Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm really mad at this book. Okay, it starts slow, which a lot of people fault, but I actually kind of appreciated the world building and getting to know the characters. The slow start did make the last quarter of the book feel rushed, just because SO much finally happened. But I could have overlooked that, because originally, I liked the characters. I was intrigued by the story. I love a good mythical world (though I don't love when authors make up new terms for werewolves and vampires, like "wulven" and "vampry" - I mean, come on.). And now to the part that left me so very, very angry. (Spoilers below) I'm all over a troubled hero, conflicted and broody, etc. And at first, I liked the guy, even though from pretty much the beginning you know he's got a secret and by the last third, you're ripping out your hair because our heroine refuses to actually use her brain and connect the dots. But then it happened. He sleeps with her WHILE knowing he's going to betray her (and that he's responsible for so many other people's deaths, people she cared about). I just...didn't understand it, too. Because the first 3/4 of the book, he's a good guy - conflicted, but relatively good. You can tell he cares about her. And then, the last 1/4, he's a manipulative, cruel dick. It was like the guy had a personality switch. He went from caring about her, respecting her, and wanting to help her, to possessive, manipulative, and, frankly, a bit of a psychopath. There's a point where the heroine calls him a monster and you know she's calling him a monster for the wrong reason...but he actually is a legit monster. No woman should be treated the way he treated her. And I was so confused, because he professed to be angry about the way that other men/people had treated her and he tried to help her earlier, only to turn out to be the same kind of guy? This idea that no one else can treat you cruelly, but I get to treat you like your a possession. So, I guess if the author wanted him to come off as a psychopath, she succeeded, but I simply cannot root for such a guy or that kind of manipulative love. Which brings me to the other reason that the end was AWFUL. Our heroine was so strong and capable...and then, after this guy has sex with her and betrays her, she puts up a minuscule fight, gets captured, and turns into a sappy lovesick (or should I say lustsick, because that seems more appropriate) puppy? Maybe if she hadn't brushed past all his misdeeds, murders, and cruelty, maybe if she'd demanded he changed and told him how he hurt her (seriously, not to be a psychopath myself, but he ought to suffer a bit because of all the suffering she's gone through), and then he had shown genuine remorse and tried to change, tried to be better for her instead of trying to control her and force her, then MAYBE I'd be okay rooting for them. Instead, she thinks about how devastated she is, accuses him once or twice (which he just brushes off btw), and the next thing you know, they're frantically having sex again? That scene made me sick. Maybe it's my own trauma of a manipulative relationship, but it was just awful and it made me really dislike the heroine because she was so strong earlier in the book and at the end she just felt...weak. She stopped taking destiny into her own hands. So, read at your own risk. Read if you don't mind an example of a really terrible, unhealthy relationship. But I can tell you that you won't feel good at the end of this book.