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michellewords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Charles and Anna stories are like a breath of fresh air. For some reason, the stories and characters in this part of the series are so much better developed. I've been racking my brain all weekend, trying to pinpoint why I like them so much better and if they are really better than the Mercy books. The author is the same and the Mercy books seem to be her golden children, but the characters lack flaws and fawn over Mercy and the plots feel so unnecessarily complicated.
Anyway, I loved this book a lot-with a few caveats.
The book begins with Anna and Charles in a disagreement over children, but that gets quickly overshadowed by a phonecall from one of Charles's few friends (Joe), who is human and near his deathbed. Charles surprises Anna with a trip to buy a horse from his friend. They find themselves thrust into a fae attack against Joe's daughter-in-law and decide to help locate a fae who has been kidnapping children, abusing them, and killing them.
This book was not for the weak at heart. When you get kids involved in abuse and murder, it definitely takes a darker turn. Yet, those darker moments are some of the most powerful and well-written in the book. I felt so invested in this plot and these characters, I could not put the book down.
One thing I love about Charles and Anna is how flawed they are as characters and how that can play into the stories. Charles's history as Bran's police and the ghost reminders that follow him play an unexpected role in this book. Anna's own history under an abusive alpha's thumb also plays a role. While some histories can feel like kicking a dead horse. These moments are subtle and really good additions to the story and the character development.
Blast I love Charles and Anna so much.
You know what I really don't love in this one? Two big things: Anna's pining for a baby and horse-talk.
The woman pining after a baby felt like such a cliche' in this book. it also felt unnecessary and kind of weird for their plot line and story thus far. It came out of left field and I hate it. It's one of those things that can ruin a series for me. Not because I hate babies, but sometimes books add life events to give the characters something to do and I HATE that for Charles and Anna.
I don't think I need to explain the horse talk. Charles apparently used to work on a horse ranch with Joe. Charles is getting Anna a horse and this book was filled with horse-talk. So much so that I felt like I was reading a textbook about horse breeding and shows. It was really boring and weird for this series. I don't need to know what "English proper" is for the characters, the book, or the series. Why on Earth are we getting into this much detail about horses?! I can let one scene go due to the pretense of buying a horse, but there were like six scenes with extreme detailed discussion on horse stuff. So weird!
Anyways, I LOVED the book despite the horses/baby stuff. I'm glad I kept reading because Charles and Anna are always a good time.
Anyway, I loved this book a lot-with a few caveats.
The book begins with Anna and Charles in a disagreement over children, but that gets quickly overshadowed by a phonecall from one of Charles's few friends (Joe), who is human and near his deathbed. Charles surprises Anna with a trip to buy a horse from his friend. They find themselves thrust into a fae attack against Joe's daughter-in-law and decide to help locate a fae who has been kidnapping children, abusing them, and killing them.
This book was not for the weak at heart. When you get kids involved in abuse and murder, it definitely takes a darker turn. Yet, those darker moments are some of the most powerful and well-written in the book. I felt so invested in this plot and these characters, I could not put the book down.
One thing I love about Charles and Anna is how flawed they are as characters and how that can play into the stories. Charles's history as Bran's police and the ghost reminders that follow him play an unexpected role in this book. Anna's own history under an abusive alpha's thumb also plays a role. While some histories can feel like kicking a dead horse. These moments are subtle and really good additions to the story and the character development.
Blast I love Charles and Anna so much.
You know what I really don't love in this one? Two big things: Anna's pining for a baby and horse-talk.
The woman pining after a baby felt like such a cliche' in this book. it also felt unnecessary and kind of weird for their plot line and story thus far. It came out of left field and I hate it. It's one of those things that can ruin a series for me. Not because I hate babies, but sometimes books add life events to give the characters something to do and I HATE that for Charles and Anna.
I don't think I need to explain the horse talk. Charles apparently used to work on a horse ranch with Joe. Charles is getting Anna a horse and this book was filled with horse-talk. So much so that I felt like I was reading a textbook about horse breeding and shows. It was really boring and weird for this series. I don't need to know what "English proper" is for the characters, the book, or the series. Why on Earth are we getting into this much detail about horses?! I can let one scene go due to the pretense of buying a horse, but there were like six scenes with extreme detailed discussion on horse stuff. So weird!
Anyways, I LOVED the book despite the horses/baby stuff. I'm glad I kept reading because Charles and Anna are always a good time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Sexual content
zinlizzie's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
omega's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Amei amei amei amei! Sdds q eu tava desse casal lindo maravilhoso perfeito q nunca errou aaaaaaaa
E agr eles vão ter filhossssss AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Inclusive amei a dinâmica de perspectivas. Eu amo como a autora brinca com diferentes perspectivas e o timing dela é quase sempre perfeito. N sabia q podia ficar melhor, mas foi ainda melhor do q nos 3 primeiros livros de algum jeito.
Inclusive amei a dinâmica de perspectivas. Eu amo como a autora brinca com diferentes perspectivas e o timing dela é quase sempre perfeito. N sabia q podia ficar melhor, mas foi ainda melhor do q nos 3 primeiros livros de algum jeito.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Child death, Child abuse, and Death
Minor: Infertility
cluckieduck's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
A solid 4* for this addition to the Alpha & Omega series.
I was a bit worried for this book, because fairly quickly we were thrust into one of my least favourite storylines - baby-making time! Anna's love for Charles is so deep that she wants his children, while Charles is very against the idea of babies since it would put Anna at great risk. Needless to say, I was happily surprised that it didn't turn into the overarching conflict of the story, rather, we got a lovely tale about family.
We get to experience Charles away from his own pack, away from his obligations as the Marrok's enforcer, and get to see him relax a bit while he's surrounded by his surrogate family in Arizona, the Sani's. Charles has travelled to Arizona to his old (possibly best & only) friend Joseph Sani to buy Anna a horse for her birthday. But Joseph is human, and Charles soon realizes that Joseph is close to dying.
Such as these stories go, there are outside evils that need to be dealt with - a fae is stealing & murdering children - all while Charles deals with his internal struggles on what it means to truly love someone, as well as to trust himself with his role in the grander scheme of things, with Anna as his biggest cheerleader.
"We Know," she whispered to him. "We who have been hurt, we know what evil looks like. We know you make us safe." He didn't say anything, but his arms came around her and she knew that she had told him something he didn't know - and that it mattered.
Even though the major conflict revolves around child abductions, this seemed to be a much more mellow offering of Charles & Anna. There were lots of moments of down-time with the two, which was a nice relief from always being on the attack, so to speak.
Anna pulled out a paperback novel with a half-naked man holding an improbably long sword. He wondered if the sword was meant to be metaphoric. Then he wondered if he should be concerned that his mate was reading a book with a naked man on the cover.
Overall, it was a lovely story about...love, really. Love & family.
Charles smiled at her. "Love," he said, "is always a risk, isn't it? I've always thought that there were no certainties in life, but I was wrong. Love is a certainty. And love always gives more than it takes."
I was a bit worried for this book, because fairly quickly we were thrust into one of my least favourite storylines - baby-making time! Anna's love for Charles is so deep that she wants his children, while Charles is very against the idea of babies since it would put Anna at great risk. Needless to say, I was happily surprised that it didn't turn into the overarching conflict of the story, rather, we got a lovely tale about family.
We get to experience Charles away from his own pack, away from his obligations as the Marrok's enforcer, and get to see him relax a bit while he's surrounded by his surrogate family in Arizona, the Sani's. Charles has travelled to Arizona to his old (possibly best & only) friend Joseph Sani to buy Anna a horse for her birthday. But Joseph is human, and Charles soon realizes that Joseph is close to dying.
Such as these stories go, there are outside evils that need to be dealt with - a fae is stealing & murdering children - all while Charles deals with his internal struggles on what it means to truly love someone, as well as to trust himself with his role in the grander scheme of things, with Anna as his biggest cheerleader.
"We Know," she whispered to him. "We who have been hurt, we know what evil looks like. We know you make us safe." He didn't say anything, but his arms came around her and she knew that she had told him something he didn't know - and that it mattered.
Even though the major conflict revolves around child abductions, this seemed to be a much more mellow offering of Charles & Anna. There were lots of moments of down-time with the two, which was a nice relief from always being on the attack, so to speak.
Anna pulled out a paperback novel with a half-naked man holding an improbably long sword. He wondered if the sword was meant to be metaphoric. Then he wondered if he should be concerned that his mate was reading a book with a naked man on the cover.
Overall, it was a lovely story about...love, really. Love & family.
Charles smiled at her. "Love," he said, "is always a risk, isn't it? I've always thought that there were no certainties in life, but I was wrong. Love is a certainty. And love always gives more than it takes."
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
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