If life really was a fairy tale, Zakara would never be the damsel in distress. She’d be a thief, and Prince Charming wouldn’t have a clue how to steal the heart of the conniving criminal.Zakara saves not one, but three men locked inside the tallest tower. Her first instinct is to ditch them as soon as possible, but they have one thing that intrigues her more than wealth:Magic.Fae magic once ruled … wealth:
Magic.
Fae magic once ruled the world, until it disappeared without a trace. Only myths of the magic wielders linger in their destroyed society.
The three prisoners claim to be fae, but she doesn’t trust them.
She doesn’t trust anyone.
Can Prince Ryder convince the pretty thief to lead them to the Hopeless City? Or will she kill him before they even arrive?
This is a reverse harem series. Recommended for readers over 18.
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What a great start to this series as we meet Zakara as she rescues three men locked in a tower which is a nice twist on traditional stories. Once rescued they need her help to get home so with much convincing she leads the way which leads to some interesting events I must say as they all get to know one another. This is some great world building with characters we can get attached to. I cannot wait to see where the next book takes us. I loved every single page so I give it 5/5 stars.
This is the first story by Koonce that I have read, but it will not be the last. I really liked Zakara, She is strong and savvy. She has been through a lot, but she keeps going forward. They world Koonce has built is interesting and original, and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Let’s start with the story (4 out of 5 stars). I think this was more on the fast-paced side, a lot of story happened in a short amount of time/not a large book. Not a lot of world-building, which in this instance I think took away from the story because with high fantasy/fae/PNR series, world-building is so important. I did think Zakara is a pretty BA character, stubborn and strong. I liked her instantly haha. The guys, not so much! We get to slowly learn about them, some harder to read than the others. I did think the bed scene was pretty funny (I was surprised with the amount of funny/comedic relief scenes in this series). Aaaaaand don’t even get me started on the sexy scene with a certain broody fire fae! He is definitely my favorite after book 1, but the others will win me over in future books
In terms of the narration, I thought it was just ok (3 out of 5 stars). I didnt think the narration was spectacular, but it wasn’t bad either. I do wish there was a male narrator because it would have elevated it. I don’t think Dara’s male voices were very strong, compared to other audiobooks I have listened to. I think in this instance it had a lot of potential with audio and it just didnt spark for me. That being said I have finished the series because the story drove me to listen on Scribd all back to back haha.
I blazed through this series! I can’t recommend it enough! <3 A.K. Koonce is a fantastic writer & I can't wait to read more of her books!
I absolutely LOVED this post apocalyptic fantasy! AK has completely outdone herself, the world she created for this story is amazing, the characters are perfect, easy to relate to, believable and easy to fall in love with. Zakara is kick ass, snarky as hell and yet lonely and lost. Not to mention The three super hot fae men (I licked Dario so he’s mine!) she gets stuck with, hot as sin and hiding something she can’t figure out. I can’t wait to read book two, all the action, adventure, magic, sex, and attitude, it’s amazing!
Great start to a series. I loved the characters and the new spin of Fae. I have an obsession with the jerks in the harems. Darrio, Dax and Ryder are different, I like how they don’t fall for her right away. I like the storyline and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
See that beautiful cover? How could I pass up a book with such a pretty front, the fact that it’s also reverse harem was just a bonus.
The book starts out really great, it immediately engaged me and you instantly can see the author smooth and slightly cheeky writing style. I liked it for the most part. The writing itself was flowing and easy to read however the storyline is a different question. But first let’s see the world building. Since the book itself is on the shorter side there is not much space for a lengthy and overcomplicated introduction of the world the story takes place in. We get some basic information we can build on so we can place things in order but not much. Although, I loved the small fairytale references hiding in the setting. Alas for such a short book I think the world building is advocate, not too colorful or complex but enough.
Now for the plot, I think it has potential but we don’t get to see much from it yet. It is really just an introduction of the series because nothing really major happens plot wise. However the whole relationship department on the other hand progresses on light speed. I personally love RH and I like it even better when it’s not slow burn but in this case the fact that the actual action of the plot and the romance part of it progressed with such a different speed caused a kind of friction, unbalance for me. It felt a bit strange but nothing major or unchangeable, yet
As for the characters, there were a lot of things about Zakara personality that I loved. Like her independence, her sauciness, her craftiness, she is pretty straightforward but she also made some stupid moves. I hated that her hurtful jabs at the boys, especially since most of them were pretty uncalled for. She was also a bit judgmental but nothing overwhelming.
Then there were the Hopeless men. The thing is they are not really introduced as much in this book yet so their characters felt a bit one dimensional especially since they so cleanly fall into the general stereotypes the RH uses to separate the different men. I mean Ryder is the perfect representation of the ‘leader’ who has that mysterious air around him, Darrio is the big angry guy whom the main character has some instant friction with and then there is Daxdyn the easily likeable, endless flirt whom she instantly connects. So there is that.
Still this book was a quick, fun and promising read. I see a lot of potential for the next book it just needs a bit more detail to fill in the blanks.