I say nothing. I don’t forgive her for anything.
I’ll be honest, I kind of despise shock value plot twists that make little to no sense. Shock value plot twists are bad enough with the support to back it up, let alone some half-handed, dramatic nonsense. And somehow, Kemmerer has done this twice with the series to which A Vow so Bold and Deadly belongs. As such, I’m kind of incredibly grateful that an excerpt was offered for what I hope is the final novel as it’s allowed me to feel more sure than ever that I really shouldn’t waste my time with the whole thing.
Those Inane Cliffhangers
Point blank, I have been vastly disappointed and annoyed with the endings of both A Curse so Dark and Lonely and A Heart so Fierce and Broken. I pretty much only read the second book because I received an ARC before I’d even finished the first and Grey was pretty much the only character that I liked. The second book was better, though still nothing amazing.
In the end, there are a lot of issues with these books and series as a whole. There are a number of good things, too, which at least gives these books credit from me. That said, I cannot stand the idiotic plot twists causing this series to literally drag on with little to no purpose. The first moronic and painfully obvious plot “twist” featured Grey in book one. I hated it from the moment I realized it was going to happen and hated it even more when my prediction was correct.
The second came at the end of book two. It completely negated a genuinely profound and excellent development–that of the PTSD–surrounding the behavior and suffering of Prince Rhen. The shock-value “twist” featuring the return of a certain character basically ruined the minor good things that this series had going for it as far as the plot goes.
And I’d Almost Forgotten About It
Fortunately, this excerpt reminded me of all the things I, quite frankly, couldn’t stand. The entire premise of this series is built upon a plot point that I continue to find absolutely ridiculous. It’s not really about Rhen’s traumatic fear of magic. It’s not about the war brewing between the two neighboring nations. And it’s not about the representation. The premise is entrenched in this tired old trope of “surprise royalty” and I just can’t stand it. Not only was it over the top and unnecessary, but it made the series so dull and frustrating.
Despite having some of the most potential for an amazing storyline, Kemmerer repeatedly makes painfully poor choices with her characters. And A Vow so Bold and Deadly is basically the culmination of all those poor choices. After reading the excerpt, I just realized that I really don’t care how the mess all ends.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Reader Fox 