Scan barcode
A review by tani
Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh
4.0
Months have passed since her harrowing experience at the hands of a serial killer, but Brenna is still struggling. She's seeing strange things, having disturbing dreams, afraid to go out and continue her life, stifled by her brothers, and attracted to the worst man. Basically, her life's a mess, and part of her doubts it will ever get any better. Things only get worse when a murder within the pack is discovered, in a manner that exactly matches a dream she recently had. Against all logic, she finds herself reaching out to Judd Lauren, the enigmatic Psy that the SnowDancer pack has offered shelter to, a man deeply committed to the Silence, despite his escape from the PsyNet.
I was extremely hesitant about this one at first. It's so hard to deal with a character who's been through trauma like Brenna has, but I think that Singh does a decent job of it. There are no easy fixes, although I do think Brenna's Changeling nature helps a little in that respect. There are a lot of issues that both Brenna and Judd need to work through, and I think that the book does an admirable job of doing that, although I'm not sure how it would hold up for someone who's more sensitive to issues of past abuse and trauma.
I appreciated that this book also flipped script a bit by venturing out of the DarkRiver pack, and by using a male Psy, especially one as uniquely positioned as Judd. His past is very different to that of both Sascha and Faith, and that allows Singh to explore yet another area of Psy history and society. It also gives him a different kind of dilemma, as Silence has actually benefited him in some ways that it did not benefit the women. He also has the added issue of being a powerful fighter living in the midst of the pack, and I liked seeing how that situation resolved itself.
If I have a complaint about this one, it's the contrast between how Judd handles physical contact and how the women handled it in previous books. Although there's conflict, it's of a different kind, and I kind of felt like it played a bit too much into gender stereotypes, in a way that I found a bit unsatisfying. I didn't hate it, but it did annoy me a little bit, and I could have wished for a slightly more balanced handling.
Other than that quibble, I really enjoyed this one a lot. It's a great entry into this series. I love how the world just gets deeper with every work, and I'm very excited to see where the series goes.
I was extremely hesitant about this one at first. It's so hard to deal with a character who's been through trauma like Brenna has, but I think that Singh does a decent job of it. There are no easy fixes, although I do think Brenna's Changeling nature helps a little in that respect. There are a lot of issues that both Brenna and Judd need to work through, and I think that the book does an admirable job of doing that, although I'm not sure how it would hold up for someone who's more sensitive to issues of past abuse and trauma.
I appreciated that this book also flipped script a bit by venturing out of the DarkRiver pack, and by using a male Psy, especially one as uniquely positioned as Judd. His past is very different to that of both Sascha and Faith, and that allows Singh to explore yet another area of Psy history and society. It also gives him a different kind of dilemma, as Silence has actually benefited him in some ways that it did not benefit the women. He also has the added issue of being a powerful fighter living in the midst of the pack, and I liked seeing how that situation resolved itself.
If I have a complaint about this one, it's the contrast between how Judd handles physical contact and how the women handled it in previous books. Although there's conflict, it's of a different kind, and I kind of felt like it played a bit too much into gender stereotypes, in a way that I found a bit unsatisfying. I didn't hate it, but it did annoy me a little bit, and I could have wished for a slightly more balanced handling.
Other than that quibble, I really enjoyed this one a lot. It's a great entry into this series. I love how the world just gets deeper with every work, and I'm very excited to see where the series goes.