Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Eh, I wasn’t really feeling this one much. I didn’t really buy the romance between our hero Zadeon and our heroine, Callie.
I also feel like an author has to be really careful when writing a character who is a survivor of a sexual assault. Obviously this isn’t a topic that makes for great entertainment and so I just found myself feeling really bad for Callie while reading this. It took away from the romance storyline for me.
Again, I felt like the writing itself was kind of clunky in places. I’m not sure if this is the fault of the writing or if I’m just heading into a reading slump.
I also feel like an author has to be really careful when writing a character who is a survivor of a sexual assault. Obviously this isn’t a topic that makes for great entertainment and so I just found myself feeling really bad for Callie while reading this. It took away from the romance storyline for me.
Again, I felt like the writing itself was kind of clunky in places. I’m not sure if this is the fault of the writing or if I’m just heading into a reading slump.
This one wasn’t really for me in terms of plot and story direction and I struggled to lose myself in the unfolding story.
I did really like the first book in this series and also others by this author so I will definitely read this author again but this one just was not to my taste unfortunately it happens.
This story centres on one of the previous rescued woman Callie, she has been seriously brutalised by her snake captors and has been left with deep scars.
Her mate is Zadeon a former gladiator the previous book hero’s brother and he is totally gruff and growly with everyone except Callie that is.
In fact, Zadeon is the best part of this and without him, I might have not finished this he is definitely patience personified and also so god damned adorable in all his ways.
Callie has been hearing his song in her head without realising all of her life and this story is all about healing from past traumas and forging new pathways.
Zadeon is the perfect alien book boyfriend and Callie was likeable enough I just had a bit of a disconnect and was slightly bored throughout.
The aftermath from the abuse was done well and sympathetically but I also felt that I had been dropped into a story with limited explanations and as such you really do need to read the first book in this series for further clarification.
It’s been a while since I’ve read the previous book so I could have done with the refresh myself.
This doesn’t really work as a stand-alone in my opinion and you will need to read book one before this.
I also found myself getting turned around and confused during some conversations over who was speaking and with all the extra characters involved this could get a tad confusing at times, I also wasn’t a fan of the twist either, This was just Ok for me but I did finish it.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com
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:
Complicated
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, Sexual violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Dragged for the first 1/2 of the book and then was 1/2 a drag for the second 1/2. This had a lot of emotion in it but I never could connect because they just really didn't. It was supposed to be a slow burn but... it was non-communication and learning over time how this alien acts when she doesn't even pay attention half the time. It was just mainly boring and since these have humor to some extent usually, this wasn't what I even wanted to read. Just when you think they are finally recovering and becoming a couple another blow Well isn't that going to get them closer /s, only after more than 60% of the book and they really haven't connected much, we are back to emotional blocks.
This just didn't work for me. There were a couple of scenes that had some humor but mostly this was waiting for the woman to come out of her trauma coma, and then getting another dose, which we saw coming.
Spoiler
she is pregnant with the rapists' childThis just didn't work for me. There were a couple of scenes that had some humor but mostly this was waiting for the woman to come out of her trauma coma, and then getting another dose, which we saw coming.
Spoiler
throwing up in the morning
I really loved this book. I felt like the way the author handled Callie's trauma and how she grows stronger was really believable and I was rooting for her with each step she took towards getting better. The end was really heavy and emotional and really well written. I didn't really like that Callie in the end kind of turned out to be a less scared version of Angie in her personality. Looking forward to Gracie and Dohrein's book, there were so many hints from this book and the first book that shows that there might be a lot of depth to these characters and a refreshing change up in personalities.
Spoiler
The way Zadeon put Callie's needs before his instinct was incredible and heart breaking. And the fact that they knew each other their whole lives gave me all the feels.
This was really sweet minus a friends "intervention" that I found a little bit too invasive.
I would looove to read the 2nd generation romances ASAP
I would looove to read the 2nd generation romances ASAP
I have no idea why I decided to read book two of this series knowing the heroine had been brutally raped and would be dealing with the aftermath. Think MAJOR DARK CONTENT WARNING!!! The fact that this is an alien romance I would think it would be a hot mess. It really wasn't.
The fact that the author took this on and handled it really well is amazing considering the trope. (Sidenote- the hero was amazing.) I'm focused on the heroine though.
The author took time to allow the heroine to recover in her own time, her own way and that's made even more complicated later on.
Also FYI-I am easily triggered by rape and sexual assault. The fact that I read this book is weird- like I wasn't paying attention when I went on with the series but.... I'm glad I did.
The fact that the author took this on and handled it really well is amazing considering the trope. (Sidenote- the hero was amazing.) I'm focused on the heroine though.
The author took time to allow the heroine to recover in her own time, her own way and that's made even more complicated later on.
Also FYI-I am easily triggered by rape and sexual assault. The fact that I read this book is weird- like I wasn't paying attention when I went on with the series but.... I'm glad I did.
In my Top 5 favorite and best series ever! Wish she wrote faster as I love her writing style.
I was expecting to enjoy more of this authors books since I loved Contagion. Sadly not the case here. There was barely any description of the settings, scenes, or even characters (which is kinda important when we're dealing with aliens). The interactions between any female characters were really awful (with the female lead's supposed friends trying to pressure into having sex with the male lead while they know full well about her rape trauma... Yikes). I'm also not into the stereotypical ending in so many romance novels of "female produces lots of babies and happily ever after" especially with the way the pregnancy was treated in this situation.
I can see where the author was trying to go with this story in some situations (like the female lead dealing productively with her depression in instances and the male lead being super understanding about her sexual trauma) but the rest just doesn't hit the mark for me.
I can see where the author was trying to go with this story in some situations (like the female lead dealing productively with her depression in instances and the male lead being super understanding about her sexual trauma) but the rest just doesn't hit the mark for me.