Amanda Bouchet

I was pretty torn rating this book. On one hand, it is a well written fantasy romance novel that could easily get 4 stars. On the other, it’s a completely frustrating reading experience barely deserving of 3 stars.

Cat is hiding out in the circus, keeping her magical powers hidden while running from a twisted, torturous past. Griffin finds her, recognizes her power, and kidnaps her to help his family run the kingdom of Sinta. Also, Griffin is very, very strongly attracted to her. Now Cat must choose whether to trust these people, especially Griffin, with her secrets.

There is one side to Cat that is great. She is a strong, fierce, independent fighter who believes in herself and wants to forge her own path no matter what. The other side is a damaged, tortured soul that can’t trust anyone even as she yearns to care for and be cared for by other people. And this could be an interesting character dichotomy to explore if it wasn’t drawn… out… so…. long. With Cat, it’s one step forward, two steps back every single page of the story.

Or maybe I should say, one forced kiss forward, two punches back.

Because there is a lot of forced kissing and forced intimacy in this book. And Cat? She fights back. She brawls. We-the-reader are privy to her inner voice, so we know she has a growing interest and attraction to Griffin, but outer Cat is constantly saying no, twisting and punching and wrestling, saying no, and Griffin is ignoring her. And I found it really uncomfortable and upsetting, not sexy and enthralling.

Also, by the third or fourth time Cat or Griffin finds themselves near death or dying, I kinda wanted to roll my eyes. Bouchet upped those stakes, and then drove them home, over and over again. Similar to how Cat keeps wrestling with the same indecision, the same dueling urges, over and over and over again throughout the story.

And then we get to the [spoilers!] magically healing sperm. Yes! Griffin LITERALLY heals her by giving her back her life force through his spunk. Is the sex a metaphor for the healing power of love? Not when it is this heavy handed.

I liked the worldbuilding, the new take on Greek mythology, the way magic is interwoven in both the land and the people. There’s a great tension between the ruling magical classes and the regular, servile people. And the whole thing with Cat’s twisted past and the hinted at prophesy of destruction is really well done. The plot rolls along at a brisk pace and is filled with interesting twists and turns.

So I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but settled on 3, because as much as I liked it, I also kind of hated it. I put the sequel on hold at the library– I’m definitely interested in seeing where the story goes, even though I’m frustrated with Cat and find Griffin kind of flat and underwhelming.
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