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[katara]

Title: The Dark Elf's Secret Baby

Series: Secret Babies For Prothekan Dark Elves #1

Author: Celeste King

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Adult, Elves, Dark Elves

Date Started: February 3rd, 2023

Date Finished: February 3rd, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 2.4/5

Sypnosis: I will not let this dark elf noble hurt my child!

Kerym was my dark elf overseer. I gave into his charms.
But when I found out I was pregnant, I knew I had to leave and go far away.

He needed to grow up without fear.
And Kerym? He didn’t love me.
Dark elves are monsters who view humans as animals.
Who knew what he’d do when he found out I was pregnant.

Three years have passed and I’ve raised my son, Jasper without worry.
Until the day my new overseer takes over the town I live in.

It’s Kerym. He’s found us.

He sees me. He sees Jasper.
And I know this is not a coincidence.

He’s been searching for us.

Does he love me?
Did he ever?
Or are we just inconveniences he needs to wipe out on his path to power?

Why is he here?

Review: I love Dark Elves stories. They have been my favorite ever since my first book by Jet Mykles. So, anytime I see a book on Dark Elves romance I tend to pick them up. This one was a mixed bag for me. I loved Kerym but Layla was one I could not understand her reasoning.

In her mind, she believes that he does not love her and uses her only for sex. She does not bother asking him, She just assumes. So, when she finds out she is pregnant, she decides to run away. Never bothering to find out the truth just believing the worst.

Don't get me wrong - a little miscommunication trope can be fine every once in a while, but not in every book. It seems to be the most overused in dark romance and regular romances. There never seems to be a twist or something that offers it an edge of differences.

And this is where the stories get cliche. I hate seeing them become nearly a mirror of other novels. It gets boring and often off-putting when it comes to picking up these novels.

Layla is the cliched heroine. She becomes pregnant and runs away. There is nothing worthy to take note of and she is certainly a forgettable heroine. She even gets mad when he finds her and makes her anger quite known. I don't even know what he sees in her.

Kerym is the dark elf whose family believes that he should like his brother. But he has no desire to be so. He has chances to upgrade his rank but it has been because of Layla that he has not done so. He wants to protect her and love her. He does not see their relationship the same way but he does not tell her either and this is where the problem is.

I just don't understand why this trope is continued in use. I am not sure if I will pick up the next book to come in the series.

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[katara]

Title: The Bone Shard Daughter

Series: The Drowning Empire #1

Author: Andrea Stewart

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Adult, Magic Realism, Young Adult, Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Sapphic, Adult, Young Adult, Queer, Book Tok

Date Started: February 2nd, 2023

Date Finished: February 3rd, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 4/5

Sypnosis: The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.

Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.

Review: This book was never on my TBR nor had I ever heard anything about it until I started going through Book Tok. Now I was hesitant about reading this book because a lot of the Book Tok books have been complete disappointments to me. This book was different.

Written from different perspectives, this book encapsulates you into this world-building and lush world of magic. Each character pulls you in with their story and keeps you hooked until the very last page. The characters are unique on their own and each one has a story to tell. These character points of view are perfectly layered and do not overlap with each other making sure each character is their own and each perspective offers a view of a different life.

You have Lin, the daughter of the Emperor and the heir to the Empire. A young girl who's missing pieces of her past and must find a way to gain them back.

Then there is Jovis, a young smuggler with a heart of gold. He saves a young Alon and Mephi, a sea creature that becomes Jovis' companion. This little creature should have his own book. He is the cutest little thing and what has made the book the best.

Phalue is the daughter of a governor and her girlfriend/rebel activist called Ranami. These two are cute. I love how Phalue does anything for Ranami even going against the rules to help.

Our last character is a woman on the island of Sand.

The biggest interest in this story is the constructs. Each one is built from dead animal parts and given bone shards that make them come alive. That really threw me for a loop because I was not expecting that KIND of magic. For me, that was both creepy and interesting especially after learning they have thought and souls. I am not sure what to really think of them. It's just weird.

This story is worth the read but it may not be everyone. There are triggers within the pages from human trafficking to body horror to death. This can turn off a lot of readers so please make sure to check the triggers that will cause this book to be a turn-off for you.