ugh idk this just wasn’t as good as the last book. there was basically insta love. in the first book, cat finally accepts that she even likes griffin, then she’s immediately admitting her love for him and all lovie dovie despite having never allowed people to touch her before him? i also lost all respect for griffin with his giant temper tantrum in the beginning. he knows the supposed love of his life has severe trauma around violence and yelling, yet he destroys every piece of furniture in their bedroom and essentially crashes out then just walks away from her?? and she then goes on to immediately forgive him and tell him she loves him?? and we just move on from that?? it totally tracks that they have a decade age gap atp. he’s kinda a pos for that and it really ruined a lot of the book for me. i didn’t even feel like her secret deserved such an explosive reaction. he acted like she killed a family member of his or cheated on him. also, i’m getting tired of the gods constantly stepping in to prop her up. she’s supposedly super powerful but we never actually see her use her powers successfully? and she’s constantly being bested in a battle? don’t even get me started on the constant mention of spanking at the most idiotic times. this book ruined spanking for me!!! it’s all very repetitive and exhausting.

i will say, i did enjoy the arena trials. i enjoyed many of the characters and the humor was good. also, cat was way less insufferable and juvenile this time around; although, i still can’t read their sex scenes🥴 3.5 stars

Note from 40% read: That first chapter GOT me, man. Anyway Cat is somehow MORE annoying now and Griffin has lost all personality aside from “grr I love Cat nothing threatens Cat” and it’s really disappointing because I loved their banter in the first half of the first book. I am so over the trope of Girl Who Hates Herself and Will Sacrifice Herself for Others x Gruff Dude Who Loves Her and Gets Angry When She Puts Herself Down and Won’t Let Her Danger Herself in Anyway. Like what happened to indestructible Cat from book 1?

There were again very predictable plot points

(hi, not-so-subtle pregnancy clues)

, but I’m still so far enjoying the story of this world and am excited to continue reading.

This book was so slow and the plot was all over the place. I enjoyed the first book, but oh my god, this one sucked. 

I stopped reading because right before the end, I started getting a REALLY strong hint that one of my least favorite tropes was about to happen. And, surprise, it did. 

There’s a pregnancy trope. GAG!