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caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this installment of the Corsairs brothers series! Bethiah has been a quirky, trickster-god-esque mainstay throughout all the brothers' stories, so I was naturally drawn to her, the way one is drawn to looking at a hurricane and its aftermath. I was a little wary of getting to be inside her head, because characters like that are often unidimensionalized and turned into their quirks, rather than their odd ways of thinking just being a facet of their overall selves. However, I found Bethiah's ways of thinking to have a really solid internal logic to them, and she was a really fun (and oddly familiar) POV to inhabit throughout this story. The same goes for Dora, the human (or rather, illegal human clone) counterpart of this relationship, and for Jamef, the cyborg Masaka male with whom Bethiah had a flirty but emotionally volatile past until the contents of this book.
While I did enjoy the plot elements of this story, wrapping up the saga of the illegal cloned humans etc. storyline that's threaded throughout the Corsairs Brothers stories, this book's focus was by far on the relationship triad, which is by far my preference for the plot v. character focus balance of romance books. Following the trio navigate their individual and collective relationships, attractions, insecurities, etc. was deeply compelling, and made the steamy scenes all the richer; underneath everything physical, there was a deep undercurrent of emotion (not always love at the start, though it grows into it in the end!) which felt honest and earned by the interiorities of the narrators and the external realities of the plot. When one of the three feels auxiliary/unnecessary to the triad, both the other partners AND the narrative of the story makes it clear that each party is necessary for the functioning of the relationship as a whole. None of the individual pairings could work without the third party as a balance and countermeasure; each individual offers something to the unit, and is deeply loved.
That's not to say that it was easy for the triad to get to their end-game HEA! The complexities of emotions were thoughtfully and thoroughly expanded upon, often with direct communication (!!!) between Dora, Jamef, and Bethiah being necessary to making things work. A big part of why this novel worked for me was that not all of these characters are naturally good communicators (PTSD war veteran loner cyborg and quirky pirate who no crew will stand, please stand up), and the story didn't abandon those characteristics in order to make the communication work. The trust had to be built organically to get to that point.
Overall, I think I can easily say this is my favorite book of this series! As always, I'm excited to read more from the author, though now I have distinctly higher hopes for her future works.
While I did enjoy the plot elements of this story, wrapping up the saga of the illegal cloned humans etc. storyline that's threaded throughout the Corsairs Brothers stories, this book's focus was by far on the relationship triad, which is by far my preference for the plot v. character focus balance of romance books. Following the trio navigate their individual and collective relationships, attractions, insecurities, etc. was deeply compelling, and made the steamy scenes all the richer; underneath everything physical, there was a deep undercurrent of emotion (not always love at the start, though it grows into it in the end!) which felt honest and earned by the interiorities of the narrators and the external realities of the plot. When one of the three feels auxiliary/unnecessary to the triad, both the other partners AND the narrative of the story makes it clear that each party is necessary for the functioning of the relationship as a whole. None of the individual pairings could work without the third party as a balance and countermeasure; each individual offers something to the unit, and is deeply loved.
That's not to say that it was easy for the triad to get to their end-game HEA! The complexities of emotions were thoughtfully and thoroughly expanded upon, often with direct communication (!!!) between Dora, Jamef, and Bethiah being necessary to making things work. A big part of why this novel worked for me was that not all of these characters are naturally good communicators (PTSD war veteran loner cyborg and quirky pirate who no crew will stand, please stand up), and the story didn't abandon those characteristics in order to make the communication work. The trust had to be built organically to get to that point.
Overall, I think I can easily say this is my favorite book of this series! As always, I'm excited to read more from the author, though now I have distinctly higher hopes for her future works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Trafficking and Slavery
alisoun's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
4.0
Love a poly book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Sexual content
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
tostita's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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: Sexual content
Moderate: Trafficking, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail
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