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neighbor_reads's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
Check your trigger warnings. I don't mind a check-your-brain-at-the-door book, but this was a bit much. Almost to the point of parody, but then includes a decent amount of heavy stuff. Not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Confinement, and Kidnapping
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Pregnancy
paper_aphid's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
anxious_librarian's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I was expecting a bit more from this if I’m being honest. The reviews got me ready for something new and exciting, but this was so solidly middle of the road I have to wonder if I was reading a different book than everyone else.
The plot is something that’s been done before - abducting human women from Earth to try to fix their species’ fertility problems - but the way their society works was different. Men outnumber the women 20 to 1, so they’ve adapted to a matriarchal society and customs that ensure women are protected.
Yes, this does mean that a lot of the women’s value comes from their ability to give birth. However, their society is very accepting of queer relationships. Not what I was expecting but it was more than welcome! Any gender or preference is welcome but men who wish for children can opt to participate in a marriage which gives them 3 months to show the woman that chooses him that they’d be a good provider to any children.
It’s a little wonky but in the end it works. Jade had some reasonable concerns about choice and consent, which are taken very seriously on their planet, but I couldn’t get over how everyone was getting on her case about not judging their culture before she got to know it. Like, people, you educated her on nothing before tossing her into this. Girl is asking questions. Let her ask questions.
What little smut there was, was good. Some mild primal play for ya there if that’s something you like! No fun alien bits though *sad face* With the exception of some of the women having slightly more exaggerated features and everyone having light body markings, these aliens are more or less human in appearance.
The one interesting thing I noticed here was the story had a lot of similarities to the story of Hades and Persephone. Woman abducted to a strange place, married to a guy for a certain amount of time before she can leave, the guy in question is seen as a loner/darker than his peers and lives separately from them, guy has a funky dog. The FMC also kept getting dressed in green and mentioned growing a garden.
I have no idea if all that was intentional, but once I chose to see it as a sci-fi retelling I enjoyed it much more.
Perhaps my biggest gripe with this book was the writing. It was very basic. Nothing felt like it was written with feeling, all telling and no showing with little description. I wasn’t engaged in what was happening because there weren’t many instances where we got to know what a character was really feeling. I suspect 1st person may have helped with this rather than the 3rd person past tense it was written in.
There were also far too many chapters (38 of them) and they were very inconsistent in length for no reason I could discern. The first 10 chapters could have easily been condensed to 3 which would have made it less jarring when we suddenly get Theo’s POV, although he’s introduced so far into the story it may or may not have helped.
There isn’t much else to say. This story wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either. As I said at the start, very middle of the road. I wish we’d gotten more details, character descriptions and so on sprinkled throughout to really bring the world to life.
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐ | Story: ⭐⭐⭐ | Writing: ⭐⭐⭐ | Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
CW: abduction, attempted SA
The plot is something that’s been done before - abducting human women from Earth to try to fix their species’ fertility problems - but the way their society works was different. Men outnumber the women 20 to 1, so they’ve adapted to a matriarchal society and customs that ensure women are protected.
Yes, this does mean that a lot of the women’s value comes from their ability to give birth. However, their society is very accepting of queer relationships. Not what I was expecting but it was more than welcome! Any gender or preference is welcome but men who wish for children can opt to participate in a marriage which gives them 3 months to show the woman that chooses him that they’d be a good provider to any children.
It’s a little wonky but in the end it works. Jade had some reasonable concerns about choice and consent, which are taken very seriously on their planet, but I couldn’t get over how everyone was getting on her case about not judging their culture before she got to know it. Like, people, you educated her on nothing before tossing her into this. Girl is asking questions. Let her ask questions.
What little smut there was, was good. Some mild primal play for ya there if that’s something you like! No fun alien bits though *sad face* With the exception of some of the women having slightly more exaggerated features and everyone having light body markings, these aliens are more or less human in appearance.
The one interesting thing I noticed here was the story had a lot of similarities to the story of Hades and Persephone. Woman abducted to a strange place, married to a guy for a certain amount of time before she can leave, the guy in question is seen as a loner/darker than his peers and lives separately from them, guy has a funky dog. The FMC also kept getting dressed in green and mentioned growing a garden.
I have no idea if all that was intentional, but once I chose to see it as a sci-fi retelling I enjoyed it much more.
Perhaps my biggest gripe with this book was the writing. It was very basic. Nothing felt like it was written with feeling, all telling and no showing with little description. I wasn’t engaged in what was happening because there weren’t many instances where we got to know what a character was really feeling. I suspect 1st person may have helped with this rather than the 3rd person past tense it was written in.
There were also far too many chapters (38 of them) and they were very inconsistent in length for no reason I could discern. The first 10 chapters could have easily been condensed to 3 which would have made it less jarring when we suddenly get Theo’s POV, although he’s introduced so far into the story it may or may not have helped.
There isn’t much else to say. This story wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either. As I said at the start, very middle of the road. I wish we’d gotten more details, character descriptions and so on sprinkled throughout to really bring the world to life.
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐ | Story: ⭐⭐⭐ | Writing: ⭐⭐⭐ | Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
CW: abduction, attempted SA
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Kidnapping
jlemms87's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Light hearted, fluffy fun! I love how the author uses every stereotype of what being a woman under the patriarchy is like, and uses the opposite to build the society of the world she takes us to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
ceevadee's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
ithladin's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I couldn't get into this book, the writing could get repetitive and it was pretty slow. The descriptions and writing style didn't click with me but it was a nice, light sci-fi romance. I will try the next one because I like these tropes/stories even if I don't connect with the heroine.
Content Warnings
Minor: Torture, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Slavery
noellelovesbooks's review
3.75
Content Warnings: Sexual content, kidnapping, trafficking, violence, threat of sexual assault, animal cruelty, death of a parent[s], sexual harassment, isolation, and captivity.
*insert Janessa saying, "I told you you'd like this book." * 🤣
A few years ago when Janessa first rec'd me another alien series she rec'd me this one as well...but me being me I bounced around to a bunch of other books/series/authors before finally deciding to read this one. And like always, I had so much fun reading this book! This was pretty much a one sitting read, since I started last night before bed and read until my eyes refused to stay open, then woke to finish the rest.
I do feel like a lot of the back and forth, in the beginning, could have been cut out and maybe we could have had more planet history/lore added in? Idk, the beginning was a bit boring after she lands 😅
I'm excited to read the rest of the series to see what other couple's we get as well as seeing where the overarching story goes. 💜
*insert Janessa saying, "I told you you'd like this book." * 🤣
A few years ago when Janessa first rec'd me another alien series she rec'd me this one as well...but me being me I bounced around to a bunch of other books/series/authors before finally deciding to read this one. And like always, I had so much fun reading this book! This was pretty much a one sitting read, since I started last night before bed and read until my eyes refused to stay open, then woke to finish the rest.
I do feel like a lot of the back and forth, in the beginning, could have been cut out and maybe we could have had more planet history/lore added in? Idk, the beginning was a bit boring after she lands 😅
I'm excited to read the rest of the series to see what other couple's we get as well as seeing where the overarching story goes. 💜
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Sexual assault
Minor: Pregnancy and Infertility
aepompu's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Really enjoyed this, and I wasn’t expecting much from it! It was a super believable alien story which you don’t always get from sci fi romances. It would have been a full 5 stars but I just didn’t get the butterflies that often. That being said, protect Theo at all costs (even though he can easily protect himself).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault and Vomit
Minor: Rape
tea_rea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Trafficking, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Torture
smuttymcbookface's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Xenophobia