The choice of villain. Katerina really felt like a victim of woman-blaming/victim blaming. She was taken from her home and forced (I.e. was very likely to die if she tried to escape and given no other choices) to live with someone she thought was a monster. Of course she would do whatever it took to keep him happy and then leave as soon as she could. I can’t even really blame her for wanting revenge either. I mean I would have had more sympathy for her if she hadn’t gone that route, but really revenge was quite a rational desire for her, so the fact that she is made out to be totally evil (rather than just traumatized and a bit of a bitch) bothered me. Known as a harbinger of bad omens and blamed for Demons eating her family, Reia is shunned by her entire village. When the next offering is due and the monstrous Duskwalker is seen heading their way, her village offers her an impossible choice - be thrown into the prison cells or allow herself to be sacrificed to a faceless monster. I don’t know what I was expecting – like I’m all for a monster and dark romance and having to control urges but this just made me laugh I don't expect highly nuanced feminism in my monster romance, but this plot point was so stupid and misogynistic that I could not enjoy any part of the story after that. This was kind of like smutty Beauty and The Beast, if the Beast never turned into a human. Orpheus (aka the Beast) was incredibly sweet. He was like a big, weird puppy dog. I loved him! Reia was ok. She annoyed me sometimes, but she wasn’t too bad. The world building was interesting, but the best part of this book was the smut.

He’d thought it was a hopeless endeavour, until he met her. She’s not afraid of him, and his insatiable desire deepens within every moment of her presence. I THOUGHT I spotted some gramatical mistakes, but upon looking it up I realized they are just differences between USA and UK (I believe?) english. As a non native speaker, I was wrong in my ignorance, and happy to have looked it up and understand this. Look stuff up and study before criticizing an author, everyone!This book is for you. Don’t pretend that you’ve never wanted to be railed by some human eating, dark entity that has a skull for a face – you saw the cover, you knew what you were getting yourself into, and you still chose to open this book and read it.

I was on Reia’s side, I felt bad for her but more so I felt anger. The way the other villagers treated her proves that not all monsters appear as one. OW/OM DRAMA OW — Orpheus’s first love is present in memory throughout the story, and she is a part of the third act conflict.

I think I would try another book from this author but maybe this particular series isn’t going to be exactly what I want. I think if you want some weird/unique monster creatures then definitely give this one a try! Book Genre: Adult, Dark, Demons, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Folklore, Magic, Monsters, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance Enter Reia. Seeing them grow together was so fun. And since I love a Beauty and the Beast story it really isn’t surprising I loved this one (she even reads him a children’s folktale of Beauty and the Beast… meta). Entre a leer este libro super emocionada con mil expectativas y les quiero decir felizmente que no me decepciono, fue super SUPER cute y emocional pero también divertido y muy HOT PERO RE CONTRA RE MIL HOT. Los personajes son geniales y la construcción del mundo a mi me re gusto, te da lo suficiente para mantenerte enganchada y te deja mas preguntas para después en los otros libros seguir contestándolas.

I just want to say—most of the novel was enjoyable. Watching Orpheus try so hard to give Reia everything she wanted was so sweet, and his petty jealousy with the other Duskwalker was adorable. He was so caring toward her, even in the moments the beast took over, and he wanted to kill her. Every decade, the lone beastly ethereal Duskwalker, Orpheus, emerges from The Void to claim a willing sacrifice to be his “Bride” in exchange for protective barriers against the rampant demons that plague the human world, consuming all in their path with unquenchable hunger.That’s when Reia began to annoy me. I found her selfish, yes she earned it with the villagers but not Orpheus, he does everything he can to make her happy and she manipulates him because of it. Plus she’s so damn disloyal, drove me up a wall every time she considered leaving him.

The world that Reyne has created is gorgeously rich and intriguing and builds on lore that is mixed with hints of known mythology and new expanses that have been, meticulously crafted. It left me wanting to know more about the lore behind not only the characters but also the creatures and world around them. And what is that?” she sobbed, her heart breaking further for him. Her tears finally fell, dripping from the corners of her eyes to run over her temples and into her hair. Her mother, her father, her baby brother...even their dog, which hadn’t stopped barking, had eventually been eaten. Every 10 years, the village must sacrifice someone to the Duskwalker in exchange for protection. This year, Reia is chosen, yet she finds that this 7ft tall demon creature Orpheus isn't as bad as she'd expected.

The book is long, and I struggled with that too. I think some of the side ‘danger’ could have been cut a bit (for me). I really struggled with getting into this book. And I never really ended getting into it, really. I think I really just had a disconnect with the writing. Ladies, just because your man treats you nicely doesn't mean that his ex, who is still dealing with PTSD from being his first partner, is evil. She loves everything spicy, smutty,and everything boarder-line monster loving. She started writing because of her love of the written word, and because she wanted to build a diverse world of mythological creatures, while also showing the beauty of all ethnicities of humanity. She thrives to produce a plot driven, character developing book while sprinkling in enchanting imagery.