Wicked (A Wicked Trilogy) - Fantasy Romance Novel - Perfect for Book Clubs & Dark Fantasy Lovers

First, the two main reasons that people are going to have issues with this book: the f-bomb and sex.Second, the reason they didn’t relatively impact my rating: the writing was flipping awesome and the characters were consenting adults.Third, the moment I fell in love with this story:“Thick lashes lowered, shielding his eyes, and then his arm shot out. He hooked his fingers through the loop in my jeans and tugged me forward. Balancing the bike with just his legs, he reached up with his other arm and curled his fingers around the nape of my neck.”How many stars do I give this? 4.9721. Because it’s been a long time since I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed a book for no other reason than it was a good read.I always find it more difficult to be critical about a story I like. The flaws versus the strengths; the originality versus the cliché. So I’m going to break it down here and try to address what I personally got out of the book.Let me start out by saying that I haven’t read anything else by Armentrout. I know, blasphemous in this day and age. But I just haven’t had a chance to get around to her—and I feel utterly ridiculous now for putting her off for so long. Additionally, I read a couple of other reviews that suggested this novel was very similar to some other novels out there (The Guardian series and Never-something). I have not read either of these series, so I cannot comment on them. But I will address some of the “tropes” and clichés involved here, so hopefully that will cover that area. Finally, this is an NA (New Adult) novel and I’ll mention some of the things that go along with that.But let’s begin with The Moving And Raunchy Writing.What I enjoyed personally:The easy to read flow of the writing. I felt that the quality was very high and it shows through in how quick a read it was, but also in how easy it was to follow. I think there was one paragraph in the whole book that I had to read twice because it wasn’t very clear. One paragraph in a 300 page book. That’s pretty not bad. I never felt like Armentrout was simply repeating herself or using the same darn words over and over again. It was nice because it means she trusted the reader enough to follow along, rather than beat me over the head with an Info Stick. I also felt that Ivy as a POV was very consistent and I was never just left feeling as though she had a “weird moment” of not being very Ivy-like. That’s important for me. Writing should be—and was—consistent.What I felt was a little questionable:Occasionally, I grew tired of the descriptions. (But not really.) Sometimes I would just read a really intense section—and then there would be a description of the building that I SO did not care for. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it was so hot and intense like two seconds ago and now we’re talking about a house. This happened a couple of times, but not frequently enough that I got irritated with the book. It was just that the writing was so charged that once or twice it was jarring to move from heavy emotion to “this is where they’re standing, isn’t it pretty?” But that’s really my only qualm with the writing. Yes, there was cursing. Yes, there was explicitly sexual scenes (though I would call them “steamy” not “erotica” but some won’t make that distinction). But overall, I didn’t have any real issues with the quality of writing.Moving on to The Nothing’s New Under The Sun Story.What I liked:That Ivy was a fae hunting, independent, save herself, badass. Not that she never got any help, but she did the helping as much as being helped and that’s important. I’ve seen too many stories where the heroine starts off badass, then meets the guy and becomes this wishy-washing piece of used tissue. Um, no. But Ivy stayed strong throughout, even when she needed help at times. I also liked the use of setting. I really felt the heat and humidity, the textures, the sense of New Orleans. It was just a backdrop, so it didn’t overpower the story (which made it a little muted), but it was very effective for where they were, what was going on, and the feelings that were swirling in the air. I liked that there was a little guessing involved in who was good and who was bad. There were enough options for who was the bad guy, that you weren’t sure who it was—even if you had a good guess. And, I’m sorry, but I LOVED the romance. I thought it was hot and actually kind of legitimate. Insta-lust, yes, but not insta-love and I’m okay with that. Lust is normal; love takes time. I appreciated that it took a month before anything real actually set in between them. Also, I liked that the fae were the bad guys. I’m glad that they stayed the bad guys. And I liked that Ivy didn’t falter in her quest to destroy them.What I didn’t like:The ending. And let me clarify, I liked the ending. I liked how it was done, the questions it left, and the turmoil of emotions resulting. But I didn’t like that I guessed it very early on. And I didn’t like that it changed Ivy’s character a little there. I felt that it was too obvious and a little overused in novels these days (even though I often enjoy it in stories, tropey though it may be). I appreciated how Armentrout led the reader around, trying to disguise what was the what, but I kind of wished it hadn’t went down like that. (I’m being vague, I know, but I’m trying to keep this spoiler free.) Additionally, I got a tiny, teensy bit annoyed with her past boyfriend troubles. BUT ONLY A LITTLE. I say that, because I know that some readers were finding Ivy’s lack of boy experience unrealistic. I’m just saying, such is not the case. She didn’t say that she didn’t ever have sex, but rather that she didn’t have a lot of experience with it. Which was realistic, because she only had the one boyfriend. And she was young. Since she wouldn’t let herself get close after that, I didn’t have a problem with this trope used in the story. But it got a little annoying just because she was really hung up on Shaun and then he seemed to fade rather quickly. So I think that some people will have maybe a bigger issue with this than I did.Next, Le Characters.What was good:Ivy’s growth. It was slow, stubborn and sometimes made you beat your head against the wall, but it happened. Eventually. And you appreciated it more for that, because that’s how people are. It isn’t instantaneous, but rather a true struggle. I also appreciated that she was strong, but not impossibly or unmovingly so. She was just doing her best and sometimes she fell short in that endeavor.Tink’s sugar highs. Because he’s a funny little thing—and he had a decent amount of development, too!What was bad:Ren’s lack of development. It wasn’t that he was an undeveloped character so much as an unchanging one, in all fairness. With Ivy, we saw things shift and change. Maybe not a grand change, but it was there. With Ren, however, he was pretty much the same throughout. We learned more about him, but it didn’t affect him as a character in the sense that it brought out no real growth.David as a leader. Sometimes, I felt like he was the “Absentee Parent” trope in YA novels. “Well, we need a parent there, but if they interfere too much there’s no story!” It’s a fairly common thing and I understand why, but it annoyed me here because he was a boss not a parent and Ivy should have gotten into a lot more trouble than she did. I would have preferred he was basically “on a business trip” than present but seemed to have no bite or real control over those within his sect.Finally, a section for Tropes and Other Much Hated Things:Alright, there’s this Sexually Innocent main girl who Falls For Bad Boy and lets him trigger her Sexual Awakening. Yeah, that’s pretty par for the course as far as both NA and YA. Then we have the I’ve Been Hurt Before problem and the Why Do You Love Me? clause. Additionally, there’s the Because You’re So Incredibly Sexy moment coupled with the Am I? I’ve Never Thought Of Myself That Way! I’m So Plain! amendment. Finally, we reach the He Keeps Coming Back and Is So Patient motif, leading to an unrealistic He Worms His Way Into My Heart make-up.And that doesn’t even cover the ending. But you’ll just have to read and accept that one.Are these tropes a little clichéd and annoying? Yeah, they are. But do they work for the purposes of this story? Yes, they do. Are they addicting? Of course, why else would they keep showing up? Could this story have been told in a more engaging way without them? Maybe. But maybe not.I suppose what I’m saying is that this story is not without a certain formulaic response to the other writing that’s out there in these genres (or “age ranges” if you don’t like calling YA/NA genres). But that doesn’t mean that the story isn’t good or worth reading. I would say that if you’ve read a lot recently with this type of formula, then I encourage you to read something else for a little while before venturing forth on this one. That way, you can give it an honest chance and accept it for what it is:An excellent romp, a pretty engaging story, and a little clichéd.Would I recommend this? Yes—if you like YA, but don’t mind sex, because that’s how this reads. A YA novel with sex. But it’s okay, because they’re in their early twenties.