Villainess
S BACCHANTE
(Book 1 in the Villainess series)
Synopsis:
The witch was born with a scar over her left eye. The world whispered of a dark shadow holding onto her soul like flesh onto a bone. More wrath than a girl.
On her quest for revenge, Kasdeya wades knee deep into waters of high treason, with none other than her rival, the mad Jester, by her side, and golden hearted artist. An ancient prophecy about the war of gods hangs above their heads like a scythe. Arcane, the secret society that owns them, and Libitiani, a cult of a death goddess, circle them like hesitant hungry wolves.
A choice stands before the morally corrupt, to become the saviors or the villains, but first, they must save themselves.
Together they might just change the course of history, if the web of lies and secrets doesn't suffocate them first.
And if the shadows don't swallow them whole.
The first book in a dark epic fantasy series, Jo Moonless’ debut novel explores the price of revenge and the delicate scale of sanity.
Content:
Language: Mild and scattered uses of strong language
Violence: The book is full of gory descriptions and metaphors. The characters are also training to be assasins. Blood, murder, cannibalism used as a metaphor for love, vengeance, and similarly violent instances feature prominently. More specifically, poisoning, death of animals (bird, dog), torture, death and murder of children,fighting with knives/blades, sparring, and manipulation.
Sexual and domestic violence features briefly. Poverty, thievery, and potential child neglect/abuse are also brought up.
Sex: A few passionate kisses, allusions to sex, characters (not the MCs) cheat on their partners, mentions of prostitution and prostitutes,
LGBTQ: A few characters are either gay or bisexual. Central characters discuss their sexuality. One of the main characters describes himself as asexual.
My Review:
Thank you so much to the wonderful author for giving me a free digital ARC!
PROS:
- The writing drew me in immediately. I love really descriptive, metaphor-filled writing, and this book delivered. It was beautiful.
- Adding onto that, the atmosphere and gothic vibes were perfect. Every word felt specifically chosen to bring you further into the book's dark world.
- The cover and title are also amazing! The book's font was nice too (I don't know why I care about that—I just know certain fonts make me want to DNF and others I adore 🤷♀️)
- THE CHARACTERS. The central trio—Icarus, Alexander, and Kasdeya—were so well-developed and unique. I really loved their characters. A lot of authors shy away from making their characters truly flawed, but it was honestly endearing here.
- Alexander is my favorite, though. He was absolutely insane, and it was wonderful. His devotion to Kasdeya and how it influences the rest of his choices was so interesting! He's exactly what I'm looking for in an unhinged morally grey love interest.
- Icarus was adorable and sweet. I didn't know if he would be necessary at first, but he's definitely the glue holding Kasdeya and Alexander's sanity together.
- Kasdeya could be unlikeable sometimes, but I also found her to be extremely relatable. Her struggle with trust and guilt were so touching. I was completely invested (and a little emotional sometime. A few tears were shed).
- I was wary of the flashbacks at first, but they added so much depth to the story! All the layers and connections in general are amazing. It's the kind of story that unfolds bit by bit and truly needs multiple books to reach that point.
- The plot twists near the end just kept coming!
- Romantic pining disguised as hating is one of my favorite tropes.
- The book is about anger and vengeance, but there were some really tender and sweet moments too.
- All of the themes—revenge, anger, manipulation, overcoming guilt, finding value in yourself, fear of failure, etc—were handled with intent and care (and they broke my heart, so thank you for that). Like I said earlier, Kasdeya's journey is well-crafted and poignant, and so is Alexander's.
- Although I wish we'd gotten a bit more of the world, the lore and magic was still cool!
- I CANNOT WAIT FOR BOOK 2. The cliffhanger is killing me.
CONS:
- While I loved the writing, it did confuse me at times. Given this is a fantasy world, a few of the metaphors/similes could have actually happened, and I needed to reread to discern whether or not it was still figurative language.
- The world-building could have been worked in a little more clearly. We get some lore later on in the book and you kind of figure out what all these different groups are, but it was a bit difficult to follow at the beginning.
- The pacing was strange sometimes, although it could just be that I have a harder time following plot progression with ebooks.