christina_ro's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.75
If Nalini Singh wrote a dictionary, it’d become my favorite book. Honestly, though, this is probably one of my favorite of this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Drug abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
now_booking's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
3.0
I am a huge fan of this series, especially the last few books. And I absolutely love Aden and related to Zaira’s possessiveness, but this to me dragged a little at times. I think the issue is that it was too many people’s story and it was ambitious in taking on themes of the change happening in society across Psy, Changeling, Human and other interests. There was so much world building and social order revising going on, that parts of this were kind of too all-over-the-place and unfocused for my taste. I think someone who loves the intricacies of great world building and context setting will probably enjoy this a lot more than I did. For me, it felt like EVERYONE was getting assassination attempts, everyone was a protagonist, everyone’s story was getting told and sometimes it felt like the essence of Aden and Zaira was lost. This author does a great ensemble cast romance but for me, this one was a little scattered and about too many things and too many people. I lacked an anchor and wasn’t as invested as I have been in recent books. I loved Zaira and Aden, but they often felt a little out of focus in this book. Whenever they were the focus, this book shown- in terms of their relationship, their willingness to be vulnerable and the sheer protective emotion Zaira had for Aden, this was perfection. But because this book was about so many things, the momentum of their relationship was often a little lost in all the voices and perspectives of the storytelling. I know there’s a joint ensemble-focus book coming up and after reading this one, I worry about how I’m going to like that. Still like this series though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking
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