2.75 ⭐️
This had some serious romcom vibes mixed in with The Originals. A fun time! I caught myself giggling at some parts.
However the writing was really cringe and it was way longer than it needed to be.

It’s ok if the guy is controlling if it’s really just his wolf persona, not his real persona.

I was afraid I might have been slightly biased against this book because I was in the middle of reading it when my father passed away, so I shelved it because I just didn't have much energy for anything outside of crying a lot at that point. I remember kind of enjoying it up until then, but I wasn't blown away by it.

In any case, it's been over two weeks since then and I struggled to finish it, but not because of any emotional trauma on my part. It just wasn't very good, in the end.

It's sort of the perfect KU read, because it's free, and I don't feel so guilty for disliking it as I would if I had actually paid money for it. Romance is so hit and miss for me, and I can't tell you how many times I get a book like this that sounds awesome in a blurb but then turns out to be a dumpster fire when fleshed out beyond a few paragraphs.

I wouldn't say this book is strictly a dumpster fire, because I've certainly read worse, but it was just boring, and so blah, and just so trite and typical that I really, truly struggled to finish it. I just didn't care about any of the characters or what happened to them. At all. Except maybe the 30 year old zombie cat.

The magic system was just needlessly complex. There are how many types of witches? I literally couldn't keep track. And it seems like there are about a million Savoie sisters too, one for each type of witch (convenient!). I hate the whole dual perspective werewolf thing, where Mateo was like a totally separate personality from his wolf, Alpha (super-original name, btw). It didn't make sense for the narrative, and I could never really reconcile Mateo with his wolf, or even think of him as a werewolf period, because the author presented one character as essentially two different people. And vampires aren't actually immortal, they just live a really long time? That's your big contribution to making the admittedly overdone vampire trope unique? I hate to go there, but even Twilight's sparkling vamps did more on that front.

Evie is supposed to be some huge pop-culture comics/nerd, but I got a definite sense that the author herself wasn't totally familiar with all aspects of fandom. As an admitted fandom nerd myself, I find that almost always books that cater to that specific market are almost always done as money grabs to appeal to folks like me instead of coming from a place of genuine interest. I HATE being pandered to, and that's like the #1 way to ensure I hate your book - whether it's nerdy references, or fuller-figured women, or whatever. People are more than their bodies and their interests, and these aspects of their lives should be just that - aspects. All to often they wind up being the sole focus, just so someone can say, "See, chunky/nerdy/ugly girls can be loved by ridiculously muscular hot guys too!!!" I mean, sure, I want to believe that, but maybe make it believable? Also, were that to actually happen, I wouldn't want to feel like it was the only thing someone liked about me - people want to be loved for their whole selves, not because of one minor part of them.

Again I digress. Long story short, this was kind of a throwaway, bathroom paranormal romance that I didn't find gripping or really interesting in the least. I don't plan on coming back to this world, but if I ever did, at least I would know that I wouldn't be wasting money on it.

I thought this was adorable. The slow burn bothered me a bit, but I suppose that's the point. The story was great, there was some entertaining suspense and mystery, and the characters were lovely. I absolutely LOVED Alpha. He was hilarious; I always looked forward to a scene in which his voice would pop up.