Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh

1 review

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 
And the fourth book is done. I'm really moving through these at a fast, steady pace. About 24 hours per book. (Though I had to add myself to a waitlist for the 5th one, which is really getting me down because it's messing with my unhealthy-amount-of-reading-time paranormal romance binge lifestyle. Plus, as I'm deep into this series now, my mood for reading anything else is less than normal...which sucks, though thankfully is not as bad as a full-on slump.) 
 
So in this fourth installment, we head back to the DarkRiver Pack and Clay Bennett, the sentinel whose darker side has been heavily hinted at, with a vision from Faith even suggesting that he'll soon be facing a crossroads that he may not come back from. When Talin McKade, a childhood friend that Clay committed a terrible act to defend, comes back into his life unexpectedly, all the memories of trying to "hide" his beast and the act of violence that separated himself and Talin for years (with lots of guilt, and fear, on both sides of that) resurface. But Talin needs Clay, and DarkRiver, to help her save the foster kids she works with from what has become a serial kidnapper/murderer. And Clay has never been able to say no to Talin (plus we all know how the Pack feels about protecting kids). So they'll have to face their past in order to save the youth, and their own futures. 
 
As with all the books so far, this one has a number of content warnings that need to be shared, particularly for child physical/sexual abuse and the long term emotional PTSD from that (and of course the "normal' violence and death that are apparently a hallmark of this series). This was an interesting relationship, between Clay and Talin, because it's the first that has some background (since they knew each other as children) and a lot of shared trauma they needed to sort through in order to move forward together in a, at least marginally, healthier way. Also, Talin is the first human that we have seen mate with a changeling. And I liked the way the differences between a Psy mate and a human mate were detailed, as well as the way certain things (the extreme overprotective male thing) stayed the same. However there were a few items, specific to Talin and the way Clay/the Pack reacted, that rubbed me the wrong way. First, she made a comment (that turned out to not be true) about liking girls and the intense step-back reaction from Dorian/Clay did not sit well. Also, when Talin reveals her sexual history, Clay's vehement anger about it, and the fact that there was even a question of forgiveness being necessary, considering the guilt Talin already had about it all, just....it was not what I wanted. And that sucks because while I know the rest of what I've read isn't exactly healthy, this is the first time something has felt super wrong to the point that I was jumped out of my "guilty pleasure" enjoyment of the series. Meh. 
 
As far as the other parts of the plot, we finally get some insight into the role humans play in this three-species world (clearly, a low rung as far as importance/power, but nevertheless they play a part). The kidnapping/murders of Talin's at-risk youth (though heartbreaking) open a door into the human organization Shine, which, by the end, gives some major info about the dark past secrets of the Psy and the origins of Silence (and what happened to dissenters), whereas to date we've only seen their present-tense evil. Plus, we saw a lot more about the movements within the PsyNet with the dissatisfaction of the populace, the machinations of the Council, and the status of the Protocol I hivemind project (both the proponents and those working to delay it). As far as that piece goes, it's clear the intra-Psy issues are increasing and something explosive is coming. What we learn at the end about Shine and Talin's (mostly) human mind, combined with all that, is really building the tension for what's coming. I also want to note that the previous character role reprisals were really solid in this book and it was really fun, as always, to see them all again. I do love that Singh consistently brings them back. 
 
As always, I'm ready to blast through the next installment whenever I can get my hands on it. Despite the issues I had with this romantic pairing/situation in this book, the forward movement of the greater story arc was pretty big. And I'm invested enough at this point that I need to know what happens. The foreshadowing of Dorian's story next has me anticipating further major plot movement; plus, I do love Dorian and I can't wait to get his romance! 
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