A review by sleepey
Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts by Lyn Gala

5.0

The start of the book is super fun, seeing the main characters meet & trade & inhabit this really cool, fleshed-out alien world.

When the "claiming" happens & they spend a rough couple of chapters talking through it, my heart sank a little, thinking I'd been lured into another overly-intense & unpleasant abduction story. But to my surprise they manage to figure it all out in a way that actually makes total sense to me.

The back half of the book is more of a reflection on humans' capacity to harm each other & deny themselves love, in ways that would seem preposterous to an outsider. Then there's a little bit of alien smut to blow off steam at the end. I would have liked an extra chapter where they're out of their honeymoon phase, to see how this relationship works in their day-to-day life. But I imagine I'll get plenty of that from the sequels. Overall, great read.