Praiseworthy Pages

Reader Rating: ⭐⭐ (2/5 stars)

I absolutely adored the first book of this series, so I was excited to read this next installment. I can’t adequately explain how disappointing it ended up being. It felt disjointed and messy, like a rough first draft sent to print. Plus, it contained so much smut. I was heartbroken by the way this novel turned out.

Language: 10/10 (No swearing at all).
Sex: 3/10 (Regular sex scenes).
Violence and gore: 4/10 (Disturbing gore and regular violence).

Plot: 5/10 (Not bad, not great. Not extremely unique, but enough to keep me reading).
Characters: 5/10 (In this book, Isla drove me crazy! She had no self-confidence, no direction. Oro and Grim were fabulous, though, and they made up for some of Isla’s shortcomings).
Writing style: 4/10 (The first book in this series astounded me in its beauty. This second book felt disjointed and random, almost like she wrote a rough draft, called it good, and published it without any adjustments. I was bitterly disappointed. But Aster has great skill with prose, and I was impressed by many beautiful lines that felt almost like poetry).

Genre: New adult literature, adult literature, fantasy, romance
Potential triggers: Murder, loss of loved ones, self-harm, etc.
Is this book part of a series? Yes.
I would only recommend this book to readers with a high spice tolerance ages 18+.