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selenajean's review against another edition
3.0
2.75 stars. I liked it "ok". It wasn't epic or even original but I liked that the alien was really alienish. Not some hot guy who is giant and green or blue looking for a mate. I also liked the world building. The MC was just too old fashioned and mary sueish. She had really oddly outdated vocabulary.
molander's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
agniesken's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
c0urtn3yy's review
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
This was weird, but I was really into it.
courtney_saba's review against another edition
5.0
5 easy stars. What a fantastic story!
Loved the characters, the plot, the setting, the pace, the dialogue, the writing style, the dark circumstances, the author's willingness to show Simon's morally gray tendencies, and the scintillating slow burn between Simon and Gemma. Despite my complaints below, I enjoyed this so much, so I'm ignoring obvious flaws.
1) I wanted more detail. Simon's age, the worldbuilding, the history, whatever the Great Invasion was, the Rix species and their culture, Simon's abilities and his "energy" flares, the timeline/year, and more about Simon himself.
2) the villain wasn't as scary as the author wanted us to think bc there wasn't enough detail. And I was tired of everyone calling him doctor. That title indicates respect, and our MCs have zero of that for him.
3) the abrupt ending. Without giving away any spoilers, I just thought the story ended quite abruptly. Especially since the author made some choices in the last section that indicated a possible epilogue or more tied up loose ends.
4) despite how much I loved the writing, the section, chapter, and paragraph jumps were stark, choppy, and disorienting. Sometimes I was so lost at the beginning of these areas, and that took me out of the story.
5) I believe it needed one more run through by an editor bc I found some severely obvious grammar and word choice mistakes. I wish I could've been the editor bc I found every single mistake easily.
Again, this book is a 5 star read to me bc I was genuinely engrossed in the story and with our main characters, despite my complaints above, and so I shoved everything aside bc the author drew you in and hooked you so well on the core and raw story.
This author is amazingly skilled. I'm looking forward to her other works. And I'm so sad to be leaving luscious Simon! Wish there was more of him.
Would I reread this book? Oh, yes. The culmination of Gemma and Simon's relationship was worth the wait. Whew! So hot.
Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. The slow burn and romance aspects were clearly there, but the story actually had substance and a plot. It was also seriously written, with some humorous dialogue, but no immaturity or ridiculous alphaholeness or stupid scenes. Every scene meant something, and so it was elevated levels above so many other alien and romance novels. It wasn't just smut and it didn't lack in intimacy between our characters. Those raw scenes between Gemma and Simon were my favorite moments. So the author created a balanced story here, and this book deserves more hype, hands down.
Happy reading, Goodreads fiends.
TW: violence, murder, attempted rape (not by hero)
Loved the characters, the plot, the setting, the pace, the dialogue, the writing style, the dark circumstances, the author's willingness to show Simon's morally gray tendencies, and the scintillating slow burn between Simon and Gemma. Despite my complaints below, I enjoyed this so much, so I'm ignoring obvious flaws.
1) I wanted more detail. Simon's age, the worldbuilding, the history, whatever the Great Invasion was, the Rix species and their culture, Simon's abilities and his "energy" flares, the timeline/year, and more about Simon himself.
2) the villain wasn't as scary as the author wanted us to think bc there wasn't enough detail. And I was tired of everyone calling him doctor. That title indicates respect, and our MCs have zero of that for him.
3) the abrupt ending. Without giving away any spoilers, I just thought the story ended quite abruptly. Especially since the author made some choices in the last section that indicated a possible epilogue or more tied up loose ends.
4) despite how much I loved the writing, the section, chapter, and paragraph jumps were stark, choppy, and disorienting. Sometimes I was so lost at the beginning of these areas, and that took me out of the story.
5) I believe it needed one more run through by an editor bc I found some severely obvious grammar and word choice mistakes. I wish I could've been the editor bc I found every single mistake easily.
Again, this book is a 5 star read to me bc I was genuinely engrossed in the story and with our main characters, despite my complaints above, and so I shoved everything aside bc the author drew you in and hooked you so well on the core and raw story.
This author is amazingly skilled. I'm looking forward to her other works. And I'm so sad to be leaving luscious Simon! Wish there was more of him.
Would I reread this book? Oh, yes. The culmination of Gemma and Simon's relationship was worth the wait. Whew! So hot.
Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. The slow burn and romance aspects were clearly there, but the story actually had substance and a plot. It was also seriously written, with some humorous dialogue, but no immaturity or ridiculous alphaholeness or stupid scenes. Every scene meant something, and so it was elevated levels above so many other alien and romance novels. It wasn't just smut and it didn't lack in intimacy between our characters. Those raw scenes between Gemma and Simon were my favorite moments. So the author created a balanced story here, and this book deserves more hype, hands down.
Happy reading, Goodreads fiends.
TW: violence, murder, attempted rape (not by hero)
kzimm2024's review against another edition
4.0
Found this recommendation by Ruby Dixon- really good story (almost a 5).
It is gritty and a sad, hard world but I appreciate the lightness and humor our heroine Gemma has and her interactions with Simon. She gets to talk to him in a completely irreverent manner which (of course) takes him by surprise. Slow burn story.
This story is greatly detailed, and practical I might say, considering our heroines' debate to herself about trying to smuggle yogurt into the prison using the body cavities most people try to use. Too funny.
You cheer for the good guys, hate the bad guys and the aliens are well described and interesting- especially the Little Green Man. The prison was portrayed well but I think the best part was how Simon became alive when Gemma came along. They became each others' reason to live.
It is gritty and a sad, hard world but I appreciate the lightness and humor our heroine Gemma has and her interactions with Simon. She gets to talk to him in a completely irreverent manner which (of course) takes him by surprise. Slow burn story.
This story is greatly detailed, and practical I might say, considering our heroines' debate to herself about trying to smuggle yogurt into the prison using the body cavities most people try to use. Too funny.
You cheer for the good guys, hate the bad guys and the aliens are well described and interesting- especially the Little Green Man. The prison was portrayed well but I think the best part was how Simon became alive when Gemma came along. They became each others' reason to live.
magnafeana's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 stars rounded up down!
Let’s get started, shall we?
In a world similar to the Elysium series, the wealthy have fled for space while the working class and all its aliens remain on Earth where they struggle to make a living.
Enter out FMC Gemma (h). Working in a prison with little money and food, she stays with her reluctant extended family after her disaster back home left her orphaned and crippled. Gemma had high hopes her brother will return for her as she held him get to the Promised Land, but when his letter back to her does nothing but trample her expectations, she realizes she truly is alone.
Well—perhaps not as alone as she thinks.
She meets the MMC Simon (H) after being transferred into an alien sector of prison. While the inmates and coworkers are trouble, weakened Simon the Rix makes Gemma’d job worth it as she grows emboldened in nursing him back to help. But in doing do, she discovers how truly unfair the galaxy can be.
Let’s talk about this one the literary front.
A few grammatical errors and some extra letters that didn’t belong, but it was more like something that would raised an eyebrow than make you DNF.
This is a character-driven story. The inmates and Ruby felt diverse, but the side characters had been given deliberate one dimensions that made them offputtingly cartoonish. It was as though the intention was to uplight the FMC’s grace and compassion by villainizing every person and every thing around her, which felt like the author didn’t trust the audience to understand that the world was cruel.
The constant sexual assault does happen in war. But was it necessary to get the point across here?
The dialogue felt connected at some points and unrealistic at another. When the character tones would take a Shakespearean shift, it broke my immersion on thinking, Why would X character even say that?
The ending felt flat. Because this story adhered to western story telling of the three arc structure with the exposition ➡️ rising action ➡️ climax ➡️ falling action ➡️ third act ➡️ finale, this story seemed not be able to pull strong and settle for what its second and third act would be or about its conclusion.
Open-ended endings are a great move and one I prefer. But this story felt like there should have been two to three pages more to feel like a well-received ending.
Pacing on this story had the right amount of action and intimacy. Though the back half of the story felt very quick.
From a personal standpoint.
I didn’t find Gemma a strong FMC, especially when she self-described herself as “compassionate”. Simon was right in her over-analysis, but all her questioning made no sense considering she was disabled and also didn’t like to be judged. Her naïveté toward her situation made no sense, given the state of earth in this story.
When writing a maiden, virtuous heroine, it can’t feel strong. It has to make sense within the context of the story. And hers felt like an overkill to truly depict how compassionate she was. I more would have bought she was a prison nurse, new on the job, and had yet to experience burnout. If that was the case, her attitude would have matched and I would have believed it.
Her savior complex toward an alien? It made me go Sure, Jan.
This is all from third person limited so we have no inkling of Simon’s thoughts, but I was fine with that. He was a very straightforward character.
Overall, this was an SFR, and it is what it is. The steam felt like PNR insta-lust/matebone, and I skimmed through it.
Solid 3 ⭐️ read.
Let’s get started, shall we?
In a world similar to the Elysium series, the wealthy have fled for space while the working class and all its aliens remain on Earth where they struggle to make a living.
Enter out FMC Gemma (h). Working in a prison with little money and food, she stays with her reluctant extended family after her disaster back home left her orphaned and crippled. Gemma had high hopes her brother will return for her as she held him get to the Promised Land, but when his letter back to her does nothing but trample her expectations, she realizes she truly is alone.
Well—perhaps not as alone as she thinks.
She meets the MMC Simon (H) after being transferred into an alien sector of prison. While the inmates and coworkers are trouble, weakened Simon the Rix makes Gemma’d job worth it as she grows emboldened in nursing him back to help. But in doing do, she discovers how truly unfair the galaxy can be.
Let’s talk about this one the literary front.
A few grammatical errors and some extra letters that didn’t belong, but it was more like something that would raised an eyebrow than make you DNF.
This is a character-driven story. The inmates and Ruby felt diverse, but the side characters had been given deliberate one dimensions that made them offputtingly cartoonish. It was as though the intention was to uplight the FMC’s grace and compassion by villainizing every person and every thing around her, which felt like the author didn’t trust the audience to understand that the world was cruel.
The constant sexual assault does happen in war. But was it necessary to get the point across here?
The dialogue felt connected at some points and unrealistic at another. When the character tones would take a Shakespearean shift, it broke my immersion on thinking, Why would X character even say that?
The ending felt flat. Because this story adhered to western story telling of the three arc structure with the exposition ➡️ rising action ➡️ climax ➡️ falling action ➡️ third act ➡️ finale, this story seemed not be able to pull strong and settle for what its second and third act would be or about its conclusion.
Open-ended endings are a great move and one I prefer. But this story felt like there should have been two to three pages more to feel like a well-received ending.
Pacing on this story had the right amount of action and intimacy. Though the back half of the story felt very quick.
From a personal standpoint.
I didn’t find Gemma a strong FMC, especially when she self-described herself as “compassionate”. Simon was right in her over-analysis, but all her questioning made no sense considering she was disabled and also didn’t like to be judged. Her naïveté toward her situation made no sense, given the state of earth in this story.
When writing a maiden, virtuous heroine, it can’t feel strong. It has to make sense within the context of the story. And hers felt like an overkill to truly depict how compassionate she was. I more would have bought she was a prison nurse, new on the job, and had yet to experience burnout. If that was the case, her attitude would have matched and I would have believed it.
Her savior complex toward an alien? It made me go Sure, Jan.
This is all from third person limited so we have no inkling of Simon’s thoughts, but I was fine with that. He was a very straightforward character.
Overall, this was an SFR, and it is what it is. The steam felt like PNR insta-lust/matebone, and I skimmed through it.
Solid 3 ⭐️ read.
whitneykelley's review against another edition
5.0
Super good slow burn alien romance. I couldn’t put it down. Single POV (F).
The trope is a darker sci-fi version of Taming Demons for Beginners by Annette Marie. (I liked the pacing of this one a little more, though it has a distinct lack of baked goods!) In both cases, I really liked how the main M lead slowly opens up as he starts trusting main F.
Two quibbles:
1. The MF lead has some reservations about some ethical issues....then seems to drop all concerns because....no good reason?
2. The ending is abrupt. I would normally expect an epilogue. But everything resolved so it’s fine, I guess?
The trope is a darker sci-fi version of Taming Demons for Beginners by Annette Marie. (I liked the pacing of this one a little more, though it has a distinct lack of baked goods!) In both cases, I really liked how the main M lead slowly opens up as he starts trusting main F.
Two quibbles:
1. The MF lead has some reservations about some ethical issues....then seems to drop all concerns because....no good reason?
2. The ending is abrupt. I would normally expect an epilogue. But everything resolved so it’s fine, I guess?
gwynt's review against another edition
4.0
interesting read. I thought there were a lot of holes in terms of practical world-building, but engaging and the dialogue was well fabricated. I would read others by her.