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A review by sleepey
Acquainted With the Night by Lesli Richardson, Tymber Dalton
dark
emotional
sad
4.5
It took me quite a long time to really pick up what this book was doing. On the surface it's an alien abduction & breeding story (& if you only want to engage on that level it's quite a detailed & well thought-out one) but all that kinky business eventually fades into the background. The first couple of times someone lays an egg it's a whole event, but by the halfway mark it barely warrants a mention in passing. There's a strange vibe underpinning everything, with an emphasis on how kindly they're treated by their Master, & how deeply (you might say abruptly) they become devoted to him, as though the book was written by the propaganda arm of the alien breeder recruitment office.
The key is in understanding the humans' status as "pets". Most people will read that as a kind of power imbalance, with negative & demeaning connotations. But this book is about the pets we bring into our homes, our beloved companions that we feed and take care of, and love unconditionally, and who love us back twofold. At one point the main character just outright says "I'm a bad dog with separation anxiety," and it's played as a joke, but viewed through that lens a lot of things about him suddenly make more sense.
From a summary you'd probably think this is a risky concept to pair with all the weird sex stuff going on, but the author is skilled enough to walk the line where they're clearly pets, but also fundamentally human, so we manage to avoid any unfortunate implications about how we treat our animal friends.
A lot of dark, depressing things happen to the characters as the story goes on, though they're able to weather most of it by drawing strength from their Master & each other. I'd say it goes a little too far toward the end though - I think it's supposed to be bittersweet, but the increasing use of time-skips through the peaceful times really emphasises the sad stuff. I don't believe in "show don't tell" as a hard & fast rule, but it definitely comes to mind here. If you like a good tear-jerker, this one's for you, but personally if I read this again, I might take the hint when the protagonist says he wants to stop time & stay in a certain moment forever. 📖➡️📘
This definitely isn't a book for everybody, for like a dozen really obvious reasons, but if you can get on its wavelength, it's got a unique & honestly kind of beautiful perspective on love & life. Yes that's a weird thing to say about a book where aliens put eggs up your arse that make you cum all the time, but that's just how it is sometimes.
The key is in understanding the humans' status as "pets". Most people will read that as a kind of power imbalance, with negative & demeaning connotations. But this book is about the pets we bring into our homes, our beloved companions that we feed and take care of, and love unconditionally, and who love us back twofold. At one point the main character just outright says "I'm a bad dog with separation anxiety," and it's played as a joke, but viewed through that lens a lot of things about him suddenly make more sense.
From a summary you'd probably think this is a risky concept to pair with all the weird sex stuff going on, but the author is skilled enough to walk the line where they're clearly pets, but also fundamentally human, so we manage to avoid any unfortunate implications about how we treat our animal friends.
A lot of dark, depressing things happen to the characters as the story goes on, though they're able to weather most of it by drawing strength from their Master & each other. I'd say it goes a little too far toward the end though - I think it's supposed to be bittersweet, but the increasing use of time-skips through the peaceful times really emphasises the sad stuff. I don't believe in "show don't tell" as a hard & fast rule, but it definitely comes to mind here. If you like a good tear-jerker, this one's for you, but personally if I read this again, I might take the hint when the protagonist says he wants to stop time & stay in a certain moment forever. 📖➡️📘
This definitely isn't a book for everybody, for like a dozen really obvious reasons, but if you can get on its wavelength, it's got a unique & honestly kind of beautiful perspective on love & life. Yes that's a weird thing to say about a book where aliens put eggs up your arse that make you cum all the time, but that's just how it is sometimes.