Plot Overview:

Artemis Sanchez thrives in her dream job in London while caring for her young cousin and the aunt who raised them. However, her carefully constructed life faces a grave threat when she inadvertently crosses paths with Sevan, a magical being intent on expanding their hive mind.

Unaware of the magical world beyond her own, Artemis becomes ensnared in the creature's control, teetering on the brink of consumption. Just when all seems lost, a shadowy, nightmarish figure comes to her rescue. His name is Verick, a being feared by children in the darkest corners of their minds. As Artemis delves into a centuries-old struggle between these supernatural entities, their fates become increasingly intertwined.

But when a curse renders Verick comatose, Artemis finds herself trapped within the protective confines of his home, severed from the outside world. To awaken Verick and ensure the safety of her loved ones, she must embark on a journey of self-discovery and learn the secrets of magic.

Review:

I'm torn about how to assess this book. On one hand, it's undeniably ambitious, with deep fantasy elements that can be overwhelming. It occasionally feels like the story would have benefited from more space to breathe.

I genuinely wanted to enjoy this book, and what kept me engaged was the evolving relationship between Verick and Artemis. However, the ending felt rushed and tacked on, leaving me wanting more closure and impact.

One aspect that detracted from my enjoyment was the confusing and inconsistent references to familial relationships. The constant shifts between cousin/sister, aunt/mom, and sister/daughter were distracting and unnecessary. While the theme of evolving and found families is valid, the constant back-and-forth detracted from the narrative. Similarly, the abrupt shift in the relationship dynamic towards the end with the whole sister/ felt forced and icky.

While I don't often wish for a book to be longer, this is one instance where a bit more depth in the romance and storytelling could have enhanced the reading experience.

Let me first start off with saying that this book was nothing like I have read before. The premise of this story was intriguing - we follow a girl named Artemis who is attacked by an evil entity called Sevan in a museum, whose ultimate goal is to steal the souls of mortals and make them one with themself. But Artemis is saved by a monster (a creature) named Verrick, who is unlike anything Art has seen before. Antlers, animal skull, and a three-piece suit! Through her encounters, Art learns more about Verrick and magic and unseen worlds all the while trying to fend off Sevan’s attacks as they try to claim her soul.

I found the writing engaging in areas, but also felt there were a lot of fluffy bits that detracted from the story sometimes. I overall enjoyed the plot but the ending was a little rushed and there are still parts of the story where I don’t quite understand what really happened. But I loved the friendship/connection of Art and Verrick and I thought the romance well-done without being overdone (if that makes any sense). If you enjoy monster romance, urban/paranormal fantasy, and magic, then I think you would enjoy this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Vital Works Publishing for the free eARC in exchange for my voluntary review.

I'm not sure how to describe this book. It's obviously a fantasy, in a modern setting, but without really being an urban fantasy. It could be described as a monster romance, but it's not the main focus. At time it felt cozy and at other, darker. Let's just settle on it being a great book.

The monster romance aspect is not what I usually read. I had a hard time getting over the animal skull's head of the male protagonist. After a while I just got used to it, not because it stop being mentionned, but because the character writing is well done and their appearance become secondary. The fact Verrick is a true gentlemen doesn’t hurt.

The romance between the two main characters is really slow and builds up through the story, which span several years. It's very soft and focus on understanding and respect. There is some very mild spice.

The pacing is sometime a bit uneven, we start straight into the action, and then everything slow done for a while. Personally, it did not bother me much.

The story is set in the modern world, and a parallel one, with lots of magic. The magic system is clear and well explained. Without spoiling anything, a few elements reminded me of Howl’s moving castle.

The story is told in the third person and focus on the point of view of Artemis, our latina main character. There is also LGBTQ+ representation, body positivity and schizophrenia representation (I'm not an expert on the subject, but it seemed like positive representation). None of those are important plot point per se, but they are there.

I liked The Unmaking of Them as it was a quick and fun read!.
Artemis and Verick were great characters, and I loved their romance!
The writing style was okay but not the best and i also really liked the magic system and thought it was well done.

I would recommend this book as it was a fun read!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

This was a fun and fairly quick read! A surprisingly cozy story, I loved the banter between the two main characters. Overall this was a very unique story with an interesting magic system and great characters. The journey and tension were well done and the story unpredictable in the best way

I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a difft kind of fantasy romance novel with interesting magic and monsters

Overall I liked the book. I feel like it could have been shorter and some of the fluff taken out. It was hard to get into and keep going but about half way through things picked up enough to keep me engaged.
I'm a little disappointed in the ending. I wanted...a one line reunion if that makes sense without spoiling anything.
It was definitely a slow burn.
But enjoyable.
🌶️
⭐⭐⭐

We follow our main character Artemis, as she is thrown from her ordinary life as a museum employee into a lush world rich with magic. We watch as she curiously adapts to her new reality with the help of her new large, handsome friend.

No one speak to me. This was beautiful and miserable, and I loved it. I did not go into this book expecting the romance to take up so much of it, but it did, and it was beautiful and sweet. Such a lovely magical world with lovely people. The pacing was perfect, time flew when it needed to and dragged at the best parts.

I don't know if this could be called a cozy fantasy since there are rather high stakes, but it felt like a cozy romance. This book makes you want to cry but then holds you after. I also loved the amount of detail and time that was spent on the history of magic, on the history of their city, on the history of Verick. The battle between light and darkness was twisted and complex but also inherent and understanding. Read. Now.

First I want to say thank you to Vital Works Publishing and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really wish I had a better one to share. The cover and description really drew me in and made me so excited to read this novel. However, once I got into, I found it to be really confusing and difficult to follow. I unfortunately had to DNF this one, which I hate doing but it was such a struggle to get through that I could not continue.

DNF at 58%.

Simply wasn't to my taste. I don't like a lot of profanity and explicit sex/sexuality content when I read, and this finally tipped the scale into too much.

The premise is the classic stumble from an ordinary life into a magical world, with a dash of mortal peril on top. The opening is strongly reminiscent of the museum battle in "The Lightning Thief," albeit clearly intended for an older audience. It's also difficult not to think of "The Ancient Magus' Bride." Beyond the obvious similarities between Verick and Elias (both creatures of darkness with skull faces, horns, a difficulty expressing emotions, an affinity for three-piece suits and canes, and a history of eating people in their early years introducing a cursed apprentice/potential love interest to the world of magic), there's also a plot mirroring when Art has to wake Verick from a comatose state.

Of course both characters resemble the Mari Lwyd, a much older tradition. Still, it's too striking to ignore.

I'd say Watson's strengths (from what I've read) lie in the softer, cozy moments of the novel. The sweet moments between Art and Verick as they alternate between acting like an old married couple and passionately denying any romantic intentions. I had more than one smile at the bantering lines, even if I eventually decided the book as a whole wasn't for me.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the book for me, I couldn't get into the story and the characters didn't convince me.

This book ended up not being my thing. Giving it a neutral review as I did like the authors writing.

I did like the theme, I found it really unique and the relationship building between the characters was great.

Given the disconnect, I will not be reviewing on Amazon or Goodreads as I don’t believe it would be fair to the author or their work. I appreciate being given the opportunity to read this title.

First of all, thank you so much to netgalley and H. A. Watson for giving me a copy to review “The unmaking of them”. I really enjoyed Artemis and Verick’s story. The romance, the magic and the fantasy in this book are amazing. The world building is quite unique, i loved to learn about the magic system! The romance reminded me a lot to Beauty and the Beast🖤 Cannot wait to see if there’s a second book because i need to read more about them!! Also, forever in love with Verick 😍

Unfortunately i was unable to get into this book and ended un DNF. .

.

There were so many things I enjoyed about this book! The story and magic were super unique. I felt connected to Artemis and Verick from the very beginning. I just loved him! The way he felt the need to overcorrect for being who he is… it hit me right in the feels. I enjoyed the cozy, in-between moments when they were learning about each other and trying to figure out their plan of action. The love story was unexpectedly sweet. And I loved the found family moments, especially in the last quarter of the book. There were a few times that I found myself confused or lost, specifically regarding the way magic works in their world, but not to a point where I wasn’t enjoying the story anymore. There were just some slower moments that you had to weed through to get back to the truly interesting parts of the plot.

Read if you like :
Unique fantasy and magic
Monster romance (very different than any other I’ve read though!)
Slow burn with very little spice
Found family

Thank you to H.A. Watson and @netgalley for an eARC of The Unmaking of Them in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up

I am unsure how I feel about this book. There were some really great elements including the magic system and the lead up and including the big climatic scene but for a good portion of the book, I didn't really care as much about the characters.

I am not 100% sure about the final ending but I give props for doing something different. Also, for my smut lovers, its a lighter on the spice than other monster romances I've read but its still there.

I received a free copy and because I am cramped between my laptop and my daughter/dog, I have given an honest review.

The Unmaking of Them was a very different experience, it reminded me of the Brazilian book Mariposa Vermelha and a little bit of Moon Knight. I found it very quick to read, which was a positive point, but there were several points in the story that I didn't like very much. In the end, it was an okay read, and a writer who has great potential in the future! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Sadly I had to „dnf“ this book at about 42 percent. It sadly did not manage to make me feel connected to any of the characters in it, because I had to try and understand the plot and reasoning for everything that happened rather fast in the beginning. Like I said; The plot seemed to rushed at first, yet at the same time extremely slow paced. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like because the beginning happened so promptly, the rest felt rather slow (at least until the point where I stopped reading it).

Don’t get me wrong, the writing itself was not bad, and I’m sure the author will write other books in the future which I might actually enjoy. This book just was not my cup of tea although I wish it were, hence the blurb of this book really sounded interesting! I will try to read it again in the future, maybe I‘ll like it better if I try it again another time!

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. The beginning of the action felt too sudden and it didn't help create a good sense of urgency in the plot for me. I was too busy trying to keep track of what was happening to feel actively invested in the characters. Once the plot started in earnest, the writing felt clunky and unpolished. The book blurb sounded like a promising premise. I'm disappointed I didn't end up enjoying it more. I'll definitely still be checking out what the author does next because it seems like they have some fun ideas, but I want to see a little more experience with the actual writing for me to enjoy the book more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first “monster romance” and I had a really good time with it. I will say, that I was a little thrown off by how willingly Artemis just accepted that there is magic in the world and agreed to be whisked off to an undisclosed location with a werewolf skull man, but it worked! The story got a little slow in the middle with Artemis learning with Efua, and it took forever for her to finally go to Yana’s manor. Around 65% everything unfolded really quickly. And we finally got our payoff with Verick and Artemis. I really enjoyed the turn the story took. The ending felt almost rushed for how even paced everything else was, but it was very fitting and not cliche. For the characters, I like Artemis and resonate with her a lot. Being the person that has to do it or it won’t get done. And Verick is absolutely the cutest. I loved every piece of dialogue he had. He’s such a gentleman and the kindest and most thoughtful character ever. Over all this was a solid debut and I will definitely be recommending it.

I felt like this started off pretty strong, but eventually started to feel quite drawn out. At first it had a lot of the qualities one would be into with a book like this, a monster romance, with tropes that are easy to eat up in this type of story. The characters were likable, the world building and writing were good, but it did drag on. I feel like the time travel stuff could have been cut by about 40%. Towards the end, entire pages were just not necessary for further plot or development. There were also a few typos. Overall it was good, because the author clearly knows how to get into a story, just too long for what the ending ended up being, for me. I would say it’s 2.5 stars