Amid Clouds and Bones

customer12345

fun read!

"I received an E arc through NetGalley and this is my honest review - forced marriage - fated mates - revenge games between MC's - bully romance - MFC desperate for attention and love - secrets and mystery This book is about an MFC who is deprived of any love and attention from her parental figures all throughout her child and adulthood. Because of this, she's desperate to be loved and accepted by others, especially a man. This is evidenced by how easily she has feelings for the MMC, despite how aggressive and mean he is. Then, when with the Unseelie king and he is refusing to give her her freedom/is controlling her, despite her telling herself not to develop feelings, she does. The Unseelie King does almost nothing other than give her some small forms of affection and reported honesty and she is swooning. She is so easily manipulated and, unfortunately, that leads to a lot of silly and unintelligent behavior and heartbreak for her. The Unseelie king gives her permission and lets her believe that she can write a letter to her sister. This causes her to want him sexually because he gave her one little cookie crumb of attention and freedom; yet, he's the one who won't let her leave to see her sister in the first place. Then, when she finds out he betrayed her by killing her parents, she still melts in his arms physically because he's giving her physical attention. Later, when she's mated and getting married to the MMC, she thinks about the other prince and later she wants him to be happy. Girl, he killed your parents and completely manipulated you so he could eventually kill everyone, including your sister, and you wonder how he's feeling about you leaving him and he has a part of your heart? She was so desperate and a bit pathetic. The MFC was also dense. She believed everything the Unseelie king said to her almost immediately, but when everyone, including the Unseelie king, told her that the MMC actually loved her, she just couldn't believe it, ever. Even when the wards cracked, she couldn't connect that the one thing the MMC loved (her) was starting to have feelings for someone else.... It was so obvious, but she was just living in denial about this one thing. Too dense to have nuanced thought about this. Although I found her a bit dense and pathetic, I could have empathy for her. Her father was ruthless, her stepmother hated her, and the MMC was nothing but mean and played games with her. Therefore, when this other prince and his friends gave her some positive and kind attention, all while "protecting her," (something no one had done for her before) she fell for it. Again, despite the MFC being desperate, I overall enjoyed her. It was nice to see an MFC who wasn’t angry and constantly being aggressive, nor just a passive MFC that did nothing to stand up for herself. She was calculated, would say one thing, but do another to strike back, and would retaliate and manipulate back. She was a fun MFC who played the game well. She made the book exciting! I will say the first 30 to 40% I could not put the book down. This first part was really good and my FAVORITE of the whole book. The book then slowed down for 30%, followed by picking back up. The strong banter was a big reason why the first 40% was fantastic. This was a bully romance, which was what I expected coming into it. I really liked the tension and games between the MMC and MFC. However, I did not enjoy that it was abruptly ended for the temporary second MMC to step into the picture. I also did not like the stepbrother angle and the MFC being attracted to both. I am not a fan of romance that involves brothersz The plot takes a backseat in this book, with the romance being the primary feature, which I enjoyed. If you were looking for more fantasy plot, this is definitely not for you. The world building is a not as strongly written as other books, but it made enough sense for me to get it. I am not sure which book came out first, but it reminded me of Lightlark in many ways. There is a plot, and it does move forward, but it moves forward at a slow pace. I saw a review that really hit home; the biting each other, tipping chins up, nipping at each other‘s faces, and noses touching was so overdone. Occurred quite frequently and was annoying. Despite that, this is a spicy romantasy that involves open door sex scenes beyond nipping and biting. There are some twists to this book, which I saw coming and guessed ahead of time. There was also a twist or two that I did not see coming. I don’t mind knowing some of the twists because it is satisfying to know I was right, while at the exact same time having a surprise of not seeing something coming is just as enjoyable. I really like the mixture of guessing and being right as well as being blindsided. Overall, this is a quick, fun, spicy, and bantery romantasy that I enjoyed! ["

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December 20, 2025 Verified Purchase

pm27

3.5 Unexpected Twists and Emotional Highs: A Flawed Yet Compelling Read

"The plot twists in this book were truly unexpected, keeping me on the edge of my seat. I didn't see that coming! I did fall for the second love interest, whose charm and depth added a refreshing layer to the story. The betrayals hit hard—I felt it myself, which is a testament to the author's ability to evoke strong emotions. However, especially the beginning was a bit of a letdown. The main male character (MMC) came across as a horny teenager, which made it difficult to connect with him initially. There was also a noticeable lack of background information about his past, which caused him to act like he did, which left me with unanswered questions. On the positive side, the banter between characters was engaging and often humorous, adding a lighthearted touch to the narrative. The sex scenes were well-written and added to the overall intensity of the relationships. Despite these strengths, the book suffered from a lack of character development. The rushed pacing made it clear that a second book was necessary to fully explore the characters and their arcs. A single, hurried installment didn't do justice to the story's potential. I did make it a job of not allowing me to stop reading, and I'm still thinking about it, but I wanted to dive in deeper into the characters. Overall, while the book had its flaws, it also had moments of brilliance that made it an enjoyable read. ["

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December 5, 2024 Verified Purchase

Kendra

Solid 4 star read, true enemies to lovers

"First thank you Netgalley and Scarlett Press for this advanced reader copy of Amid Clouds and Bones. While I absolutely enjoyed this book, I feel like it was way too fast paced. It needed far more character development and world building. The story and twists themselves were great, but I don't think they were nearly as effective because I didn't have the characters development needed to really care about what was going on. The story left me wanting more. This could have been done way better. All of that said, it's a solid 4 star book. The spice was fantastic and the story had me not wanting to put it down. I literally read it in 2 sittings. I just wish it was a bit more detailed. 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 ["

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December 19, 2025 Verified Purchase

Sheila

Loved it!

""𝑰 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆." 💖 𝖲𝗍ɑ𐓣ᑯɑᥣ𝗈𐓣౿ 🏰 𝖱𝗈ოɑ𐓣𝗍ɑડɣ ⚔️ 𝖤𐓣౿ოꪱᜒ౿ડ 𝗍𝗈 𝖫𝗈𝗏౿𝗋ડ 🥀 𝖡౿ɑυ𝗍ɣ ɑ𐓣ᑯ 𝗍𝗁౿ 𝖡౿ɑડ𝗍 𝗏ꪱᜒᑲ౿ડ 💍 𝖠𝗋𝗋ɑ𐓣𝗀౿ᑯ ოɑ𝗋𝗋ꪱᜒɑ𝗀౿ ❤️‍🔥 𝖬౿ᑯꪱᜒυო ᑲυ𝗋𐓣 🎀 𝖢ɑρ𝗍ꪱᜒ𝗏౿ 🌶 𝖲ρꪱᜒɕɣ I absolutely devoured this book! I've seen a lot of hate for it online but I just don't understand! This book is so freaking good. True Enemies to Lovers! They try to fight their attraction on every level and just as there's a change she's stolen by his enemy! The plot is juicy af and I couldn't stop reading it!! - Nicole Minken (Nightrey) ["

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March 17, 2026 Verified Purchase