Buy The Book:
Amazon / Kobo / Barnes & Noble
Connect With The Author:
Genre:
Dark Erotica/ Contemporary Romance
Synopsis On Goodreads:
In the beginning, there was him.
Gutsy, green-eyed Eleanor never met a rule she didn't want to break. She's sick of her mother's zealotry and the confines of Catholic school, and declares she'll never go to church again. But her first glimpse of beautiful, magnetic Father Søren Stearns and his lust-worthy Italian motorcycle is an epiphany. Suddenly, daily Mass seems like a reward, and her punishment is the ache she feels when they're apart. He is intelligent and insightful and he seems to know her intimately at her very core. Eleanor is consumed—and even she knows that can't be right.
But when one desperate mistake nearly costs Eleanor everything, it is Søren who steps in to save her. She vows to repay him with complete obedience…and a whole world opens before her as he reveals to her his deepest secrets.
Danger can be managed—pain, welcomed. Everything is about to begin.
RATING:
*** REVIEW ***
"It's all one story, the three of us."
"Will it hurt to talk about it?"
"Yes," she said. "But a little pain never stopped me before."
"It's all one story, the three of us."
"Will it hurt to talk about it?"
"Yes," she said. "But a little pain never stopped me before."
This book has been laying on my shelf for months now, but I kept avoiding it despite this series being one of my favorite ones. The main reasons for that are my disappointment with the development of the plot in the previous book and above all the fact that this installment is about Nora's & Soren's past and them two are currently my least favorite characters.
It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I'm ready for the story to move on from the "ode and glory" of Soren & Nora on someone else, like f.e. my ultimate favorite character Kingsley. And there we have the reason why I stopped avoiding this book- Kingsley's book The King is next and I missed my Frenchman so much, so I decided that it's high time to suck it up and read the book to finally be able to read The King. And then of course the one thing happened which almost always happens when I'm being certain I'm gonna dislike some book even before reading it- I actually ended up liking it a lot, what only confirms the fact how amazing this author truly is.
I'm really glad now that I've read this book, because after finishing it a lot of things became clearer. Things like character's personality and plot development I had difficulties processing before. I think that if this had been the first book in the series instead of The Siren I would have understood those things a lot easier, but that was probably the author's plan- to mess with our heads and make us question everything. What I'm finally aware of now is that to love this series you have to be okay with the term from the quote above- polyamory.
Why? It's because that's the lifestyle of the main characters of the story and if you have problems with it, then it's better not to read this series at all. If I had known that before I would have probably never read this series, because despite my weakness for dark, thought-provoking and bittersweet reads, deep down I'm still a romantic and my idea of love is completely different than "polyamory" and while it does make for an intriguing, even fascinating story, the fact that these characters have multiple partners and call it love, is still strange/uncomfortable to me and it'll probably always be.
I was okay with it in the beginning, mainly because I thought that they'll eventually settle for someone in the end, but considering the direction the plot is going, it seems that the number is only increasing. That's why I surprisingly enjoyed more the plot focused on the past events than the present. I know that many of you who know me also wonder if in that case this book finally managed to change my opinion about our sadist priest Soren (for those who don't know- I'm not his biggest fan from book 1)? - Well, kind of. I'm still not his biggest fan and I don't think that will ever change, but I definitely understand him more now. And yes, I still think he & Kingsley are meant for each other.
So the story's only flaw for me was the development of the plot in the present. I liked the younger version of Nora more and I wasn't fascinated with the addition of the new character- Nico, despite him being the son of you know whom. He seemed quite monotonous in comparison to the rest of them. I was frankly a bit bored when reading their present with exception of that one scene including a stick, lol. The writing was flawless like always. It was Tiffany's sadist pen at her best, but as far as the story is concerned- I liked it a lot, but I didn't love it. That's why 4 dark, poignant and way too hot stars. Kingsley, here I come!
It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I'm ready for the story to move on from the "ode and glory" of Soren & Nora on someone else, like f.e. my ultimate favorite character Kingsley. And there we have the reason why I stopped avoiding this book- Kingsley's book The King is next and I missed my Frenchman so much, so I decided that it's high time to suck it up and read the book to finally be able to read The King. And then of course the one thing happened which almost always happens when I'm being certain I'm gonna dislike some book even before reading it- I actually ended up liking it a lot, what only confirms the fact how amazing this author truly is.
"Welcome to polyamory." Kingsley sat his drink down.
"Polyamory?"
"Poly means multi. Amory means love. It's common in our world, having more than one lover. I don't mean lover in the sexual sense alone. I mean loving two people."
"Sounds like nightmare."
"Wasn't it Oscar Wilde who said there were two great tragedies in life- getting what you want and not getting what you want? Polyamory is the tragedy of getting everything you want all at the same time."
I'm really glad now that I've read this book, because after finishing it a lot of things became clearer. Things like character's personality and plot development I had difficulties processing before. I think that if this had been the first book in the series instead of The Siren I would have understood those things a lot easier, but that was probably the author's plan- to mess with our heads and make us question everything. What I'm finally aware of now is that to love this series you have to be okay with the term from the quote above- polyamory.
Why? It's because that's the lifestyle of the main characters of the story and if you have problems with it, then it's better not to read this series at all. If I had known that before I would have probably never read this series, because despite my weakness for dark, thought-provoking and bittersweet reads, deep down I'm still a romantic and my idea of love is completely different than "polyamory" and while it does make for an intriguing, even fascinating story, the fact that these characters have multiple partners and call it love, is still strange/uncomfortable to me and it'll probably always be.
I was okay with it in the beginning, mainly because I thought that they'll eventually settle for someone in the end, but considering the direction the plot is going, it seems that the number is only increasing. That's why I surprisingly enjoyed more the plot focused on the past events than the present. I know that many of you who know me also wonder if in that case this book finally managed to change my opinion about our sadist priest Soren (for those who don't know- I'm not his biggest fan from book 1)? - Well, kind of. I'm still not his biggest fan and I don't think that will ever change, but I definitely understand him more now. And yes, I still think he & Kingsley are meant for each other.
So the story's only flaw for me was the development of the plot in the present. I liked the younger version of Nora more and I wasn't fascinated with the addition of the new character- Nico, despite him being the son of you know whom. He seemed quite monotonous in comparison to the rest of them. I was frankly a bit bored when reading their present with exception of that one scene including a stick, lol. The writing was flawless like always. It was Tiffany's sadist pen at her best, but as far as the story is concerned- I liked it a lot, but I didn't love it. That's why 4 dark, poignant and way too hot stars. Kingsley, here I come!
xoxo,
Purple
Yeah, monotonous characters are the worst! Glad you enjoyed the bits that were set in the past though :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah! :) Yeah, Nico seemed pretty plain in comparison to other characters.
DeleteI was not a fan of Nico either. I thought the back and forth between past and present hurt the story. I really enjoyed the "past" parts, but then a "present" part would come in and break the tone. While this is done in The King (with two different characters, who I think you'll like more), it didn't feel as chopped and didn't bother me as much. The King brought back my faith in the series (after reading The Mistress, which I really didn't like and this one, which is my second least favorite, but still enjoyed overall). I hope you have the same experience with The King.
ReplyDeleteOh, I liked The King a lot too, Melanie. :) More than this one for sure, but it was again a 4 stars read for me, because I think the first three books in the series were perfection, especially The Prince which is still my favorite one.
DeleteGreat review!! I'm like you, I'm a romantic at heart, I don't believe in loving two people at the same time, but for some reason I can't impose any of my convictions to these characters and that might be a reason why I enjoy her books so much, they are who the are, take them or leave them. The Siren and The Prince are still my favorites. My rating for this one was the same. liked it, but didn't love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Loupe! :) Yeah, I think I finally accepted that after this book, at least for the most part. The Prince and The Siren are still my favorite too, even after reading the King.
DeleteI'm always a little wary too about going into books that I've had for a while, but I'm glad the wait paid off and you were still able to enjoy this. I've heard great things about Reisz' books, so know who to ask which book I should go for when I'm in the mood for it ;)
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll give T. Reisz' books a shot, because her writing is amazing. I was a little hesitant in the beginning, because she writes pretty dark reads, but when I started read- I couldn't stop.
DeleteI need to read this series so bad. I finally bought The Siren, but haven't got around to it yet.
ReplyDeleteYayy! Can't wait to see what're you going to think about this series, Christy.:)
DeletePurple your statement: "deep down I'm still a romantic and my idea of love is completely different than "polyamory" and while it does make for an intriguing, even fascinating story, the fact that these characters have multiple partners and call it love, is still strange/uncomfortable to me and it'll probably always be." is exactly how I feel and it's the reason I've always been hesitant to pick this series up in spite of the glowing reviews out there. I just can't hardly wrap my head around it. It's nice to pick up a book that you think you'll hate and be pleasantly surprised and I'm happy to hear that was the case for you. Lovely review! :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can understand that. If Glass hadn't "made" me read it, I would have probably never picked it out myself, but now I'm hooked, even though I still have problems with their lifestyle. I probably wouldn't continue with the series if the author wasn't such a good writer, but she is one of the best I read lately.
DeleteThanks, Rachel! :)
Oh God. I could never have the guts to continue with this series. I read The Siren many moons ago, but I'm too scared to go forward.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I was just like you after I read it, but the temptation was too big...wait, is it possible that I missed that review? *off to read it*
Delete