Firstly, the narration wasn’t bad but duet narration would’ve been way better than dual. The female narrator doing the male voice was hard to listen to, but for the female voices, she did a good job, especially with the accents. I don’t think she was the best fit for a dark romance though; bit too cheery.
Secondly, the plot was okay. A bit predictable but had a lot of twists and turns. It wasn’t very creative though, which I’ve come to expect from Keri Lake.
Third, the romance was underdeveloped. They barely had sweet/domestic moments. It went from lust to sex to love very quickly. It’s clear they cared about each other, but I didn’t believe in their love.
Fourth, the characters were pretty one-dimensional. They had good (tragic) backstories that were written well, but I still don’t know *them*.
Lastly, the pacing really threw me off. Everything happened in the last 15% of the book. I wish we got more gradual reveals. The slow burn didn’t really pay off.
With how creative and wonderful Nocticadia was, I had higher expectations. It wasn’t as engaging as I thought it would be.