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kblincoln's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the prior three. Possibly due to the cool details of the world and politics being overshadowed by the over-the-top anst of both hero and heroine and even other minor characters who we get POV from once in a while. Way too much time dwelt on places like "channels"..... Can we have more of the cool relationship-builds-character like from the first in this series?
schomj's review against another edition
4.0
The story and world are very dark, separated from bleak only by a thin ribbon of hope running through it.
Dense worldbuilding (if this is your first book in the series, you will be confused; if you've read others in the series, you still may be confused at times). Much more urban fantasy in feel than the erotic/paranormal romance tone of the first two.
The heroine, Rebekka, is a-maz-ing. Really loved her. Strong, loyal, resilient, compassionate and capable of making very difficult choices and accepting the consequences. The hero, Aryck, is very much a Jory Strong alpha-male type, torn between duty and his (fated-mate) attraction to Rebekka. He's not quite as interesting to me as some of the other characters in the series, though. In some ways, he seems like Rebekka's reward -- a symbol of everything she might have if she makes the right choices, even if she doesn't know what those choices are. In a genre-romance sense, it doesn't completely work for me, but in a genre-fantasy sense it does.
I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to (the brothel angle made me fear a baffling romanticism of prostitution or a repulsive focus on depravity, but the author managed to make it seem like a frank portrayal of trafficking without being too gratuitous -- though it came close a few times near the end).
Looking forward to/hoping for another book in the series.
Dense worldbuilding (if this is your first book in the series, you will be confused; if you've read others in the series, you still may be confused at times). Much more urban fantasy in feel than the erotic/paranormal romance tone of the first two.
The heroine, Rebekka, is a-maz-ing. Really loved her. Strong, loyal, resilient, compassionate and capable of making very difficult choices and accepting the consequences. The hero, Aryck, is very much a Jory Strong alpha-male type, torn between duty and his (fated-mate) attraction to Rebekka. He's not quite as interesting to me as some of the other characters in the series, though. In some ways, he seems like Rebekka's reward -- a symbol of everything she might have if she makes the right choices, even if she doesn't know what those choices are. In a genre-romance sense, it doesn't completely work for me, but in a genre-fantasy sense it does.
I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to (the brothel angle made me fear a baffling romanticism of prostitution or a repulsive focus on depravity, but the author managed to make it seem like a frank portrayal of trafficking without being too gratuitous -- though it came close a few times near the end).
Looking forward to/hoping for another book in the series.
mousegoddess's review
3.0
Really on the fence with this one. On the one hand I liked the world building and setting, on the other...I dunno. The sex scenes weren't really my cup of tea. I liked the hero and heroine, I just didn't get drawn into them enough. It was just...I don't know...a little TOO fated and perfect? I mean, I read romance so obviously I can a enjoy a "we were born to be together" type story, but...just didn't work for me completely. Still got three stars because I liked the IDEA, the writing wasn't bad, and the world building was intriguing.
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