the devils son

What a great start... just want to keep reading ... Quick plot and interesting characters. Quick moving... love it!!!! I am new to this app and am very excited to figure things out.

The grammar was hard to get past, but I really enjoyed romance and some components of the story were pretty compelling overall (everything about Irene, and co., for instance) Some things I had an issue with: female characters have no intrinsic motivations. Their purpose is to please or cater to men’s goals and desires. Hazel had plenty of opportunities to learn how to ride a horse or self defense. She read a few books toward the end, but her motivation was always to help Lucian. It would be nice to see her make decisions to further herself. The damsel in distress trope is overused in this book. It’s compelling, but frustrating. The author grants the female leads no plenty of wit, strategy or inner fortitude in their darkest moments. Hazel’s character development and growth is non existent. Considering where she came from, weakness is to be expected but it would be nice to see her challenge that in some way. Without that she’s not a main character, just a prop. Lucian is far more compelling than she is and is the real reason I kept reading. What makes our main character special? I get that this is meant to be a product of the world-building but it’s pretty important in books like these to give the main character some characteristics that challenge those societal norms otherwise there is a danger of supporting it and giving it credence. If no one in the world is questioning these norms and doing something about it, the message for the reader is that it’s okay. Young girls probably shouldn’t be reading this anyway, but if they were, that message would be troubling for me. Same goes for Klara. She was so devoted to Lucian that she followed his wife to protect her with the knowledge that she would get nothing out of it. She was handy to have around, but ultimately, she lacks depth and intrinsic motivation. Character development surrounding personal hobbies, quirks, talents, and life goals don’t exist for really any of the characters in this book, even Lucian He went off to fight numerous wars for his father. Was his motivation a desire for acceptance? I can’t see why he would lead armies for a man who hated him especially with the knowledge that he would be killed by his brothers as soon as his father dies. The author switched back and forth from different character perspectives pretty abruptly which I found jarring. Ultimately, what they did well was create intrigue and mystery around Lucian. The romantic bits? Chef’s kiss. That’s why I’m here, let’s be honest.