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Luka

Dianne Hartsock (Goodreads Author)

1.67 · Rating details · 6 ratings · 6 reviews

Luka makes a desperate wish and the earth shifts to his will. Regretting it immediately, he tries to undue the sorcery, but it is too late. He asked for hope, and to his horror, all the hope in the world is given into his keeping. He desires nothing more than to return this gift to the world.

Aethan wants to get his hands on the Well of Hope in Luka’s keeping. If he can ran ...more

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Published January 11th 2021 by NineStar Press

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Jan 16, 2021 Emily rated it did not like it

I was kindly supplied with an advanced reader's copy of this book by the publisher NineStar Press however I really did not enjoy this book and I could not finish it. I had to put the book down fairly early in the reading process.

The thing that saddens me most about this book is the amount of potential the world and characters had, and the way it was wasted.

This brings me to my first issue with this book, it is the way it was written. The book did not read smoothly or make a great amount of sens I was kindly supplied with an advanced reader's copy of this book by the publisher NineStar Press however I really did not enjoy this book and I could not finish it. I had to put the book down fairly early in the reading process.

The thing that saddens me most about this book is the amount of potential the world and characters had, and the way it was wasted.

This brings me to my first issue with this book, it is the way it was written. The book did not read smoothly or make a great amount of sense especially when explaining action scenes, The writing moved extremely fast and while some might enjoy that more fast paced style of story telling, this was not for me. On top of this the author didn't spend much if any time on describing the world or characters, often spending only a sentence describing Rhys's muscular frame but nothing else and also neglecting to describe the magic system and lore of the story, ultimately leaving me with a sense of confusion and incompletion.

Another issue I have with this book is that the mentioned warnings at the beginning of the book are prevalent all the way through the book and so there is literally no way to avoid the triggers mentioned if you desire to read this book. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing (I've seen it done well in multiple books for example All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes by Holly Bourne) in this particular circumstance it was not approached in a way that would intrigue the reader or provide them with any useful information.

Finally I'd like to mention the fact that the description of this book is somewhat misleading and mentions nothing of the triggers in this book (TW's: rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest) or the fact that the relationship at the centre of the book is essentially grooming. Luka is several hundred years old while his lover Rhys was 17 when they first met. Rhys and Luka met through Luka saving Rhys's life then protecting him in his home, and I can't help but feel that there was probably an element of an abused power dynamic at some point. Because neither of these points were mentioned in the description I dived head first into the book with unrealistic expectations therefore leaving myself even more disappointed.

Overall I strongly disliked this book and would only advise you to read this if you are aware of the problems it carries and don't hold high hopes for it. ...more

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Jan 18, 2021 Christina Frøkjær rated it did not like it

I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Even though I'm not a regular romance reader I gave Luka a shot, because of the blurb. I however was sorely disappointed.

Definitely heed the content warnings for this one, primarily the sexual assault and incest warnings. These warnings are given as happening off the page, however, they are regularly mentioned throughout the book, including regular taunts from the abuser to his victims.

I enjoyed the story of this book, in partic I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Even though I'm not a regular romance reader I gave Luka a shot, because of the blurb. I however was sorely disappointed.

Definitely heed the content warnings for this one, primarily the sexual assault and incest warnings. These warnings are given as happening off the page, however, they are regularly mentioned throughout the book, including regular taunts from the abuser to his victims.

I enjoyed the story of this book, in particular the character and mythology of Luka. The writing itself was very poetic, but sometimes distractingly so. At first, I felt like we would have gotten more out of seeing on the page what had happened to the Well of Hope, but the twist at the end made it worth it.

The idea of what the Well of Hope meant to the world didn't really feel very tangible. It's clearly a strong power source, and it's clear how it can be used to give and take hope from how Aethan intends to use it, but how its absence affected the world wasn't obvious.

The romance of Luka and Rhys's relationship was a strong point, although I'd have expected a little more uncertainty to their sexual relationship at least at first, considering Rhys has only so recently escaped his predator. There's also a scene where Rhys invades Luka's mind against his will that feels jarring after his own experience.

I'd like to mention the fact that the description of this book is somewhat misleading and mentions nothing of the triggers in this book (TW's: rape, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest) or the fact that the relationship at the center of the book is essentially grooming. Luka is several hundred years old while his lover Rhys was 17 when they first met. Rhys and Luka met through Luka saving Rhys's life than protecting him in his home, and I can't help but feel that there was probably an element of an abused power dynamic at some point. Because neither of these points was mentioned in the description I dived headfirst into the book with unrealistic expectations therefore leaving myself even more disappointed. ...more

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Jan 16, 2021 Eila rated it did not like it

TW: rape, incest, paedophilia, pedarasty, torture, gaslighting, enmeshment
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With warnings like that (and I don't make them lightly: these themes are persistent throughout and you can't skip past them as they're mentioned every few paragraphs) this novel would need to be truly groundbreaking and brilliantly written to be palatable. It isn't. This uncomfortable book reads like bad fanfiction with all the abuse tropes thrown in in lieu of plot. There's constant exposition and the two main ...more

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Jan 11, 2021 Sarah rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 10, 2021 Sarah Wilson rated it really liked it

Initially this book confused me slightly and it took to some concentration to understand what was going on but then very quickly i was enthralled by this book. There is a trigger warning for abuse, assault and mentions of incest in this book but it does add to the plot. The characters are also very diverse and that is always something appreciated in a good book. Definitely worth the read.

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Jan 21, 2021 CR rated it did not like it

I wanted to love this one with this amazing cover. But sadly this one just didn't work for me at all. This book has massive trigger warnings and I think that the note at the front of the story was perfectly done. But the story itself just didn't mesh with me at all. ...more

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About Dianne Hartsock

Dianne Hartsock

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After growing up in California and spending the first ten years of marriage in Colorado, I now live in the beautiful Willamette Valley of Oregon with my incredibly patient husband, who puts up with the endless hours I spend hunched over the keyboard letting my characters play.
I have to say, Oregon’s raindrops are the perfect setting in which to write. There’s something about being cooped up in th ...more