thebookfixpod’s Comments (group member since Jan 13, 2025)

thebookfixpod’s comments from the Read with The Book Fix! group.

-Overall thoughts

This book is something quite special. It has definitely been awhile since I have read something with such rich story-telling and amazing world building. I love the complexities of all the side characters and appreciate that our main character is not just lawful good, There is so much layers to a person and we truly see the good, the bad and the ugly with most of our characters in this book. I am not sure what I rated this book in the pod episode, but for me now, this is definitely a 5/5

-June.

Figuring out that June just left (we all knew that c'mon) and Kidan now having to think to herself, “can you continue for something other than June?” really stings.

It makes me think that everything was very circumstantial. June found comfort in Samson and the Nefrasi but, like - understandably so. She had her sleeping issues and now she doesn’t. It is hard to see who is on the right side. This reminds me of that gang mentality article I read back in college. It was basically about the fact that if you shun someone out of a group, they will seek comfort in a group that is accepting to them. So, if a gang, a criminal group, etc., is accepting you - why would you deny it? Samson became that for June.

Interested to see what this means for the second book.

-Kidan's friend group

It's weird, right? That after all that time in her class in order to be able to graduate and be the head of their houses, they needed to experience killing someone. All of them in that group passed, but GK.

AND GK. UGHHHHH. Seem killed GK and they immediately brought him back as a vampire. This sweet, sweet boy is no longer going to be the same GK they knew. How do you just come back from something like that. Very excited to see what they do with him. Also I think Yusef might become a bit jaded. This was such a bubbly guy but after killing that artist and witnessing Slem (his crush??) kill GK, I am interested to see who he is going to become.

It is funny because Slem came off as the strongest at the beginning, but I would argue she has a lot more growing to do. Again, excited to see what will happen between her and her family ties with the 13th!

So much to go over, but let's do this.

-Susenyos and Kidan

I am so happy with the slow burn of this relationship. Putting all the romanticness aside, the amount of trust and respect they have for each other is so palpable. It means a lot to me too that Susenyos understood the space Kidan needed after getting that last June tape and (surprise, surprise) comforting her when she found out that June did not want to come back and actually left willingly. Figuring out that Yos is royalty too makes so much sense (he is a regal guy), and losing his people must have been gut-wrenching.

Damn, favorite quote was when he became human (which WOW) and he was going to yell at Kidan about it but saw how distraught she was and when he ran into his arms that moment, "took the fight right out of my words." AHHHHHHHH

10000/10 romance & I am so excited to see them evolve into better versions of themselves in the next one

-The Trial & a Beautiful Quote

The trial in which Susenyos was framed for June's disappearance and Ramyn's death was SO GOOD. The fact that Kidan stood up for him means so much to me. She begins feeling safer in her home, she SUCKS HER BLOOD, the slow burn is slow burning sooo good and that one quote...

---

“I will teach you. If you let me, I will teach you a thousand different ways of loving yourself.”

---

This book might be the end of me.

-Organization XIII- oops. I mean the 13th.

So, Kidan poisoned herself Romeo and Juliette style, with the idea of getting into this secret organization that would help her turn into a vampire. This was not really her intention, she did this to learn more about June's disappearance. MAN, this club is a joke. The older generation really trying to have the most control. Slem's dad Koril is also part of this organization and this man is a JERK. They mention the fact that they don't want Yusef to pass because he’s too smart and it is easier to convince there current house head (in decisions made for the whole) MAN, FORGET THIS.

Ok next!

Susenyos and Kidan's budding friendship.

I'm not sure what it is and call me naive, but I really felt for Susenyos in Chapter 34 when he admitted to kidan that he had nothing to do with June's disappearance. I think its the fact that they both have this moment where they realize they truly are alone in this world. I wish he was more open, but maybe he can't be? I'm not sure. I do think the fact that he turns human in that blood lust room (Inuyasha moment, Yajaira are you eating this up?) is kind of beautiful. I know he hates it, but I feel like that might mean a lot to Kidan. He can be human too, in the moral sense. I'm not sure. I'm rambling.

These are my thoughts (all sound like ramblings) of chapters 31-50. Buckle up.

Ok y'all. I know I said GK meant a lot to me and all... HE MEANS SO MUCH MORE.

So in this beautiful world that Girma has built, apparently August babies get separated from their families and are raised sort of like moral compasses. They are completely biased towards the law, but are meant to be unbiased citizens (is how I understood it). GK has never had family or friends. HE MATTERS SO MUCH TO ME. He is just so perceptive and cares so much about Kidan. There is a moment during one of the friends' study group times where GK says a joke and Kidan laughs and he pulls her to the side after and says, "It was nice to hear you laugh, even if it was only for a moment." Y'ALL. Why is endgame not GK? I love him so much and he can do no wrong #TEAMGK

I bulked a few more chapters together since there are so much in this book! Here are my thoughts for Chapters 11 - 30!
I am going to bullet point things I want to talk about!
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-The Adane House

So this is DEFINITELY forced proximity. Susenyos ( I feel like I have not talked about him much) is living in the Adane house because he is the draniac assigned to that house) Had Kidan not come to school a Vampire Uni, the house would have just became his. They butt heads a lot which I get, he is a total jerk. Kidan is so convinced that this man took June though, so she is ready to fight this man when the time comes and she has evidence for the Dean,

The whole concept of Kidan's house is so cool! I love the idea that parts of the house represent different emotions. In order to have overcame the house you need to be balanced with your emotions. I can definitely see that being an issue because her and Susenyos do NOT get along. There's also this house rule that states that if Susenyos endangers Adane house, the house shall in turn steal something of equal value to him. This seems big because he sort of seems like a history buff (he has a lot of old relics).


-Susenyos as a character

Susenyos is being painted as this bad guy so far as he is known to have killed all the past draniacs of Adane house and he also had June's bracelet in his room. He seems to always be at odds with Kidan and at this point I am not sure why. He was secretly talking to Ramyn (one of Kidan's friends) and it all just seems so suspicious. I am hoping this is all some red herring because how is this the love interest??? He admitted during a moment of blood lust that he hurt June, but I feel like he was lying?? I am not sure what is up with him.


-Kidan's Class

Man, Tigest Girma you did this book RIGHT. Her going to class felt so interesting! I loved learning about what she was learning about! I think in the first class she has her professor brings up the question whether morality is innate or influenced and I LOVEEDDDDD it. It kind of is the point of this whole book. Asking myself this I would say that morality is learned therefore influenced. I am a teacher and definitely do see that parenting styles have a big effect of kiddos. I mean, assumptions and judgements are learned at such an early age. Poor Kidan had such a tough upbringing I am not surprised why she does not trust so easily. Her character is so tough it feels like it will take a long while to break down her walls.


-Kidan's first test (Taking a piece of clothing)

Kidan is WILD for bringing Susenyos' fangs as a piece of him that was offered to her. CRAZY. WILD. UNHEARD OF. Formal just shamed this man in front of everyone! I will be honest I felt bad, but these two are not seeing eye to eye by this point so I am not surprised!


-Her "amazing" friends.
Her friendship with Ramyn is so short-lived but man - I love that Kidan is finally getting to act her age. Yusef and Ramyn were like a breath of fresh air in my opinion and GK is too good for this world and we do not deserve him. Slem? I am not sure if she is evil or just super into her studies I hope it is the second thing.

I knew nothing going into this book, so I am happy to say I was pleasantly surprised with the start!

Kidan Adane is our main character in this story. WHAT A GREAT MAIN CHARACTER. In her normal human life she is a m*rderer. At 18, her parasomiac twin sister ran away from home (June Adane). Thinking that her caretaker has some knowledge about her disappearance, she tries to torture some info out of her, which leads to this caretaker's death.

Very early on this idea that all evil must die is brought up so early on. It sort of brings up the idea of what evil would even be considered.

When Kidan finally arrives to Vampire School (do not remember what it is called), there is this scene I REALLLLLY liked where her and Susenyos (the love interest) meet for the first time. She is walking and sees this hurt bird. He approaches her and tells her to give the bird to him. She immediately knows he is a draniac (a vampire) and kills the bird in her hand. He sort of just watches this and gets confused, but her justification for this was that she did not want to kill the bird and put him out of his misery. The alternative of giving him the bird when he wanted to kill it was way worse.

BRO, WHAT.

Kidan's thought process was so interesting. She was living with so much fear from these vampires though, so I do get where she is coming from. She gas is many assumptions she has made about vampires. Rightfully so, because she is still under the impression that June was kidnapped by a vampire (which she probably was???)

Also Susenyos lives in her home as that families' Draniac, but who else benefits from that. Just Susenyos? Why is that a thing? Does he just live with her forever? What if my boy wanted to get married? Also Dean Fayris? I love her she seems so chill if she turns out being evil I am dropping my mic and walking off.

GOOD START!

Thoughts so far!

These are my overall thoughts for Chapter 41 to the end!

The fight is over. Malcom is killed. Everlayne is safe. But Saeris?

Y'all Saeris is heavily bleeding out and is not going to make it. At this point the only way to save her is if she becomes a vampire. I think it's Taladaius who bites her, but she does not consent?? Kingfisher literally says yes for her? She specifically said she never wanted to be a feeder. I wonder what this means for them and Book 2? This seems like a really big deal.

In her lifeless form, her body is dragged away by the Quicksilver and it's here - my favorite part of the whole book!

I was so FREAKING hyped. Saeris gets pulled between worlds and she is talking to a God. This God basically says her and Kingfisher F'ed up the entire tree of worlds. With them meeting, they have doomed all life and every single world. At this point the God wants to replant the tree and start the universe over again, but her daughters will not allow it. She is told she needs to help fix these issues if she is planning to stay with Kingfisher.

DANG. The issues in the book are so much bigger than this book was letting on in the beginning. This kind of feels like the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. One person having so much impact on the world!

When Saeris is back with Kingfisher at the end. He asks her if he did the right thing changing her and DANG. I do not think she answers. I do foresee this being a huge issue. Her entire life is now different because of him.

It ends with her figuring out, because she SLAIN the past king Malcom, she has now become the new queen of Sanasroth.

THE END.

Overall, this book was an interesting read. The pacing was kind of all over the place. It made me sad that some concepts about the Quicksilver (like its talking, the bartering system it had, etc.) were not really talked about in more detail. It is so cool but it seemed more like an after thought, I really hope Book 2 Saeris becomes besties with the Quicksilver. I want them to have matching BFF bracelets. This book gets a 2.25/5 from me!

Finally! The end!! What are your final thoughts?

These are my thoughts for chapters 31-40!

Finally.... Let's talk about this stupid coin toss.

Everlayne is taken by Malcom and the vampires and without thinking Kingfisher rushes in alone. I do not know why he thought this was a good idea after Saeris and his team came up with a pretty concrete plan to save her.

When Saeris and gang reach him we are given the info that the reason Fisher is oath bound was because of this deal that he had struck with Malcom. It was a deal that was to be done with this coin toss. The deal was never completed though because Malcom had caught the coin before it had hit the floor.

Callie Hart, please. I was imagining Malcom encasing this coin in resin and keeping it safe. A coin toss? It is a little ridiculous, but ok. At this point not did not matter what side this coin landed on, it just needed to land. There's this whole ever shifting maze sequence, but just know that Malcom is out for blood and Saeris starts to get really badly wounded.

Thoughts so far: This is a lot. Of course, I am really hoping for everyone's safety. At this point though, things are looking pretty grim. I really think Saeris is going to die, and Kingfisher will not allow it if it gets to that point.

These are my thoughts so far! What are yours?

These are my thoughts on Chapters 21 - 30!


Chapter 23. CHAPTER 23. I have so much to say about this quote so let me put it in...


-----

Carrion's grin faltered. "You are extra fucking miserable today. You should really get laid. Might help improve your mood. Tell him, Sunshine."

(...)

"Don't call her Sunshine," he commanded." (...), "Because she is moonlight. The mist that shrouds the mountains. The bite of electricity in the air before a storm. the smoke that rolls across a battlefield before the killing starts. You have no idea what she is. What she could be. Your should call her Majesty."

-----

... Oh my god. I listened to that quote in the car on my way back from work. I had to pause, digest its go back, and listen again because I was so cringed out. I was actually screaming. WHAT. WHAAAAAAT. I have never been so taken out of a book like I was when I read this line. Hello??? Mr. Kingfisher???? You legit said you had nothing you wanted to do with me and you gave a line I think would have gotten highschool-me crying. I hated this so much and I think it's so funny because after I read it I knew my best friend was about to eat this up. Lowkey gave Sesshōmaru vibes (if you know, you know).

So, by this point Saeris has successfully made one weapon with the Quicksilver. It is kind of hitting her though that if she needs to make enough for all of Fisher's army, she is not going back anytime soon. Her and Kingfisher are now getting it on. Again, I do not really remember the sex in this book BUT WHAT I DO REMEMBER is that after their sex he never stays and cuddles with her. I kind of expected this. They were not really labeling their relationship as anything so obviously he was trying to distance himself. I remember after their first time he goes to offer her this tea as like a Plan B/contraceptive. This is where Saeris reveals that she is sterile because that is what they do in her world to the lower class. My guy, was so shocked and sad AND DANG I AM TOO. That's such a sad life to live and a horrible choice to just take away from the women from her world. His sadness made me feel sad because I know he was already crushing hard on her so I wonder if he was imagining further down the line for both of them.

Man, he starts falling hard though because he has this one line where he tells her, 'I was wrong you are a good thief.'

AHHHHHHH.

OK, so with the actual plot. All this Quicksilver is being turned into weapons but for what? There is an evil vampire by the name of Malcom that his people are fighting against. We do not know much of why this fight is important because all that Fisher knows, he cannot mention. He is oath bound. There is this really cute scene where Kingfisher takes Saeris to his old family home and they sleep in separate rooms, but Saeris rushes to his room when she hears screaming. He seems cursed with these visions, and she can do nothing but hold him. It is so intimate and honestly game over, she has completely fallen for him. When they are together she also asks the Quicksilver to leave him alone and quit hurting him, but of course it tells her it will not.

I was so rooting for them, but I was not hopeful for a happy end at this point.

Here are my thoughts about Chapters 11 - 20!

Can I just say - I listened to the audiobook of this book. The way the voice of the audiobook said "Annorath mor" was SO CREEPY. They really ate it up. I applaud it.

Ok! Talk about a training sequence! Saeris is working hard to try to make the Quicksilver respond to her and low-key Kingfisher is being so rough with her! He just does not really likes humans and sees them as weak. Although she is given Quicksilver to work with, she can never really hold onto it. I think it is for fear of her escaping. BUT ALSO, she is never really directly given it. They hide the quicksilver in areas so she can work on being able to locate it (which I think this is Kingfisher's idea...).

The biggest thing I wanna talk about is her stealing Kingfisher's ring which has Quicksilver in it. In order to steal his ring she seduces Kingfisher and totally gets into this heavy make out session with him. Dang. DANNNNNNNG.

Saeris, I get it now. Kingfisher is this big, bulky man and I mean he was as into it as she was. Spice writing in this book I think it was decent. Honestly not as memorable, but I did appreciate it!

So, with the ring Saeris does plan to make a portal to go home. Remember, Madra said she would kill her loved ones. She is rushed to get back. Kingfisher OBVI stops her and says that she would have died if she had tried to cross, but understands that she does want to see if her brother is ok. He hops in to get her brother, but guess who he brings back. GUESS. GUESSSSSSSSS.

Motherf*cking Carrion Swift. He went based off of smell and according to Kingfisher her smell was ALL OVER Carrion.

It's funny to me that the author chose Carrion as the one that was supposed to make Kingfisher jealous because Saeris could care less about what happens to this guy. They legit tie him to a horse when they are traveling to the next destination and let his head dangle during their ride. He could have died and no one cared.

Carrion also goes through this extreme bath because Kingfisher does not like that he REEKS of Saeris. Possessive much?

Ok, but who am I kidding? I was eating this up like a Thanksgiving meal. I am such a fan of the jealousy trope. So whenever it would mention Kingfisher looking from Saeris to Carrion I would EAT IT UP. Man. Something about a man who has so much emotion but says so little. I love his expressiveness though!

Slowly though Kingfisher and Saeris are getting closer. Hmmmmm.

After revisiting Chapters 1 - 10 here are my thoughts!

I have an issue with books that make me feel like I am being thrown right into the story without even having a chance to get to know the characters.

We start this story with our girlie Saeris who has snuck into the higher class sector of where she lives. (This place is broken up by social class and she's in the section where they do not get much food in water). She crashes into a guard who she steals a piece of his armor and that is a BIG no-no. I think her plan was to sell it??? Which fine - I understand that. I just really wished that (with the background of having to be a thief to survive, which is what I think they were going for) she would have been more of a strategist instead of taking a VALUABLE thing that can legit get her KILLED for stealing and just hiding it at home???

She gets caught by her ex hook-up guy Carrion who tells her to at least hide it at his place (like a storage facility), but when she goes home it turns out her brother (her only family) has stole it to sell now.

Let not be known I THINK this is like, the beginning of the story. What, what, what? Y'all so much has gone on what made her think this was a good idea? Also her brother is low-key grown why did he not think this through as well? ALSO CARRION SWIFT (Swiftie??). This man.... I am not sure if I love him or hate him, but at this point I cannot stand him. He's a big flirt and according to Saeris 'the only man who has ever made her scream'. Ok, Saeris. Ok.

She and her brother get caught by a guard and in order to protect her brother she baits him and calls him a "stupid lil baby". He gets hurt and leaves her. She gets taken to the lead of this area (Madra?) who threatens to kill everyone. She is about to be killed and is GRAVELY hurt but a sword starts calling to her. Which ok - this concept is SO COOL. This idea of her being able to feel metal (the Quicksilver). I really wanted to see her low-key become friends with the Quicksilver but that's not really the direction that this was going.

Ok, so she is on the floor and responds to the Quicksilver. She (without thinking) opens a gate and our love interest Kingfisher, walks through. She gets scooped up and taken to his world.

When she wakes up she is greeted by Everlayne (Kingfisher's half-sister) who tells her that she is there to help her understand this Far society she finds herself in, but also Saeris made the Quicksilver work for the portals between their worlds which is unheard of.

Kingfisher, who of course is a brooding bad boy who is super hot, wants Saeris to help make weaponry for his men with the Quicksilver. He is def not being nice to her about this.

That is basically where Chapter 10 ends.

Ok. Thoughts.

I was not really interested in this book going into it. I will say, I was intrigued by the idea of the Quicksilver. I was SOOOO into this idea where it was low-key talking to her.

What did all of you think? How did you all feel about Carrion and her brother? I wonder if her brother is going to have more of a roll. What about Kingfisher. I think he immediately talks about him being well-endowed (ew-behavior), but honestly I was not feeling for him.

(hope I am not mixing anything up it has been a long while since I read this)

Sorry this took me so long to get to this point! If you follow our podcast (The Book Fix) Yajaira and I already filmed this episode and released it the end of January. However, after sitting with this book for two months and getting a huge refresher about all the aspects about this book from my sister (thanks, Mel), I definitely have way more to say than I did in our episode.

Starting this book... how is everyone feeling?