A Strange Hymn by Laura Thalassa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Solstice expectations: everyone shall set aside their quarrels for this week, hold hands, and sing kumbaya.
Solstice reality: everyone shall come within an inch of death at least once.”
Callie. You had ONE goddamn job.
Quite simple, this is a captivating series. And the sequel was pretty great to be reunited with my favorite characters while progressing the plot.. despite some shortcomings…
I absolutely adore this series for its morally grey characters, fiercely savage duo dynamic, and the magic woven throughout it
In other words, its another book I read just for the main-squeeze *no regrets*
Desmond Flynn the Bargainer. He fully embraces his monster that combines iconic fey predator *rhysand vibes* with sarcastic manipulative thief trope *kaz vibes*
“Our relationship was forged on bloodshed and solidified through deception. I am the dark creature that craves sex and destruction, and he is the king of it.”
Our morally grey character who is sinister, ruthless, cruel and arrogant with carefully calculated plans that are suddenly thrown in a wretch when he meets another beautiful monster
Callie, the siren within craves blood lust and wants to be feared
Together, these two were the perfect combination — Their constant clashing but drawn to each other, the sass, the moral dilemmas, the fucking insanity of it all just made me want to read more!
“If youre is going to break the law at least invite me along,” he says, pushing away from the tree.
His face changes seconds later, when he takes in the scene.
“What happened?” Des asks, all humor gone from his voice.
I wipe my bloodied hands off on my dress. “I think I found the missing soldiers.”
It was enjoyable seeing these two deal with regular relationship shit that all just elevated because of their chaotic possessive nature… and the whole war thing going on.
꧁Secondary Characters꧂worked to give insight into the past of our MCs and figure out everyone’s role in the fight to come
Phaedron an old gang friend
Aetherial the captured day court soldier makes a reappearance
Malaki, lord of the dreams
“Controlling dreams is a Night Kingdom trait. It’s possible that someone’s targeting you while you sleep, perhaps the same someone who’s taking soldiers.”
He’s coming for me.
“The Thief of Souls,” I whisper.”
side note: Why the actual fuck was this guy not consulted with Callie constantly having the nightmares prophetic threatening trees. she keeps making this stupid mistake of not working with the people around her*sighhhh*
and now my favorite, the obligatory book best friend Temper !!
After the first book, I was quite disappointed from her limited role of info-dumping in the first book. BUT NO MORE!
I was CaCkLiNg on the floor at how goddamn funny these two were, as they supported each other with Callie joining the fey world and Temper just wanting some fey wine
“So,” Temper says when I re-enter my rooms, “I propose we blow some shit up, then leave.”
Des doesn’t look completely opposed.”
Absolutely relished in her devious addition to the group, she shared Callie’s best qualities as brash, capable, and vivacious with her uncontrollable magic background added devilishly good fun to read
꧁Writing Style꧂
The elements that I loved about the first book was how the flashbacks PERFECTLY set up the world and left us, readers, begging to know what changed over time that displaced Des from savior to a stranger
And I enjoyed how this sequel continued to address that dynamic of time loss while working to establish the couple dynamic
But here’s where this book kinda failed for me…
This book is bad at differentiating. It was bad at saying there are two bad guys. It was bad at differing the cultures of the varying kingdoms. It was bad at differing Callie from her Siren. It was bad at differing present Callie with Callie before the kidnapping.
I mean seriously, the whole beginning is just Callie being some passive asshole complaining about getting access to knowledge *wtf*.
“Would you like to join me?”
After what I saw yesterday in his throne room?
I shake my head. “Have fun.”
I can’t believe she seriously walked away from being a power player after demanding to be part of the decision-making
This was such a whiny teenager attitude that made no sense. The denial on her part just made everything all the more annoying. It was like pulling teeth trying to get her to progress in her own story.
Even with these critiques and all the things that are clearly WRONG about this series starting with the messed-up shit that is our main characters. I love it.
Overall, Callie’s siren has a wicked and violent point of view that gives hilarious inner dialogue about the ongoing events. The epic setup of this dark violent world is entertaining and I kept wanting to know more. Des is a mean motherfucka. And together these insane characters have such a unique chemistry with secondary characters having more importance and the world-building still developing.
I definitely recommend checking out if you enjoy a great blend of fey and fantasy – sexy, dark, romantic, witty, action filled plot, filled with fantastic characters.
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