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poppymonster's review
4.0
Purple hair don’t care
It was funny to me that one of the FIRST things the FMC wants to do is redye her hair purple. I think it was maybe the 2nd or 3rd day of being with the aliens.
On a more serious note, this book tackled some difficult subjects like xenophobia and SA. It definitely had an overall positive message of love and acceptance, with several digs at humanity’s propensity to destroy our world. Would it even be a sci fi book if an alien weren’t horrified by our climate crisis?
I didn’t love the FMC because I didn’t feel like I really got to know her. I understood much more about what drove the 2 MMCs than I did her, which is saying something because they were literal aliens. Ama was the most confusing character because of how quickly her attitude towards a situation would change with no apparent reason.
Spice: 2 scenes
Triggers: SA, r@pe (author tells readers what part to skip of this is triggering), kidnapping, violence/murder, near death experiences
It was funny to me that one of the FIRST things the FMC wants to do is redye her hair purple. I think it was maybe the 2nd or 3rd day of being with the aliens.
On a more serious note, this book tackled some difficult subjects like xenophobia and SA. It definitely had an overall positive message of love and acceptance, with several digs at humanity’s propensity to destroy our world. Would it even be a sci fi book if an alien weren’t horrified by our climate crisis?
I didn’t love the FMC because I didn’t feel like I really got to know her. I understood much more about what drove the 2 MMCs than I did her, which is saying something because they were literal aliens. Ama was the most confusing character because of how quickly her attitude towards a situation would change with no apparent reason.
Spice: 2 scenes
Triggers: SA, r@pe (author tells readers what part to skip of this is triggering), kidnapping, violence/murder, near death experiences
4ny's review
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
kaydombrowski's review against another edition
2.0
So bummed in how this one started to turn at the 75% mark. I pushed a little further but I felt like I was reading a completely different story. This story totally gives humans a bad name (and shines light on how crappy humans are today in the real world) but I HATED where this story was going at the end. Took away from everything else. I DNF at 86% which I usually don?t rate but I was so angry to have made it that far with a story I was really digging to have it turn into an instant Yuck.
greystory's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I was vibing with this pretty well until the last 30% or so. The first 70% of the book or so was fun enough. I enjoyed the introduction to the Seytons and Seytonna. I liked some of the mystery that was built up about the planet, the ship, the Seyton's All-Mother, and Zuran and Olan's pasts.
Samantha was mostly alright though I think mention of her learning about Seyton culture should have come much earlier in the book. Zuran and Olan could have also worked on their communication with each other (loathe that dreaded miscommunication as source of conflict) but at least it was something that was built up over a long, long time and has sociocultural roots, and not just a single overdramatic talk or something.
All of the below is about the last third of the book.
Several new things are brought up and never addressed, things that are completely contradictory to the whole way the Seyton society works, which is the Big Conflict of the story. And they just... don't talk about it. People go missing and then nothing comes of it after it's pointed out. Characters say or do things that contradict themselves.
The plot felt rushed, like there's a ton of action happening super rapidly all of a sudden and time skips happening that make it a bit chaotic and needlessly confusing.
There's an unnecessary rape scene in this that adds nothing to the plot and it really pissed me off. It's done to a young girl who barely qualifies as an adult that's introduced to the story for the first time 75% of the way through the book FOR this scene. Her entire existence as a character in this book is to be raped. We see her one more time before the end of the book but without either scene, the rest of the plot stands on its own. I'm not sure what it was supposed to add??
I was super frustrated with Samantha at the way she let Marsel do wahtever he wanted. She supposedly didn't like him so why was she constantly letting him touch her and speak to her that way? Why did she trust him so much? Was it seriously not super obvious he was up to no good all the damn time?? She was seriously blind to what a shit person he was and that was prior to the horrible things he did to the Seytons.
The whole last bit of the book felt like they didn't know how to really tie everything together or whatever grand plan they envisioned wasn't executed as well as it could be.
Samantha was mostly alright though I think mention of her learning about Seyton culture should have come much earlier in the book. Zuran and Olan could have also worked on their communication with each other (loathe that dreaded miscommunication as source of conflict) but at least it was something that was built up over a long, long time and has sociocultural roots, and not just a single overdramatic talk or something.
All of the below is about the last third of the book.
Several new things are brought up and never addressed, things that are completely contradictory to the whole way the Seyton society works, which is the Big Conflict of the story. And they just... don't talk about it. People go missing and then nothing comes of it after it's pointed out. Characters say or do things that contradict themselves.
The plot felt rushed, like there's a ton of action happening super rapidly all of a sudden and time skips happening that make it a bit chaotic and needlessly confusing.
There's an unnecessary rape scene in this that adds nothing to the plot and it really pissed me off. It's done to a young girl who barely qualifies as an adult that's introduced to the story for the first time 75% of the way through the book FOR this scene. Her entire existence as a character in this book is to be raped. We see her one more time before the end of the book but without either scene, the rest of the plot stands on its own. I'm not sure what it was supposed to add??
I was super frustrated with Samantha at the way she let Marsel do wahtever he wanted. She supposedly didn't like him so why was she constantly letting him touch her and speak to her that way? Why did she trust him so much? Was it seriously not super obvious he was up to no good all the damn time?? She was seriously blind to what a shit person he was and that was prior to the horrible things he did to the Seytons.
The whole last bit of the book felt like they didn't know how to really tie everything together or whatever grand plan they envisioned wasn't executed as well as it could be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
stronggirlreads's review
4.0
This was a RIDE for me, learned a lot of new things in this book.
Samantha has been dumped on a new planet with hopes of it being a new planet for the homeless humans that have been living in spaces for decades. She is captured by a Seyton hunter, Zuran, who feels an instant connection to her. Bringing her back to the village she is then given to a breeder, Olan, to be his bride. The start of their relationship starts, all 3 of them as one kind of relationship. You learn more about their culture and watch as they over come prejudices within their own community.
This wasn't my normal kind of read but I did enjoy it and would like to see what happens with some of the side characters in this book. This takes place in the same universe as their other books but can be read without those.
There are 3 different aliens in this book. All aliens have the ability to produce electricity and have horns and a tail. The females have wings and are described to look like angles by human males. The males are either breeders, colorful and fairly normal down there, and hunters that are black, have a blade on their tail and have bumps and small tentacles down there.
The spice was defiantly in this book and supports the plot. There is MFM relationship and a few surprises I don't want to ruin for you. ;)
Trigger warnings!! There is rape and attempted rape, not very graphic but it is there. The authors put a note at the start of the book at what chapters to avoid if you don't want to read these scenes.
Samantha has been dumped on a new planet with hopes of it being a new planet for the homeless humans that have been living in spaces for decades. She is captured by a Seyton hunter, Zuran, who feels an instant connection to her. Bringing her back to the village she is then given to a breeder, Olan, to be his bride. The start of their relationship starts, all 3 of them as one kind of relationship. You learn more about their culture and watch as they over come prejudices within their own community.
This wasn't my normal kind of read but I did enjoy it and would like to see what happens with some of the side characters in this book. This takes place in the same universe as their other books but can be read without those.
There are 3 different aliens in this book. All aliens have the ability to produce electricity and have horns and a tail. The females have wings and are described to look like angles by human males. The males are either breeders, colorful and fairly normal down there, and hunters that are black, have a blade on their tail and have bumps and small tentacles down there.
The spice was defiantly in this book and supports the plot. There is MFM relationship and a few surprises I don't want to ruin for you. ;)
Trigger warnings!! There is rape and attempted rape, not very graphic but it is there. The authors put a note at the start of the book at what chapters to avoid if you don't want to read these scenes.
happenstance's review
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
A lot of handwaving to make things work out, and a TSTL heroine that made the final 25% of the book an absolute slog of "you've gotta be kidding me - NO ONE is this stupid".
The alien culture was interesting, and I really enjoyed the portions of the book that focused on the relationship between the two male leads. I feel like Samantha could have been completely removed from this book, and it would have been better for it.
The alien culture was interesting, and I really enjoyed the portions of the book that focused on the relationship between the two male leads. I feel like Samantha could have been completely removed from this book, and it would have been better for it.
shadowfoxmoon's review
4.0
This is the first book I've read from this author. The cover caught my eye and I'm glad that I found it, and this author.
This is one of the best Alien books I've read in a while. Most I've been reading have gotten bland or moved into this stagnated theme, but this book branched out and made the aliens a little more real. It might have been that the aliens were willing to adapt and couple together to be with the person they loved, which was sweet.
I've already added this author to my fav list and I'll be going through their backlog and reading more of their work. I'm glad I found them, so I have something to read for the next week or two.
This is one of the best Alien books I've read in a while. Most I've been reading have gotten bland or moved into this stagnated theme, but this book branched out and made the aliens a little more real. It might have been that the aliens were willing to adapt and couple together to be with the person they loved, which was sweet.
I've already added this author to my fav list and I'll be going through their backlog and reading more of their work. I'm glad I found them, so I have something to read for the next week or two.
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