I think this was pretty solid. I haven’t read all of St. Clair's books, but her writing is one I would recognize. I liked this writing way better than in the Hades and Persephone series but I still didn’t love the writing in this one. The Blood King is a monster among men. His name is whispered in fear. His reputation as a ruthless, bloodthirsty monster spans villages. And Isolde isn't excluded from the list. So when the vampire who is demanding surrender from her kingdom, is willing to trade protection of her people in exchange for her as his bride, she accepts. She would do anything for her people. Even walk willingly into the arms of a monster who she's been taught to hate and fear all of her life. A decir verdad tenía muchísimas ganas de amar este libro porque lo escribía la misma autora de A Touch of Darkness, el retelling de Hades y Perséfone, pero esta historia fue bastante mediocre… ¡Es que ni siquiera los momentos hot redimían el aburrimiento que sentía! No sé qué sucedió aquí, pero todo me pareció tremendamente apresurado, predecible, sin un fondo real… Y sí, lo que les digo, el libro está llenísimo de momentos spicy, pero como no lograba que me importaran Isolde y Aleksandr, pues me daban bastante igual. This book is mostly smut, with a side of plot, and a dash of action. It is not a bad book, but I was expecting more. I was expecting a smutty book sure, but with a decent plot and likable characters at least. Instead, I got a smut-fest with vampires. Isolde is the horniest, most hormonal young adult I’ve read about: most of the time, she’s either masturbating, having wet dreams, thinking explicitly about having sex or having sex. The horniness just never stops and quantity does not mean quality when it comes to smut in books. There is A LOT of smut in this one, and by the 50% mark, it even started to feel a little repetitive. To be fair, there are several big-name female authors writing successful high fantasy stories that include significant romantic elements these days, such as Sarah J. Mass’ Crescent City books or Jennifer L. Armentrout’s From Blood and Ash series. But both those women initially found success in other genres, specifically young adult fiction and traditional romance.

Adrian’s vassal (the one he was taking blood from since Isolde refused to let him drink from her) was trying to make Isolde jealous by talking about her “special” relationship with Adrian and of course, it worked and Isolde spent the rest of the book being jealous of the vassal, while the vassal spent the rest of the book lying and trying to make herself appear more important than she was (typical teenage drama).I still don't understand the reincarnation stuff. When did he make this bargain with the goddess Dis? I need to know more. I apologize in advance for the length of this review. I had a lot to say about Isolde and this “romance” between her and Adrian… You have a place beside me because you fill my heart. I love you. I have loved you since the beginning,” he said, and his voice almost broke. “I have loved you forever.”

The world-building was pretty cool and added to my overall interest in the book. I mean most worlds filled with vampires and other creatures are not usually that hard to fascinate me. I started to step around him, and Killian reached for my hand. I wrenched free and punched him in the stomach. He groaned and fell to his knees as I turned on my heels.As humans, we had no cure to fight their diseases, no ability to outrun them, no way to counter their magic or the monsters they’d awakened. The characters were weird and problematic, just the way most of us like them. There was a passion in Isolde that I felt throughout the book whereas Adrian gave me more of a calm vibe. Usually, I will immediately call out insta love, but after some twists and reveals, a lot of things definitely made sense. The twists and reveals were actually some of my favorite parts of the story.