A Strange Hymn
Books | Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
3.8
(979)
Laura Thalassa
Siren and soulmate to the King of Night, Callypso Lillis survived the clutches of Karnon, the mad king, and his twisted prison. But the nightmare isn't over. Callie wears the physical reminders of her time as a captive, and mounting evidence suggests the Thief of Souls is still out there.When a fae celebration thrusts Callie and her mate, Desmond Flynn, into the Kingdom of Flora, they take their investigation with them. But under the bright lights and striking blooms of the realm, they find there are more immediate issues to deal with. No place is more uniquely savage than the great fae halls, and no amount of bargains can save Callie from royal intrigues.Fairies play dangerous games. Some want love, some want vengeance, some want flesh, and some want things too unspeakable to utter. One thing is for sure: no one is who they appear to be. Not even Des, who only grows more enigmatic with every passing secret.But the Kingdom of Flora has its own secrets, from bleeding trees to branded slaves and missing guards. Something is stirring in the land of all that grows, and if Callie isn't careful, it will claim everything and everyone she loves-and her along with it.
Romance
Dark Fantasy
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More Details:
Author
Laura Thalassa
Pages
416
Publisher
Lavabrook Publishing, LLC
Published Date
2021-06-17
ISBN
1942662327 9781942662327
Community ReviewsSee all
"A great easy-to-read continuation in the series. The twists were largely expected, but still an enjoyable time."
K
Kay
"The second book to The Bargainer Series. <br/>Listen, I stand by my comment about the first book ~ It's not perfect, but don't dismiss it either. <br/>It follows the story of Callie and Des (swoooon). Des is still a bargaining chaotic wildcard with a bigger heart than he cares to admit. Callie is an unfiltered supernatural badass human who is finding her footing after going through some cha cha cha <i>changes</i> (I wouldn't want to spoil the first book for ya). They're building their relationship, while dealing with the same BS from the last book ~ that Thief of Souls bastard, weird dreams, scary fae children with a weird appetite... the ushe. <br/><br/><i>"Our relationship was forged on bloodshed and solidified through deception. I am the dark creature that craves sex and destruction, and he is the king of it."</i><br/><br/>The aesthetics. Man, the aesthetics still get me *chefs kisses* It's dark and broody and everything my dark soul vibes with. <br/>The characters are different from each other, layered with tons of trauma, quirks and personality, and they're just overall interesting. <i>Listen, Callie CAN get a little whiney, but, like, who isn't these days?</i> She's hilarious, and says the things I think: <i>"“Sacred Gardens,” I murmur as we walk under a flowering trellis and enter the wooded clearing. “That sounds like something teenage me would call my ******.”"</i> I'm invested in these characters.<br/><br/>Does it still have some issues with the story? Yes. BUT, there's just a wee bit more flow to it. And MOST of the twists aren't groundbreaking. It's more like it "hmm, I knew it" type of reveal. Ya know?<br/>Is the writing still a little off? Just a smiiiidge. But, listen, it's not enough to put me off of this story.<br/><br/>ANNNDDDD Callie is a full-grown ass adult, so the love between her and Des is, like, normal? ish."
V H
Valerie Hansel
"DNF @ 56% <a href="https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/a-strange-hymn-by-laura-thalassa/">You can also read it on my blog!</a><br/><br/>I have no desire to go back to this book at all after reading half of the book yesterday.....<br/><br/>After enjoying the first book,this was a complete let down to the max. Instead of everything and everyone getting better,everyone but Temper got worse. <br/><br/>Caillie went from being a straight badass siren P.I. to this whiny special snowflake who can't put two and two together and whines about training even tho she said she wants to learn how to be a nightmare... . Guys I can't tell you how much it ignores me when I figure out something like two pages before the MC does and I have to keep myself from saying " duh" aloud. I did this a couple times with Callie and it's madding. <br/><br/>Des went from being an ok dude who respected Callie wishes and saw her as an equal to a overbearing ,protective ,who can't tell her **** about about his past, and would rather bang her on a cloud or tree horndog.. Their realtionship went from having some substance to straight up to an unhealthy dose of "how many places can we bang and talk nasty?" God I hate alpha males. Especially when they found who their mates are and go 0 to 100 if someone breathes on their girl wrong. I'm really starting to dislike the whole mate thing as well. <br/><br/>The plot was still nonexistent and still wasn't enough side characters to help the plot along.It still to much of Caillie and Des trying to get it on in different places and not really nothing each other like they thought they did in book one and not enough about them solving the case or the missing men soldiers and comatose woman soldiers. Yes It was some world building but it was just enough to say that it were some. <br/><br/>So in all honestly, just read the first one and don't even think about reading the second one."
"While I still adore the characters and need more of their story, I did feel like this story was in some ways less than the first.<br/><br/>Pros: <br/><br/>I love seeing more of Temper. She is an essential part of Callie’s life and not having her around really left Callie with only Des, while that can be romantic it isn’t realistic for the long term.<br/><br/>Love the twist and despite seeing something like it coming the reveal was entirely worth it.<br/><br/>The concept of stealing a face is nothing new but I like seeing it here in the fae world as I’m more familiar with it being used in Native American folklore/retelling. I’m hoping the author runs with it and really explores the aspects of the power.<br/><br/>Cons:<br/><br/>I was so excited to see Callie going up against a woman but somehow she just never really did. Every time she took a stand a man would step in and stop her or the Queen. They didn’t go one on one and we didn’t get to see how Callie would stand up to that kind of pressure.<br/><br/>I feel like Des really changed his tune and I don’t know if it is just the mating instincts or because he now can have sex with Callie but in all the flashbacks where we saw Callie at her weakest points in book one Des was right there telling her to get up, making her move forward. I know that was partly what he did with the training her to fight, but he jumped Janus before seeing if that was what Callie needed or if she needed to confront him. He took over and made a lot of decision instead of empowering her to make them for herself. It may just be a way to show he isn’t perfect but it felt different from his moves previously."
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