A Court of Blood and Void: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance: War of the Gods, Book 1

There were a lot of things I liked at first. The writing was decent, the FMC's personality consistent with a severely traumatized teen. The scene where the first two of her men get her out of her cell was kick ass--I generally liked the magic--it was visceral and logical and intriguing.But, there a lot of things that really bugged me--she's 15, for one, and that was squicky. And the author tried to address that, but it was all hand-wavium, terminating in the lame exclamation, just think of me as a 23-yr-old! And I was all, well, author, then make her 23, then, or it's beyond squicky, esp when the two adult men are all, Woo! I was worried about lusting after a 15-yr-old, but since you put it that way! And that made me roll my eyes hard. But that's not even what made me quit reading.It was two things in tandem:1) the constant, oh I and Lord vampy will never let anyone hurt you again, but we're just gonna force you to stay in the same castle with the mother who caged you for 13 of your 15 years. Not only that, but we're going to force you to attend a party, drop you in this corner, and let mommy dearest throw a spell at you that tortures you almost to death and cages you (essentially) again. Yeah, that would make me trust them (and she seems fine with that.)2) Ms all-powerful FMC not only never made a dent in her own cage, but her mom's second set of spells binds her again, completely, and again, it's up to someone else to get her out of it? At that point, to me, she was all talk and no ability, and the only reason to read on would have been the alleged steamy orgies. Which would have more than likely squicked me out, because 4 adult men and a 15-YR-OLD VIRGIN?! Ya. Squicky mc-squickface.So this, for me, was a dnf at around 40 percent. ::sighs:: I wish she'd been an adult. And hadn't been a magical dud. ' Cause I'm kinda in love with finding a well-written reverse harem.

I read that she's only FIFTEEN!!! What!? Am I the only person that sees something wrong with that, or are the other readers either not noticing, or just as young? I don't care that she's "not human and doesn't age like humans". First of all, that's a sorry excuse and second, the people reading the book ARE human! For her to say she's 15 and then not even 2 sentences talk about being turned on in a very explicit way (and that is not too long after a very dirty dream) is just sick. Why are authors so against making these girls grown women? They're typically no older than 20, at the very most. But 15? 15 year olds shouldn't even be reading this book. To me, it's essentially child porn. If it were a movie, it literally would be. I was loving this book until that very sentence, but now, I cannot in good conscience read this book. In fact, it should be taken down from Amazon and every other "store", until it is fixed to a more appropriate age. No self-respecting human being is going to want to read a steamy book about a FIFTEEN year old having sex at all, much less with multiple men!

I don't know where to start. It's not often that I am prompted to write a review, but quite how this particular author has become a bestseller with so many five star reviews is truly beyond me. This is the first purchase I have made by this author, and it is definitely the last one I will make - the book was so badly written I couldn't bear to finish it, and I'm usually one that ploughs on until the bitter end.Firstly, the writing style - choppy, inelegant prose, poorly constructed dialogues and pointless segues into description that did not add the depth the author was no doubt aiming for.Secondly, the plot - good grief, where do I start? So full of cliches and nonsensical reasoning on the part of the "heroine" it was painful to read. The "insta-lust" was also ridiculously constructed, and not very believable at all.Thirdly, the characters - urgh, such horrible people! The heroine was truly one of the most obnoxious characters I have come across ("I have manners, I just don't bother with them because I'm powerful and dangerous"). So you were mistreated as a child, Miss Heroine. That's sad, but does that now give you a license to be a nasty person - I'm stronger than you, therefore the rules don't apply to me? Then there's the shallowness - she decides to get drunk at a ball just to spite them; decides to not go to training, again just to spite them; negotiates her stay with them (but God forbid you call something a brunch, as that would be cheating, it needs to be three meals a day, not two)...seriously?! The heroes are so two-dimensional it isn't even funny.I cannot identify or sympathise or do anything other that get hugely irritated by characters like that. There are no redeeming qualities to this book, other than the fact that I couldn't find any spelling mistakes or punctuation errors. Now doesn't that say a lot that as a reader I am focussing more on the orthography than on getting swept away by the plot?

Not particularly well written. The characters feel shallow, and the MC is a little too well adjusted and intelligent for being locked in a cage. As an example of how poor the writing is, the MC thinks at one point early on that she may be a monster like her mother tells her she is, only to completely disregard this in the very next paragraph. ALSO completely inappropriate with a 15 year old MC being the subject of a RH fantasy with adult men!

This book starts off with a very interesting premise, but quickly slides into a hot mess. As other reviewers pointed out there is a huge problem with the lead character and her age. The lead, Cass, states she is chronologically 16, but because she is a something "other" she's more like 23. Uh...not buying it. She repeatedly acts like a spoiled child and unfortunately all the other characters put up with her incredibly bad and intolerable behavior. The worst thing is that there are tons of intriguing themes and plot lines to build on, but the writer doesn't take advantage, and doesn't allow Cass to evolve or grow. Skip this. Read something else.

As this was my first book by Xuemei X, I scrolled through the reviews to get a feel for whether I’d like the book or not and one thing stood out amongst the reviews; Xuemei X has a strong fan following. Now after reading A Court Of Blood And Void, I can certainly see why this author inspires such a following. Xuemei X knows her stuff; she captures emotions and personalities (as a result of their upbringing) very well, and she can definitely write.Cassandra is strong in her personality and her powers, and, after spending the first 15 years of her life in a cage, she has some issues. Namely her inability to trust and her immaturity. Now, this last one is the main reason I did not feel like I could give this book 5 stars even though I feel the author portrayed the character’s personality well - I mean she’s not going to be overly mature with an upbringing like that so Xuemei X is spot on, however it just didn’t suit the tone of the storyline and kept me from connecting with the main character. The guys are varied and interesting. We only really get to spend much time with two of them, as the other two don’t make an appearance (dreams aside) until after 80% in.Xuemei X is no fledging writer and as such she takes some risks in the plot and characters, but for the most part it pays off. I just wish she’d made Cassandra older than 15, I know she matured at 9 but it still is a bit weird.This is a medium burn fantasy RH with a little bit of steamy buildup and one short lived sex scene. A Court Of Blood And Void deals with darker subjects, such as torture, imprisonment and death. There is a semi cliffhanger, and the whole book feels like a buildup for the next book in the series.Will I read the next book in the series? Very likely. Will I read more of Xuemei X’s work? Definitely.

I loved this book. Its so fun to read and sexy! Cass is an awesome heroine. She talks like I wish I could, just says exactly what she thinks. Her intelligence and fierceness just made this read so good. Her guys are all so different and hot too. Can't wait to read the next one and see whats next!

Loved this book and can not wait for the next one. Well written, had me laughing out loud and I love that the FMC is so raw and realistic in her attitude. - ok, I loved that she swears like a sailor and is un apologetic about it.

What can I say, Meg creates world's that are both fantastical and believable, you route for the MC and simultaneously want to kill her enemies along side her, that's just how much the book draws you in from start to finish.