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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
IF YOU HAVE SEXUAL TRAUMA, please think carefully before picking this one up.
Callie is suffering from severe PTSD and this book gives you a first person seat for what it can be like to be recently traumatised. It was a very tough read despite the author keeping the flashback scenes deliberately detail-free. I had no issue with the writing, the characters (loved Z so much) or the plot really, but I couldn't finish this book because of the subject matter.
Dnf: 65%
Callie is suffering from severe PTSD and this book gives you a first person seat for what it can be like to be recently traumatised. It was a very tough read despite the author keeping the flashback scenes deliberately detail-free. I had no issue with the writing, the characters (loved Z so much) or the plot really, but I couldn't finish this book because of the subject matter.
Dnf: 65%
this book was good, not as good as the first but still good!
one thing i did think was strange though was the whole being in each other’s dreams? and the fact that it was barely expanded on lol
one thing i did think was strange though was the whole being in each other’s dreams? and the fact that it was barely expanded on lol
Really a great treatment of the subject matter. I didn't give 5 stars because the story jumps around a lot and is a bit difficult to follow.
Rating: 3 stars
This is certainly not your typical alien romance. The relationship between Zadeon and Callie starts off after she has been rescued from aliens who have brutally abused and raped her. Thus, with a damaged heroine, we get to see her journey to recovery and her struggles with accepting Zadeon despite how gentle he is with her. And because of this, the romance is slow, and signs of Callie's trauma is ever present in her interactions with Zadeon. With this in mind, I would say this book might not be for someone looking for a typical alien erotica.
I gave this book three stars because, compared to the first book, the writing was unusually choppy. It just didn't have the same flow as the first book, and that did impact my enjoyment. I think this book also lacked a bit in plot - the focus was on Callie's and Zadeon's developing relationship, but that's about it. Beyond that, there really wasn't too much going on. I understand it may be because they are all stuck within the Gryfala research facility, but I think the author's choice to have them all end up there is going to hinder future novels.
This is certainly not your typical alien romance. The relationship between Zadeon and Callie starts off after she has been rescued from aliens who have brutally abused and raped her. Thus, with a damaged heroine, we get to see her journey to recovery and her struggles with accepting Zadeon despite how gentle he is with her. And because of this, the romance is slow, and signs of Callie's trauma is ever present in her interactions with Zadeon. With this in mind, I would say this book might not be for someone looking for a typical alien erotica.
I gave this book three stars because, compared to the first book, the writing was unusually choppy. It just didn't have the same flow as the first book, and that did impact my enjoyment. I think this book also lacked a bit in plot - the focus was on Callie's and Zadeon's developing relationship, but that's about it. Beyond that, there really wasn't too much going on. I understand it may be because they are all stuck within the Gryfala research facility, but I think the author's choice to have them all end up there is going to hinder future novels.
This is a serious book with considerable obstacles for the heroine to overcome. One of the things that I loved about this book was that although there is serious subject matter, it isn't handled flippantly. There are so many romance novels that will have a traumatized woman jump into bed with the next person they meet without any real time to recover. Amanda Milo does a fantastic job of writing the story and showing the trust that must be earned by the hero. This is a great book with many wonderful moments. I highly recommend you read the first book in the series, which is also a must read.
These are good books man. I think this one especially exemplifies what I like about them. They are fun and kind of light, but have some dark underlying themes. They’re serious, without being too dark. They kind of remind me of the Ice Planet Barbarian books.
Note: I choose not to read the second epilogue.
Note: I choose not to read the second epilogue.
Honestly, I would have rated this much higher if it wasn’t for a scene in the middle that completely turned me off loving it. I don’t agree with the way the trauma was handled in this. Her ‘friends’ basically just told her to ‘get over ot’ And hat she had ‘hang ups’ instead of realising she had a genuine fear of things related to her attackers. Basically, they told her to get over her problems because she was depriving her man of the things he would normally be doing as a Mate by her not being able to touch him or have sex with him. Honestly I think it’s none of their business. That is totally up to him to decide, and he was finding ways around his compulsions so that she was comfortable. OBVIOUSLY she needed a little more of a push to work on dealing with her trauma, but how they handled it was jarring even for me!
I loved how much patience he had, he was completely understanding and thoughtful from the moment he saw her.
I will say I didn’t really like how much this jumps around. In the first part of the book there were two scenes that jumped a little too quickly for me. They were together, then he was taken really quickly and the whole thing happened so fast I kept turning back thinking I’d skipped something because it then moves into something else. And then towards the end it jumps around a little more nicely but still frequently to move along in time.
But overall it was quite a great book. Loved the second epilogue, sounds so cool.
I loved how much patience he had, he was completely understanding and thoughtful from the moment he saw her.
I will say I didn’t really like how much this jumps around. In the first part of the book there were two scenes that jumped a little too quickly for me. They were together, then he was taken really quickly and the whole thing happened so fast I kept turning back thinking I’d skipped something because it then moves into something else. And then towards the end it jumps around a little more nicely but still frequently to move along in time.
But overall it was quite a great book. Loved the second epilogue, sounds so cool.
I really loved the first half of this book and the PTSD portrayal and healing. Zadeon was an awesome partner and so protective and understanding. Angie and Gracie…. I was sooooo pissed when they told her to “get over it” and give Zadeon what he needed. It would have been so beautiful if it had just kept progressing as it was, but her friends had to go blaming her for her PTSD.
Spice: 2.5/5
Triggers: frequent flashbacks to SA, nightmares, self harm, depression, pregnancy, childbirth, ableism, discussion of captivity, starvation, and mutilation, violence and gore, murder, mentions of abduction, discussion of fatal car accident involving death of parent and partner
Spice: 2.5/5
Triggers: frequent flashbacks to SA, nightmares, self harm, depression, pregnancy, childbirth, ableism, discussion of captivity, starvation, and mutilation, violence and gore, murder, mentions of abduction, discussion of fatal car accident involving death of parent and partner
I was super excited about this when reading about Callie and Zadeon in the first book.
For some reason this book started off disjointed and never really picked up.
Callie has been severely traumatised and is understandably very upset/depressed. This behaviour towards Z however, her ‘mate’ the guy that saved her was awful. She was disgusted with his ‘scales’ for the first half-ish of the book, which she made sure he knew and let him cover himself up and hide his scales from her. She later regrets this kind of.
Then when she finds out she’s pregnant, she kind of ‘forces’ him to be with her when he wants to stop and just lay with her, help her figure her feelings out. Chooses to ignore this fact allowing the baby to grow bigger and wallows in self-pity/self-hatred even. She’s scared she’s not going to love this child and yet doesn’t seem to really even entertain the idea of abortion.
I couldn’t read further because what idiot wants to have a baby they are probably going to hate. She has a problem with scales because of her rapists and this is half their child. It’s going to look like them. She couldn’t even stand touching someone who has scales but was a different species how is she going to handle a baby that is the exact same as her rapists. It drove me insane the stupidity of it all.
For some reason this book started off disjointed and never really picked up.
Callie has been severely traumatised and is understandably very upset/depressed. This behaviour towards Z however, her ‘mate’ the guy that saved her was awful. She was disgusted with his ‘scales’ for the first half-ish of the book, which she made sure he knew and let him cover himself up and hide his scales from her. She later regrets this kind of.
Then when she finds out she’s pregnant, she kind of ‘forces’ him to be with her when he wants to stop and just lay with her, help her figure her feelings out. Chooses to ignore this fact allowing the baby to grow bigger and wallows in self-pity/self-hatred even. She’s scared she’s not going to love this child and yet doesn’t seem to really even entertain the idea of abortion.
I couldn’t read further because what idiot wants to have a baby they are probably going to hate. She has a problem with scales because of her rapists and this is half their child. It’s going to look like them. She couldn’t even stand touching someone who has scales but was a different species how is she going to handle a baby that is the exact same as her rapists. It drove me insane the stupidity of it all.
It's a good book but a hard read. The FMC experiences a lot of trauma and the book spends a lot of time wallowing in the aftermath