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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I love all of this authors books but I do especially like this series. I've found myself falling for the whole pack and wanting to know more about all of them. This is my third time reading this series and it never dissapoints. Isaac and Tank are so perfect and I really like the way they deal with issues. None of this pack seems to have pulled through without have being warped by one thing or another and these books show them working through these issues. I really liked seeing Alec's control in this book and I like thefact that the pack is growing. The next book focuses on Colin and I cant wait to read that one either.
3.5 stars
Paranormal romance all around breaking in-book and genre stereotypes, and not just finding but recognizing one's place in a bigger whole.
Content warnings include: partially unprotected sex on-page, BDSM in the form of Dom/sub dynamics, violence, casual use of ableist slur that goes unchallenged; mentions of kidnapping, chaining and getting locked in a cage, sexual harassment and assault, a suicidal cult, racism.
I'm not going to go into the plot because it establishes itself well on its own and the book's blurb is actually pretty good.
What I can say is that while I enjoyed myself as I was reading, the pacing was.... off. Generally there was something weird about this book that I can't quite put my finger on. There were some side sentences that just felt odd, and I believe the book would have benefited from a bit more editing to smooth these things over, as this made it feel rushed.
Additionally, I think the series would benefit from sensitivity readers. It does it's best to be diverse, but the language used around queerness, race, and privilege isn't quite up to par at times, and made me wince occasionally.
I did like the main characters Isaac and Tank but sometimes it was hard for me to follow their motivations and trains of thought. I wasn't exactly confused by their actions, but every now and then I wished there was more insight into why they were acting the way they did. Another thing here was that their characterisation wasn't always clear to me.
I also wished for a bit more worldbuilding, but I understand why it wasn't done here as neither of the characters are particularly knowledgeable or care about the specific stuff in the background they are either not aware of or have as basic knowledge.
I was never annoyed or confused by this, but I believe it would be harder to get into this if one hadn't read [b:The Sumage Solution|35112713|The Sumage Solution (San Andreas Shifters, #1)|G.L. Carriger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494480926l/35112713._SX50_.jpg|56424111], book1 in this series, and [b:Marine Biology|12806429|Marine Biology (San Andreas Shifters, #0.5)|G.L. Carriger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317862387l/12806429._SX50_.jpg|17955220]Marine Biology, the short story prequel.
Speaking of, while I'm not a fan of the title due to the expectations that arise with it, I do think it fits in well with the series as a whole, especially regarding book3, [b:The Enforcer Enigma|42091427|The Enforcer Enigma (San Andreas Shifters, #3)|G.L. Carriger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1591538532l/42091427._SY75_.jpg|65647730], that I'm looking forward to a lot.
In the most basic of sense, the book is omegaverse, given that there are alphas, betas and omegas. However, the book very much does not include any of the worldbuilding inherent in a/b/o stories. Omegas have a very different function here - and that's partly of my issues I had with the worldbuilding. Not because of what omegas do, but because I found it, as well as other things, pretty vague and hard to grasp.
Which brings me to something I really enjoyed: the side characters. Especially Tank's pack, the San Andreas Pack, is a lovely group of people. The prequel and book1 already established two important couples, and book3 will pair up another one that has been hinted at for a long time, and I'm hoping for more books, especially one about Lovejoy and Mana, or ones about characters introduced in this book.
Speaking of the characters and the previous books, one thing I couldn't help but notice is that there are quite some parallels between Tank and Bryan, and Max and Isaac. The latter are both prickly and guarded, while the former are big softies that don't talk much. There are still a lot of differences, especially in their dynamics.
One thing that I was a little disappointed about was how none of the questions left over from book1 were answered. They were just... forgotten and seemingly remain without consequences. This confused me as they were made to seem quite important and impactful at the time.
I loved that basically the entire cast is queer or queer-friendly, and many of them are PoC. Isaac is a Black gay man and Tank is white and bi. Tank, who very much lives up to his name in appearance, is a submissive bottom and lacks self-confidence in quite a few areas, whereas Isaac is a dominant top, empathetic and values his independence.
There were some wonderful conversations about being queer and especially about bisexuality. However, as mentioned above, sometimes the language used made me wince.
Another thing I loved was the humor. It's typical of the author and part of her brand even, I would say, and it made me laugh out loud several times.
There is also an abundance of pet-names - almost all of the characters use them, a lot. I'm not sure if this is an American thing, a San Francisco thing or supposed to be a queer thing (?), though it could also just be the author's style as she does use a lot of pet-names in general in her other books as well. It just stood out to me in this one.
Overall I did enjoy reading this a lot, but there were a few things that bothered me. Especially the beginning and the overall pacing was off, and I still have a few question marks floating around in my head, but ultimately I had a great reading experience.
Paranormal romance all around breaking in-book and genre stereotypes, and not just finding but recognizing one's place in a bigger whole.
Content warnings include: partially unprotected sex on-page, BDSM in the form of Dom/sub dynamics, violence, casual use of ableist slur that goes unchallenged; mentions of kidnapping, chaining and getting locked in a cage, sexual harassment and assault, a suicidal cult, racism.
I'm not going to go into the plot because it establishes itself well on its own and the book's blurb is actually pretty good.
What I can say is that while I enjoyed myself as I was reading, the pacing was.... off. Generally there was something weird about this book that I can't quite put my finger on. There were some side sentences that just felt odd, and I believe the book would have benefited from a bit more editing to smooth these things over, as this made it feel rushed.
Additionally, I think the series would benefit from sensitivity readers. It does it's best to be diverse, but the language used around queerness, race, and privilege isn't quite up to par at times, and made me wince occasionally.
I did like the main characters Isaac and Tank but sometimes it was hard for me to follow their motivations and trains of thought. I wasn't exactly confused by their actions, but every now and then I wished there was more insight into why they were acting the way they did. Another thing here was that their characterisation wasn't always clear to me.
I also wished for a bit more worldbuilding, but I understand why it wasn't done here as neither of the characters are particularly knowledgeable or care about the specific stuff in the background they are either not aware of or have as basic knowledge.
I was never annoyed or confused by this, but I believe it would be harder to get into this if one hadn't read [b:The Sumage Solution|35112713|The Sumage Solution (San Andreas Shifters, #1)|G.L. Carriger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494480926l/35112713._SX50_.jpg|56424111], book1 in this series, and [b:Marine Biology|12806429|Marine Biology (San Andreas Shifters, #0.5)|G.L. Carriger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317862387l/12806429._SX50_.jpg|17955220]Marine Biology, the short story prequel.
Speaking of, while I'm not a fan of the title due to the expectations that arise with it, I do think it fits in well with the series as a whole, especially regarding book3, [b:The Enforcer Enigma|42091427|The Enforcer Enigma (San Andreas Shifters, #3)|G.L. Carriger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1591538532l/42091427._SY75_.jpg|65647730], that I'm looking forward to a lot.
In the most basic of sense, the book is omegaverse, given that there are alphas, betas and omegas. However, the book very much does not include any of the worldbuilding inherent in a/b/o stories. Omegas have a very different function here - and that's partly of my issues I had with the worldbuilding. Not because of what omegas do, but because I found it, as well as other things, pretty vague and hard to grasp.
Which brings me to something I really enjoyed: the side characters. Especially Tank's pack, the San Andreas Pack, is a lovely group of people. The prequel and book1 already established two important couples, and book3 will pair up another one that has been hinted at for a long time, and I'm hoping for more books, especially one about Lovejoy and Mana, or ones about characters introduced in this book.
Speaking of the characters and the previous books, one thing I couldn't help but notice is that there are quite some parallels between Tank and Bryan, and Max and Isaac. The latter are both prickly and guarded, while the former are big softies that don't talk much. There are still a lot of differences, especially in their dynamics.
One thing that I was a little disappointed about was how none of the questions left over from book1 were answered. They were just... forgotten and seemingly remain without consequences. This confused me as they were made to seem quite important and impactful at the time.
I loved that basically the entire cast is queer or queer-friendly, and many of them are PoC. Isaac is a Black gay man and Tank is white and bi. Tank, who very much lives up to his name in appearance, is a submissive bottom and lacks self-confidence in quite a few areas, whereas Isaac is a dominant top, empathetic and values his independence.
There were some wonderful conversations about being queer and especially about bisexuality. However, as mentioned above, sometimes the language used made me wince.
Another thing I loved was the humor. It's typical of the author and part of her brand even, I would say, and it made me laugh out loud several times.
There is also an abundance of pet-names - almost all of the characters use them, a lot. I'm not sure if this is an American thing, a San Francisco thing or supposed to be a queer thing (?), though it could also just be the author's style as she does use a lot of pet-names in general in her other books as well. It just stood out to me in this one.
Overall I did enjoy reading this a lot, but there were a few things that bothered me. Especially the beginning and the overall pacing was off, and I still have a few question marks floating around in my head, but ultimately I had a great reading experience.
I love Carriger's goofy, fun, found-family queer shifters - just enough angst, but not an overwhelming amount. The whole series is just really fun with a great ensemble cast.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm a little disappointed with this one. The characters were pretty lackluster. The plot was, I don't know, same-ish? I did still... enjoy it? Like, I read the whole thing, but I was getting bored, mostly because:
There is a lot of repeated information.
For example, the pack gets introduced, quirks and all, about 5-100 times in this book. Sometimes, information is retold to the same person, like they hadn't just told them that a few days ago. Tank will keep telling us how sub he is again and again.
And despite that, there is still so little lore! There are names thrown around, times, places, but very little precise lore. We got a little about magic at the end of the first book, but considering these are werewolves, very little werewolf lore. "But it's all so new, we don't know anythi-" Bitch, 100 years. That's 3 generations. You know what people learn in100 years? Psh.
I have so many questions. And I get that this is a little romance book, I do. But, there's just too little half-assed world building for me.
There is a lot of repeated information.
For example, the pack gets introduced, quirks and all, about 5-100 times in this book. Sometimes, information is retold to the same person, like they hadn't just told them that a few days ago. Tank will keep telling us how sub he is again and again.
And despite that, there is still so little lore! There are names thrown around, times, places, but very little precise lore. We got a little about magic at the end of the first book, but considering these are werewolves, very little werewolf lore. "But it's all so new, we don't know anythi-" Bitch, 100 years. That's 3 generations. You know what people learn in100 years? Psh.
I have so many questions. And I get that this is a little romance book, I do. But, there's just too little half-assed world building for me.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Delightful
I thoroughly enjoyed Tank's story, as I do everything Gail writes, but this one brought a little extra joy to my subbie heart to find us so gently presented. Thank you for that, Gail.
I thoroughly enjoyed Tank's story, as I do everything Gail writes, but this one brought a little extra joy to my subbie heart to find us so gently presented. Thank you for that, Gail.
This book is just beautiful. It's full of chosen family and finding self worth and love and joy and it's all wrapped up with Gail Carriger's incomparable sense of humor. I think I love it more every time I read it. P.S.: Another audiobook triumph. ❤️
Completely wonderful with a number pretty nifty trope twists.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes