Birds of Paradise

by Anne Malcom

• ISBN10: 1718921284
• ISBN13: 9781718921283
• Publish Date: 8 May 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 324
• Language: English

Reviews

[Romance Schmomance]

BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | INSTAGRAM

**AN ARC WAS GRACIOUSLY PROVIDED FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN**


Absolutely loved this book! My extent with reading dark romances only go so far and I can honestly say that Anne Malcom is the second author I've read a dark romance by...I think. I feel like dark romances tend to be a bit harder to write because authors truly have to go THERE to make it work. After reading this one, it's evident that Anne Malcom has this down like the back of her hand.

So before I go on,please take note that this is a dark romance with pretty heavy topics. It's not for everyone, if you absolutely don't like dark romances, you will struggle with reading this.

Back to the review. OK, so I don't even know where to begin with talking about the characters. The hero, who has a couple of names you'll have to discover on your own, and the heroine were just so different than what I usually read. They are characters that you have to personally read about or you might not actually like them. It confused me to try and explain them to someone, but in my mind it all made complete sense. Their lives aren't pretty and bears so much darkness and pain.

But they manage to work their way through all of that to somehow find their version of a happy ever after. With the hero's twisted and dark persona, there's also this raw and gritty beauty to it. It's very haunting, but despite all of that, there is the vulnerable side to him that he hides away so well. But with Elizabeth in his world, you see pieces of that wither away... In its own dark and twisty way.

Elizabeth's story is definitely a tough one to get through as you learn about all the horrible and traumatic things she had to endure. It's absolutely unimaginable and tragic. From the beginning, she's a shell of a person suffering from fear and pain, but can you blame her? She has dubbed herself an agoraphobic and 'he' will have none of that, so he tries to break her.

This book had me hooked the entire time, Anne Malcom's writing is pure perfection. She captured the dark and gritty tone so effortlessly. Her writing said so much more than what was written on the page, so poetic and deep. It was hard not to get lost in all of it.

But I will say, that I was hoping a bit more with the plot. I felt like they were just going in circles around each other most of the time. However, it didn't keep me from devouring this one.

Other than that, absolutely loved this and can't wait to read more from Anne. I'm hoping we get more from these two, I wanna know where life will take them next.

Highly recommend to dark romance fans!

[Eve1972]

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
So this book was all kinds of awesome. I am purposely going to leave this review a little vague as I think this book is best gone into blindly. Plus, I also don't want to give too many details away that could spoil anyone's reading experience. The writing in this one was AMAZING. Seriously, it was just exquisite and intelligent. It was very well paced. The plot was incredibly engaging, original, and well crafted. There were twists and turns. It was told through a dual POV format. I wouldn't say that this one was overly dark in its nature. But I read some pretty dark stuff, so do take that into account when you are deciding whether to give this one a read or not. Last, it was all wrapped up in a satisfactory ending that left "ME" feeling like maybe this couple had more story to come -- a girl can hope!


~HERO~
HIM/OLIVER/LUKYAN...Oh, how I loved this guy. He wasn't sweet. He wasn't kind. He was a stone-cold killer, and he loved every minute of it. I fell in love with him. His character was just so well developed and multi-faceted. A textbook example of how to write an anti-hero.


~HEROINE~
ELIZABETH...I think I loved Elizabeth even MORE than I loved Lukyan. Her character was also so well crafted and multi-layered. The growth her character goes through over the course of the book was amazing to read. Your heart will shatter for her. You'll be cheering her on as she puts the pieces of her broken soul back together. 


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
There really weren't many secondary characters in this one. A couple that plays significant, but small parts. This is a main character-centered book.


~HEAT LEVEL~
Medium. The sex scenes in this one were suitably spicy. Some knife play. Some blood. Nothing too over the top though, and the frequency felt organic to the story. This couple also had amazing on page chemistry.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
Medium. I didn't find this one particularly angsty relationship wise. Elizabeth has a lot of issues to deal with and well, Lukyan kills people...so (lol). There was no OW drama. The next part is a spoiler so DO NOT click on it if you don't want to be spoiled capiche? Lukyan is married. He has slept with his wife in the past, but she is his father's courtesan now (and seems to have been for a while) and Lukyan has NO feelings for her AT ALL. . There was no OM drama. Neither were virgins.


~IN THE END~
It was amazing. The writing was phenomenal. The plot was highly entertaining and original. The characters were well developed and intriguing. The sex was hot. What more can you as for? Yours truly is HIGHLY recommending this one and in fact, this may be my favorite read so far this year.