Coven of the Bones #3

Visit Harper L. Woods official website HERE.

* Trigger warnings: Dubious consent, Force-feeding, graphic on -page violence and torture, rough and explicit sexual content, forced proximity and captive scenarios, betrayal, references to past abuse and traumatic reactions to triggering stimuli, knife violence, graphic depictions of blood, physical harm inflicted upon main character, ritualistic murder, rape of a minor by and adult (off-page, historical event), self-harm/cutting for magical purposes, and blood magic.

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Trapped.

He fell through the gate of Hell to save my life.

Beelzebub, the Lord of Gluttony, is no longer his own. He’s been mine ever since he caught me singing to myself, falling prey to the magic of my song. If I can keep my distance, we can both move on.

But now, he is caught under my spell, which makes him forbidden to touch. And yet, he is the only one I can trust to get me back to Crystal Hollow.

We’ll have to make it through the Nine Circles of Hell first.

No matter what we lose along the way.

Note: This review is presented assuming you have read the first two in the Coven of Bones Series, The Coven & The Cursed. While I strive to write a spoiler-free review of this book, I cannot make the same promise about the first two.

So, this series has been an interesting one. There have been a lot that I have really liked, and a lot that I haven’t.

At the end of The Cursed (Coven of Bones #2), I was immediately skeptical about this book. For the first two books of the series, it has been all about Willow and her crusade that involved Gray, Crystal Hollow’s headmaster, who, of course, turns out to be Lucifer.

At the end of The Cursed, it seemed to end on a high note for Willow and Lucifer. Bloody and a bit tragic, but they certainly peak. Then Harper tells us that the next installment of the series will revolve around Margot and Beelzebub.

WHAT?!

I literally just got fully onboard with these two and was completely invested, and now they were being ripped away.

Needless to say, I went into this with a gray cloud looming over my head.

This is definitely not the fastest-paced journey through Hell I’ve been through. With nine circles, I was curious to see if this book would take us all the way, partway, or have a catastrophic event that catapulted them out of Hell somewhere in the middle when all seemed lost.

The story begins a little before the beginning of the ending of The Cursed, but from Margot’s and Beelzebub’s POV. We needed to get a solid foundation before they fell into Hell together.

Since it had been two years since reading the last book, I didn’t catch on right away that that was how it was starting. Sure, the title was BEFORE. So, yes, this was most likely user error. But until Margot was attacked by Michael and brought to Willow, it all clicked into place. I got the ‘before’ part, just not that we were reliving the ending from another angle. Again, it was likely just me.

Again, maybe it’s just me, and I need to take a fantasy break, or I could just be choosing the wrong books. What is with all these FMCs? The ones that are so beaten down they don’t find themselves worthy of anything. They have no problem sacrificing themselves, but absolutely draw the line at anyone else doing it. Especially if it’s to benefit her.

I get it, trauma equals drama. I no longer feel empathy for them. At this point, I’m jumping on the ‘get over it’ bandwagon. How many times does a person need to get hit in the head with a coconut before stepping out from under the coconut tree?

With that rant being voiced, I’m moving on.

Margot is strong, determined, and bruised. Her focus on saving her friends and her kind is reflected in her strength. She is determination personified. Unless, of course, it pertains to her healing and survival. But, whatever.

Beelzebub is not what I expected. You hear archdemon and Lucifer’s right hand, you immediately have certain expectations. He was somewhat underwhelming. Perfect for aiding Margot through her journey. But he turned mushy real quick. If I had an archdemon escorting me through Hell, I would expect to be scared by his actions toward others at least once. But not Beelzebub.

Nine whole circles of Hell. Unless Harper wanted an 800-page book, she couldn’t go into great depth with each circle. It seemed the majority of the circles were dealt with in two to three sentences. And Gluttony, Beelzebub’s realm, was worthy of only a page or two. Such a missed opportunity.

Because some of the circles were so glossed over, it gave the story a vague feeling. Even the ones where they lingered, everything read more like a detailed outline.

I was able to connect with Margot and Beelzebub, but not the story.

The slow-burning element was there. Margot had some very clear issues with intimacy and her Red magic. That was clearly going to take time. This wasn’t going to be a case of unbridled passion boiling over until they both burst. That is pounded into our brains from the beginning.

As for a building, frustrating, slow burn? It wasn’t there. The spice as a whole was mediocre. And that isn’t just because Willow and Lucifer were off the charts. Again with expectations. The level of care Beelzebub wants to show for Margot, their first time could have been this epic moment of healing and passion. Fairly underwhelming.

All that being said, I really did enjoy the book as a whole. And absolutely recommend this series.

Now I have a rant about trigger warnings. If you don’t care, move on.

When trigger warnings first appeared in books, it was to let the reader know it was for mature audiences and why. Almost like a TV rating. Then it seemed everyone was judging a book by its warnings. Not gonna lie, I did that a few times and was sorely disappointed. The triggers were more interesting than the story.

These lists have become like infomercials to me. They are oftentimes more interesting than the product itself.

Honesty, that’s the case here.

Some of the warnings here seem to be pure filler. The longer the list, the darker and more interesting the story. So not the case.

Some seem common sense to me. Since when is knife violence a trigger warning? Physical harm inflicted upon the main character? Forced proximity? Last I heard, that was a trope and not something to be warned against.

I understood when books would warn about topics of suicide or abusive situations. ‘Sensitive topics,’ as it were. Now they’re going for shock value and not delivering.

Anyway, there’s my two cents that no one asked for.

Let me know your thoughts on the book. Have you read it or have it one list? What do you think about trigger warnings?