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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved Red, the Rogoru(spelling?) is a great idea and I can't wait to read the rest of the books about them. Sort of Red Riding Hood meets Twilight love triangle if all parties involved were wolves and they liked to share.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
I was kind of torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. It wasn’t a great book, however it was entertaining. Ultimately it is okay for what it is, a quick monster romance story. The plot wasn’t original and was easily predictable, but then again who is reading this book for something original and thought provoking?
Despite the inconsistent pacing, the intensely boring lulls in the story that came about every once in a while, and the repetitive nature of the subplots, this was a very entertaining sci-fi red riding hood romance.
I would’ve liked more of a personality distinction between Warol and Rager as they both functioned as very stoic “alpha” types, but Arie’s dynamic with them and Kyx was very interesting to see, especially in a forced proximity set of circumstances.
I also think that if an author is going to include mentions of wolf alien racism, it should be expanded on further than just the surface level “it’s wrong to discriminate based on fur color” and being met with “yes, it’s very sad. Anyways…” I think at that point, the injection of biases and discrimination based on color should’ve been scrapped and could’ve very easily been left out as it didn’t add anything to the story or development of characters as well as feels forgotten about anyhow. I forgot that the alien wolf racism (colorism ??) was a thing until it was randomly sprinkled in before being forgotten about again. Red hair is deemed holy in the wolf alien culture and black is associated with death. Kyx, the red-haired member of the harem that gains the fur shade from being mixed (with human), is very briefly mentioned to have been gifted more opportunities because of the fur shade than Rager, the pack member with pitch black fur. You can’t just throw in that the biracial alien wolf has higher social currency than the dark, black one so casually and then completely abandon it like it never mattered to begin with.
Beyond these issues that I had, though, I really enjoyed the approach and detail to world-building (beyond the world of the alien wolf beings). There’s entirely new religious systems, governments, and societal dynamics that played into developing our two main groups’ respective cultures and histories.
And the romance, of course, had very sweet and tender moments thrown in with the spice.
CW: explicit sexual content (reverse harem), kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, violence, multiple threats of sex/“breeding” slavery
I would’ve liked more of a personality distinction between Warol and Rager as they both functioned as very stoic “alpha” types, but Arie’s dynamic with them and Kyx was very interesting to see, especially in a forced proximity set of circumstances.
I also think that if an author is going to include mentions of wolf alien racism, it should be expanded on further than just the surface level “it’s wrong to discriminate based on fur color” and being met with “yes, it’s very sad. Anyways…” I think at that point, the injection of biases and discrimination based on color should’ve been scrapped and could’ve very easily been left out as it didn’t add anything to the story or development of characters as well as feels forgotten about anyhow. I forgot that the alien wolf racism (colorism ??) was a thing until it was randomly sprinkled in before being forgotten about again. Red hair is deemed holy in the wolf alien culture and black is associated with death. Kyx, the red-haired member of the harem that gains the fur shade from being mixed (with human), is very briefly mentioned to have been gifted more opportunities because of the fur shade than Rager, the pack member with pitch black fur. You can’t just throw in that the biracial alien wolf has higher social currency than the dark, black one so casually and then completely abandon it like it never mattered to begin with.
Beyond these issues that I had, though, I really enjoyed the approach and detail to world-building (beyond the world of the alien wolf beings). There’s entirely new religious systems, governments, and societal dynamics that played into developing our two main groups’ respective cultures and histories.
And the romance, of course, had very sweet and tender moments thrown in with the spice.
CW: explicit sexual content (reverse harem), kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, violence, multiple threats of sex/“breeding” slavery
This was really different from anything I’ve ever read and I was pleasantly surprised!
Meh.
I actually really enjoyed the first half of this book. It is super formulaic and predictable. (I mean if, before reading the book, someone had asked me to write a generic outline based on this book's blurb, I would have succeeded with 100% success.) There are NO surprises and NOTHING that you're used to seeing in the genre is left out. Even the seemingly random events are just section 2, part b, subsection iii of the most commonly utilized industry outline (or so it seems). It's your basic bitch, Why Choose fairy-tale retelling book. But hey, we read them because we enjoy them. So, predictable in the extreme, but also super cute. I really did enjoy watching the males come around. They're all adorable in their own way.
I can't really say the same for Arie though. She just kind of existed. And I honestly never got over my page-one question about why, if you could be exiled or killed for having red hair, you'd grow it out instead of cutting it off. I was really bothered by the idea that she walked around with a whole Merida-like head of hair hidden under a hood her whole life. Why would you endanger yourself like that? It was ridiculous in the extreme, but I decided to look over it. Despite that, I still found her a fairly bland heroine.
I'm wandering. My point was that despite being noting new to the genre I enjoyed it...up until the halfway mark. I even overlooked the editing mishaps. But after the halfway mark, when Sanders took the characters outside of their small story-line, the whole thing fell apart. Most notably the plotting fell apart and suddenly everything was too easy.
Three non-humans walked into a hostile human city for the first time and instantly found what might have been the only human who both wasn't afraid of them and was willing/able to help them. Arie similarly was introduced to one person. She asked them for help and they said yes, etc. It didn't even really feel like a story anymore, just a list of events with no emotional significance. By the time the final fight scene rolled around—which was won with ridiculous ease—I was done.
The book is also just too long. Whole sections could be cut easily. I'm thinking of the entire episode with the mutated humans and subsequent events, for example. All of it could have been cut wholesale for a tighter read, it contributes so little to the overall story.
So, to recap, fun if formulaic first half, lazy (and still formulaic) second half. I love the cover though!
I actually really enjoyed the first half of this book. It is super formulaic and predictable. (I mean if, before reading the book, someone had asked me to write a generic outline based on this book's blurb, I would have succeeded with 100% success.) There are NO surprises and NOTHING that you're used to seeing in the genre is left out. Even the seemingly random events are just section 2, part b, subsection iii of the most commonly utilized industry outline (or so it seems). It's your basic bitch, Why Choose fairy-tale retelling book. But hey, we read them because we enjoy them. So, predictable in the extreme, but also super cute. I really did enjoy watching the males come around. They're all adorable in their own way.
I can't really say the same for Arie though. She just kind of existed. And I honestly never got over my page-one question about why, if you could be exiled or killed for having red hair, you'd grow it out instead of cutting it off. I was really bothered by the idea that she walked around with a whole Merida-like head of hair hidden under a hood her whole life. Why would you endanger yourself like that? It was ridiculous in the extreme, but I decided to look over it. Despite that, I still found her a fairly bland heroine.
I'm wandering. My point was that despite being noting new to the genre I enjoyed it...up until the halfway mark. I even overlooked the editing mishaps. But after the halfway mark, when Sanders took the characters outside of their small story-line, the whole thing fell apart. Most notably the plotting fell apart and suddenly everything was too easy.
Three non-humans walked into a hostile human city for the first time and instantly found what might have been the only human who both wasn't afraid of them and was willing/able to help them. Arie similarly was introduced to one person. She asked them for help and they said yes, etc. It didn't even really feel like a story anymore, just a list of events with no emotional significance. By the time the final fight scene rolled around—which was won with ridiculous ease—I was done.
The book is also just too long. Whole sections could be cut easily. I'm thinking of the entire episode with the mutated humans and subsequent events, for example. All of it could have been cut wholesale for a tighter read, it contributes so little to the overall story.
So, to recap, fun if formulaic first half, lazy (and still formulaic) second half. I love the cover though!
This was okay but def not my fav. Very dramatically written lol
4 arms = 4 stars
Trope: Mars needs women
Retelling of little red riding hood- the FMC gets lost in the woods, found by a triad of alien/wolves, and eventually they all fall in love and mate. Part III with the citadel lost my attention though
Trope: Mars needs women
Retelling of little red riding hood- the FMC gets lost in the woods, found by a triad of alien/wolves, and eventually they all fall in love and mate. Part III with the citadel lost my attention though