Christina Clark

Never a dull moment

Reviewed: 03-11-25

Such a great balance of fun romance, adventure, and suspense! Also the narration was great.

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5 people found this helpful

Kept me interested

Reviewed: 02-20-25

I almost didn’t start this one as so many of the reviews said the narration was bad, and it’s hard for me to get into books with bad narration. And while at first I wasn’t a huge fan of the way she did Jack’s voice in the beginning, it either improved throughout or just grew on me as I kept listening because I found by the end I didn’t notice any of the issues I had with it in the beginning. Other than a few times where there was not enough of a pause so the scene change was unclear, I think the narration was fine.

*SPOILERS*

Now for the story itself, I am so happy I did keep going with this one. I found the changes the characters made over time were realistic and didn’t betray their personalities that were set up in the beginning, they just grew over time. I enjoyed how each situation was not over-dramatized just to draw it out to the point I lose interest, but it also wasn’t so quick paced where it feels like they couldn’t possibly be falling in love. And the storyline was continuously interesting without being too convoluted and messy.

Yes at some points it may seem like the romance is overshadowed by the roguish lust but come on, you know why people like to read these books lol. And it’s nice to see a good balance of enjoyable sexual fantasy and characters/plots that are actually likable, because usually you only get one or the other.

And of course I loved how their careers were handled. Neither of them had to give anything up and their partnership was mutually beneficial. I liked how he clearly respected her mind and it was actually shown through his actions and dialogue throughout, not just a couple of throwaway lines in the beginning, and I also liked how she wasn’t furiously stubborn and could respect his work as well.

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Not just a romance, but also a story of friendship

Reviewed: 02-06-25

I usually can’t stand books that have long dramatic inner monologues or conversations but this was different. Every time I started disliking something I was quickly brought back in, I think it’s just because of the way she writes. Somehow the balance between realistic life problems and unrealistic hallmark movie drama was perfected here. I really enjoyed the friendship aspect, I think that’s one of the reasons I like the characters so much. I liked being able to see the friendship develop between the 2 main characters, before the romance aspect, instead of it just being instant strangers to lust to love. I also enjoyed her own journey and development and how her other friendship story lines had just as much importance and development as the main romance. I liked that the characters allowed each other to be flawed, because that’s how real life works and even though people should be held accountable for their mistakes, they still happen sometimes. I enjoyed how rational the characters are.

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Worth it

Reviewed: 01-29-25

As some have said in other reviews, there can be some slower parts. I myself had to take a break a while back and come back and restart it. That being said, it was definitely worth it in the end.

The end crushed me, but it made sense with how their world works and sets up more story development. At first it may seem dry but really it all contributes to the amazing world building. I love that there is no detail lost on the side characters personalities and lives. It really pulls you in when you can see all the reasons for who they are, even if they’re a bad person or just a side character. The characters feel realistic to humanity but in a fantasy world. Like being obviously flawed without being outright stupid and ignorant. Most of the main characters are young, some not even 18 and you can tell the difference in maturity compared to older characters by their decision making. But also even though they make rash and impulsive decisions that young people make, you can tell they still have a higher sense of maturity than normal due to the environment they’re in and everything they’ve had to deal with. Stuff like this adds layers to characters that allows the reader to better understand and connect with them even though they live in a made up world.

Of course not every book is perfect and there’s things I would’ve liked differently, but for me the world building and character development is what makes this series so strong that even a few unsatisfying plot lines don’t make it a bad story.

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Very enjoyable!

Reviewed: 09-04-24

At first I wasn’t sure if I liked the slow pacing in the beginning, however it definitely paid off. By the time we are introduced to many of the other main characters, I felt as if I had actually gotten to know Rorax and some of the other characters where as if there was not as much time spent on this and the world building I feel like there would be too much to remember. I also feel like when books rush into things you care less about the characters because you haven’t gotten to learn about them for very long before they are thrust into the main storyline, especially side characters that may not be mentioned for chapters, so it’s great that each character is given time to develop! Also the narrator was amazing she really brought the story to life!

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Realistic Relationships

Reviewed: 12-13-23

I could write a way-too-long review about this book because I have so much to say about it but to keep it short, the characters felt realistic, none of them are perfect and they all make mistakes. I didn’t even end up hating the “antagonists” because they were also written in a way that feels realistic and I can understand their perspective as well. I also liked how it dealt with other issues like mental health how the characters developed and learned over time.

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