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katiekeske's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I was honestly nervous starting this book. I didn't love the first book (I liked Arokh but not Angie so much), but I was intrigued and really wanted to know what Callie's story would be. I'm very glad I went ahead with reading this. I knew what the content warnings would be and that helped prepare me to deal with the tough scenes and trauma.
I feel like this book was therapeutic for me. The descriptions of events, the flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts felt real, and I'm so glad that Callie had the strong but gentle and patient mate that is Z.
This story is a healing journey and an emotional slow burn romance between a sexu@lly traumatized woman and her alien rescuer. It does not sugar coat things, and it also discusses the trauma and choices that other characters have gone through.
This is not a book with a fun adventure. The two characters are confined to one place for most of the book. It was different than other books I've read, and I am glad I read it. I cried, I laughed, and I loved the characters.
I've read four of Amanda Milo's books so far, and I continue to be impressed with how well she writes the male aliens' POV. They feel so real and alien, but relatable at the same time.
I would take off maybe half a star rating for one scene that I think could have been handled better between Callie and her friends and their mates. I feel like they were very pushy in front of Z and everyone about a very sensitive topic. It did help move things along... But I cannot imagine real friends talking to a r@pe survivor about that in that way.
I see other reviews saying that this gets pro-life, but I didn't get that feeling. I was surprised by Callie's choice, but there are survivors who make the choice she made. I feel like the author tried to show that it was okay to make the opposite choice by the discussion that Callie has with Gracie, who chose to drink the @bortion drink. Survivors are allowed to have conflicting feelings. All feelings are valid.
I feel like this book was therapeutic for me. The descriptions of events, the flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts felt real, and I'm so glad that Callie had the strong but gentle and patient mate that is Z.
This story is a healing journey and an emotional slow burn romance between a sexu@lly traumatized woman and her alien rescuer. It does not sugar coat things, and it also discusses the trauma and choices that other characters have gone through.
This is not a book with a fun adventure. The two characters are confined to one place for most of the book. It was different than other books I've read, and I am glad I read it. I cried, I laughed, and I loved the characters.
I've read four of Amanda Milo's books so far, and I continue to be impressed with how well she writes the male aliens' POV. They feel so real and alien, but relatable at the same time.
I would take off maybe half a star rating for one scene that I think could have been handled better between Callie and her friends and their mates. I feel like they were very pushy in front of Z and everyone about a very sensitive topic. It did help move things along... But I cannot imagine real friends talking to a r@pe survivor about that in that way.
I see other reviews saying that this gets pro-life, but I didn't get that feeling. I was surprised by
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Confinement, Body horror, Bullying, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion, Self harm, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts
The heroine is r@ped before being rescued by the hero. Later in the book there is a surprise pregnancy from the r@pe. Another female character who was r@ped discusses her choice of an abortion later in the book.greystory's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I appreciated the thorough trigger warning list at the beginning of the book and strongly recommend taking them seriously because there is a lot to process and the book does not gloss over the ugly, painful parts of the healing process after sexual violence and rape. I would also warn that there is pregnancy in this book.
Overall, I enjoyed the book quite a lot. Zadeon and Callie were an interesting dynamic and their relationship was very, very different from Arokh and Angie in book 1. I cried reading this a lot because the story is pretty heavy, emotional, and haunting as Callie and Zadeon (but mostly Callie) work through some serious shit. When all is said and done, there is still a happy ending and there are moments and scenes of sweetness and hope throughout the story that are made all the more nice and appreciative by the nature of being littered between pain and suffering. This is well and truly a character-driven story rather than a plot-driven story.
This is absolutely not a 2nd book you can read without reading book 1 as there are a lot of things that aren't bothered to be explained again. Occasionally Callie will learn something new-to-her that was covered before when Angie learned it in book 1 but, for the most part, you're thrown into the world of Rakhii and Gryfala and hobs right away. There is a bit of a recap at the beginning from Callie and Zadeon's point of view of events in book 1 but the focus is on their experiences at the time and not on catching up or informing the reader (which I actually appreciated).
Overall, I enjoyed the book quite a lot. Zadeon and Callie were an interesting dynamic and their relationship was very, very different from Arokh and Angie in book 1. I cried reading this a lot because the story is pretty heavy, emotional, and haunting as Callie and Zadeon (but mostly Callie) work through some serious shit. When all is said and done, there is still a happy ending and there are moments and scenes of sweetness and hope throughout the story that are made all the more nice and appreciative by the nature of being littered between pain and suffering. This is well and truly a character-driven story rather than a plot-driven story.
This is absolutely not a 2nd book you can read without reading book 1 as there are a lot of things that aren't bothered to be explained again. Occasionally Callie will learn something new-to-her that was covered before when Angie learned it in book 1 but, for the most part, you're thrown into the world of Rakhii and Gryfala and hobs right away. There is a bit of a recap at the beginning from Callie and Zadeon's point of view of events in book 1 but the focus is on their experiences at the time and not on catching up or informing the reader (which I actually appreciated).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Grief, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
Minor: Addiction, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
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