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the_wistful_word_witch's review
5.0
If you’ve ever read any of my other reviews of Angel’s books, you’ll know that I’m a die-hard fan. I have yet to read something by her that I didn’t love. However, I’d held off on reading this particular series because I wasn’t sure how well both authors’ writing styles would mesh, especially since I’d never read any of Freddy MacKay’s solo work. But I was pleasantly surprised how well they blended together; the tone of voice was quite seamless and therefore didn’t detract from the story itself.
I love this series as much as I love any of Angel’s solo works or other collabs, although this particular love is tinged with quite a bit of pain. The series is #worthreading because it's incredibly well-written, with such a beautifully crafted world, wonderfully detailed characters, and yet... #booksthatmakeyouuglycry
I love this series as much as I love any of Angel’s solo works or other collabs, although this particular love is tinged with quite a bit of pain. The series is #worthreading because it's incredibly well-written, with such a beautifully crafted world, wonderfully detailed characters, and yet... #booksthatmakeyouuglycry
kaje_harper's review
5.0
4.5 *, rounded up. Haru is an otter shifter from a very traditional clan of Japanese lijun. As such, they've been brought up to be a bride-son, a token to be bartered off for the most advantageous marriage the family can get for them. They are agender, although that aspect is kept private and those around them use male pronouns, while they use the singular "they". They are also pansexual, so it's not having a husband that bothers them, but the whole idea of no choice, no love, and a family worth measured in cold cash.
When a brash, huge American snake-shifter (a scary thing to begin with, given the reputation of snakes) with a lot of money declares them fated mates and offers the family plenty of money, Haru is trapped sooner and faster than they had even imagined. Frantic to get the deal called off, but under severe threats from their family to behave or else, they try to make the engagement as unpleasant as possible within the limits of supposed propriety, but they just can't shake off the big snake.
Tally wasn't looking for romance until he saw a slender person in rainbow suspenders at a banquet in Tokyo and suddenly knew he was looking at his Em’halafi, his destined match. Luckily, Tally has the money and the power to make an acceptable offering for his exquisite otter. But once the offer is made, the spirited person he fell for seems submerged in a quiet, almost bitter, tradition ridden bride-son. Tally tries his best to follow all the rules set out by his new inlaws, and hopes that once he and Haru are alone together after the wedding, the pull of the Em’halafi will let them be themselves and live in love together.
Until he finds out on his wedding night that Haru isn't in love back, and that all his assumptions were ridden roughshod over what Haru wants. Tally can't fall out of love, but he's determined to make things as easy for Haru as possible, hoping against hope to overcome the bad beginning. Being accused of the murder of a local opossum-shifter, and caring for three orphaned joeys, doesn't make his job easier. Nor does being the leader of a conflicted village of mixed lijun. But Tally will try his very best.
I really enjoyed the world-building here, with its varied customs, male marriage with the roles of surrogates, the attitudes of good friends and family, and the irrepressible little ones. <3 There was light fun, sweetness, and a real bite of heartache here.
At times, Haru seemed improbably suspicious of Tally. I could see this annoying some readers, but to me it could be attributed to both their upbringing and Tally's species, and the resentment they felt as a bargaining chip. I kind of wished Tally hadn't been a vegetarian - it didn't fit with the way all the other shifters carried traces of their animal in their human persona - there are no real vegetarian snakes. And if he had eaten meat eagerly, and naturally, it would have given Haru more excuses for their fears. But he was a supernatural type of snake with no parallel in the natural world so it worked all right. Tally was almost too good, but I had to love him anyway. My heart ached for how he tried to do right, and how it hurt him whenever he failed, even through no fault of his own.
This book resolves the mystery and ends with a HFN. As first in a series, I hope we get more glimpses of Tally and Haru. (I'd take another book featuring them, but I have a strong suspicion this will be a new-couple-per-book series.) Because lijun culture borrows heavily from the Japanese, there are a fair number of unfamiliar terms in the world-building, but even someone lazy like me can get enough from context not to feel compelled to slow reading and look things up. Haru's "they/them" pronouns occasionally make parsing a sentence difficult, but I'm grateful for the practice as we have people even within this community (including one well-loved author) who uses those pronouns. This is a sweet and poignant, fun and imaginative start to a new series.
When a brash, huge American snake-shifter (a scary thing to begin with, given the reputation of snakes) with a lot of money declares them fated mates and offers the family plenty of money, Haru is trapped sooner and faster than they had even imagined. Frantic to get the deal called off, but under severe threats from their family to behave or else, they try to make the engagement as unpleasant as possible within the limits of supposed propriety, but they just can't shake off the big snake.
Tally wasn't looking for romance until he saw a slender person in rainbow suspenders at a banquet in Tokyo and suddenly knew he was looking at his Em’halafi, his destined match. Luckily, Tally has the money and the power to make an acceptable offering for his exquisite otter. But once the offer is made, the spirited person he fell for seems submerged in a quiet, almost bitter, tradition ridden bride-son. Tally tries his best to follow all the rules set out by his new inlaws, and hopes that once he and Haru are alone together after the wedding, the pull of the Em’halafi will let them be themselves and live in love together.
Until he finds out on his wedding night that Haru isn't in love back, and that all his assumptions were ridden roughshod over what Haru wants. Tally can't fall out of love, but he's determined to make things as easy for Haru as possible, hoping against hope to overcome the bad beginning. Being accused of the murder of a local opossum-shifter, and caring for three orphaned joeys, doesn't make his job easier. Nor does being the leader of a conflicted village of mixed lijun. But Tally will try his very best.
I really enjoyed the world-building here, with its varied customs, male marriage with the roles of surrogates, the attitudes of good friends and family, and the irrepressible little ones. <3 There was light fun, sweetness, and a real bite of heartache here.
At times, Haru seemed improbably suspicious of Tally. I could see this annoying some readers, but to me it could be attributed to both their upbringing and Tally's species, and the resentment they felt as a bargaining chip. I kind of wished Tally hadn't been a vegetarian - it didn't fit with the way all the other shifters carried traces of their animal in their human persona - there are no real vegetarian snakes. And if he had eaten meat eagerly, and naturally, it would have given Haru more excuses for their fears. But he was a supernatural type of snake with no parallel in the natural world so it worked all right. Tally was almost too good, but I had to love him anyway. My heart ached for how he tried to do right, and how it hurt him whenever he failed, even through no fault of his own.
This book resolves the mystery and ends with a HFN. As first in a series, I hope we get more glimpses of Tally and Haru. (I'd take another book featuring them, but I have a strong suspicion this will be a new-couple-per-book series.) Because lijun culture borrows heavily from the Japanese, there are a fair number of unfamiliar terms in the world-building, but even someone lazy like me can get enough from context not to feel compelled to slow reading and look things up. Haru's "they/them" pronouns occasionally make parsing a sentence difficult, but I'm grateful for the practice as we have people even within this community (including one well-loved author) who uses those pronouns. This is a sweet and poignant, fun and imaginative start to a new series.
frothy's review
3.0
The trope is bride sold/forced into arranged marriage to softy who doesn’t realise. Bride is trapped and acutely distressed and bitter and twisted. Softy thinks they are fated mates. Then he gets acutely distressed when All is Revealed.
Bride made happier by having little kids to look after.
If I had realised that this was the trope, I would not have read this book. I hate this trope.
To the book’s further detriment, the bride is referred to as them/their, and the writing was not good enough to always make it clear what was going on.
And then there is the world building, which was peppered with ?japanese words that were not explained in the text. There was a glossary, but as most of the foreign words were about their robes, and who cared?
There is also a murder to solve. That bit was all right.
Bride made happier by having little kids to look after.
If I had realised that this was the trope, I would not have read this book. I hate this trope.
To the book’s further detriment, the bride is referred to as them/their, and the writing was not good enough to always make it clear what was going on.
And then there is the world building, which was peppered with ?japanese words that were not explained in the text. There was a glossary, but as most of the foreign words were about their robes, and who cared?
There is also a murder to solve. That bit was all right.
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