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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
One more day, one more Psy-Changeling book down in my 2021 end-of-year paranormal romance series binge extravaganza.
In this third installation, we jump over to the SnowDancer Pack of wolf changelings. Our female MC is Brenna, the same Brenna who was kidnapped/tortured by the evil Psy serial killer (no spoilers = I won’t name names) and saved at the last minute in the first book in the series. She is back with her Pack, but her overprotective brothers won’t let her out of their sight and she’s chafing. Plus, although she survived and brought herself back, she is (of course) dealing with myriad PTSD issues. Judd Lauren, on the other hand, is a Psy defector, taken in by the SnowDancers when he ran from the Psy along with his (surviving) family, who were all sentenced to rehabilitation. He’s cold as ice, was trained that way because of his particularly dangerous Psy ability, and his years as an assassin for them. However, he was there, lending his power to Sascha, during Brenna’s initial recovery, and even though her mind is in danger and her connection to her wolf side not what it used to be, and Judd refuses to give up his emotional control because it may cause her harm, their bond is strong enough to keep pulling them together. They’ll just have to fight for it.
Phew. This was a much more intense book than the first two, even considering the unexpected violence/death that the first one brought. Brenna’s experiences at the hands of the Psy who tortured her in every way (physically, emotionally, psychologically) are brutal. And though she shares them with Judd slowly, over the course of the book, they’re still a lot. Like for real, I recommend being very careful in picking this one up if you have any history of violence against your mind/body in any way, because there’s no holding back in the descriptions here. It could easily be categorized as trauma porn, and yet it also felt like a very real portrayal of what PTSD after that type of trauma could/would look like. And though it’s not the first trauma that comes to mind while reading, Judd’s psychological conditioning, the way his “gifts” were used against him and the things he was forced to do/experience from a young age, is (apples to oranges, but still) on par with Brenna’s own experiences. It sets them up for the potential to be very unhealthy, but also, as the reader hopes is the case here, particularly right for each other. It was great to see that develop, and really more slowly and steadily and on equal footing than in the past two books as well, which was a nice change of pace (Brenna’s claws, her wolf intensity on par with Judd’s dominance, really stole the show here for me). As a side-ish note here, though the build takes a while, I have to say that the sex scenes, when they happened, were the best of the three books so far, in description and detail and intensity and length. So yea, that was lovely.
The sibling relationships portrayed here, past even the closeness of the Pack connections, felt spot on, in their strength and their stifling-ness. And I loved seeing more of Hawke (his attitude in the past, especially picking at Lucas about Sascha) has always brought a smile to my face. Seeing him more in action here has me very excited for his future book (and I have an inkling where it’s going already too…). The last thing about this book that I want to mention is what it does to move forward the Psy-changeling portion of the story. Like yea, it was all about Judd and Brenna, and that was great (and the introduction of the in-Pack evil, which did a nice job balancing out what was threatening to become an unrealistically “good” Pack vs “bad” Psy dichotomy, as well as bringing some retribution that Brenna was able to take part in). But also, there was a ton of forward movement in the overall world itself. The connection of Judd to the “Ghost” within the PsyNet, as well as the few interactions of those on the Psy Council that we got to see, gave interesting detail into the plans of the Psy, the attempts to take down the changeling threat, and the internal faction fighting against the terrifying hive mind implant plans of the Council. Plus seeing the way the dominant predatory changelings interact with and protect the other changeling species (hyena, deer), and seeing the DarkRiver and SnowDancer collaboration through eyes from the other side, added more depth as well. I would have loved to see more Vaughn and Faith and/or Sascha and Lucas, but we got some and I get that as I go further in, there’s no way to get all the characters authentic page time.
A solid third book and I’m just as set on blasting through these books as before – the interest holds. So you know I’ve already got book four downloaded and I’m interested to see where the larger story-arc goes, as well as dive into the next mated pair romance!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Stalking
cappuccino136's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
o4.5. This installment of the series is a step above. The two characters in the couple are very interesting and struggling with deep trauma. Judd is a former assassin under one of the Psy council members. He had to escape with other members of his family to keep all of them alive. They defected and dropped out of the Net together, seeking sanctuary with the pack of changeling wolves. Judd depends on the control of Silence conditioning to keep his dark power in check. He believes he is a monster. Brenna has recovered surprisingly quickly from being tortured mentally and physically by a Psy serial killer. She barely survived. Now she is falling apart and loosing control of her anger. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Judd, even though he tells her that he cannot give her what she needs. Brenna is convinced he is wrong and determined to break through his glacial defenses. The political plotting and the world building continue to expand. Judd must finally make a decision about where his loyalties lie. He has been keeping secrets. The tension is very high. The steam level is high when the two lovers finally connect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault
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