestly, I didn’t care which one she ended up with as long as it was done well. I thought it was a good attempt and a nice arc for Lukas’s character. This book made me wonder why she wrote it at all. Clearly Elloren was in love with him, considering how little she grieves and how quick she is to accept Yvan in his place. 🙄 I don’t see the point in reading the next book. I wish I’d just stopped at #3.
September 22, 2022
I'm over it with this series, I really loved the first book but every other book in the series has felt like it falls short. A lot of the side characters got much more time in this and it would have been fine if everyone's plot line didn't seem to revolve around their romantic entanglements. I feel like it did a real disservice to those characters because they don't feel well developed. It also came at the expense of the plot/storyline which didn't seem to move forward significantly until the end. My patience was also already running thin with the central love triangle and I feel like the way it played out was cheesy. It's also just so repetitive, it just keep reiterating the same points over and over again, including plot points. I don't think I'll be reading the next one.
March 2, 2022
I just hated it, definitely not a good ending for the series, just gonna pretend this book doesn't exist.
March 3, 2022
i feel betrayed, utterly betrayed.
Want to read
June 25, 2019Oho! The name has changed from The Forest Warrior, and honestly I think it sounds amazing too. More suspenseful and dangerous ;) I won't lie, this is my most anticipated series for this year (and next year) and I don't want to see it end. But I've heard of another series 16 years from now ? :D I pray that Elloren trains and learns her powers in the third book, and she turns the tide in the fourth book :)
March 6, 2022
I thought the third book of the series was a disappointment, but then I read the fourth one!
The third and fourth books should have been just one, less about horny teenagers and more about magic and action.
How could the author destroy Elloren's character after the second book so much it beyond me!
The third and fourth books should have been just one, less about horny teenagers and more about magic and action.
How could the author destroy Elloren's character after the second book so much it beyond me!
April 4, 2022
I can now see why I didn’t see any promotion or hype for this book. 😒😔
After re-reading the previous books, I was pretty hesitant to jump into The Demon Tide. It's the fourth installment and I'm not exactly sure why it exists. For a book that was so long, I found myself getting quite bored with everything that was happening. Yeah, the beginning was kind of exciting but everything else was a disappointment.
I was honestly never on team Lukas or a huge fan of love triangles. So, it pains me to say that I eventually started to like the guy only for shit to hit the fan. Ugh. Also, what exactly was the whole point of Lukas doing that towards the end? Still not exactly sure and the pieces of the puzzle do not fit in my brain. It was also a bit predictable in some ways since usually love triangles end in one way or another.
In the end, it was an okay book that definitely should have been shorter than it was. Hoping the next book will be the last of the series and half the pages of this one. Seriously, I can't read another long boring book again.
After re-reading the previous books, I was pretty hesitant to jump into The Demon Tide. It's the fourth installment and I'm not exactly sure why it exists. For a book that was so long, I found myself getting quite bored with everything that was happening. Yeah, the beginning was kind of exciting but everything else was a disappointment.
I was honestly never on team Lukas or a huge fan of love triangles. So, it pains me to say that I eventually started to like the guy only for shit to hit the fan. Ugh. Also, what exactly was the whole point of Lukas doing that towards the end? Still not exactly sure and the pieces of the puzzle do not fit in my brain. It was also a bit predictable in some ways since usually love triangles end in one way or another.
In the end, it was an okay book that definitely should have been shorter than it was. Hoping the next book will be the last of the series and half the pages of this one. Seriously, I can't read another long boring book again.
March 16, 2022
This series has been one of my favourite for a long time, but this book really ruined it for me.
I found myself skim reading through a majority of it because nothing of consequence was actually happening.
I cannot understand how we went from a book about fantasy political and racial discourse to a multi-pov romance book. Why did absolutely every character that has ever been introduce in the series suddenly need to have a romantic partner. It got to the point where characters who have possibly 6 lines in the entire first three books now have whole POVs about their love lives. Not to mention most of the love interests were thrown in there and never explained. Absolutely none of this book had any plot value to it, and was just a repeat of racism is bad and love conquers all jargon. The introduction of multiple new characters and giving them point of views also made this book agonising to read. Almost none of the original characters beside Tristan and Elloren had any type of sole chapter dedicated to their stories and instead we got an unbalanced amount of chapters with Tristan being the sole focus of this book with sprinkles of Elloren and every other side character under the sun.
I don't know if the sudden turn of plot and writing style is a result of Laurie Forests attempt to placate the controversy thrown at her books, but I am truly sad at how this book turned out after waiting for it for so long. Spoiler slightly below....
I also will never let go what was done to Lukas. Whether you were team Yvan or Lukas I think we can all agree that that ending was not what he deserved. After three books of character redemption and truly expressing romantic connections to Elloren it was a severe waste of a character to kill him off in such a poorly written way. Not to mention Ellorens descent into such an unlikeable character in this book, the threat of the war being thrown aside with her entire monologue consisted of how she loved both men, ultimately declaring the Lukas would have wanted her to be with Yvan mere HOURS after his death. We never see her actually grieve for anyone who has died. Diana literally threw herself off a cliff when her loved ones died, but Elloren simply moves on to whatever guy is still standing by the end.
Truly disappointed about this book.
I found myself skim reading through a majority of it because nothing of consequence was actually happening.
I cannot understand how we went from a book about fantasy political and racial discourse to a multi-pov romance book. Why did absolutely every character that has ever been introduce in the series suddenly need to have a romantic partner. It got to the point where characters who have possibly 6 lines in the entire first three books now have whole POVs about their love lives. Not to mention most of the love interests were thrown in there and never explained. Absolutely none of this book had any plot value to it, and was just a repeat of racism is bad and love conquers all jargon. The introduction of multiple new characters and giving them point of views also made this book agonising to read. Almost none of the original characters beside Tristan and Elloren had any type of sole chapter dedicated to their stories and instead we got an unbalanced amount of chapters with Tristan being the sole focus of this book with sprinkles of Elloren and every other side character under the sun.
I don't know if the sudden turn of plot and writing style is a result of Laurie Forests attempt to placate the controversy thrown at her books, but I am truly sad at how this book turned out after waiting for it for so long. Spoiler slightly below....
I also will never let go what was done to Lukas. Whether you were team Yvan or Lukas I think we can all agree that that ending was not what he deserved. After three books of character redemption and truly expressing romantic connections to Elloren it was a severe waste of a character to kill him off in such a poorly written way. Not to mention Ellorens descent into such an unlikeable character in this book, the threat of the war being thrown aside with her entire monologue consisted of how she loved both men, ultimately declaring the Lukas would have wanted her to be with Yvan mere HOURS after his death. We never see her actually grieve for anyone who has died. Diana literally threw herself off a cliff when her loved ones died, but Elloren simply moves on to whatever guy is still standing by the end.
Truly disappointed about this book.
March 15, 2022
I was thrilled to be back in this dangerous, and scary world with one of the most compelling YA Fantasy series that I have read in awhile. I always enjoy diving back in when these books come out, and boy, it's been a long time.
I do still think the scope of this series is bigger than I want it to be. There are so many characters, I really wish we had an Appendix of characters, because all the different races and names that are very alike. So that is something I wish the author would do for us.
I am so sad by some of the developments, but I believe in the story and I will see it through.
Now to wait another year or so for the last entry...
4.5 stars
1 on the spice scale
I do still think the scope of this series is bigger than I want it to be. There are so many characters, I really wish we had an Appendix of characters, because all the different races and names that are very alike. So that is something I wish the author would do for us.
I am so sad by some of the developments, but I believe in the story and I will see it through.
Now to wait another year or so for the last entry...
4.5 stars
1 on the spice scale
December 21, 2022
I never write reviews (because I’m a serial reader), but I just have to say WTF?!? The series is good—this book is not.
Let’s talk about the plot of this book is. There is a lot of background information on other characters that is fun to find out originally, but by the end I just want movement. I want something to happen! I want action and evolution of the main character—not Elloren continually fumbling around the world in a state where she isn’t strong enough to handle her own shit.
And why are we discussing every other possible thing in serious depth, but glancing over the death of Lukas? That’s some serious shit and it feels almost insignificant. And then she just has to go and get wyvern bounded to Iyvan… again. Barf. Maybe I’m too fragile right now, but I’m extremely underwhelmed and disappointed.
Let’s talk about the plot of this book is. There is a lot of background information on other characters that is fun to find out originally, but by the end I just want movement. I want something to happen! I want action and evolution of the main character—not Elloren continually fumbling around the world in a state where she isn’t strong enough to handle her own shit.
And why are we discussing every other possible thing in serious depth, but glancing over the death of Lukas? That’s some serious shit and it feels almost insignificant. And then she just has to go and get wyvern bounded to Iyvan… again. Barf. Maybe I’m too fragile right now, but I’m extremely underwhelmed and disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 7, 2022
So disappointing. I was looking forward to this book, but literally NOTHING happens until the very end. And the protagonist- who is supposed to have super cool powers - basically does nothing the whole book.
March 22, 2022
DNF … ugh messy
April 18, 2022
I tried to find a quote to put here, but honestly? I don’t think I could unironically quote this book.
I wanted to like this.
I really, really wanted to give book 4 a chance because I’ve seen Laurie do better. For a second, I thought she was playing an April Fool's joke on us.
The first half of the book ★★★☆☆
The last half of the book ★☆☆☆☆
This book was better than the last one, I’ll give it that. Let’s start from the beginning.
I was hopeful. I read the Part One (of seven) of this ~700-page book, and I was like, “okay!” It was definitely a YA romance-fantasy novel, but I knew what I was getting into. Or at least I thought I knew.
From the start of the book, I really just did not care about any of the characters. Scratch that. I cared about two characters.
Trystan and Vothendrile.
If I were to ever read this book again, which I highly doubt, I would only read chapters in these two’s perspectives. I kid you not.
But really, Forest gave me, what, twenty main characters? Seriously?! How does she expect her readers to keep track of tWeNtY pErSpEcTiVeS? Not only that, but every. Single. Character. Had. A. Romance. Plotline. Honestly. This book could have been 300 pages shorter if she only got rid of all the useless characters that had zero depth, zero humanity, and zero purpose.
I see what she was trying to do. Weaving through all these storylines that eventually come together at the end, everything making sense to be this genius intertwining plot. But, for the love, I don’t even remember half their names, nor would I care if every last one of them died. (Except Trystan and Vothe, of course)
Reading this book was exhausting, and not just because of the amount of characters to keep up with. I don’t know if her other (better) books were like this, and I was just oblivious, but Forest’s writing was just awful. This entire book consisted of the author just telling me what was happening.
Take any creative writing class (actually, any writing class period), and the first thing they’ll say is that the most important thing in writing is “showing and not telling.” A writer has one task. Don’t let the reader get bored. But, dear me, I was so bored while reading this book. I couldn’t picture anything in this book, I just wanted it to end.
As much as it might seem otherwise, I really don’t want to disrespect Laurie Forest. I’m proud of her for having a best-selling YA fantasy series, and I think some her books and ideas are great. But I’m about to “go off” (one might say) about some things that really ticked me off about this book. That’s your warning. I’m really not trying to be mean; I just have a lot of negative emotions after finishing this.
~~Lizzie enters no mercy mode after this point. You have been warned~~
If I had four hands, I could not count on my fingers the amount of things that annoyed me in this book, but I will give you a few.
*****
To start out, the characters in this book are inconsistent. Half of them speak like they live in 19th century england, meanwhile many of her characters literally use the word “teen.” Like “teen” as in “teeny bopper.” Every time I read that I cringed and thought, this author woman probably edited the book herself! At least use “teenager.” But that’s even too modern a term, I think, for your ancient-history high fantasy.
“ ‘Watch for movement in the trees or sky,’ I caution the teen over my shoulder.”
Please, just say “girl” or “young woman” or LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE.
Also, all of the different character perspectives in this book were written in the first person, but like three of them were written in the third person. This is a basic principle of consistency. PICK ONE OF THE OTHER. That is beyond a rookie mistake to mix the third and first person. It confuses the readers and makes me question whether the novel deserves to be read because *jngksjdbfkhsdb* it’s just so painful.
—Quick aside— because there’s no Acknowledgements at the end of the novel, it’s only safe to assume that Laurie Forest did not, in fact, have an editor. And honestly, I would not be surprised if she just handed to her third cousin to proofread then called it good.
*****
Laurie Forest really just looked up a “Young Adult Romance Tropes” list and tried to check off every. Single. One.
To name a few: Enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, arranged marriage, forced proximity, forbidden love, love at first sight, the chosen one(s), and
the
blasted
l o v e
t r i a n g l e
Every time she wrote about her stupid love triangle I rolled my eyes so hard that my eyelids are now bruised.
I’m not going to spoil anything, but in addition to this absolutely forced love triangle, IT WAS ENTIRELY UNBELIEABLE. Every single romantic line uttered from Elloren’s lips was torturous because I didn’t believe any of it, and please let me know if you do.
The amount of times Elloren said something along the lines of, “I love Yvan, but I just, I love Lukas too!” or “My Wyvernbond with Yvan is everything, but I’ve sEaLed mYsELf tO LuKaS!”
Kill me now.
*****
Sigh.
“She might have the most important job in all the Realms—revealing people’s love for each other.
Because there’s so much of it.
Everywhere.
Yeah, and there’s nothing I can do to escape it. A quarter of this book was devoted to the Xishlon, which is like Valentine’s Day but on steroids. During this portion of the book, each of the (so very many) MCs had a perspective where they made out with their lover for like 10 pages. This occupied about 100 pages of the book. It was torture. Allow me to just…give you a snippet of what I’ve been through.
“What do you want to do?” Sparrow asks Thierren.
He gives her a secretive smile, his voice a murmur when he finally answers her. “I want to do all the forbidden things.”
Give me a minute to vomit back up everything I’ve ever ingested.
I bet Laurie Forest thought this line would be ***soooo steamyyy*** when she wrote it. But, oh my gosh, if I had a rocket that was fueled by cringe-power, I could have orbited the earth from reading this line.
*****
I’m going to skip over making fun of when Elloren speaks the words, “And I want love to prevail,” but just know that I did not miss that part. I’ll just give Elloren a break from that and all the other incredibly cheesy lines that were said.
I’m going to end on something that’s a little bit of a spoiler, but I’ll put that all under this spoiler tag:
spoiler
Okay, I know there are a lot of proper nouns here to keep track of but bear with me.
“ ‘Cousin,’ he says, his voice tight and careful. ‘What happened to you?’
‘Raz’zor and I are going to fly to the Vo Mountains to rescue my fastmate, kill Marcus Vogel, and blow up his army.’ ”
Pshhhhhhhhhhhh. This is the ONE part in the whole book where I laughed out loud. Because that. Is. Ridiculous. Elloren, unironically, tells us her plan to win this war that has dominated the plot of this entire series.
But here comes the best part. Her cousin’s response.
“Stop. You’re not acting alone.”
Um?!?!?! His response is not like, “that plan is stupid,” or “seriously?” or even laughing at her because that is hilariously ridiculous. Instead he’s like, “No, take me with youuuuu!”
At this point, I’m just so done.
end of spoiler
Because of what a train wreck the last half of this book was, I just don’t think I would ever wish that pain on someone else.
And who knows, in a year or two, I might be feeling masochistic enough to read the nExT book. Seriously. Getting through this book was that painful.
I could write a fan-fiction to replace this book, and it would be better than this.
Anyways, please go enjoy a book that’s worth your time. Unlike the hours and hours I’ve spent reading this one.
Have a wonderful Easter 🐇.
I wanted to like this.
I really, really wanted to give book 4 a chance because I’ve seen Laurie do better. For a second, I thought she was playing an April Fool's joke on us.
The first half of the book ★★★☆☆
The last half of the book ★☆☆☆☆
This book was better than the last one, I’ll give it that. Let’s start from the beginning.
I was hopeful. I read the Part One (of seven) of this ~700-page book, and I was like, “okay!” It was definitely a YA romance-fantasy novel, but I knew what I was getting into. Or at least I thought I knew.
From the start of the book, I really just did not care about any of the characters. Scratch that. I cared about two characters.
Trystan and Vothendrile.
If I were to ever read this book again, which I highly doubt, I would only read chapters in these two’s perspectives. I kid you not.
But really, Forest gave me, what, twenty main characters? Seriously?! How does she expect her readers to keep track of tWeNtY pErSpEcTiVeS? Not only that, but every. Single. Character. Had. A. Romance. Plotline. Honestly. This book could have been 300 pages shorter if she only got rid of all the useless characters that had zero depth, zero humanity, and zero purpose.
I see what she was trying to do. Weaving through all these storylines that eventually come together at the end, everything making sense to be this genius intertwining plot. But, for the love, I don’t even remember half their names, nor would I care if every last one of them died. (Except Trystan and Vothe, of course)
Reading this book was exhausting, and not just because of the amount of characters to keep up with. I don’t know if her other (better) books were like this, and I was just oblivious, but Forest’s writing was just awful. This entire book consisted of the author just telling me what was happening.
Take any creative writing class (actually, any writing class period), and the first thing they’ll say is that the most important thing in writing is “showing and not telling.” A writer has one task. Don’t let the reader get bored. But, dear me, I was so bored while reading this book. I couldn’t picture anything in this book, I just wanted it to end.
As much as it might seem otherwise, I really don’t want to disrespect Laurie Forest. I’m proud of her for having a best-selling YA fantasy series, and I think some her books and ideas are great. But I’m about to “go off” (one might say) about some things that really ticked me off about this book. That’s your warning. I’m really not trying to be mean; I just have a lot of negative emotions after finishing this.
~~Lizzie enters no mercy mode after this point. You have been warned~~
If I had four hands, I could not count on my fingers the amount of things that annoyed me in this book, but I will give you a few.
*****
To start out, the characters in this book are inconsistent. Half of them speak like they live in 19th century england, meanwhile many of her characters literally use the word “teen.” Like “teen” as in “teeny bopper.” Every time I read that I cringed and thought, this author woman probably edited the book herself! At least use “teenager.” But that’s even too modern a term, I think, for your ancient-history high fantasy.
“ ‘Watch for movement in the trees or sky,’ I caution the teen over my shoulder.”
Please, just say “girl” or “young woman” or LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE.
Also, all of the different character perspectives in this book were written in the first person, but like three of them were written in the third person. This is a basic principle of consistency. PICK ONE OF THE OTHER. That is beyond a rookie mistake to mix the third and first person. It confuses the readers and makes me question whether the novel deserves to be read because *jngksjdbfkhsdb* it’s just so painful.
—Quick aside— because there’s no Acknowledgements at the end of the novel, it’s only safe to assume that Laurie Forest did not, in fact, have an editor. And honestly, I would not be surprised if she just handed to her third cousin to proofread then called it good.
*****
Laurie Forest really just looked up a “Young Adult Romance Tropes” list and tried to check off every. Single. One.
To name a few: Enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, arranged marriage, forced proximity, forbidden love, love at first sight, the chosen one(s), and
the
blasted
l o v e
t r i a n g l e
Every time she wrote about her stupid love triangle I rolled my eyes so hard that my eyelids are now bruised.
I’m not going to spoil anything, but in addition to this absolutely forced love triangle, IT WAS ENTIRELY UNBELIEABLE. Every single romantic line uttered from Elloren’s lips was torturous because I didn’t believe any of it, and please let me know if you do.
The amount of times Elloren said something along the lines of, “I love Yvan, but I just, I love Lukas too!” or “My Wyvernbond with Yvan is everything, but I’ve sEaLed mYsELf tO LuKaS!”
Kill me now.
*****
Sigh.
“She might have the most important job in all the Realms—revealing people’s love for each other.
Because there’s so much of it.
Everywhere.
Yeah, and there’s nothing I can do to escape it. A quarter of this book was devoted to the Xishlon, which is like Valentine’s Day but on steroids. During this portion of the book, each of the (so very many) MCs had a perspective where they made out with their lover for like 10 pages. This occupied about 100 pages of the book. It was torture. Allow me to just…give you a snippet of what I’ve been through.
“What do you want to do?” Sparrow asks Thierren.
He gives her a secretive smile, his voice a murmur when he finally answers her. “I want to do all the forbidden things.”
Give me a minute to vomit back up everything I’ve ever ingested.
I bet Laurie Forest thought this line would be ***soooo steamyyy*** when she wrote it. But, oh my gosh, if I had a rocket that was fueled by cringe-power, I could have orbited the earth from reading this line.
*****
I’m going to skip over making fun of when Elloren speaks the words, “And I want love to prevail,” but just know that I did not miss that part. I’ll just give Elloren a break from that and all the other incredibly cheesy lines that were said.
I’m going to end on something that’s a little bit of a spoiler, but I’ll put that all under this spoiler tag:
spoiler
Okay, I know there are a lot of proper nouns here to keep track of but bear with me.
“ ‘Cousin,’ he says, his voice tight and careful. ‘What happened to you?’
‘Raz’zor and I are going to fly to the Vo Mountains to rescue my fastmate, kill Marcus Vogel, and blow up his army.’ ”
Pshhhhhhhhhhhh. This is the ONE part in the whole book where I laughed out loud. Because that. Is. Ridiculous. Elloren, unironically, tells us her plan to win this war that has dominated the plot of this entire series.
But here comes the best part. Her cousin’s response.
“Stop. You’re not acting alone.”
Um?!?!?! His response is not like, “that plan is stupid,” or “seriously?” or even laughing at her because that is hilariously ridiculous. Instead he’s like, “No, take me with youuuuu!”
At this point, I’m just so done.
end of spoiler
Because of what a train wreck the last half of this book was, I just don’t think I would ever wish that pain on someone else.
And who knows, in a year or two, I might be feeling masochistic enough to read the nExT book. Seriously. Getting through this book was that painful.
I could write a fan-fiction to replace this book, and it would be better than this.
Anyways, please go enjoy a book that’s worth your time. Unlike the hours and hours I’ve spent reading this one.
Have a wonderful Easter 🐇.
April 25, 2022
the review
I am dnfing a bit over the quarter in
The book 3 ended with such a cliffhanger, but there was barely any follow up on it so far. Instead the book focused on establishing 3 different couples which we already knew were into each other, it was justwriter's attempt at suspense angst stopping them from actually being together. A big chank of the quarter was actually spent on Elloren's brother gay romance, and, alphabet letters non-withstanding, it just had such a weird and esoteric narration with constant POV switches that made me want to gag even more
Besides, I could barely remember the characters, and the only reason I remembered some of them was because I've reread parts of book 3 right before jumping into this one. More authors should do "Journey so far" sections"
The POVs were also inconsistent and weird. First book is Elloren-only, 1st person narration. I don't remember the second book much, but in the third book it was multiple POVs and 1st person was reserved for Elloren, while other characters had 3rd person. Here it's just a very weird and inconsistent mesh of 1st person and 3rd person involving multiple characters.
I *might* return and just focus Elloren-Lukas parts, but I also didn't really like how sexual the book became in book 3 - I did not expect such turn when I've read the first book in 2018
(I've just read spoilers for this book and NVM, forget what I've just said)
I know the author has changed her plans for the series after the controversy involving the first book, and it was such a mistake. The first book wasn't the most exciting and original story, but it had an interesting enough idea. The following books felt both complex and "black-and-white" at the same time - I'm too lazy to explain it again as I've written "black and white" section in book 3 review if you're curious - give it a read
_______________
pre-release date rumblings, most of it written right after finishing book 3 in Summer 2020
Apparently this is getting pushed from September 2021 to Feb 2022. Not surprised, so far first three books had 18-19 months between them, so initially I was surprised to find out 3rd and 4th had only a 15 month break
I can barely remember the secondary plot-lines in b3 but I know I will forget them by February
Expectations:
- Perhaps a repeat of romance
- Elloren continuing to be a complete moron with no understanding of her role
- Series will continue being black and white, with no discussion of goals and aftermath, no discussion of historic treatment of races to each other
________________
Probably the ugliest cover in the whole series? Maybe it's low resolution i'm seeing this in, but every time I see a moon on hte cover, I immediately think "UGLY"
Upd
It wasn't the resolution
I am dnfing a bit over the quarter in
The book 3 ended with such a cliffhanger, but there was barely any follow up on it so far. Instead the book focused on establishing 3 different couples which we already knew were into each other, it was just
Besides, I could barely remember the characters, and the only reason I remembered some of them was because I've reread parts of book 3 right before jumping into this one. More authors should do "Journey so far" sections"
The POVs were also inconsistent and weird. First book is Elloren-only, 1st person narration. I don't remember the second book much, but in the third book it was multiple POVs and 1st person was reserved for Elloren, while other characters had 3rd person. Here it's just a very weird and inconsistent mesh of 1st person and 3rd person involving multiple characters.
(I've just read spoilers for this book and NVM, forget what I've just said)
I know the author has changed her plans for the series after the controversy involving the first book, and it was such a mistake. The first book wasn't the most exciting and original story, but it had an interesting enough idea. The following books felt both complex and "black-and-white" at the same time - I'm too lazy to explain it again as I've written "black and white" section in book 3 review if you're curious - give it a read
_______________
pre-release date rumblings, most of it written right after finishing book 3 in Summer 2020
Apparently this is getting pushed from September 2021 to Feb 2022. Not surprised, so far first three books had 18-19 months between them, so initially I was surprised to find out 3rd and 4th had only a 15 month break
I can barely remember the secondary plot-lines in b3 but I know I will forget them by February
Expectations:
- Perhaps a repeat of romance
- Elloren continuing to be a complete moron with no understanding of her role
- Series will continue being black and white, with no discussion of goals and aftermath, no discussion of historic treatment of races to each other
________________
Probably the ugliest cover in the whole series? Maybe it's low resolution i'm seeing this in, but every time I see a moon on hte cover, I immediately think "UGLY"
Upd
It wasn't the resolution
March 24, 2022
This review is hard to write. I love Laurie Forest and what initially drew me in to her series was her viewpoints regarding religion and conservative lifestyles; I really related to Elloren in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite book of the series. The fluff is ridiculous and I found myself rolling my eyes for a good portion of this book. There was too much kissing and romance and not enough plot. I became so tired of all the talk about love and fire and magic "coursing through their lines" whenever someone was attracted to another person; it became cheesy. I don't mind romance in a series but give me some plot at least. The only action that existed was in the last 100 pages and by then I just didn't care. I also didn't care about the purple moon holiday and found it to be quite silly and pointless and undermined the relationships, making them feel superficial. I've also realized that Laurie Forest's magic system is incredibly vague and the majority of the time I don't understand it.
I hate that this review is so scathing, but I can't help how I feel. I was so excited for this book only to have it be incredibly underwhelming and disappointing. I sure hope the last book has more going for it.
I hate that this review is so scathing, but I can't help how I feel. I was so excited for this book only to have it be incredibly underwhelming and disappointing. I sure hope the last book has more going for it.
February 27, 2022
I could not put this book down. The world, these characters, the FEELS. I've always been a strong advocate of this series, and this installment only fortified that. I felt as if I were right alongside Elloren, screaming with her, crying with her, laughing with her. I was completely immersed in the rich story. The Demon Tide broke me and shattered my heart, but I am hopeful and cannot wait for what comes next.
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