Bride

“A mate is . . .” The cicadas quiet. We can only hear the waves, gently lapping into the night. “Who you are meant for. Who is meant for you.”
“And this is a uniquely Were experience that differs from Human high schoolers writing lyrics on each other’s yearbooks before heading to separate colleges . . . how?”

It took me a hot minute to get used to the writing style, and then every time I came back to the book after a break in reading, there was a brief period of readjustment, as well. I wouldn’t call the prose bad by any means, just challenging to get into somehow. Still can’t quite put a finger on why—maybe it’s just an ESL thing on my part.

At the beginning, I was really fascinated by the sci-fi-ish spin on the typical urban fantasy races. However, alas, that worldbuilding began to gradually fall apart past the first few chapters. There were minor details I’d question even if the existence werewolves and vampires was vaguely explained by magic, but the attempt at a more science-y bend made them even more grating. For example, there’s a point in the book when it’s stated that, unlike vampires (sorry, Vampyres), the werewolves (sorry, Weres) don’t stand out to humans at all at a glance. Like, excuse me? They have green blood? They’ve been stated to blush green? They probably have green-tinted nails, mouths, conjunctivae etc? Sounds pretty damn noticeable to me. Though there’s also a scene late in the book that mentions a Were character’s lips being dark red after kissing, so idk what I’m supposed to think here. These details are small, but what with them clashing with how the worldbuilding was presented at the beginning, they kept taking me out of the narrative.

As for the story itself, I really, really liked the political plot. The bigger picture that led to Misery and Lowe’s arranged marriage, the inner struggles withing the Were community, how it all tied together with Serena’s disappearance, all of it was simply delicious. I loved every twist and reveal… up until maybe the final part where <spoiler>all the missing details get communicated to the protagonists and the reader via a classic villainous monologue</spoiler>. That, admittedly, I wasn’t a huge fan of. 

The same theme continues with the romance, I guess: all cool up until a certain point. Misery herself was a great narrator whose sense of humor and reaction to trauma and abandonment I found pretty relatable. Lowe didn’t grip me that much, but he had his moments, and overall I liked the dynamic these two head and how their relationship progressed. But then we got to the obligatory third act break-up, which took the form o<spoiler>f the classic “break their heart in order to save them“ moment</spoiler>, annnnnd… while I understand why *what* he did was justified, *how* he did it??? Not so much. I’m still reeling because it was never even properly addressed afterward. It honestly made me super angry, and I feel like Misery, based on her earlier characterization, shouldn’t be able to get back to trusting him so soon after.

Despite all my complaints, there were enough fun moments here to make me want to check out more of the author’s books. I also kind of hope for a sequel about Misery’s twin brother, because he’s easily my favorite character in this whole story, and he’s had such a cool arc despite only showing up on page a handful of times!

This novella was supposed to be my introduction to Ali Hazelwood. Many reviews from friends and other readers had been positive and glowing so my expectations were high, but this book let me down. Our female and male leads don't interact much even after their political marriage. If they do, it is brief with our male lead trying to haul his butt out of the room quicker than a snake coiled ready to strike.

And when our female lead was attacked, it didn't seem our male lead was remotely concerned about it. It seemed he wanted to feed into the Were's hatred for the Vampyre's. Maybe all of this could have just been me but I could not feel the connection our leads were supposed to have. It was not there and I think the author tried to push it toward the late stages of the book.

Honestly, I would have loved to say this was my favorite novel of the year but I would be lying. The book lacked character development and the ingredients needed to make a strong character bond between the two main leads. It was there not enough to make it worth the continual read.