spoilers for previous books in the series
After devouring the first two in the Gifted Academy series, I immediately launched into Hateful Heroes by Michelle Hercules. Boy, what a disappointment compared to the previous books in the series. I honestly think a big part of it is a me issue and not a book issue.
The first half of the book, I really enjoyed. Was excited to read, happy to see how things unraveled. Loved figuring out why Bryce and Daisy are connected in this vision Morpheus had. Really, really loved figuring that tidbit out. Then, realizing I was having a problem with the book. Mainly, the reverse harem portion. Now, sometimes it makes sense. They’re all in a relationship with each other. They’re in a relationship with each other and others. They’re in a relationship and each bring different aspects to the relationship. They’re all together in a relationship due to fantasy cultural reasons etc. Understandable. Here, it literally was just a girl wanting to have sex with four guys. I didn’t feel that there was a reason behind it. It didn’t feel like Daisy got anything different from each of the guys. And honestly, I think it might just be because I developed a favorite (Bryce, obviously) so now I’m just wondering why we/Daisy needs the others.
The relationships just don’t make sense. Mainly, because there isn’t one. Bryce was nice from the beginning. Went on a date of sorts with Daisy. The other guys made her life hell and then suddenly were in love with her? Do they know her favorite color? Like, I rarely expect things to be realistic, especially not in fantasy or paranormal or romances, but this just started to feel so extremely forced and almost two different novels crammed into one – the first, an actual paranormal novel with a plot and really interesting things happening; the second, a pwp to just put in as much sex as possible. It feels so incongruous that it made it really hard to finish.
I’m not sure if I can recommend Hateful Heroes by Michelle Hercules. Obviously, if you’ve read the first two, there’s no harm in picking this one up and seeing if it makes more sense to you than it did me. I’m not even sure if or when I’ll start Broken Knights.
