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peristome's review
funny
lighthearted
3.5
I enjoyed this book, to my immense surprise. I was impressed with the amount of worldbuilding the author was able to do given the book is so short, and none of it felt like I was being lectured. However, this book relied a little too heavily on the miscommunication trope for me (even though there was a good reason, it's one of my most hated tropes—sorry not sorry). It also grated on me how much the nassa would not listen to Alex. Still, Alex and Saar were so sweet. And I'm definiktely interested in continuing the series.
dolunay29_'s review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
shelfgremlin's review
2.5
2.5 ★'s - interesting premise but really missed the mark in the details.
the alien's kidnapped omega was basically every a/b/o trope smashed into one. this book is built on the premise that alex (human omega) is leading a first contact mission to the planet mukhana to meet with the nassa people and negotiate an alliance. while there he's kidnapped, imprisoned, and won (gladiator style) by an alpha he now has to mate.
alex was... extremely feeble and naive, and not in the innocent way. he was a spineless damsel-in-distress who gave up and went along with everything fairly easily. he put up a fight (verbally) once or twice, if it can even be called that, and then decided he was just going to go with it and wait for blaine (his boss) to come and rescue him.
saar was the formerly broody, suddenly romantic alpha who scents alex and immediately knows he's destined to be his mate. he goes from frowny-mcalphahole to mild-mannered doting mate at the flip of a hat and gives zero shits what alex thinks or wants.
the miscommunication in this book was so frustrating for me because it didn't stem from an actual misunderstanding, saar just wouldn't fucking listen to alex. he assumed and insisted he knew better than alex even when alex did his best to explain that he was fine and he wasn't being mistreated. literally all of the conflict in this book stems from saar not listening to him and it was infuriating as hell.
and to make it worse, it wasn't even just saar that wouldn't listen to him. none of the alphas did. not kion (saar's father, also head alpha,) not the alpha council, not eisa or alya, not even the other omegas. even though they were fine with listening to omegas who were also nassa, they wouldn't listen to the human.
usually that wouldn't irritate me so much but they decided he was healthy and well enough to force him into a mating he said he didn't want but they continued to repeatedly ignore anything he had to say. saar was so fucking oblivious that by half-way through i was wishing he'd been kidnapped with intention rather than by saar with his white-knight complex.
this just wasn't the book for me.
the alien's kidnapped omega was basically every a/b/o trope smashed into one. this book is built on the premise that alex (human omega) is leading a first contact mission to the planet mukhana to meet with the nassa people and negotiate an alliance. while there he's kidnapped, imprisoned, and won (gladiator style) by an alpha he now has to mate.
alex was... extremely feeble and naive, and not in the innocent way. he was a spineless damsel-in-distress who gave up and went along with everything fairly easily. he put up a fight (verbally) once or twice, if it can even be called that, and then decided he was just going to go with it and wait for blaine (his boss) to come and rescue him.
saar was the formerly broody, suddenly romantic alpha who scents alex and immediately knows he's destined to be his mate. he goes from frowny-mcalphahole to mild-mannered doting mate at the flip of a hat and gives zero shits what alex thinks or wants.
the miscommunication in this book was so frustrating for me because it didn't stem from an actual misunderstanding, saar just wouldn't fucking listen to alex. he assumed and insisted he knew better than alex even when alex did his best to explain that he was fine and he wasn't being mistreated. literally all of the conflict in this book stems from saar not listening to him and it was infuriating as hell.
and to make it worse, it wasn't even just saar that wouldn't listen to him. none of the alphas did. not kion (saar's father, also head alpha,) not the alpha council, not eisa or alya, not even the other omegas. even though they were fine with listening to omegas who were also nassa, they wouldn't listen to the human.
usually that wouldn't irritate me so much but they decided he was healthy and well enough to force him into a mating he said he didn't want but they continued to repeatedly ignore anything he had to say. saar was so fucking oblivious that by half-way through i was wishing he'd been kidnapped with intention rather than by saar with his white-knight complex.
this just wasn't the book for me.
venusofthesnakes's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
Insta love.
Bad politics.
Childish reasoning by grown adults.
Many many plot holes.
Misunderstanding (stupidity) trope. Kinda.
One dimensional characters. (Falling in love is not character growth)
A wet noodle human MC. First Contact Officer? Bah. Fire him, he's a fking disgrace.
A very flat and pathetic alien MC.
The premise is interesting, so I wanna read the next book now that these two banana peels' story is over, but the plot goes faster than a Disney movie.
-Kidnapped! Ah! No, nevermind, everything is ok!
-Questions? No, I'm not curious about anything!
-What's going on? Whoop! Not gonna ask/answer that!
-One day has passed. I am in love.
As a person I have a lot of curiosity about new things, and to read this where the human MC not only isnt curious about anything, but also refuses to readily share knowledge, blows my mind and makes me so mad. This guy is not only shit at his job, but also a loser.He just straight up fking says "I do" at the wedding for no reason???? Like, he's not forced or anything??? He doesn't even try for diplomacy. He doesn't even try to say the things that would make these woke aliens listen. He just, "well ok I guess I gotta marry the King's son, darn" HAHAHAH. Idiot. I hate how the author wrote him. AND HE DIDNT EVEN SLEEP AROUND TO GET HIS JOB, or have an influential family. No. He worked really hard, and was good at it. WHERE??? WHEN??? His first words and actions were done by a brain dead possum.
Alex triggers me.
I added a .75 bc I kinda enjoyed hating it.
Peace out.
Bad politics.
Childish reasoning by grown adults.
Many many plot holes.
Misunderstanding (stupidity) trope. Kinda.
One dimensional characters. (Falling in love is not character growth)
A wet noodle human MC. First Contact Officer? Bah. Fire him, he's a fking disgrace.
A very flat and pathetic alien MC.
The premise is interesting, so I wanna read the next book now that these two banana peels' story is over, but the plot goes faster than a Disney movie.
-Kidnapped! Ah! No, nevermind, everything is ok!
-Questions? No, I'm not curious about anything!
-What's going on? Whoop! Not gonna ask/answer that!
-One day has passed. I am in love.
As a person I have a lot of curiosity about new things, and to read this where the human MC not only isnt curious about anything, but also refuses to readily share knowledge, blows my mind and makes me so mad. This guy is not only shit at his job, but also a loser.
Alex triggers me.
I added a .75 bc I kinda enjoyed hating it.
Peace out.
djbrinsky's review
adventurous
emotional
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? No
3.5
gale_bruckner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
While the story technically deals with situations that are quite serious, and had the potential to escalate to real violence, it has a very cozy feel. I would have liked to see more serious conversations between Alex and Saar, but I understand how the situation they were caught up and might not have allowed for it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
melitta's review
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
kcinlive's review
1.0
Full disclosure, I wasn't able to bring myself to finish this book. I don't like writing a review for a book I half finished, but here I am.
My complains are mainly that that the Alex is supposed to be an expert in first contact situations but at no point acts like it! Then he's completely passive through the entire first half of the book. He just completely goes with the flow. All for no real reason! There's a nod towards not wanting the other humans to wipe out the village he's staying at to save him. But honestly it doesn't even feel like that was a major concern. It was handled really quickly and they held off.
My biggest complaint was the Alex was basically forced into a marriage ceremony with someone he had just met. He really didn't complain about it much. Then when it got to the "I do"s. He said YES! FOR NO REASON!!! I had to put the book down and walk away. He wasn't under any threat. He was in no danger. He knew he was in no danger. The worst that would have happened is that he would have embarrassed the alien MC(Saar) he was going to marry and his family, but so what?! They were forcing him into it! Alex told them he didn't want this several times! Not that he actively tried to stop it at any point!
The author even told us the Alex was driven, studied and worked hard to get to where he was. I really don't feel like he would just give all that up with no real reflection, to someone he just met! It's not at all internally consistent, and bugged the heck out of me!
At the marriage ceremony the MC should have apologized but said no. The Saar would have been devastated. So would his family. THEN the human marines should have arrived to "save" Alex. The story could have continued from there. Alex could have felt guilty. Maybe even admit to himself about having some feelings for Saar. Had time to reflect as to whether he was really happy with his life. THEN maybe they try first contact again. On the planet again, or maybe better in Space so the humans could show off. Then maybe the aliens could understand why Alex didn't need to be "protected". Alex and Saar could continue their relationship on a more equal footing. The alpha/omega story could still have continued but maybe not as crazy extreme. I'm no author but this would have made a lot more sense.
Honestly if you like a alpha/omega, human is abducted, etc. story this one's "ok". I can suspend my disbelief, but there are limits. This story just wasn't internally consistent enough for me.
Spoiler
I got about half way through, then human MC(Alex) did something I thought was beyond stupid and I stopped. The book is basically every other human gets abducted, alpha/omega, active/passive person, etc. story out there. However, I LIKE a lot of those stories. I wasn't a fan of this one.My complains are mainly that that the Alex is supposed to be an expert in first contact situations but at no point acts like it! Then he's completely passive through the entire first half of the book. He just completely goes with the flow. All for no real reason! There's a nod towards not wanting the other humans to wipe out the village he's staying at to save him. But honestly it doesn't even feel like that was a major concern. It was handled really quickly and they held off.
My biggest complaint was the Alex was basically forced into a marriage ceremony with someone he had just met. He really didn't complain about it much. Then when it got to the "I do"s. He said YES! FOR NO REASON!!! I had to put the book down and walk away. He wasn't under any threat. He was in no danger. He knew he was in no danger. The worst that would have happened is that he would have embarrassed the alien MC(Saar) he was going to marry and his family, but so what?! They were forcing him into it! Alex told them he didn't want this several times! Not that he actively tried to stop it at any point!
The author even told us the Alex was driven, studied and worked hard to get to where he was. I really don't feel like he would just give all that up with no real reflection, to someone he just met! It's not at all internally consistent, and bugged the heck out of me!
At the marriage ceremony the MC should have apologized but said no. The Saar would have been devastated. So would his family. THEN the human marines should have arrived to "save" Alex. The story could have continued from there. Alex could have felt guilty. Maybe even admit to himself about having some feelings for Saar. Had time to reflect as to whether he was really happy with his life. THEN maybe they try first contact again. On the planet again, or maybe better in Space so the humans could show off. Then maybe the aliens could understand why Alex didn't need to be "protected". Alex and Saar could continue their relationship on a more equal footing. The alpha/omega story could still have continued but maybe not as crazy extreme. I'm no author but this would have made a lot more sense.
Honestly if you like a alpha/omega, human is abducted, etc. story this one's "ok". I can suspend my disbelief, but there are limits. This story just wasn't internally consistent enough for me.