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Curse of the Gods #1
Trickery
Willa Knight: Dweller. Slave. Non-magical being.
In Minatsol, being a dweller means that you are literally no better than dirt. In fact, dirt might actually be more useful than Willa. Her life will be one of servitude to the sols, the magic-blessed beings who could one day be chosen to become gods.
At least her outer village is far removed from the cities of the sols, and she won’t ever be forced to present herself to them... Until one small mistake changes everything, and Willa is awarded a position to serve at Blesswood, the top sol academy in the world—a position that she definitely did not earn.
Under the sudden, watchful eye of the gods, she will be tasked to serve the Abcurse brothers, five sols built of arrogance, perfection and power. They are almost gods themselves, and under their service she is either going to end up sentenced to death, or else they are going to ruin her so badly that she will wish for it.
Either way, she is in trouble.
This is a full novel, 90,000 words. Book 1 of 5 in the Curse of the Gods Series
In Minatsol, being a dweller means that you are literally no better than dirt. In fact, dirt might actually be more useful than Willa. Her life will be one of servitude to the sols, the magic-blessed beings who could one day be chosen to become gods.
At least her outer village is far removed from the cities of the sols, and she won’t ever be forced to present herself to them... Until one small mistake changes everything, and Willa is awarded a position to serve at Blesswood, the top sol academy in the world—a position that she definitely did not earn.
Under the sudden, watchful eye of the gods, she will be tasked to serve the Abcurse brothers, five sols built of arrogance, perfection and power. They are almost gods themselves, and under their service she is either going to end up sentenced to death, or else they are going to ruin her so badly that she will wish for it.
Either way, she is in trouble.
This is a full novel, 90,000 words. Book 1 of 5 in the Curse of the Gods Series
388 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 2017
About the author
Jaymin Eve
83 books11.2k followersJaymin Eve is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and sci-fi novels filled with epic love stories, great adventures, and plenty of laughs. She lives in Australia with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and a couple of crazy pets. To date, she has sold over three million ebooks, and still can't believe that she gets to create fantasy worlds as a job.
For action, adventure, romance, and a guaranteed HEA, start one of her series today.
Reading order:
Secret Keepers series (Paranormal Romance) House of Darken. House of Imperial. House of Leights. House of Royale.
Storm Princess Saga (PNR/Fantasy)
The Princess Must Die. The Princess Must Strike. The Princess Must Reign.
Curse of the Gods (Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance series) UpperYA/NA
Trickery. Persuasion. Seduction. Strength. Neutral. Pain.
Supernatural Prison (UF/PNR romance -shifter, vampire, fae, magic user) Upper YA/NA
Dragon Marked. Dragon Mystics. Dragon Mated. Broken Compass. Magical Compass.
NYC Mecca Series (UF/PNR Romance - shifters) Upper YA
Queen Heir. Queen Alpha. Queen Fae. Queen Mecca.
Hive Trilogy (UF/PNR Romance - vampires) Upper YA
Ash. Anarchy. Annihilate.
Walker Saga (Fantasy/adventure/romance - gods, mermaids, dragons) YA
First World. Spurn. Crais. Regali. Nephilius. Dronish. Earth.
Stay updated:
http://www.jaymineve.com
https://www.facebook.com/JayminEve.Au...
For action, adventure, romance, and a guaranteed HEA, start one of her series today.
Reading order:
Secret Keepers series (Paranormal Romance) House of Darken. House of Imperial. House of Leights. House of Royale.
Storm Princess Saga (PNR/Fantasy)
The Princess Must Die. The Princess Must Strike. The Princess Must Reign.
Curse of the Gods (Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance series) UpperYA/NA
Trickery. Persuasion. Seduction. Strength. Neutral. Pain.
Supernatural Prison (UF/PNR romance -shifter, vampire, fae, magic user) Upper YA/NA
Dragon Marked. Dragon Mystics. Dragon Mated. Broken Compass. Magical Compass.
NYC Mecca Series (UF/PNR Romance - shifters) Upper YA
Queen Heir. Queen Alpha. Queen Fae. Queen Mecca.
Hive Trilogy (UF/PNR Romance - vampires) Upper YA
Ash. Anarchy. Annihilate.
Walker Saga (Fantasy/adventure/romance - gods, mermaids, dragons) YA
First World. Spurn. Crais. Regali. Nephilius. Dronish. Earth.
Stay updated:
http://www.jaymineve.com
https://www.facebook.com/JayminEve.Au...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,830 reviews
August 2, 2018
2.5 stars. Please note that this review pertains more to the series as a whole than book 1 specifically.
CotG is like the gateway drug of this genre. Hordes of people stan this series. Over at RHR we hear this story a lot: "Before I read Curse of the Gods, I didn't even know reverse harems existed. Now I read piles of RH!"
This phenomenon relates to what irks me about the series. Allow me to make my case about why I believe CotG is passively hurting the RH genre.
Curse of the Gods is missing vital components of what makes up a good series.
Most notably character development. Willa Knight is the heart and soul of every book. Most if not all conversations are about her. The way we glean information about side characters is through their reaction to her. The plot follows her around like a lost puppy. Considering she is the biggest force in the book, Willa should be complex and interesting enough to carry the book.
Willa's got a lot of spunk. She speaks up, she acts out, she can raise a lot of hell if need be.
Here's the issue - she was that way at the beginning of book one. Four books later, Willa remains the same sassy girl. Her personality, herlack of flaws, her moral compass, none have shifted even after four books' worth of plot.
Common advice often given to authors to develop character arcs is to consider this question:
If your character were to face the climax conflict at the beginning of their journey, would they have reacted the same way?
If the answer is yes, then the author has failed to infuse their character with adequate (and story relevant!) development.
Unfortunately for Willa that answer is yes Yes YES. The Abcurses love Willa pretty much the moment they meet her, so she underwent no changes to gain their love. Confrontations with baddies are generally solved with Willa's unique personality - the one she's always had - or whatever new superpower she gained that book (please note that Super Special Super Powers (SSSPs) do NOT count as character growth).
A lack of character development is a huge problem in a character-driven series because things get dull real fast. Every quirk that was once entertaining becomes tired and overused. Willa is like an old dog that can't learn any new tricks.
Take the "I have a weird quirky thought :3 so all the Abcurses chuckle and get distracted" routine - used it many times so far. The "Oops I tripped and fell into his chocolate abs" spiel - we've seen it plenty, Willa. Or the "Let me shock these baddies into speechlessness with how mouthy and nonsensical I can be" trick - getting real old.
CotG also lags in terms of plot structure and active protagonists. Willa and the Abcurses mostly meander around the globe, reacting to whatever situation is thrown at them in that particular moment. It’s difficult to determine their motivations and goals, and that makes it difficult to root for them. Aside from not getting hurt or killed, and not getting separated, the Abcurse family doesn’t actually strive towards anything. That makes for boring plot and uninspiring characters.
All these issues are not so dire when we’re talking about book 1. But Strength, which I just read, is the fourth installment and still there has been no improvement.
If you’ve stuck with me this far, I promise I have a point. Here it is.
I’ve already mentioned that the Curse of the Gods draws many readers into the RH genre. It is the only series in this niche genre that claims mainstream popularity, and therefore it is the face, gold standard, and centerpiece of reverse harem works.
Consequently, Curse of the Gods sets the bar for all other series in the genre. And that bar, my friends, is very low.
RH authors witness the popularity it has garnered and aspire to match that standard. They assume that what readers want in an RH series is hot cookie-cutter men and picture perfect heroines. They also assume they can forgo essential literary elements – plot structure, character arcs, character depth – the same ones lacking from Curse of the Gods.
As a reader community, we should be demanding more from our authors. We should want our books to have more qualifications than just “as good as CotG”.
But maybe you’re not concerned by this. Maybe the only reason you read RH is for man-candy and self-indulgent heroines.
Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that sentiment. Plenty of other genres are guilty of relying on those elements. Bodice rippers, Scifi romance, and contemporary smut are especially common perpetrators, and I read those books for a mindless escape every now and then.
But those genres aren’t defined by one series like RH is. And those genres all have authors who often go above and beyond to produce gorgeous novels of high literary worth. Take the Victorian Rebels series, or The Ninth Orb, or Sparrow as a few of many possible examples.
In my dream world, RH books would aspire to be consistently better than the trendsetter, CotG. They would boast not only hot men, but also complex characters, gripping plotlines, and meaningful themes. In the true spirit of the reverse harem, I want not just one but ALL of those things.
#eatALLthecake
CotG is like the gateway drug of this genre. Hordes of people stan this series. Over at RHR we hear this story a lot: "Before I read Curse of the Gods, I didn't even know reverse harems existed. Now I read piles of RH!"
This phenomenon relates to what irks me about the series. Allow me to make my case about why I believe CotG is passively hurting the RH genre.
Curse of the Gods is missing vital components of what makes up a good series.
Most notably character development. Willa Knight is the heart and soul of every book. Most if not all conversations are about her. The way we glean information about side characters is through their reaction to her. The plot follows her around like a lost puppy. Considering she is the biggest force in the book, Willa should be complex and interesting enough to carry the book.
Willa's got a lot of spunk. She speaks up, she acts out, she can raise a lot of hell if need be.
Here's the issue - she was that way at the beginning of book one. Four books later, Willa remains the same sassy girl. Her personality, her
Common advice often given to authors to develop character arcs is to consider this question:
If your character were to face the climax conflict at the beginning of their journey, would they have reacted the same way?
If the answer is yes, then the author has failed to infuse their character with adequate (and story relevant!) development.
Unfortunately for Willa that answer is yes Yes YES. The Abcurses love Willa pretty much the moment they meet her, so she underwent no changes to gain their love. Confrontations with baddies are generally solved with Willa's unique personality - the one she's always had - or whatever new superpower she gained that book (please note that Super Special Super Powers (SSSPs) do NOT count as character growth).
A lack of character development is a huge problem in a character-driven series because things get dull real fast. Every quirk that was once entertaining becomes tired and overused. Willa is like an old dog that can't learn any new tricks.
Take the "I have a weird quirky thought :3 so all the Abcurses chuckle and get distracted" routine - used it many times so far. The "Oops I tripped and fell into his chocolate abs" spiel - we've seen it plenty, Willa. Or the "Let me shock these baddies into speechlessness with how mouthy and nonsensical I can be" trick - getting real old.
CotG also lags in terms of plot structure and active protagonists. Willa and the Abcurses mostly meander around the globe, reacting to whatever situation is thrown at them in that particular moment. It’s difficult to determine their motivations and goals, and that makes it difficult to root for them. Aside from not getting hurt or killed, and not getting separated, the Abcurse family doesn’t actually strive towards anything. That makes for boring plot and uninspiring characters.
All these issues are not so dire when we’re talking about book 1. But Strength, which I just read, is the fourth installment and still there has been no improvement.
If you’ve stuck with me this far, I promise I have a point. Here it is.
I’ve already mentioned that the Curse of the Gods draws many readers into the RH genre. It is the only series in this niche genre that claims mainstream popularity, and therefore it is the face, gold standard, and centerpiece of reverse harem works.
Consequently, Curse of the Gods sets the bar for all other series in the genre. And that bar, my friends, is very low.
RH authors witness the popularity it has garnered and aspire to match that standard. They assume that what readers want in an RH series is hot cookie-cutter men and picture perfect heroines. They also assume they can forgo essential literary elements – plot structure, character arcs, character depth – the same ones lacking from Curse of the Gods.
As a reader community, we should be demanding more from our authors. We should want our books to have more qualifications than just “as good as CotG”.
But maybe you’re not concerned by this. Maybe the only reason you read RH is for man-candy and self-indulgent heroines.
Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that sentiment. Plenty of other genres are guilty of relying on those elements. Bodice rippers, Scifi romance, and contemporary smut are especially common perpetrators, and I read those books for a mindless escape every now and then.
But those genres aren’t defined by one series like RH is. And those genres all have authors who often go above and beyond to produce gorgeous novels of high literary worth. Take the Victorian Rebels series, or The Ninth Orb, or Sparrow as a few of many possible examples.
In my dream world, RH books would aspire to be consistently better than the trendsetter, CotG. They would boast not only hot men, but also complex characters, gripping plotlines, and meaningful themes. In the true spirit of the reverse harem, I want not just one but ALL of those things.
#eatALLthecake
May 18, 2017
This book is hilarious. At first I almost DNFed because it seemed like the main girl was so stupid that I didn't think I could take it. But, I have seen how much everyone loved it and decided to give it a chance. I'm so glad I did.
Yes, the heroine is clumsy. She's a walking disaster area who is a danger to herself and anyone around her. Actually, "walking disaster" is inaccurate because she never makes it more than a few steps without tripping, running into something, or falling down stairs.
"How the hell have you stayed alive this long?" he asked.
I shrugged, trying to catch my breath. "No idea, it's been a rough road."
Willa gets chosen to serve the gods-in-training at some special god-school. These semi-gods have powers and are hoping to be chosen to live in their own version of Mount Olympus someday. Willa is such a nightmare - everyone around her has a tendency to get hurt or bald - that her town actually celebrates when she leaves.
Upon her arrival at the school, she draws the attention of five brother not-gods who are known for 'breaking' their servants. They start a bet over who can get her a death sentence the fastest. Luckily, Willa DOES have a brain in her body because she enters this bet and because of this, her and the brothers end up friends. Cuz, who doesn't like someone who is willing to take a death sentence on a bet? Personally, I can understand this a little. My family is willing to take jokes too far. I think that there have been plenty of times when we would have been sentenced to death for offending rooms full of people if that was a thing. I'm remembering a certain 9/11 joke I told that didn't go over too well. That was an uncomfortable Christmas.
And muttering, "too soon?" afterwards never seems to help..
Anyway. The brothers are awesome! They have no respect, are super hilarious, and dangerous in every way. Willa ends up becoming their little pet. And, all I could say was, "Way to go, Willa!" If I had to be someone's pet, these brothers would be my top pick as owners. I really want her to end up with all five of these guys. Is that wrong?
Well, maybe not such a great idea after all
I would highly recommend this book if you need to be cheered up and want some silly fun. There were fights, blood, and other serious elements, but the best part was the humor.
Yes, the heroine is clumsy. She's a walking disaster area who is a danger to herself and anyone around her. Actually, "walking disaster" is inaccurate because she never makes it more than a few steps without tripping, running into something, or falling down stairs.
"How the hell have you stayed alive this long?" he asked.
I shrugged, trying to catch my breath. "No idea, it's been a rough road."
Willa gets chosen to serve the gods-in-training at some special god-school. These semi-gods have powers and are hoping to be chosen to live in their own version of Mount Olympus someday. Willa is such a nightmare - everyone around her has a tendency to get hurt or bald - that her town actually celebrates when she leaves.
Upon her arrival at the school, she draws the attention of five brother not-gods who are known for 'breaking' their servants. They start a bet over who can get her a death sentence the fastest. Luckily, Willa DOES have a brain in her body because she enters this bet and because of this, her and the brothers end up friends. Cuz, who doesn't like someone who is willing to take a death sentence on a bet? Personally, I can understand this a little. My family is willing to take jokes too far. I think that there have been plenty of times when we would have been sentenced to death for offending rooms full of people if that was a thing. I'm remembering a certain 9/11 joke I told that didn't go over too well. That was an uncomfortable Christmas.
And muttering, "too soon?" afterwards never seems to help..
Anyway. The brothers are awesome! They have no respect, are super hilarious, and dangerous in every way. Willa ends up becoming their little pet. And, all I could say was, "Way to go, Willa!" If I had to be someone's pet, these brothers would be my top pick as owners. I really want her to end up with all five of these guys. Is that wrong?
Well, maybe not such a great idea after all
I would highly recommend this book if you need to be cheered up and want some silly fun. There were fights, blood, and other serious elements, but the best part was the humor.
August 29, 2024
Beautiful Cover ! Reverse harem !! Hilarious heroine who liTERARLLY FALLS INTO ADVENTURE !! WHEN THE FUCK IS BOOK 2 COMING OUT?!?
Meet Willa Knight the quirky, ultra-clumsy, sassy heroine you haven't read yet.
It was only a childish prank to graduate. Just mess up the computers a lil. Improve her grades. She didn't realize it would send her off to Blessmont. People are chosen for their grace, elegance, intelligence- everything Willa's tendency for disaster overshadows.
Once sent the academy, you either stay&serve or get sacrificed. No joke if she piss someone off then she dead
Last quote about Willa's character, honestly I just loved her. She was clumsy. She was fearless. She was prideful. She had nothing left. She kept fighting.
Now lets meet my boys (and yes they are mine- fight me Willa)
Aros the golden boy, Rome the protective giant, Siret the trickster, Yael the flirty boy, and Coen the quiet snarky mobster
All the brothers possess unique personalities that really differed them but all in all: they are arrogant rebellious souls who don't give a f*ck about the rules.
The clumsy dweller amuses them so they bet how long it would take for a teacher to sentence her to death for breaking the rules
Muahha they underestimated the power of her clumsy-curse
How I rate any book is 90% based on the quality of banter. In that case ~ this book is a 5:
By far, this was my favorite scene:
There were honestly so many hilarious interactions with this group that at times i was rolling on the floor laughing like a maniac:
I'm just saying, a girl could get use to be pressed against an Abcurse chest whenever crazy shit started happening.
At times the plot seemed like random situations that Willa fell into and the guys laughed& ran after her for pure entertainment.
However, I began to see that the guys were part of a bigger adventure that i hope we'll find out more about in book 2 and how Willa fits into all of it
And over time they began to care for each other....which they expressed thru sassy comments and threatening glares.
I really really loved these guys- they were interesting characters with backstories and schemes and each were so unique and hilarious. I was honestly jealous of Willa at times... definitely recommend
Meet Willa Knight the quirky, ultra-clumsy, sassy heroine you haven't read yet.
“Fuck the gods,” I said again, a little louder this time. Just double-checking. “Fuck the fucking gods!” I screamed. I had no excuse for that one. It just felt good.”
It was only a childish prank to graduate. Just mess up the computers a lil. Improve her grades. She didn't realize it would send her off to Blessmont. People are chosen for their grace, elegance, intelligence- everything Willa's tendency for disaster overshadows.
Once sent the academy, you either stay&serve or get sacrificed. No joke if she piss someone off then she dead
" I mean … I know things have happened so fast, but … did you consider turning it down?”
I hadn’t. Not even once, actually. Which was odd because I was pretty certain I would die there.”
Last quote about Willa's character, honestly I just loved her. She was clumsy. She was fearless. She was prideful. She had nothing left. She kept fighting.
“Which actually wasn’t a bad idea. I mean … I had a candlestick, and Fakey made it look super easy to use as a weapon. I could totally take Point on this. And, let’s not forget that I had stabbed a god before. That practically made me an expert in god-fighting.”
Now lets meet my boys (and yes they are mine- fight me Willa)
Aros the golden boy, Rome the protective giant, Siret the trickster, Yael the flirty boy, and Coen the quiet snarky mobster
“It wasn’t the tree that had surprised me, though. It was the guy tied to the tree, and the guy standing before him, holding up a crossbow. He was blindfolded, and the guy tied to the tree was laughing”
All the brothers possess unique personalities that really differed them but all in all: they are arrogant rebellious souls who don't give a f*ck about the rules.
The clumsy dweller amuses them so they bet how long it would take for a teacher to sentence her to death for breaking the rules
“The sols admittedly looked a little put-off, but I was sure it was only because they hadn’t actually thought that I would try to get myself sentenced to death. Pfft. They clearly didn’t know me.”
Muahha they underestimated the power of her clumsy-curse
How I rate any book is 90% based on the quality of banter. In that case ~ this book is a 5:
“but Yael was meeting my stare, and he had this knowing expression on his face that made me want to sucker-punch him in the face.
So …
Yeah.
That’s how I ended up sucker-punching a sacred sol on my second sun-cycle”
By far, this was my favorite scene:
“I knew that he was moments away from kicking the door down like a crazy, deranged sol, so I quickly raised my fist and knocked. They all turned to stare at me, looking like I’d just stolen their favourite toy and ripped its head off.
“What?” I asked defensively. “Just trying to be polite.”
“We’re here to kill her,” Siret reminded me, his voice a frustrated groan."
There were honestly so many hilarious interactions with this group that at times i was rolling on the floor laughing like a maniac:
“I gave him a surprised look, but he only met my eye stubbornly. Challenging me to argue with him. Well … I wasn’t going to argue with him before, but he challenged me, dammit”
I'm just saying, a girl could get use to be pressed against an Abcurse chest whenever crazy shit started happening.
At times the plot seemed like random situations that Willa fell into and the guys laughed& ran after her for pure entertainment.
“I tossed out my hands to catch myself, forgetting that I was holding the knife … And that was how I stabbed a God in Topia.”
However, I began to see that the guys were part of a bigger adventure that i hope we'll find out more about in book 2 and how Willa fits into all of it
And over time they began to care for each other....which they expressed thru sassy comments and threatening glares.
"There’s a knife in your chest, you idiot!” I realised that screaming at him probably wasn’t going to help the situation, but I couldn’t seem to control myself.”
I really really loved these guys- they were interesting characters with backstories and schemes and each were so unique and hilarious. I was honestly jealous of Willa at times... definitely recommend
October 9, 2017
Alex Roe as Rome
****4 AMAZING, Yet unsafe STARS****
Coming from my monogamist, perverted little heart it's almost like a gazillion stars. I'm not joking, when a book is tagged as romance I get picky and I need possessive heroes and commited heroines. I rarely give 5 stars to unsafe books (ACOMAF was a glorious exception) unless there's something outside the romance and that something has to be really amazing to impress me.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, Trickery is an amazing book. I'm impressed!
I'll say this book is the perfect choice if you want a light fantasy book to take with you to the beach. You won't find complicated world-building. You won't find poetic prose and heavy social issues. You'll find a story of friendship, bravery and the eternal mystery of why opposites attract. And of course you'll find 5 hot guys completely devoted to their heroine.
I like the world building! I know that some fantasy readers prefer overdescriptive, detailed worldbuiding and everything explained in book 1 of the series, but I don't. I don't want to know the whole history and politics of the world in the first books of the series. I prefer the kind of worldbuilding that has the potential to grow throughout the series. Think Harry Potter, and Hunger games. Book 1 didn't explain the history and politics of the world but we the impatient readers eventually discovered what was going on as the series progressed. This one has potential to become really epic.
Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington provide us readers with enough information of their magic world:Minatsol, to understand Willa's position and why the Abcurse brothers infatuation with her are a big deal.
Minatsol is a world where not everyone is equal. Willa, a walking disaster, cheats during her "exams" and therefore she gets a high ranking that gives her the "privilege" of travelling with her sister to a very exclusive academy. Not to study but to serve the demigods who attend the school there.
I disagree with anyone who calls Willa stupid. She is quite smart actually. There are several types of inteligence. Willa has interpersonal and intrapersonal, skills. She's also good at language, I mean, all her witty comebacks. Poor Willa just doesn't have the kind of intelligence that allows normal people to put one foot in front of the other without tripping. That's the kinesthesic intelligence, but other than that she's quite smart and I like her. I guess some people will find her sense of humor juvenile, but I think that's what really made me enjoy this book.
I had the most amazing pic to fancast the other abcurse brothers but for some reason it's not working. It must be that Willa's pull for chaos is rubbing on me.
Anyway, I think this book is different. I don't think it's romantic, and I'm uncapable to root for Willa with all the brothers. I prefer possessive, strong heroes and I think Rome is the one who really seemed more affected by the fact that Willa has a thing for ALL THE BROTHERS. I hope he eventually finds someone else or that Willa chooses him, but that doesn't seem the point of the series. The whole point seems to make the reader laugh so I'll read the next of the series and hopefully I'll enjoy the sequels as much as I enjoyed this one even if there's not a single couple to root for ... or maybe there are too many of them.. I might even preorder Seduction, book 3 of this series because my friends are all hyped about it. I think it's the most anticipated November release in the YOung adult section.
I'm not writing a parental guidance alert...yet because this book was clean, but I don't know whether the authors will try to be like Tahere Mafi and Sarah J. Maas and change genres, from clean YA to raunchy no-fade-to-black-during-sex-scenes-New-Adult later in the series.
Do you need a laugh?A mindless YA? Juvenile jokes and hot guys?Read Trickery.
Pre-reading thoughts
I wasn't going to read this because TRIANGLES AND POLYGONS AREN'T MY THING. But I need a light young adult fantasy and My dear friend Karen says that this Fantasy book is the opposite of a Sarah J. Maas books and that ingrigued me. How is that even possible?
I also pick a popular overly anticipated series once in a while to read and Seduction book 3 of this series is coming in November: I don't think I'm exaggerating that it has to be the MOST ANTICIPATED YOUNG ADULT FANTASY NOVEMBER REALEASE, judging by the level of interest amogn my friens. Before Seduction appears all over my newsfeed with me not having an idea of what's going on I decided to step out of my confort zone of safe romances and go for something that everyone says is quite funny and different. I honestly hate reading on going, unfinished series because I hate cliffhangers. But usually Young adult Kindle unlimited authors finish their series quickly so I'm here ready. I'm not expecting romance. How could it be with so many love interest?
Wish me luck. I really want to love this one.
Note: Unsafe means that there are other partners activities meaning kissing, watching naked and I usually hate that so. I wonder how I'd feel about this one.
****4 AMAZING, Yet unsafe STARS****
Coming from my monogamist, perverted little heart it's almost like a gazillion stars. I'm not joking, when a book is tagged as romance I get picky and I need possessive heroes and commited heroines. I rarely give 5 stars to unsafe books (ACOMAF was a glorious exception) unless there's something outside the romance and that something has to be really amazing to impress me.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, Trickery is an amazing book. I'm impressed!
I'll say this book is the perfect choice if you want a light fantasy book to take with you to the beach. You won't find complicated world-building. You won't find poetic prose and heavy social issues. You'll find a story of friendship, bravery and the eternal mystery of why opposites attract. And of course you'll find 5 hot guys completely devoted to their heroine.
I like the world building! I know that some fantasy readers prefer overdescriptive, detailed worldbuiding and everything explained in book 1 of the series, but I don't. I don't want to know the whole history and politics of the world in the first books of the series. I prefer the kind of worldbuilding that has the potential to grow throughout the series. Think Harry Potter, and Hunger games. Book 1 didn't explain the history and politics of the world but we the impatient readers eventually discovered what was going on as the series progressed. This one has potential to become really epic.
Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington provide us readers with enough information of their magic world:Minatsol, to understand Willa's position and why the Abcurse brothers infatuation with her are a big deal.
Minatsol is a world where not everyone is equal. Willa, a walking disaster, cheats during her "exams" and therefore she gets a high ranking that gives her the "privilege" of travelling with her sister to a very exclusive academy. Not to study but to serve the demigods who attend the school there.
I disagree with anyone who calls Willa stupid. She is quite smart actually. There are several types of inteligence. Willa has interpersonal and intrapersonal, skills. She's also good at language, I mean, all her witty comebacks. Poor Willa just doesn't have the kind of intelligence that allows normal people to put one foot in front of the other without tripping. That's the kinesthesic intelligence, but other than that she's quite smart and I like her. I guess some people will find her sense of humor juvenile, but I think that's what really made me enjoy this book.
I had the most amazing pic to fancast the other abcurse brothers but for some reason it's not working. It must be that Willa's pull for chaos is rubbing on me.
Anyway, I think this book is different. I don't think it's romantic, and I'm uncapable to root for Willa with all the brothers. I prefer possessive, strong heroes and I think Rome is the one who really seemed more affected by the fact that Willa has a thing for ALL THE BROTHERS. I hope he eventually finds someone else or that Willa chooses him, but that doesn't seem the point of the series. The whole point seems to make the reader laugh so I'll read the next of the series and hopefully I'll enjoy the sequels as much as I enjoyed this one even if there's not a single couple to root for ... or maybe there are too many of them.. I might even preorder Seduction, book 3 of this series because my friends are all hyped about it. I think it's the most anticipated November release in the YOung adult section.
I'm not writing a parental guidance alert...yet because this book was clean, but I don't know whether the authors will try to be like Tahere Mafi and Sarah J. Maas and change genres, from clean YA to raunchy no-fade-to-black-during-sex-scenes-New-Adult later in the series.
Do you need a laugh?A mindless YA? Juvenile jokes and hot guys?Read Trickery.
Pre-reading thoughts
I wasn't going to read this because TRIANGLES AND POLYGONS AREN'T MY THING. But I need a light young adult fantasy and My dear friend Karen says that this Fantasy book is the opposite of a Sarah J. Maas books and that ingrigued me. How is that even possible?
I also pick a popular overly anticipated series once in a while to read and Seduction book 3 of this series is coming in November: I don't think I'm exaggerating that it has to be the MOST ANTICIPATED YOUNG ADULT FANTASY NOVEMBER REALEASE, judging by the level of interest amogn my friens. Before Seduction appears all over my newsfeed with me not having an idea of what's going on I decided to step out of my confort zone of safe romances and go for something that everyone says is quite funny and different. I honestly hate reading on going, unfinished series because I hate cliffhangers. But usually Young adult Kindle unlimited authors finish their series quickly so I'm here ready. I'm not expecting romance. How could it be with so many love interest?
Wish me luck. I really want to love this one.
Note: Unsafe means that there are other partners activities meaning kissing, watching naked and I usually hate that so. I wonder how I'd feel about this one.
August 11, 2017
3.5 stars, maybe?
Trickery was chaotic. And I haven't decided whether in a positive or negative way.
Willa Knight is a freaking disaster of epic, almost-get-impaled-burned-killed-on-a-daily-basis proportions. She lives in a world divided between sols, the superior beings that strive to become Gods when they die, and dwellers, their servants/slaves who are equal to dirt. And...that's pretty much all the world-building we get, at least in the first book of the series. Of course there are also the actual Gods, but the information concerning their whereabouts is scarce and mostly confusing. But I'll come back to this later. Our aforementioned protagonist finds herself in a precarious situation (well, more precarious than usual) when she is chosen to attend Blesswood Academy as a servant to eligible future Gods, and is assigned (by mistake, mind you) to take care of the Ab(b)curse* Brothers; Siret (call me Trickery), Yael (call me Persuasion), Arol (call me Seduction), Rome (call me Strength) and Coen (call me Pain), who are extraordinarily gorgeous and suck Willa into their divine world infused with super powers, devious Gods and secret missions. Sounds like a fun ride, doesn't it?
And it is a fun ride. The reason I picked Trickery (besides the cover) was the desire to read something similar to Demons at Deadnight by A.E. Kirk, and the truth is that the authors indeed delivered a lighthearted, entertaining story that makes you chuckle at Willa's precious inner monologues and penchant for nudity and disaster, and thus you inhale it in one sitting. Add to the mix mythology and rivalries between Gods and five seriously hot dudes, and that's the recipe for success. At least it should be, but sadly I am a tad underwhelmed.
Like I said before, the world-building needs further exploration. My brain hurt from the confusion over the country of Minatsol, its history and its origins. It wavered between high fantasy and urban fantasy, there were trains and shorts and then godlike powers and swords but no explanation regarding this world's creation, only some vague and inadequate references to the past. And then there is the mythology. It was utterly underdeveloped and weak; we know there are Gods with varied abilities (cue some random names), and that some prominent sols become gods, but the reason of the division between sols and dwellers is a mystery to be solved.
The second thing that bothered me was the Willa/boys relationship. I loved their dynamics and their banters, and frankly, I loved all the guys (even though I have a crush on Siret), but the tension, the angst and the sexually charged atmosphere between Willa and all of them was... cringe-worthy. I'd preferred if she picked one, hell I'd even preferred a love triangle at this point, but being equally attracted to five brothers? And all of them attracted to her? I'm about to believe that all those raging hormones will lead to a kinky sexpentagon** hexagon and I'm not very comfortable with that idea.
Even though I expected something more, I recognize the potential for improvement in the following instalments, and I do recommend this series if you're up for mindless fun and some delicious eye-candy(ies)!
*Because having abbs like those (cue excessive drooling) is definitely a curse.
**Vote for Team Blake!
Visit BookNest.eu for this review and more!
Trickery was chaotic. And I haven't decided whether in a positive or negative way.
“It’s your own fault, Will. What did I tell you about walking?”
“That I should leave it to the experts.”
Willa Knight is a freaking disaster of epic, almost-get-impaled-burned-killed-on-a-daily-basis proportions. She lives in a world divided between sols, the superior beings that strive to become Gods when they die, and dwellers, their servants/slaves who are equal to dirt. And...that's pretty much all the world-building we get, at least in the first book of the series. Of course there are also the actual Gods, but the information concerning their whereabouts is scarce and mostly confusing. But I'll come back to this later. Our aforementioned protagonist finds herself in a precarious situation (well, more precarious than usual) when she is chosen to attend Blesswood Academy as a servant to eligible future Gods, and is assigned (by mistake, mind you) to take care of the Ab(b)curse* Brothers; Siret (call me Trickery), Yael (call me Persuasion), Arol (call me Seduction), Rome (call me Strength) and Coen (call me Pain), who are extraordinarily gorgeous and suck Willa into their divine world infused with super powers, devious Gods and secret missions. Sounds like a fun ride, doesn't it?
And it is a fun ride. The reason I picked Trickery (besides the cover) was the desire to read something similar to Demons at Deadnight by A.E. Kirk, and the truth is that the authors indeed delivered a lighthearted, entertaining story that makes you chuckle at Willa's precious inner monologues and penchant for nudity and disaster, and thus you inhale it in one sitting. Add to the mix mythology and rivalries between Gods and five seriously hot dudes, and that's the recipe for success. At least it should be, but sadly I am a tad underwhelmed.
Like I said before, the world-building needs further exploration. My brain hurt from the confusion over the country of Minatsol, its history and its origins. It wavered between high fantasy and urban fantasy, there were trains and shorts and then godlike powers and swords but no explanation regarding this world's creation, only some vague and inadequate references to the past. And then there is the mythology. It was utterly underdeveloped and weak; we know there are Gods with varied abilities (cue some random names), and that some prominent sols become gods, but the reason of the division between sols and dwellers is a mystery to be solved.
The second thing that bothered me was the Willa/boys relationship. I loved their dynamics and their banters, and frankly, I loved all the guys (even though I have a crush on Siret), but the tension, the angst and the sexually charged atmosphere between Willa and all of them was... cringe-worthy. I'd preferred if she picked one, hell I'd even preferred a love triangle at this point, but being equally attracted to five brothers? And all of them attracted to her? I'm about to believe that all those raging hormones will lead to a kinky sex
Even though I expected something more, I recognize the potential for improvement in the following instalments, and I do recommend this series if you're up for mindless fun and some delicious eye-candy(ies)!
*Because having abbs like those (cue excessive drooling) is definitely a curse.
**Vote for Team Blake!
Visit BookNest.eu for this review and more!
August 31, 2020
⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱*I Want All The Abcurses*⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱
Re-read: 31.08.2020
Surprisingly I still liked this book quite a lot. Why surprised? Well, I was worried that I'd find Willa's clumsiness and almost naive/stupidity annoying/too much, and that it would ruin it this time around. But I still found her adorable, though a bit stupid. I really like Jaymin Eve writing styles, and combined with Jane Washington , they've created an interesting story with good characters. No wonder I was desperate for the sequel, however time came between us and the more I waited the more I got scared of no longer liking it. But I should've have worried. Overall, the book was a fast forward and enjoyable read. I didn't like the timeline though. I had hope it's was a bit longer than I remembered...
New rating: 3.5 stars.
“... I don’t even want to be around them all the time. I’m sick of them. I never want to see them again. Except Aros; he smells nice. And Rome, because he’s so strong I’m pretty sure not even Rau can get past him. I don’t need the others. Except Siret. I’m pretty sure he hates me, but he’s really good at catching me like just before I face-plant into something. But the others, I don’t need them. Not at all.” I paused, my brow furrowing, my mouth pursing, and then I quickly blurted, “Except Coen and Yael. Coen is really good at making decisions, and if I leave out Yael he’ll probably hunt me the hell down and haunt me—”
“That’s all of them,” Emmy interrupted smoothly. She didn’t sound panicked anymore. Now she sounded like she was trying not to laugh.
Characters:
→ Willa ‘Will’ ‘Rocks’ ‘Solider’ Knight, a dweller.
The Abcurse brothers- the most powerful sols at Blesswood;
→ Coen ‘One’, the gift of Pain.
→ Rome ‘Two’, the gift of Strength. Coen and Rome were twins.
→ Siret ‘Five’, the gift of Trickery.
→ Yael ‘Four’, the gift of Persuasion.
→ Aros ‘Three’, the gift of Seduction. Siret, Yael and Aros were triplets.
→ Emmanuelle ‘Emmy’ ‘Em’, Willa's best friend and fellow dweller recruit to serve at Blesswood.
→ Jerath, a dweller who serves at Blesswood.
→ Elowin, a sol and the Head of the Dweller-relations committee at Blesswood.
→ Atti, one of the resident dwellers who serves at Blesswood.
→ Teacher Crest, and in charge of a class: Original Gods, and The Beginning. Her gift is song.
→ Staviti, the Creator. The Original Creator.
→ Sacred Abil, the god of Trickery.
→ Rau, a powerful god and one of the Originals—but he has one big problem. He’s one of the only Original Gods without a Beta and no one really knows why there has never been a sol to step into the role. Chaos god?
Glossary:
→ click – minute
→ rotation – hour
→ sun-cycle – day
→ moon-cycle – month
→ life-cycle – year
→ minateur – soldier
→ bullsen – beast
→ sleeper – spider
→ furline – caterpillar
→ sol – dominant race
→ dweller – serving race
→ minatsol – world of the dwellers and sols
→ topia – world of the gods
→ luciu – floating city of the gods
→ soldel – first city of the sols
→ dvadel – second city of the sols
→ tridel – third city of the gods
First read review:
Wow, I actually liked this book. A lot. Willa Knight (18) and the Abcurses; Coen, Rome, Siret, Yael and Aros were awesome. The book actually reminded me of Demons at Deadnight by A.E. Kirk with Aurora and the Hex boys, just a bit more...mature? I adore the lightness, the funniness and hilariousness, the jokes and the mystery the book got going on.
Some things in life were a given. It was a given that the sols were the bridge between the dwellers and the gods.
I love all the Abcurses equally, which is a shock because I always, always choose just one that I love more than the others, but not here. They were all great. I did like Willa, a lot, though sometimes her clumsiness became a bit too much, but in the end it all worked. I'm extremely excited to see where this series is going, so I hope we get book two soon, and fast!
Dwellers would always be worthless to the world, and I would always be worthless to the worthless.
WHAT I LIKED:
✓ → The boys.
✓ → The funniness.
✓ → The lightness.
✓ → The story.
✓ → The friendships.
✓ → The easiness.
✓ → Did I mention the boys?
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKED:
✗ → The clumsiness; became a bit too much.
✗ → The idiocy.
✗ → Willa acting dumb at times.
Quick basic facts:
Genre: - (YA? NA?) Paranormal Romance (Mythology?)
Series: - Series, Book One
Love triangle? -
Cheating? -
HEA? -
Favorite character? - Aros, I think - no Rome. No, I mean, Coen. Shit, I don't know. All of the Abcurses?
Would I read more by this author/or of series? - Yes.
Would I recommend this book/series? - Yes.
Will I read this again in the future? - Yes.
Rating - 4 stars.
May 1, 2021
4.5 stars
I felt like reading manga and I laughed so hard because Willa is so funny. #TEAMROME
I felt like reading manga and I laughed so hard because Willa is so funny. #TEAMROME
September 22, 2022
Reread 2022 - down to 4 stars
---------------------
Original review
I loved absolutely everything about this book.
The world building, the dweller/sol/gods set up, all 5 brothers, clumsy sassy Willa, the flirting, the group dynamic, the humour - just everything. And I cannot wait for the next one (especially if that 'pact' they have going on crumbles).
---------------------
Original review
I loved absolutely everything about this book.
The world building, the dweller/sol/gods set up, all 5 brothers, clumsy sassy Willa, the flirting, the group dynamic, the humour - just everything. And I cannot wait for the next one (especially if that 'pact' they have going on crumbles).
October 27, 2019
I don't remember the last time a book has made me laugh so hard. Trickery is one of those books that you'd never want to admit out loud that you actually liked them, and secretly you simply adore them, and eat up it's pages like a gluten.
Our lead heroine Willa is a clumsy mess - in simple words it's just that. Haha. She's literally me in reality, except that I'm not so beautiful to grab the attention of a single guy much less five hot sexy gods/sols. She's continuously messing up, breaking things, tripping and hurting herself and others around her. So yeah, basically me.
In the beginning I was a little put out, because I was getting a whole damsel in distress vibe, but as you read on you realise Willa Knight is no damsel in distress. She knows how to take charge, she knows how to make herself heard, and unlike the other dwellers she doesn't let herself be put down.
So the story is set in an alternate universe where we have 3 classes or groups of people.
1. The gods
2. The sols
3. The dwellers
The Sols are basically future gods in training. On their death in case of proper training they get to become the gods. The Sols function to serve the gods.
The dwellers, are the outcasts, or low casts, who study their entire life for the chance that they would get to attend blesswood, where they would serve the Sols.
Willa knight is no ordinary dweller, she is clumsy, talkative, and does not like to be put down. Unlike everyone else she is not ready to deal with the Sols bullshit.
Enter the Abcurses. Five brothers (a set of twins and a set of triplets) - the strongest Sols at blesswood academy. They are rowdy, mischievous, and upto no good, but of course considering Willa's bad luck she catches their eyes.
This is the first time I've read a book such as this. Where we've got a single girl and 5 guys. It's not some sort of love pentagon, because I hate those, love triangles, squares, pentagons and so on are somethings I cannot stand (especially after twilight).
All the five guys (Coen, Rome, Aros, Yael, Siret) end up falling for Willa, and there is some jealousy involved between the brothers, but they seem to work things out - guess you could say share her lol. (Honestly in reality this would be ridiculous- but here it just works). And Willa too, ends up loving them all. I've read both trickery and persuasion( book 2) and I found nothing that would make me think it was too adult. You could even classify it as Ya, because I've read many New adult books that have been much more racy.
If your looking for a superb plot, something to boggle your mind, I wouldn't recommend trickery. However, if you want a fun light read, something to make you laugh, I would. Personally I loved it and I'll be eagerly awaiting the third book seduction.
Our lead heroine Willa is a clumsy mess - in simple words it's just that. Haha. She's literally me in reality, except that I'm not so beautiful to grab the attention of a single guy much less five hot sexy gods/sols. She's continuously messing up, breaking things, tripping and hurting herself and others around her. So yeah, basically me.
In the beginning I was a little put out, because I was getting a whole damsel in distress vibe, but as you read on you realise Willa Knight is no damsel in distress. She knows how to take charge, she knows how to make herself heard, and unlike the other dwellers she doesn't let herself be put down.
So the story is set in an alternate universe where we have 3 classes or groups of people.
1. The gods
2. The sols
3. The dwellers
The Sols are basically future gods in training. On their death in case of proper training they get to become the gods. The Sols function to serve the gods.
The dwellers, are the outcasts, or low casts, who study their entire life for the chance that they would get to attend blesswood, where they would serve the Sols.
Willa knight is no ordinary dweller, she is clumsy, talkative, and does not like to be put down. Unlike everyone else she is not ready to deal with the Sols bullshit.
Enter the Abcurses. Five brothers (a set of twins and a set of triplets) - the strongest Sols at blesswood academy. They are rowdy, mischievous, and upto no good, but of course considering Willa's bad luck she catches their eyes.
This is the first time I've read a book such as this. Where we've got a single girl and 5 guys. It's not some sort of love pentagon, because I hate those, love triangles, squares, pentagons and so on are somethings I cannot stand (especially after twilight).
All the five guys (Coen, Rome, Aros, Yael, Siret) end up falling for Willa, and there is some jealousy involved between the brothers, but they seem to work things out - guess you could say share her lol. (Honestly in reality this would be ridiculous- but here it just works). And Willa too, ends up loving them all. I've read both trickery and persuasion( book 2) and I found nothing that would make me think it was too adult. You could even classify it as Ya, because I've read many New adult books that have been much more racy.
If your looking for a superb plot, something to boggle your mind, I wouldn't recommend trickery. However, if you want a fun light read, something to make you laugh, I would. Personally I loved it and I'll be eagerly awaiting the third book seduction.
July 31, 2022
✅ Mythology and gods
✅ Funny banter
✅ Hilarious main character
✅ Sexy and funny secondary character
✅ Action
✅ Original concept
✅🆗 Plot
🆗 Sexual tension
It was as hilarious the second time around! 😂
Willa is a dweller who has the honor to get chosen to go serve the Sols training to become gods. The only problem is her clumsiness is sure to either get her thrown out or killed. Even worse, she gets assigned to the dormitories of the 5 Abcurse brothers, the strongest and most powerful students in the academy, but the worse Sols to be around.
Plot-wise, this book is more about getting to know Willa, the five brothers, and building the relationship between them. There is no big endgame, and I am not sure at all where this series is going yet, but it was silly, mindless fun, and I loved every minute of it!
The world-building is well done and is easy enough to understand, except maybe the whole time system that works differently. They have clicks instead of minutes, sun-cycles, moon-cycles and life-cycles, but honestly, even if I was confused at times because I’m not used to this system, it did not prevent me from understanding or enjoying the story at all.
Basically, dwellers are at the bottom of the hierarchy, they live in their poor villages, and hope to someday get chosen to serve the Sols because that’s the best they can hope for. The Sols are all mighty and often have magical powers, and they in turn go to the academy in the hopes of being noticed by the gods, so they can become gods when they die.
At first, I was not sure if I liked Willa because she seems so silly at times and she is so clumsy it's almost a parody (Bella Swan style, but 5x worse). She can't move more than a few steps without tripping, hitting somebody, falling down a flight of stairs, accidentally setting something on fire, or ending up losing some of her clothes. She is a danger to herself, but also to everyone around her and it’s a miracle that she made it this far in life, I mean, the girl accidentally stabbed someone (apparently it was not the first time it happened) because she tripped with a knife and she started many fires by accident...
If you really want to enjoy this book, do not take it too seriously and just enjoy the humor and funny situations. Willa is a walking catastrophe, and she has no filter, but the over-the-top situations she ends up in are what make this book great, especially if you are looking for something light and funny. Willa is sassy and so funny in her “I don’t give a shit because my clumsiness will kill me anyway” way, it kinda made her fearless honestly, which I liked. She is determined to continue pushing forward, even when things seem to be doomed and she had no hopes of winning or getting away, she just keeps on fighting and somehow makes it work.
I like that Willa is a quick thinker and finds ways to get out of the tricky situations she inevitably ends up in. She just rolls with it and has accepted the fact that her life is chaos, and the best she can do is pretend that she’s somewhat in control of it. That's actually how she manages to develop a relationship with the brothers in the first place. She just pretends that everything is fine even when she almost dies a few times, and her lack of survival instincts made it so that she’s an interesting dweller who does not conform instead of being like all the others, and that’s what attracted the attention of the Abcurses. She is a walking disaster and she owns it, she even tries to warn others beforehand that something will inevitably happen if she's involved.
The five brothers are great, I really like them. They are arrogant and have no respect for authority, but they are also funny, and very loyal. They stick together no matter what, and once Willa becomes part of their group, she is there to stay. There are five of them, and this is a relatively short book, so we don’t know much about them yet, but I loved the little we saw:
🖤 Coen is the quiet, dark, and broody sol with a gift for pain. We can also see that he’s protective of Willa, and I always tend to enjoy broody protective characters, so I have a feeling that I will really love him.
💙 Rome is the silent, giant protector with a gift for strength, and again, I just looooove quiet, strong protectors.
💛 Aros is the golden seduction-gifted sol, and he is hooooot and smooth.
💚 Yael is the competitive one, he has a gift for persuasion and he is clearly used to getting what he wants. He also has a flirty side that comes out whenever Willa seems to give attention to another brother (as I said, very competitive).
💜 Siret is the trickster, the one who’s always smirking and enjoying the chaos Willa brought into their life. His carefree attitude, and the way he just enjoys life and all the surprises in it because he’s a master trickster after all made me like him very much.
The poor boys clearly underestimated Willa’s lack of survival instinct and craziness. What started as a way for them to have fun because you know, there is no better way to amuse yourself at school than to bet on how long it will take the dweller to get herself killed, ended up with them deciding that Willa was theirs, even though they seem to slightly regret it at times. Seriously, the banter and the hilarious interactions between them made me laugh out loud many times.
Even though this is a reverse-harem story, the development is smooth and there is no real romance yet, but there is some sexual attraction (probably due to the fact that Willa somehow always ends up half-naked), and I just know that things will be hot when the romance and smut finally get more intense.
It is a good book if you want some action and silly fun.
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✅ Funny banter
✅ Hilarious main character
✅ Sexy and funny secondary character
✅ Action
✅ Original concept
✅🆗 Plot
🆗 Sexual tension
It was as hilarious the second time around! 😂
That’s how I ended up sucker-punching a sacred sol on my second sun-cycle of being one of the Luckiest Dwellers in the World.
I tossed out my hands to catch myself, forgetting that I was holding the knife … And that was how I stabbed a God in Topia.
Willa is a dweller who has the honor to get chosen to go serve the Sols training to become gods. The only problem is her clumsiness is sure to either get her thrown out or killed. Even worse, she gets assigned to the dormitories of the 5 Abcurse brothers, the strongest and most powerful students in the academy, but the worse Sols to be around.
Plot-wise, this book is more about getting to know Willa, the five brothers, and building the relationship between them. There is no big endgame, and I am not sure at all where this series is going yet, but it was silly, mindless fun, and I loved every minute of it!
Some things in life were a given. It was a given that the sols were the bridge between the dwellers and the gods. It was a given that some of them would become gods, after they died—while the rest of us would only become ash. It was a given that they would always be more important, and that the dwellers would remain their slaves until there were no dwellers left, and the sols had taken over everything. It was also a given that I’d never be picked to go to Blesswood Academy, because I never got picked for anything.
Blesswood was Minatsol’s most holy city, housing the only academy dedicated to the gods. The gods even came down to Blesswood once a moon-cycle to survey the sols—to watch them fight it out in the arena, or outsmart each other in strategy games. Not every sol would get chosen to join the gods, but those that did were always chosen from Blesswood.
The world-building is well done and is easy enough to understand, except maybe the whole time system that works differently. They have clicks instead of minutes, sun-cycles, moon-cycles and life-cycles, but honestly, even if I was confused at times because I’m not used to this system, it did not prevent me from understanding or enjoying the story at all.
Basically, dwellers are at the bottom of the hierarchy, they live in their poor villages, and hope to someday get chosen to serve the Sols because that’s the best they can hope for. The Sols are all mighty and often have magical powers, and they in turn go to the academy in the hopes of being noticed by the gods, so they can become gods when they die.
She was smart like that, and lucky like that, and people loved the hell out of her. They didn’t love the hell out of me; they ran the hell away from me. It wasn’t like I was a bad person or anything, I just … had a lot of accidents. I didn’t mean accidents like I ate glue and then peed myself on a regular basis. I just tripped more than usual, and accidentally set things on fire more than what would be considered ‘normal’. I got kicked out of the village school only one moon-cycle before graduation for accidentally making one of the teachers bald. How do you accidentally make someone bald? That’s a good question. All you really need is a bucket of warm tar to accidentally toss onto the back of their head. How do you get a bucket of warm tar? You don’t go looking for it or anything—or at least I didn’t. It was just sitting on the road outside the school and I thought I should carry it inside to ask what it was.
At first, I was not sure if I liked Willa because she seems so silly at times and she is so clumsy it's almost a parody (Bella Swan style, but 5x worse). She can't move more than a few steps without tripping, hitting somebody, falling down a flight of stairs, accidentally setting something on fire, or ending up losing some of her clothes. She is a danger to herself, but also to everyone around her and it’s a miracle that she made it this far in life, I mean, the girl accidentally stabbed someone (apparently it was not the first time it happened) because she tripped with a knife and she started many fires by accident...
If you really want to enjoy this book, do not take it too seriously and just enjoy the humor and funny situations. Willa is a walking catastrophe, and she has no filter, but the over-the-top situations she ends up in are what make this book great, especially if you are looking for something light and funny. Willa is sassy and so funny in her “I don’t give a shit because my clumsiness will kill me anyway” way, it kinda made her fearless honestly, which I liked. She is determined to continue pushing forward, even when things seem to be doomed and she had no hopes of winning or getting away, she just keeps on fighting and somehow makes it work.
“You’re a boy!” I returned, a dose of horror shot into my tone, my finger raised in a point. “What are you doing in the girl’s area?”
He had a moment. He totally had a moment. I could see it all over his face—before he realised that he’d just finished cleaning the rooms that he always cleaned, and then confusion descended. “What are you doing in the male dorm?”
“Exploring my sexuality.” I leaned against the cart, propping my elbow, wiping my expression into something neutral. “How am I doing?”
“I can see your nipples. Your shirt’s wet.”
I like that Willa is a quick thinker and finds ways to get out of the tricky situations she inevitably ends up in. She just rolls with it and has accepted the fact that her life is chaos, and the best she can do is pretend that she’s somewhat in control of it. That's actually how she manages to develop a relationship with the brothers in the first place. She just pretends that everything is fine even when she almost dies a few times, and her lack of survival instincts made it so that she’s an interesting dweller who does not conform instead of being like all the others, and that’s what attracted the attention of the Abcurses. She is a walking disaster and she owns it, she even tries to warn others beforehand that something will inevitably happen if she's involved.
Coen and Rome were the twins. Which would mean that their poor, poor mother had given birth to one set of monster twins, and then—as if that wasn’t bad enough—a set of monster triplets. Just to make a complete little monster set.
“No one ever hugs us for no reason.” His voice was a whispered caress across my body. Like the sweetest, most seductive breeze ever. “No one gives themselves without expecting something in return. You honoured us, little dirt-dweller.”
Wow. Back-handed compliment much?
The five brothers are great, I really like them. They are arrogant and have no respect for authority, but they are also funny, and very loyal. They stick together no matter what, and once Willa becomes part of their group, she is there to stay. There are five of them, and this is a relatively short book, so we don’t know much about them yet, but I loved the little we saw:
🖤 Coen is the quiet, dark, and broody sol with a gift for pain. We can also see that he’s protective of Willa, and I always tend to enjoy broody protective characters, so I have a feeling that I will really love him.
💙 Rome is the silent, giant protector with a gift for strength, and again, I just looooove quiet, strong protectors.
💛 Aros is the golden seduction-gifted sol, and he is hooooot and smooth.
💚 Yael is the competitive one, he has a gift for persuasion and he is clearly used to getting what he wants. He also has a flirty side that comes out whenever Willa seems to give attention to another brother (as I said, very competitive).
💜 Siret is the trickster, the one who’s always smirking and enjoying the chaos Willa brought into their life. His carefree attitude, and the way he just enjoys life and all the surprises in it because he’s a master trickster after all made me like him very much.
“I want to keep her around,” Yael murmured, glancing toward the bed. “She makes me laugh. I can’t tell if she’s stupid or brave. I want to figure it out.”
He dropped my hand, and I knew that he was moments away from kicking the door down like a crazy, deranged sol, so I quickly raised my fist and knocked.
They all turned to stare at me, looking like I’d just stolen their favourite toy and ripped its head off.
“What?” I asked defensively. “Just trying to be polite.”
“We’re here to kill her,” Siret reminded me, his voice a frustrated groan.
“Don’t see why we can’t kill her politely,” I muttered back.
The poor boys clearly underestimated Willa’s lack of survival instinct and craziness. What started as a way for them to have fun because you know, there is no better way to amuse yourself at school than to bet on how long it will take the dweller to get herself killed, ended up with them deciding that Willa was theirs, even though they seem to slightly regret it at times. Seriously, the banter and the hilarious interactions between them made me laugh out loud many times.
Even though this is a reverse-harem story, the development is smooth and there is no real romance yet, but there is some sexual attraction (probably due to the fact that Willa somehow always ends up half-naked), and I just know that things will be hot when the romance and smut finally get more intense.
I was so riled, I whipped my shirt up over my head and tossed it across the room without any hesitation whatsoever. My bra was next as I flicked it free, shorts and underwear following soon after. Well, kind of. I got them to my ankles and then as I tried to kick them free, I tripped over backwards, clipping the edge of one of the sinks and landing flat on my face. My shriek would have been loud and piercing, if it hadn’t been muffled by the shirt I’d landed on. The one I’d just flung off my body. Like a stubborn idiot with a penchant for nudity.
I really need to think things through more often.
There was a beat of dead silence, before one of them groaned. Aros’s words were far less smooth than usual. “I’m out, guys.”
The sound of steps and then a door shutting followed. I knew I should roll over and get back to my feet, but now that I’d managed to make a fool of myself for the hundredth time in front of them, I really didn’t want to move. My ass was showing, but nothing else. Which seemed like something I could deal with.
Something warm draped over my body, and I lifted my head to find Siret crouched right beside me. “I thank the gods every single sun-cycle that you tripped into our lives, Soldier.” His smile was so bright, like he was on the verge of laughing.
It is a good book if you want some action and silly fun.
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July 27, 2017
2.5ish - 3.5ish reverse harem stars
Trickery isn't as good as I was expecting but is still exactly what I needed after abandoning two books by Sarah J. Maas in a row. Nothing against those "flawless" characters of Mass or her tendency to manipulate the plot to favor her favorite snowflake. Maas writing is very good, but I just needed
-A light young adult fantasy read
-A relatable working class heroine, preferebly someone flawed I could see developing over time
-A group of male characters with an equal chance to impress me without the author manipulation.
-I didn't need poetic prose or complex worldbuilding. I needed something fun and for once clean. I read Young adult when I need a rest of sexy-smechxy books.
Reading trickery was eerily as ticking one by one the list pointed above. Long story short, Trickery is the exact opposite of Maas books. Whether this is bad or good is for you to decide. I recommend this book if you like shoujo manga and anime.
Trickery isn't perfect I was expecting something like Hana Hori Dango in a fantasy setting and instead I found a TSTL heroine and a lot of description of muscles.
We follow Willa Knight, the clumsiest heroine ever. Bella Swan is in comparison a very graceful, coordinated heroine. I've read some reviews saying that this clumsiness was overdone, but that didn't bother me. I'm clumsy myself and the only thing preventing me from tripping a dozen times a day is that I'm really familiar with my surroundings. Willa finds herself in a new enviroment, the Blesswood academy for sols and this is the largest most majestic place she has ever been to. Of course she's going to trip a lot. I didn't find it unbelievable. I would be worse.
The sols are the elite group of Willa's society because they aspire to become gods and have special powers. Willa belongs to the working class, the dwellers and the dwellers can only improve their harsh living conditions by being selected to serve the sols in their ultra-elitist academy.
Willa inner monologue was hilarious and she reminded me a lot of Usagi (Serena) Tsukino from Sailor moon and Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi. A.K.A as TSTL characters that make me roll my eyes all the time, but who also make me laugh.
When Willa arrives at Blesswood her pull for chaos and disaster pulls her to the ABCURSE brothers, a group of privileged sols. They find her amusing and take her as their mascot. They eventually became protective and loyal to Willa.
The plot is really weak in my opinion, because nothing happens, we just follow Willa in her journey to Blesswood and her attachment to the brothers. She goes from one crazy situation to another and in each situation she gets in trouble the brothers protect her and take care of her and she amuses us with her stupidity. The characterization is decent and Willa doesn't show any preference toward any of the brothers. The authors, however, seem to prefer writing scenes to favor the brother with the power of seduction, Aros. I thought that Aros got more touchy with Willa than the rest of the brothers, but Willa herself seems to be equally attached to all of them showing no preference. I'm very curious to see where the authors will take the story, but I'll keep my expectations low because after the first chapters which were very good the story starts to become repetitive and the editing starts to lack because the time-line didn't make any sense or the characters were talking and interacting in an empty room.
The strenght of the book however is that it never takes itself seriously and for that I almost gave this book 4.5 stars. Fantasy books and specially Young adult fantasy books don't have to be so dark and complex. Remember that this is a genre primarly for teens and I think 12-18 YO readers will have a blast reading this book, although there's some cursing here. I might find it juvenile, but again, this is a Young adult novel, almost a fantasy parody and I think we need more books like this one. A light fantasy book that doesn't make you think, but makes you feel.
I think we are in for 5-6 book in the series because the five Abcurse brothers have different powers and their nicknames refer to those powers: Trickery, Persuasion, Seduction, Strenght and Pain and maybe the author will add a book called "rocks" which is the way the brothers call Willa. I hope the authors take time to develope the brothers because by now I think they are slightly underdeveloped. I know their powers, I know what they do, but I don't know who they are. That's not a fault of the novel, I think the authors's intention was to present them as a group, a united group, and what they gave us from each of the brothes is enough to care for them and to understand their relationship with Willa. I can see why they would find her amusing, like a pet and attracted at the same time. For all her clumsiness Willa is brave in her own way and very loyal. I like her enough to continue the series. I rolled my eyes at her silliness at times, but overall I think she's a good protagonist.
Read if you want something funny and different.
Trickery isn't as good as I was expecting but is still exactly what I needed after abandoning two books by Sarah J. Maas in a row. Nothing against those "flawless" characters of Mass or her tendency to manipulate the plot to favor her favorite snowflake. Maas writing is very good, but I just needed
-A light young adult fantasy read
-A relatable working class heroine, preferebly someone flawed I could see developing over time
-A group of male characters with an equal chance to impress me without the author manipulation.
-I didn't need poetic prose or complex worldbuilding. I needed something fun and for once clean. I read Young adult when I need a rest of sexy-smechxy books.
Reading trickery was eerily as ticking one by one the list pointed above. Long story short, Trickery is the exact opposite of Maas books. Whether this is bad or good is for you to decide. I recommend this book if you like shoujo manga and anime.
Trickery isn't perfect I was expecting something like Hana Hori Dango in a fantasy setting and instead I found a TSTL heroine and a lot of description of muscles.
We follow Willa Knight, the clumsiest heroine ever. Bella Swan is in comparison a very graceful, coordinated heroine. I've read some reviews saying that this clumsiness was overdone, but that didn't bother me. I'm clumsy myself and the only thing preventing me from tripping a dozen times a day is that I'm really familiar with my surroundings. Willa finds herself in a new enviroment, the Blesswood academy for sols and this is the largest most majestic place she has ever been to. Of course she's going to trip a lot. I didn't find it unbelievable. I would be worse.
The sols are the elite group of Willa's society because they aspire to become gods and have special powers. Willa belongs to the working class, the dwellers and the dwellers can only improve their harsh living conditions by being selected to serve the sols in their ultra-elitist academy.
Willa inner monologue was hilarious and she reminded me a lot of Usagi (Serena) Tsukino from Sailor moon and Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi. A.K.A as TSTL characters that make me roll my eyes all the time, but who also make me laugh.
When Willa arrives at Blesswood her pull for chaos and disaster pulls her to the ABCURSE brothers, a group of privileged sols. They find her amusing and take her as their mascot. They eventually became protective and loyal to Willa.
The plot is really weak in my opinion, because nothing happens, we just follow Willa in her journey to Blesswood and her attachment to the brothers. She goes from one crazy situation to another and in each situation she gets in trouble the brothers protect her and take care of her and she amuses us with her stupidity. The characterization is decent and Willa doesn't show any preference toward any of the brothers. The authors, however, seem to prefer writing scenes to favor the brother with the power of seduction, Aros. I thought that Aros got more touchy with Willa than the rest of the brothers, but Willa herself seems to be equally attached to all of them showing no preference. I'm very curious to see where the authors will take the story, but I'll keep my expectations low because after the first chapters which were very good the story starts to become repetitive and the editing starts to lack because the time-line didn't make any sense or the characters were talking and interacting in an empty room.
The strenght of the book however is that it never takes itself seriously and for that I almost gave this book 4.5 stars. Fantasy books and specially Young adult fantasy books don't have to be so dark and complex. Remember that this is a genre primarly for teens and I think 12-18 YO readers will have a blast reading this book, although there's some cursing here. I might find it juvenile, but again, this is a Young adult novel, almost a fantasy parody and I think we need more books like this one. A light fantasy book that doesn't make you think, but makes you feel.
I think we are in for 5-6 book in the series because the five Abcurse brothers have different powers and their nicknames refer to those powers: Trickery, Persuasion, Seduction, Strenght and Pain and maybe the author will add a book called "rocks" which is the way the brothers call Willa. I hope the authors take time to develope the brothers because by now I think they are slightly underdeveloped. I know their powers, I know what they do, but I don't know who they are. That's not a fault of the novel, I think the authors's intention was to present them as a group, a united group, and what they gave us from each of the brothes is enough to care for them and to understand their relationship with Willa. I can see why they would find her amusing, like a pet and attracted at the same time. For all her clumsiness Willa is brave in her own way and very loyal. I like her enough to continue the series. I rolled my eyes at her silliness at times, but overall I think she's a good protagonist.
Read if you want something funny and different.
Want to read
January 9, 2022ok like I know I trashed this but for some reason I want to give it another try. I'll update more skjskjskks
July 11, 2018
You had me at Reverse Harem ❤❤❤
(Read in Audiobook) This book was so entertaining! I'm kinda embarrassed that I enjoyed it this much. It was completely ridiculous, but in a good way. It got me in a good mood and it was a light read.The key is to not take it too seriously.
Willa was such a klutz, a bit over the top even but I liked her. A lot! She was so much fun.
This book isn't really a 5 star read but c'mon - 5 hot guys, twins and triplets - Coen, Rome, Siret, Yael and Aros are all over Willa. And you know what ? I'M FUCKING SHIPPING THEM ALL.
YES, THEY SHOULD ALL END UP WITH WILLA XD
OH HEY, IS THIS NA ? IT FEELS LIKE NA. CAN WE GET SOME SMEXY SCENES AND SOOOOOOOOOON PRETTY PLEASE. IT WAS MENTIONED THAT COEN AND AROS
(Read in Audiobook) This book was so entertaining! I'm kinda embarrassed that I enjoyed it this much. It was completely ridiculous, but in a good way. It got me in a good mood and it was a light read.The key is to not take it too seriously.
Willa was such a klutz, a bit over the top even but I liked her. A lot! She was so much fun.
This book isn't really a 5 star read but c'mon - 5 hot guys, twins and triplets - Coen, Rome, Siret, Yael and Aros are all over Willa. And you know what ? I'M FUCKING SHIPPING THEM ALL.
YES, THEY SHOULD ALL END UP WITH WILLA XD
OH HEY, IS THIS NA ? IT FEELS LIKE NA. CAN WE GET SOME SMEXY SCENES AND SOOOOOOOOOON PRETTY PLEASE. IT WAS MENTIONED THAT COEN AND AROS
February 27, 2017
Oh my Gods. (And yes I mean Gods, not God) ;)
The Basics:
Genre: High Fantasy Reverse-Harem
Standalone/series: Series. Book #1
Rating: 4.75 stars.
Okay, so this books about Willa, who I've totally decided, is basically my spirit animal. (The amount she falls over and makes an ass of herself really leaves no question.)
Willa is hilarious. I laughed out loud, pretty much most of the time I was reading the book. (My boyfriend now thinks I'm nuts.)
The book is set in this really cool fantasy set up, I don't really want to explain it too much and give it all away, but I really enjoyed the world building.
I'm totally calling the five guys for my book-boyfriend-Harem. (Current capacity, too high to count. book slut )
What I liked about this book
- Willa
- The Guys
- The world building
- The humour and tone of the book.
- The way Jaymin and Jane write flawlessly together. I couldn't tell who'd written what.
- The freaking Jefferys.
Quotes:
"Dwellers would always be worthless to the world, and I would always be worthless to the worthless"
"Don't sleep with a knife in the bed for safety?"
Can I have the next one now please?
The Basics:
Genre: High Fantasy Reverse-Harem
Standalone/series: Series. Book #1
Rating: 4.75 stars.
Okay, so this books about Willa, who I've totally decided, is basically my spirit animal. (The amount she falls over and makes an ass of herself really leaves no question.)
Willa is hilarious. I laughed out loud, pretty much most of the time I was reading the book. (My boyfriend now thinks I'm nuts.)
The book is set in this really cool fantasy set up, I don't really want to explain it too much and give it all away, but I really enjoyed the world building.
I'm totally calling the five guys for my book-boyfriend-Harem. (Current capacity, too high to count. book slut )
What I liked about this book
- Willa
- The Guys
- The world building
- The humour and tone of the book.
- The way Jaymin and Jane write flawlessly together. I couldn't tell who'd written what.
- The freaking Jefferys.
Quotes:
"Dwellers would always be worthless to the world, and I would always be worthless to the worthless"
"Don't sleep with a knife in the bed for safety?"
Can I have the next one now please?
July 14, 2017
Jaymin Eve wrote a book about me! Minus the gorgeus guys, but I'm that clumsy.
March 9, 2017
Same Review Also Posted In My Blog: Dreamy Addictions
REVERSE HAREM ALERT!
Firstly, I loved the beautiful cover of this book and violet is one of my favorite colors. secondly, it’s a reverse harem genre so I knew nothing’s going to keep me away from this book. I was so excited when I first read the premise of this book and If you don’t know I’m total sucker for reverse harem genre. It’s very rare to find a good book with reverse harem and while reading Trickery I really felt like I was reading a RH manga. This book is so much fun to read especially with a hilariously clumsy character as a female protagonist. Although I loved this book, I have to be honest that the story lacked a bit. Nonetheless, it was entertaining through out and I liked the whole setting, interesting characters and the unique concept.
The story is set in a fictional place called Minatsol, a world of dwellers and sols. The dwellers are a non magical race that are treated as slaves. The Sols are the dominant race with magical powers where some of them are trained to become gods. Each year, two dwellers from each village are selected to serve the sols at the blesswood academy, the top sol academy in the world. Eighteen year old Willa is a cursed child and embarrassment of her village because of her clumsy curse that causes disaster wherever she goes. Because of her mistake, Willa and her best friend Emma is selected to serve the sols in blesswood academy. Willa gets pretty shocked when she hears her name because she never thought that she would get selected. When Willa and her friend finally arrives at the academy she gets the attention of the Abcurse brothers, five arrogant sols who loves to tease Willa and treats her like their new personal plaything. After she was officially tasked with serving the abcurse brothers, she needs to survive them without getting herself killed.
Willa Knight is a funny female character that I’ve never read before. She’s hilarious, ultra clumsy, awkward and a little bit weird. Her clumsiness might seem ridiculous and annoying sometimes but her silly antics never failed to put a smile on my face and I slowly grew to like her. The only thing that bothered me though was how fast she’s changed from hating the brothers to liking them. Coming to the abcurse brothers, I loved every one of them. All the brothers possess unique personalities individually that make them differ from each other. Aros aka Golden Aros is a sweet, handsome and flirty sol whose power is seduction. Rome also known as strength looks like a giant crusher and has a strong protective streak towards Willa. Siret is gifted with power of trickery and he always loves to tease Willa about her clumsiness and he calls her Rocks. Yael is persuasion gifted who has a huge competitive streak and he helped Willa a few times to get her out of trouble. Last but not the least, we have Coen, the pain gifted sol who can cause pain easily on anybody. He’s pretty interesting character among all the brothers and I would love to know more about him. All in all, the Abcurse brothers are kind of arrogant and rebellious sols who don’t give a f*ck about the Gods and their rules. I also enjoyed the friendship between Willa and Emma and I wish the author has focused more on their relationship too.
The plot is pretty good but honestly, I felt it was little bit lacking in some parts. However, I found myself enjoying this a lot and eventually I ended up loving it. There are some surprising twists in the second half that I didn’t see coming. The pacing is good and I was hooked to the story right from the very start and devoured it in two sittings. The whole story was told from Willa’s POV and I loved the witty writing style of this book. I’m already familiar with Jamin Eve’s books but haven’t read any books from Jane Washington so I really need to check out her books. They’ve both done a great job in writing this story because despite the flaws, I can’t help but enjoy it. The world was simply amazing! I really liked the world of Minatsol and also the magical system that resembled greek mythology. There’s also a glimpse of Topia, the world of gods and I would love to explore more of this world.
Overall, it was a great read filled with lots of humor! Though the book finally concluded with no cliffhangers, I’m quite excited for the next book.
REVERSE HAREM ALERT!
Firstly, I loved the beautiful cover of this book and violet is one of my favorite colors. secondly, it’s a reverse harem genre so I knew nothing’s going to keep me away from this book. I was so excited when I first read the premise of this book and If you don’t know I’m total sucker for reverse harem genre. It’s very rare to find a good book with reverse harem and while reading Trickery I really felt like I was reading a RH manga. This book is so much fun to read especially with a hilariously clumsy character as a female protagonist. Although I loved this book, I have to be honest that the story lacked a bit. Nonetheless, it was entertaining through out and I liked the whole setting, interesting characters and the unique concept.
The story is set in a fictional place called Minatsol, a world of dwellers and sols. The dwellers are a non magical race that are treated as slaves. The Sols are the dominant race with magical powers where some of them are trained to become gods. Each year, two dwellers from each village are selected to serve the sols at the blesswood academy, the top sol academy in the world. Eighteen year old Willa is a cursed child and embarrassment of her village because of her clumsy curse that causes disaster wherever she goes. Because of her mistake, Willa and her best friend Emma is selected to serve the sols in blesswood academy. Willa gets pretty shocked when she hears her name because she never thought that she would get selected. When Willa and her friend finally arrives at the academy she gets the attention of the Abcurse brothers, five arrogant sols who loves to tease Willa and treats her like their new personal plaything. After she was officially tasked with serving the abcurse brothers, she needs to survive them without getting herself killed.
Willa Knight is a funny female character that I’ve never read before. She’s hilarious, ultra clumsy, awkward and a little bit weird. Her clumsiness might seem ridiculous and annoying sometimes but her silly antics never failed to put a smile on my face and I slowly grew to like her. The only thing that bothered me though was how fast she’s changed from hating the brothers to liking them. Coming to the abcurse brothers, I loved every one of them. All the brothers possess unique personalities individually that make them differ from each other. Aros aka Golden Aros is a sweet, handsome and flirty sol whose power is seduction. Rome also known as strength looks like a giant crusher and has a strong protective streak towards Willa. Siret is gifted with power of trickery and he always loves to tease Willa about her clumsiness and he calls her Rocks. Yael is persuasion gifted who has a huge competitive streak and he helped Willa a few times to get her out of trouble. Last but not the least, we have Coen, the pain gifted sol who can cause pain easily on anybody. He’s pretty interesting character among all the brothers and I would love to know more about him. All in all, the Abcurse brothers are kind of arrogant and rebellious sols who don’t give a f*ck about the Gods and their rules. I also enjoyed the friendship between Willa and Emma and I wish the author has focused more on their relationship too.
The plot is pretty good but honestly, I felt it was little bit lacking in some parts. However, I found myself enjoying this a lot and eventually I ended up loving it. There are some surprising twists in the second half that I didn’t see coming. The pacing is good and I was hooked to the story right from the very start and devoured it in two sittings. The whole story was told from Willa’s POV and I loved the witty writing style of this book. I’m already familiar with Jamin Eve’s books but haven’t read any books from Jane Washington so I really need to check out her books. They’ve both done a great job in writing this story because despite the flaws, I can’t help but enjoy it. The world was simply amazing! I really liked the world of Minatsol and also the magical system that resembled greek mythology. There’s also a glimpse of Topia, the world of gods and I would love to explore more of this world.
Overall, it was a great read filled with lots of humor! Though the book finally concluded with no cliffhangers, I’m quite excited for the next book.
March 20, 2017
FIRST OF ALL: I WANT THE NEXT BOOK!!
Second of all: I am a hypocrite!!
1. Let me explain, I am always going off about the MC's needing to be well rounded. But I forgave the MC's for their assholeness..
2. I always complaining that there is no strength in the plot points. But I forgave the book for no substantial visible plot line
3. I just LOVED each and every one of those boys!! I am just in LOVE.
4. I hoped to god that less clothing of the male population would be involved and more action in the bed would be involved!
4. I always rant about needing a strong female character who can hold her own against the men. BUT that's a giant BUT I forgave the h for being a over the top bumbling and falling idiot.
5. I forgave EVERYTHING! I just hope I am forgiven for I want more and withstanding all its faults I have given this book 5 stars
OH lord above forgive me for I have fallen victim to my ovaries. For never have I not had a favourite, for I have always loved one more than the others.
Second of all: I am a hypocrite!!
1. Let me explain, I am always going off about the MC's needing to be well rounded. But I forgave the MC's for their assholeness..
2. I always complaining that there is no strength in the plot points. But I forgave the book for no substantial visible plot line
3. I just LOVED each and every one of those boys!! I am just in LOVE.
4. I always rant about needing a strong female character who can hold her own against the men. BUT that's a giant BUT I forgave the h for being a over the top bumbling and falling idiot.
5. I forgave EVERYTHING! I just hope I am forgiven for I want more and withstanding all its faults I have given this book 5 stars
OH lord above forgive me for I have fallen victim to my ovaries. For never have I not had a favourite, for I have always loved one more than the others.
October 15, 2017
*** 3.25 ***
I am not sure about this one... It is very much a Young Adult read, very silly and very confusing in a way, since the language used is very everyday teen, while it is supposed to represent different class of beings with different levels of knowledge and understanding... If you overlooked that, then the MC, one of those clumsy and calamitous young women I usually love, bugged me with her Damsel in Distress act, supposedly being to clumsy to walk, so that they have to carry her all the time, which goes beyond the plucky independent streaks the women I usually like possess. It was OK overall, but I will have to read the next book in order to make my mind up fully...
The 5 guys who are shaping up to be the MC's male harem, are not shining examples of intelligence either, but the book as a whole is content to stay in the shallow end of the Sea, so it is in keeping with the whole picture. As I said, not bad, but nothing to special either.
I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful books to come!
I am not sure about this one... It is very much a Young Adult read, very silly and very confusing in a way, since the language used is very everyday teen, while it is supposed to represent different class of beings with different levels of knowledge and understanding... If you overlooked that, then the MC, one of those clumsy and calamitous young women I usually love, bugged me with her Damsel in Distress act, supposedly being to clumsy to walk, so that they have to carry her all the time, which goes beyond the plucky independent streaks the women I usually like possess. It was OK overall, but I will have to read the next book in order to make my mind up fully...
The 5 guys who are shaping up to be the MC's male harem, are not shining examples of intelligence either, but the book as a whole is content to stay in the shallow end of the Sea, so it is in keeping with the whole picture. As I said, not bad, but nothing to special either.
I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful books to come!
July 17, 2017
3.5-4 stars!
Guilty pleasure is an understatement. At some point I was rolling my eyes, but when I finished I dived into a Jaymin Eve binge. I don't know what is about the writing style that grabbed me, but now I need book 3. I'll read more of this author.
Guilty pleasure is an understatement. At some point I was rolling my eyes, but when I finished I dived into a Jaymin Eve binge. I don't know what is about the writing style that grabbed me, but now I need book 3. I'll read more of this author.
March 27, 2017
Reverse Harems... That moment when my good taste (at least in my opinion) in books takes a nose dive for worst.
You can't take my word for this. I mean, honestly, I have no rating criteria other than raging fangirliness. That's it. That's as far as my intellectual (HA!) brain will take it.
You can't take my word for this. I mean, honestly, I have no rating criteria other than raging fangirliness. That's it. That's as far as my intellectual (HA!) brain will take it.
December 9, 2017
Reread
It's even better reading it again! On to the second one....
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Ok this book was badass. It's 4am and i'm just about going to bed because I had to finish it. You know those books you read as you commute to work and what not, this is not that kind of book. I started reading it this morning while at work and I just didn't want the distraction so I saved it
I am really super excited I read this, thanks to my GR friend Jilly for putting this book on my radar. It was so good, I loved Willa, Aros, Rome, Coen, Yael, Siret, Emma, Atti , I loved everyone. I want to see her with all of them, I don't even care how it's going to work out , I want it.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Do I like cliffhangers? Heck no, but I'll make an exception for this.
It's even better reading it again! On to the second one....
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Ok this book was badass. It's 4am and i'm just about going to bed because I had to finish it. You know those books you read as you commute to work and what not, this is not that kind of book. I started reading it this morning while at work and I just didn't want the distraction so I saved it
I am really super excited I read this, thanks to my GR friend Jilly for putting this book on my radar. It was so good, I loved Willa, Aros, Rome, Coen, Yael, Siret, Emma, Atti , I loved everyone. I want to see her with all of them, I don't even care how it's going to work out , I want it.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Do I like cliffhangers? Heck no, but I'll make an exception for this.
January 28, 2018
“Sorry I hit you. I thought you were going to keep talking, and I panicked.”
This series is a complete surprise – hadn’t heard of it until I jumped on the group read bandwagon with the Dust Off Your MacHalo group. It’s definitely unique and not something I’d usually go for – don’t care much for the cover either – but it was pure cheesy fun my mind gobbled up.
Willa is a clumsy gal – sometimes she got irritating, but toss all that out of the window anyway because the side characters just rock. I loved all five of the guys, the dynamics, the possibilities, the jokes, the bonding, the different powers, their inside plans and schemes, seriously fun stuff. Throw in a loyal best friend and a weird, never before seen by me.
No one could claim this book had exceptionally layered characters but with how fun it was, it fit and who cares?
The plot is a joy in its way but it’s basically simple stuff wanting to provide a foundation just to display such an odd assortment of characters – and this works fine since its aim was to be fun above anything else.
I’m actually a monogamous gal in my books so with the potential of five – seriously, five – you’d think there would never be a way I’d enjoy this. But seriously you have to READ this to understand because it’s NOT what you’d think and it totally works somehow – seriously, really. Ask any of the other Machalo buddy readers and they’ll back me up - I’m not the only ‘special one’!
It’s not a romance book but it’s a fun one that’s hard to explain and kind of defies rules and description without apology.
It’s silly but it’s addicting, fun and unique.
I would think it wouldn’t be possible for me to like all the five Abcurses the same but that’s what happened, and it’s a new one for me. They’re all just awesome.
Writing style wise, it’s almost a blend of YA, NA and Adult. Again, not easy to define and that’s completely okay when it comes to this one. It's just....so much weirdness mixed up in one.
This series is a complete surprise – hadn’t heard of it until I jumped on the group read bandwagon with the Dust Off Your MacHalo group. It’s definitely unique and not something I’d usually go for – don’t care much for the cover either – but it was pure cheesy fun my mind gobbled up.
Willa is a clumsy gal – sometimes she got irritating, but toss all that out of the window anyway because the side characters just rock. I loved all five of the guys, the dynamics, the possibilities, the jokes, the bonding, the different powers, their inside plans and schemes, seriously fun stuff. Throw in a loyal best friend and a weird, never before seen by me.
No one could claim this book had exceptionally layered characters but with how fun it was, it fit and who cares?
The plot is a joy in its way but it’s basically simple stuff wanting to provide a foundation just to display such an odd assortment of characters – and this works fine since its aim was to be fun above anything else.
I’m actually a monogamous gal in my books so with the potential of five – seriously, five – you’d think there would never be a way I’d enjoy this. But seriously you have to READ this to understand because it’s NOT what you’d think and it totally works somehow – seriously, really. Ask any of the other Machalo buddy readers and they’ll back me up - I’m not the only ‘special one’!
It’s not a romance book but it’s a fun one that’s hard to explain and kind of defies rules and description without apology.
It’s silly but it’s addicting, fun and unique.
I would think it wouldn’t be possible for me to like all the five Abcurses the same but that’s what happened, and it’s a new one for me. They’re all just awesome.
Writing style wise, it’s almost a blend of YA, NA and Adult. Again, not easy to define and that’s completely okay when it comes to this one. It's just....so much weirdness mixed up in one.
December 27, 2021
4 - 4.5✨
25% in :
Once there were more scenes of her with the Abcurses :
🤸♀️ willa was awesome 🤸♀️
🏹 the boys 🏹
🦩the way the abcurses were competitive w the rank thing (that was based on their dorm room number) was hilarious. honestly those kind of things r what i want to see most from rh. domestic shit is where its at
🦩this one was a clean romance, there were (almost) no sex and i loved it even more bcs of that
🦩whenever coen calls willa dweller-baby 🥰
🦩and the way the brothers call each other by their gift and not their names, like “shut up persuasion!” or “stop that, seduction!” were cuteness overload
🦩im actually glad they made the pact, which means slow burn
’Emmy was family.
But those Abcurses?
They were … they were the missing piece.
It was like coming home.
I wouldn’t call them family, the way Emmy was family, but I belonged with them, and they belonged with me. It was that simple.
We were six shades of weird, all stitched into the same cloth, and without even one of us, the whole thing would unravel’
25% in :
Once there were more scenes of her with the Abcurses :
🤸♀️ willa was awesome 🤸♀️
’I’d heard, once, that all the gods were defined by certain colours, but the only part of that particular lesson that had actually stuck with me had been the fact that Death’s colour was black.
It just seemed so … predictable.
Where’s the creativity, gods?
I didn’t see why Death couldn’t have pink. Or purple.
What if he liked sparkles?’
“How the hell have you stayed alive this long?” he asked.
I shrugged, trying to catch my breath. “No idea, it’s been a rough road.”
Coen took the lead, dropping my shirt to grab my hand instead, and we stopped in front of Number 113. He dropped my hand, and I knew that he was moments away from kicking the door down like a crazy, deranged sol, so I quickly raised my fist and knocked. They all turned to stare at me, looking like I’d just stolen their favourite toy and ripped its head off.
"What?” I asked defensively. “Just trying to be polite.”
“We’re here to kill her,” Siret reminded me, his voice a frustrated groan.
“Don’t see why we can’t kill her politely,” I muttered back
🏹 the boys 🏹
“All of the above,” Yael stated. “No kissing, no sex, and no corruption. Nothing that goes past friendship. From now on, we treat her like one of us. A sixth brother. A sixth girl-brother—”
“A sister?” Coen interrupted, his face creasing up in disgust.
“No.” Yael shook his head. “Fuck no. A girl-brother.”
“That sounds like a sister—”
“A girl-brother and that’s final!” Yael snapped
theres the twin;
🦩coen (pain)
🦩rome (strength)
and the triplet;
🦩aros (seduction)
🦩yael (persuasion)
🦩siret (trickery).
🦩the way the abcurses were competitive w the rank thing (that was based on their dorm room number) was hilarious. honestly those kind of things r what i want to see most from rh. domestic shit is where its at
🦩this one was a clean romance, there were (almost) no sex and i loved it even more bcs of that
🦩whenever coen calls willa dweller-baby 🥰
🦩and the way the brothers call each other by their gift and not their names, like “shut up persuasion!” or “stop that, seduction!” were cuteness overload
🦩im actually glad they made the pact, which means slow burn
![Profile Image for Namera [The Literary Invertebrate].](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1647896333i/31792110._UX200_CR0,96,200,200_.jpg)
July 16, 2020
✔️ Hilariously funny
✔️ Well-written
✔️ Moments of steering away from obvious cliches that present themselves (well done to the authors!!!!)
✔️ Perfect pace of slow-burn romance with awesome heroes
✔️ Brilliant characterisation
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
✔️ Well-written
✔️ Moments of steering away from obvious cliches that present themselves (well done to the authors!!!!)
✔️ Perfect pace of slow-burn romance with awesome heroes
✔️ Brilliant characterisation
[Blog] - [Bookstagram]
August 16, 2017
The first few pages of this book were funny, then it got reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaallllly slow and boring. To the point that I was falling asleep reading it. Normally, I would've chucked this book for putting me to sleep multiple times, but due to Jilly's review I prevailed. I only read this to start with due to her review that claimed this was hilarious. It was.
Willa is cursed with clumsiness, calamity, and general accidental prone-ness. She doesn't try, it's just a gift/curse, to the detriment of mainly herself, but also to those around her. Will and her best friend are chosen by their village to go be a servant-slave to the sols (gods in training) in the inner circle city (7 rings, they were living in the outer 7th ring), which is an honor as otherwise in life you stay in your village and keep living like a peasant. She's happy to be staying with her bff, but worried she'll be sacrificed after day 1 due to her ability to cause disasters.
Her name is accidentally mistaken as Will and she is assigned to the male dorms and cleaning the rooms of the 5 Abcurse brothers - who are the big sols (gods-in-training) on campus, super surpassing all the other sols there in powers and arrogance. They're all tall, muscled, extremely good looking, shiny glorious as a god would be, and you know, oozing sexiness. The brothers are Trickery, Seduction, Pain, Strength, Persuasion = Siret, Aros, Coen, Rome, Yael.
They find her immensely amusing, from her ability to trip over air to her independent thought - not common in other dwellers (regular folk). They take her into their confidence a bit and involve her in their various hijinks. I guess? this goes well for Willa, that's kind of still up for debate.
I enjoyed Willa's inner dialogue and ability to fall at any moment. It definitely added a comedic point to the book. She's inane in her inner thoughts and often narrates what she's doing.
The 5 Abcurse brothers - yes, lets keep up this reverse harem thing going on. Yes, she should be with all of them. How can you choose just one? And they did say they always stuck together.
They don't, not yet, but I think they will in the coming books. This book keeps is PG. I know, boo on that.
Lots of action, funny, and not the usual paranormal/fantasy book. Definitely reading the next book and I'm very angry that I listened to JILLY and started this series before it was complete. ARGH. There are going to be 5 books and only 2 are out so far. This is all your fault, Jilly.
Willa is cursed with clumsiness, calamity, and general accidental prone-ness. She doesn't try, it's just a gift/curse, to the detriment of mainly herself, but also to those around her. Will and her best friend are chosen by their village to go be a servant-slave to the sols (gods in training) in the inner circle city (7 rings, they were living in the outer 7th ring), which is an honor as otherwise in life you stay in your village and keep living like a peasant. She's happy to be staying with her bff, but worried she'll be sacrificed after day 1 due to her ability to cause disasters.
Her name is accidentally mistaken as Will and she is assigned to the male dorms and cleaning the rooms of the 5 Abcurse brothers - who are the big sols (gods-in-training) on campus, super surpassing all the other sols there in powers and arrogance. They're all tall, muscled, extremely good looking, shiny glorious as a god would be, and you know, oozing sexiness. The brothers are Trickery, Seduction, Pain, Strength, Persuasion = Siret, Aros, Coen, Rome, Yael.
They find her immensely amusing, from her ability to trip over air to her independent thought - not common in other dwellers (regular folk). They take her into their confidence a bit and involve her in their various hijinks. I guess? this goes well for Willa, that's kind of still up for debate.
I enjoyed Willa's inner dialogue and ability to fall at any moment. It definitely added a comedic point to the book. She's inane in her inner thoughts and often narrates what she's doing.
The 5 Abcurse brothers - yes, lets keep up this reverse harem thing going on. Yes, she should be with all of them. How can you choose just one? And they did say they always stuck together.
They don't, not yet, but I think they will in the coming books. This book keeps is PG. I know, boo on that.
Lots of action, funny, and not the usual paranormal/fantasy book. Definitely reading the next book and I'm very angry that I listened to JILLY and started this series before it was complete. ARGH. There are going to be 5 books and only 2 are out so far. This is all your fault, Jilly.
August 21, 2018
3 I'm not actually sure what is happening right now STARS
What the hell did I just read?
How can I so desperately want to punch a character in the face while simultaneously wanting her to get to make out with any one of five other characters in the story?
Was this a PG-13 porno?
Why do I want to continue this?
I mean, I kind of liked it, didn't I?
Why am I writing my review in a series of internal monologue questions?
Alright, time to actually review this thing.
This book, wow, okay so...
Let me try this again...
This girl named Willa is a "dweller" which is the lowest of the low on the society hierarchy pyramid, so that sucks....
Oh! And she has a shit load of bad luck and is SUUUUUUUUUUPER clumsy.
Because of course she is.
...
Anyway, she has grown up dirt ass poor, in one of the poorest settlements, her mom is likely a drunken prostitute, her father... well, who the hell knows, AND she got kicked out of school a week before graduation.
BUT on the upside she has a sort of adopted sister that is her best friend who is really good at looking out for her and keeps Willa from killing herself with all of her accident prone-ness (it's a word!). AND she still actually DID graduate because she broke into the school and changed her records. None of the teachers bothered to give enough of a shit to correct the mistake so she slipped though. Clearly this realm doesn't have any "no child left behind" policies.
Anyfuck, after graduation she and her sister/best friend get selected to attend
*horns sounding*
THE MOST SPECIAL PRESTIGIOUS Slave Training School?
Wait. What
Yeah, okay, that's accurate. It's actually a big honor for these poor country folk to be sent off to learn to be the best slave they can be to a bunch of "Sols" that are essentially bigger, prettier, richer dwellers that were born "gifted" in some way. Plus if the Sols survive their training they might get a chance to be selected to become
*horns sounding again*
A GOD.
...
But only after they die.
...
And they have no way of knowing if they were special enough until, ya know, after they're dead.
...
So maybe super cool special afterlife... maybe not...
Shit, okay... look, don't get hung up on that part because it's like only the first three chapters or something. Moving on.
Willa and her pseudo-sis head off to super special slave school and of course Willa's awesome bad luck kicks in immediately and almost gets herself shot by none other than the bestest of the best super special Sol recruits.
Because of course she does.
Then she finds out that the paperwork was filled out to include her name as Will instead of WillA so she gets assigned to clean the boys dorms instead of the girls. And she gets assigned to the guy that almost shot her...
And his twin.
And his set of TRIPLET BROTHERS
This gorgeous 5-layer dip of a special gifted family is known for their less than friendly ways of treating the hired-but-not-compensated-help so Willa is understandablely pretty distraught about her assignment. So distraught, in fact, that she forgets to change out of her sleeping shirt, which is thin and white. Then she proceeds to get all sweaty and sudsy while cleaning their dorms.
^Because that's not the set up in a porn or anything
(Do you see now how i could be so confused! It's not my fault.)
But it's fine because they're not supposed to be there.
EXCEPT OF COURSE ONE IS THERE
and her breasts are just totally out there
*Exasperated Sigh*
Because of course they are.
....
Okay you know what. Let's just say her hijinks cause her to constantly end up naked or nearly naked in front of the fearsome five (Pain, Strength, Seduction, Persuasion, & Trickery) who all want to do her after knowing her all of five goddamn minutes and then almost immediately decide they want to keep her.
Except not for any of sexy time stuff that they want to do to her.
Because that's not fair and they would fight over who got to have the sexy times with her.
So none of them get to.
NONE OF THE FIVE MEGA HOT SUPER BEING BROTHERS GET TO HAVE SEXY TIMES WITH HER
For the record, if this had gone a far smuttier direction instead of being a will they/won't they/oops something ALMOST just happened, I would have liked it a hell of a lot more. And might have given it ALL the stars.
BECAUSE OF COURSE I WOULD. I'M A PERV!
So needlessly long explanation cut short, this book was like annoying small talk with the porny pizza delivery boy when all you really want is that sausage.
Or the porny plumber that is there to actually unclog a pipe rather than lay some pipe.
Or the porny pool boy that...
you get the point.
Despite all of that bullshit and what-the-fuckery... I actually enjoyed it? I think? Hell I still don't know. But I did immediately start the second in the series.
BECAUSE OF FUCKING COURSE I DID
P.S.
This was a buddy read with the most awesomest MacHalo Ladies, but because I legit can't get my shit together this fall I read it later then any of them, missed the discussion, and basically just lurked on the thread like the lame-ass that I am.
So yeah, thanks for the lovely BR ladies. *kisses*
What the hell did I just read?
How can I so desperately want to punch a character in the face while simultaneously wanting her to get to make out with any one of five other characters in the story?
Was this a PG-13 porno?
Why do I want to continue this?
I mean, I kind of liked it, didn't I?
Why am I writing my review in a series of internal monologue questions?
Alright, time to actually review this thing.
This book, wow, okay so...
Let me try this again...
This girl named Willa is a "dweller" which is the lowest of the low on the society hierarchy pyramid, so that sucks....
Oh! And she has a shit load of bad luck and is SUUUUUUUUUUPER clumsy.
Because of course she is.
...
Anyway, she has grown up dirt ass poor, in one of the poorest settlements, her mom is likely a drunken prostitute, her father... well, who the hell knows, AND she got kicked out of school a week before graduation.
BUT on the upside she has a sort of adopted sister that is her best friend who is really good at looking out for her and keeps Willa from killing herself with all of her accident prone-ness (it's a word!). AND she still actually DID graduate because she broke into the school and changed her records. None of the teachers bothered to give enough of a shit to correct the mistake so she slipped though. Clearly this realm doesn't have any "no child left behind" policies.
Anyfuck, after graduation she and her sister/best friend get selected to attend
*horns sounding*
THE MOST SPECIAL PRESTIGIOUS Slave Training School?
Wait. What
Yeah, okay, that's accurate. It's actually a big honor for these poor country folk to be sent off to learn to be the best slave they can be to a bunch of "Sols" that are essentially bigger, prettier, richer dwellers that were born "gifted" in some way. Plus if the Sols survive their training they might get a chance to be selected to become
*horns sounding again*
A GOD.
...
But only after they die.
...
And they have no way of knowing if they were special enough until, ya know, after they're dead.
...
So maybe super cool special afterlife... maybe not...
Shit, okay... look, don't get hung up on that part because it's like only the first three chapters or something. Moving on.
Willa and her pseudo-sis head off to super special slave school and of course Willa's awesome bad luck kicks in immediately and almost gets herself shot by none other than the bestest of the best super special Sol recruits.
Because of course she does.
Then she finds out that the paperwork was filled out to include her name as Will instead of WillA so she gets assigned to clean the boys dorms instead of the girls. And she gets assigned to the guy that almost shot her...
And his twin.
And his set of TRIPLET BROTHERS
This gorgeous 5-layer dip of a special gifted family is known for their less than friendly ways of treating the hired-but-not-compensated-help so Willa is understandablely pretty distraught about her assignment. So distraught, in fact, that she forgets to change out of her sleeping shirt, which is thin and white. Then she proceeds to get all sweaty and sudsy while cleaning their dorms.
^Because that's not the set up in a porn or anything
(Do you see now how i could be so confused! It's not my fault.)
But it's fine because they're not supposed to be there.
EXCEPT OF COURSE ONE IS THERE
and her breasts are just totally out there
*Exasperated Sigh*
Because of course they are.
....
Okay you know what. Let's just say her hijinks cause her to constantly end up naked or nearly naked in front of the fearsome five (Pain, Strength, Seduction, Persuasion, & Trickery) who all want to do her after knowing her all of five goddamn minutes and then almost immediately decide they want to keep her.
Except not for any of sexy time stuff that they want to do to her.
Because that's not fair and they would fight over who got to have the sexy times with her.
So none of them get to.
NONE OF THE FIVE MEGA HOT SUPER BEING BROTHERS GET TO HAVE SEXY TIMES WITH HER
For the record, if this had gone a far smuttier direction instead of being a will they/won't they/oops something ALMOST just happened, I would have liked it a hell of a lot more. And might have given it ALL the stars.
BECAUSE OF COURSE I WOULD. I'M A PERV!
So needlessly long explanation cut short, this book was like annoying small talk with the porny pizza delivery boy when all you really want is that sausage.
Or the porny plumber that is there to actually unclog a pipe rather than lay some pipe.
Or the porny pool boy that...
you get the point.
Despite all of that bullshit and what-the-fuckery... I actually enjoyed it? I think? Hell I still don't know. But I did immediately start the second in the series.
BECAUSE OF FUCKING COURSE I DID
P.S.
This was a buddy read with the most awesomest MacHalo Ladies, but because I legit can't get my shit together this fall I read it later then any of them, missed the discussion, and basically just lurked on the thread like the lame-ass that I am.
So yeah, thanks for the lovely BR ladies. *kisses*
June 9, 2017
DNF @ 40%
I felt like I've been reading this for three weeks. I started enjoying it, having fun with the characters. However, as the story went along I became confused. Utterly confused.
There's a massive info dump in the beginning and then a massive character dump. I kept getting things mixed with characters, that could be because the world building was all over the place. I honestly couldn't tell head from tail in this book.
This book did have its funny moments, but most of that was just that our main character is a clumsy idiot. I was a clumsy kid growing up. I have my scars and broken bones from my adventures. Not even I was this clumsy - someone who fell over every single netball game for an entire year.
On top of that there's like six (?) love interests, five being Gods basically and the other being a servant. I don't know. I honestly don't. I had no idea who anyone was. I couldn't connect anyone. This book would probably be perfect for people who loved Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins (not a series I enjoyed) since it felt incredibly similar.
I was going to push through and try and finish this, but my good friend Erika informed me I was about to fall into a slump (how right you are).
An unfortunate disappointment.
I felt like I've been reading this for three weeks. I started enjoying it, having fun with the characters. However, as the story went along I became confused. Utterly confused.
There's a massive info dump in the beginning and then a massive character dump. I kept getting things mixed with characters, that could be because the world building was all over the place. I honestly couldn't tell head from tail in this book.
This book did have its funny moments, but most of that was just that our main character is a clumsy idiot. I was a clumsy kid growing up. I have my scars and broken bones from my adventures. Not even I was this clumsy - someone who fell over every single netball game for an entire year.
On top of that there's like six (?) love interests, five being Gods basically and the other being a servant. I don't know. I honestly don't. I had no idea who anyone was. I couldn't connect anyone. This book would probably be perfect for people who loved Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins (not a series I enjoyed) since it felt incredibly similar.
I was going to push through and try and finish this, but my good friend Erika informed me I was about to fall into a slump (how right you are).
An unfortunate disappointment.
November 25, 2022
★·.·´¯`·.·★
4.5 Stars
★·.·´¯`·.·★
This book was just freaking hilarious
If you’re looking for a mind-blowing story full of twists and turns, this might not be the one for you. But if you simply want to enjoy yourself and have a bit of a laugh, then.. look no further.
Heroine: Willa Knight.
Hero(es): The Abcurse brothers:
…….Coen: Who has the gift of Pain
…….Rome: Who has the gift of Strength
…….Siret: Who has the gift of Trickery
…….Yael: Who has the gift of Persuasion
…….Aros: Who has the gift of Seduction
All the brothers were awesome and hilarious.. especially Siret. He was, by far, my fave out the bunch.
I found Willa’s character to be surprisingly refreshing. She started out as your typical tropey, plain, clumsy, “shouldn’t be, but -oh what a shock- get chosen” kind of girl.
Fortunately, she turned out to be so much more than that, and I really loved her.
When the brothers started a bet on who can get her a death sentence , instead of getting upset, she joins the bet herself! She actively tries to win a bet by trying to get herself sentenced to death ! That’s just awesome!
She’s a danger to her herself and to any and everyone around her, and it’s all hilarious to watch.
“The rest of my second sun-cycle at Blesswood passed without incident. And by ‘without incident,’ I mean that I tripped three times, almost stabbed a dweller with a pencil, and accidentally started a tiny little fire in the kitchen. Gods, the way that Jerath had reacted you’d think I had burned the entire academy down. The fire had been barely two feet tall.”
She freaking stabbed a freaking god , in the chest , with a knife , by accident!!!
I can’t decide if I should classify this as a YA or NA.. it’s mostly YA, but it contained a few moments that were most definitely not. hmmm.. can I say it’s a YA Paranormal with some PG-13 porno moments?
Yeah , that seems about right. Imma go with that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This book was just freaking hilarious
If you’re looking for a mind-blowing story full of twists and turns, this might not be the one for you. But if you simply want to enjoy yourself and have a bit of a laugh, then.. look no further.
Heroine: Willa Knight.
Hero(es): The Abcurse brothers:
…….Coen: Who has the gift of Pain
…….Rome: Who has the gift of Strength
…….Siret: Who has the gift of Trickery
…….Yael: Who has the gift of Persuasion
…….Aros: Who has the gift of Seduction
All the brothers were awesome and hilarious.. especially Siret. He was, by far, my fave out the bunch.
I found Willa’s character to be surprisingly refreshing. She started out as your typical tropey, plain, clumsy, “shouldn’t be, but -oh what a shock- get chosen” kind of girl.
Fortunately, she turned out to be so much more than that, and I really loved her.
When the brothers started a bet on who can get her a death sentence , instead of getting upset, she joins the bet herself! She actively tries to win a bet by trying to get herself sentenced to death ! That’s just awesome!
She’s a danger to her herself and to any and everyone around her, and it’s all hilarious to watch.
“The rest of my second sun-cycle at Blesswood passed without incident. And by ‘without incident,’ I mean that I tripped three times, almost stabbed a dweller with a pencil, and accidentally started a tiny little fire in the kitchen. Gods, the way that Jerath had reacted you’d think I had burned the entire academy down. The fire had been barely two feet tall.”
She freaking stabbed a freaking god , in the chest , with a knife , by accident!!!
I can’t decide if I should classify this as a YA or NA.. it’s mostly YA, but it contained a few moments that were most definitely not. hmmm.. can I say it’s a YA Paranormal with some PG-13 porno moments?
Yeah , that seems about right. Imma go with that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
March 13, 2017
OH MY GODSSSSSS, THIS BOOK WAS GLORIOUS!
I mean I loved every single thing about this book, especially the Abcurse brothers *swoons*
I honestly can't pick between these godly brothers, and ihopetheyallenduptogether yus, i definitely did say that, because they all are individually amaze-balls but together, holy hell, it's like...... a dream turned reality
Now, lemme talk about Willa-the clumsy af-badass dweller-who's tethered to these brothers. This girl had me laughing 24/7. I mean she was absolutely refreshing, and I enjoyed all her crazy af antics.
“What the hell are you?” I hissed, before I could think of a more sensitive way to ask the question.
“I am a server,” the thing replied. My name is Jeffrey.” I blinked, my eyes moving to Jeffrey’s strange covering. “No offence, Jeffrey, but I’m pretty sure you’re a chick.”
“A chick?” Jeffrey cocked her head to the side, blinking that waxy gaze. “I am sorry, Sacred One, I do not understand.”
She was lighthearted, funny as hell, clumsy to the point of death, believe it or not considerate and thoughtful, badass in her own way, and she truly cares for the Abcurses.
I loved the dialogue between Willa and the Abcurse brothers, it literally had me eating up the pages.
They all literally said the craziest shit.
“We’re here to kill her,” Siret reminded me, his voice a frustrated groan.
“Don’t see why we can’t kill her politely,” I muttered back. “And … I mean … don’t really see why we have to kill her at all.”
The Abcurses are fascinated by Willa, and they all genuinely enjoy each others company. I admired how Willa stood up for herself and others at times. She never backed down and always was challenging the fine lines. Even when those fine lines, had her nudity on the line, lmao!
I wish this book had more pages because I couldn't get enough, and I'm dying to see how things play out in the next book. Hopefully we can get more than 90,000 words for the next one? please?
I mean I loved every single thing about this book, especially the Abcurse brothers *swoons*
I honestly can't pick between these godly brothers, and ihopetheyallenduptogether yus, i definitely did say that, because they all are individually amaze-balls but together, holy hell, it's like...... a dream turned reality
Now, lemme talk about Willa-the clumsy af-badass dweller-who's tethered to these brothers. This girl had me laughing 24/7. I mean she was absolutely refreshing, and I enjoyed all her crazy af antics.
“What the hell are you?” I hissed, before I could think of a more sensitive way to ask the question.
“I am a server,” the thing replied. My name is Jeffrey.” I blinked, my eyes moving to Jeffrey’s strange covering. “No offence, Jeffrey, but I’m pretty sure you’re a chick.”
“A chick?” Jeffrey cocked her head to the side, blinking that waxy gaze. “I am sorry, Sacred One, I do not understand.”
She was lighthearted, funny as hell, clumsy to the point of death, believe it or not considerate and thoughtful, badass in her own way, and she truly cares for the Abcurses.
I loved the dialogue between Willa and the Abcurse brothers, it literally had me eating up the pages.
They all literally said the craziest shit.
“We’re here to kill her,” Siret reminded me, his voice a frustrated groan.
“Don’t see why we can’t kill her politely,” I muttered back. “And … I mean … don’t really see why we have to kill her at all.”
The Abcurses are fascinated by Willa, and they all genuinely enjoy each others company. I admired how Willa stood up for herself and others at times. She never backed down and always was challenging the fine lines. Even when those fine lines, had her nudity on the line, lmao!
I wish this book had more pages because I couldn't get enough, and I'm dying to see how things play out in the next book. Hopefully we can get more than 90,000 words for the next one? please?
![Profile Image for Anna [Bran. San. Stan].](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1593184464i/98245866._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
July 4, 2022
Reading Kings of Quarantine made me want to re-read the only RH series I have loved so far. And it is still as ridiculous and hilarious and entertaining. I’m having so much fun with clumsy, chaotic Willa and the five Abcurse brothers. I was right: fantasy seems to be the ingredient I need for RH to work for me. That and banter and lots of silliness. Maybe it also helps that this is not a bully romance, which many RHs seem to be.
Willa is a dweller, a serving race to the sols, the dominant race that has the potential to ascend from their world Minatsol to God-status and to Topia. The Abcurses - Coen, Rome, Aros, Yael, and Siret with the respective gifts of Pain, Strength, Seduction, Persuasion, and Trickery - have been assigned Willa as their server by mistake and they are immediately drawn to her for reasons yet unknown. (Just know it’s not because she is irresistible, thankfully.) From then on, they are basically inseparable - leaving Willa to figure out their secrets and the mystery they are involved in.
So if you’re not averse to RH (it’s not something I read often), like a good bond trope (which comes about much like a non-evil Horcrux), banter and light-hearted, fun writing with a helping of fantasy, this book is for you! (There is next no smut yet in this book, but lots of nudity and sexual tension.)
Willa is a dweller, a serving race to the sols, the dominant race that has the potential to ascend from their world Minatsol to God-status and to Topia. The Abcurses - Coen, Rome, Aros, Yael, and Siret with the respective gifts of Pain, Strength, Seduction, Persuasion, and Trickery - have been assigned Willa as their server by mistake and they are immediately drawn to her for reasons yet unknown. (Just know it’s not because she is irresistible, thankfully.) From then on, they are basically inseparable - leaving Willa to figure out their secrets and the mystery they are involved in.
So if you’re not averse to RH (it’s not something I read often), like a good bond trope (which comes about much like a non-evil Horcrux), banter and light-hearted, fun writing with a helping of fantasy, this book is for you! (There is next no smut yet in this book, but lots of nudity and sexual tension.)
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