Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Strange Love

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

babudarabu's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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lilbookbee's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? No

3.75

Listen, I went into this book fairly blind. I knew it was an alien romance, featuring a kind of dorky MMC who looked NOTHING like a human in features. I knew that my discord reading group had positive things to say about it. That was enough for me to buy this book and try it out.

I was not expecting everything that this book was. To start, it was absurd. I burst out laughing at the absurdity more than once. However, it was never slapstick. It was clever comedy and made complete sense in the context of the story. Even the talking dog, while hysterical, felt perfect at home in this story.

Everything about this book felt somehow both exaggerated and perfectly normal. The characters had big personalities, some even cartoonishly or comic book-like in nature. Snaps being able to talk was so silly, but it made COMPLETE sense in the context of the world. And while Zylar and Beryl's differences seemed so big and insurmountable in the context of love, both of the characters had the type of personalities that lent themselves to some extreme open-mindedness and the utmost empathy and caring.

Truly though, book was also so sweet and earnest. Zylar and Beryl are both sweethearts, and so easy to love. Watching them learn about each other, build each other up, and work together to thrive all while falling in love was absolutely beautiful. I adored them from the get-go, but by the end, I loved them as a couple. And I should mention that the smut between them is completely unique, definitely strange, and still very hot.

I didn't realize this was part of the series until everything with Helix at the end. I probably won't pick up the sequel immediately, but this was so enjoyable that I would definitely be up to reading another in this series.

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wilybooklover's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

Zylar is just the most adorable cinnamon roll of a hero. He made this book for me. Beryl is also a great heroine: brave, but also a little bit of a hot mess. He accidentally kidnaps her (we all make mistakes, right?) and they decide to make a go of it because he can't exactly get her back to Earth, even though they find each other's appearance a little (or a lot) scary. Together, they made a really great couple who complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses.

The plot is a bit wacky and the alien culture more or less practices eugenics, with some harrowing tests involved in the process. The relationship remains sweet and understanding and low-angst all while they face these trials together, which is one of my favourite things to read.

I loved how alien Zylar was. He's not at all humanoid — closer to a giant bipedal insect. He doesn't have anything like human genitalia (which makes the sex scenes interesting, and perhaps not for everyone). He's adorably formal and awkward. The alien culture is suitably strange and a little bit terrifying.

Oh, and there's a talking dog who gets some of the funniest lines. I adored every page of this.

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greystory's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I LOVED this book. I can't wait to dive into the next two and I'm glad I purchased all three at once.

The first part of the book was pretty hilarious and had a great amount of sci-fi rom-com vibes but things start to get serious and take a somber turn about half way through. There's still some comedic bits to help lighten the mood, sweet and tender moments, and an eventual, hopeful, mostly happily ever after. The end was pretty satisfying, all the things considered.

I greatly enjoyed so much in this book - the character growth, meeting different characters, the world of Barath and the city of Srila, the complex and brutal sociocultural rules. I really hope we get to see some of the characters again and I look forward to diving into this world further in the next two books.

I do want to share two very important warnings:
1. SA Warning:

There is implied non-consensual physical and sexual contact to a non-named character during one of Ryzven's parties. This happens at the very beginning of chapter 15.

2. Violence/Death Warning:

The events of the Choosing challenges are often violent and brutal, resulting in the death of several competitors. The worst one is a named minor character whose death is described in chapter 14 and is a major plot point for the remainder of the book.

Content Warnings