Ascension Book II in The Summoner's Circle

Messy polyamorous couple in the best way

Olivia am 17.07.2025
Bewertungsnummer: 2541965
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)

I’m a sucker for megalomanic hyper independent perfectionists, so naturally Rhys is one of my favourite fictional characters and I loved following him in this book! S.T. Gibson just manages to write the most beautifully atmospheric books with immaculately gothic vibes and perfectly complex and messy characters and relationships. Once again, this book is full of demon summonings, secret societies, yearning and complex characters. Rhys, Moira, and David are some of my favourite characters and I loved seeing how their relationship developed, especially the relationship between David and Moira. Following Rhys was also so exciting but a bit too relatable at the same time, as we share many faults and getting a mirror held up to yourself is rarely fun. Even the side characters are so well developed and I wouldn’t mind getting love to read more about them in the future as well! The only critique I have (which was also my critique for Evocation), is that the plot got neglected a bit in favour to focus on the character’s relationships, which I don’t necessarily mind because I love these characters so much, but I just would love for the plot to be a bit more developed because I think it has a lot of potential. The only reason why I’m rating this slightly lower than Evocation despite not finding any drastic flaws is that I was just not quite as enamoured as I was with Evocation but I honestly think that is mainly due to my mood and not the book and a reread might even push it up to 5 stars in the future. If you’re looking for dark and atmospheric books with well developed, imperfect characters, I strongly recommend picking up S.T. Gibson’s books. In my opinion, she writes some of the best messy and complex characters and dynamics and I will never shut up about them.

Candles blown out.

Alma aus Oldenburg am 07.08.2025
Bewertungsnummer: 2560478
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)

This book left me with mixed feelings. I've read a few low ratings and reviews that I totally get (and for the most part even agree with), but still, I can't completely join! First of all, I still love David. He's not always one with the most smartest decisions, but he's relatable, and more often than not, his feelings are valid — and that's where we get to the negative side. Sure, Rhys apologises time and time again for his toxic behaviour and mistreatment and at the end of the book it's implied he will be a more caring and compassionate husband and boyfriend, but since this book has been from his perspective I couldn't help but think.... one way to destroy all my excitement I had in book one. He hadn't been perfect there, but since we mostly had David's POV and Rhys' pining, it at least felt like things were working out, even if bumpy. I do enjoy a story in which there ain't no hero. I do believe in people being at least light grey in their morals, so it was refreshing to have a Protag who struggles with a self-righteousness bigger than his ego while simultaneously being stupid like an amateur. If that had been the story, that would have been fine, ...but oh boy. Rhys only puts effort into saving a relationship when it's breaking down, he only then questions himself when he fails (but does the same again when reaching a high again), he treats David as an option throughout the book and it is clear that Moira is his priority, which would be fine if that were communicated, but more often than not they try to make it seem that David is equal — which he is clearly not. Rhys is narcissistic and power hungry, which serves a good plot (!!) but left me unsatisfied as his fall had no grand impact. Everyone is just so understanding, while he only takes accountability because he doesn't want to be left with nothing. Too much telling, too little showing. Especially when it comes to affection between Rhys and David. We get served numerous (rather detailed) depictions of affection and love between Moira and Rhys (which are cute), but David gets only a few paragraphs of genuine interaction (which were underwhelming). It felt much hetero-sided. Then there's the whole Max thing. I get it, tension and all, for Rhys and David, but even that was rather low. David felt safe enough to open up to him, actually feeling good in his presence, seen and understood. Everything that has not happened in any scene with Rhys. And we just brush that off because "boohoo Max lied"? Dude, suddenly we act like a relationship is beyond repair? Rhys has betrayed and backstabbed David numerous times (and vice versa). Ah, whatever. Moira was fine in this book. She developed not much and contributed even less except questioning Rhys every now and then, which is sad, I loved her dynamic with David and Rhys in Book 1. And it's even more sadder since she's his wife, and I think that speaks volumes about how he has treated her throughout the book. Like a sidepiece. She seems happier going out with a gay man than with her husband, which is probably kinda the point of the story, but you can imagine how tiring that is when it was supposed to he a poly story. I liked the writing, as always, and I read it basically in one go, but it's not even close to the first book. As I said, having a Protag who is actually not good or even the hero is cool! Yet it felt like he didn't take enough responsibility for his actions. He doesn't deserve Moira and he surely doesn't deserve David, I seriously don't know what he loves about either of them except them being skilled and powerful, which he likes to point out next to their physical attributes. And I do not get what David and Moira see in him. Still, looking forward to Moira's book because I liked her a lot in 1 and glimpses of her in 2, but if Rhys continues to be as insufferable as he has been in this one, it's just a toxic relationship masked as a poly love story to drag in queer folk (me). I stick to three stars because I inhaled it, despite all, in a weird way I do like all characters even though I'm not feeling the poly, it's not living up to book 1, that's the saddest part of all.