lauca's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Après avoir été déçue par le tome 5 (je n'ai tout simplement pas compris l'intérêt de ce livre et je n'ai pas accroché du tout), j'ai été ravie par ce tome 6.
Il faut savoir que j'adore la série principale, Mercy Thompson, et que si j'ai voulu lire Alpha & Oméga, c'était pour en savoir plus sur la meute du Marrok. Jusqu'à présent, ce n'était pas vraiment le cas car les enquêtes emmenaient Anna et Charles loin de leur territoire.
Or dans ce tome, nous allons enfin en apprendre plus sur le passé d'un personnage très particulier (car c'est une véritable peste!!).
J'ai profité de mon dimanche pour finir ce petit livre, je ne l'ai pas lâché. En plus il s'est passé un évènement à la fin... 👀 J'ai très envie de lire la suite, sauf que d'après le site internet de l'autrice, elle est prévue en 2024. Il faudra donc que je sois patiente.
Il faut savoir que j'adore la série principale, Mercy Thompson, et que si j'ai voulu lire Alpha & Oméga, c'était pour en savoir plus sur la meute du Marrok. Jusqu'à présent, ce n'était pas vraiment le cas car les enquêtes emmenaient Anna et Charles loin de leur territoire.
Or dans ce tome, nous allons enfin en apprendre plus sur le passé d'un personnage très particulier (car c'est une véritable peste!!).
J'ai profité de mon dimanche pour finir ce petit livre, je ne l'ai pas lâché. En plus il s'est passé un évènement à la fin... 👀 J'ai très envie de lire la suite, sauf que d'après le site internet de l'autrice, elle est prévue en 2024. Il faudra donc que je sois patiente.
sapphicbookdragon's review against another edition
2.0
Normally, I love these books, but I read Briggs for escapist urban fantasy, not for [Spoiler/ CW/ Trigger Warning:] trauma, rape, child abuse, incest and miscarriage.
This installation of Alpha and Omega was good in some ways (decent-albeit-disgusting main plot wraps up, addition of two queer female characters a plus) but fell short in many others in my hopes and expectations for the series.
The bad magic of Wild Sign functions like drug-facilitated sexual assault, with the victims' memories of the incident missing or clouded. Granted, this is not Briggs' first time doing this: in Iron Kissed, one of the first few Mercy Thompson novels, a human using coercive fae magic (via an object that pours a beverage you drink) sexually assaults Mercy, and another adult character shares his story about being a survivor of child abuse and rape... However, I feel like these topics were addressed and written somewhat better in Iron Kissed than in Wild Sign. Something is missing, besides the shift from the first-person perspective to third. The victims/survivors don't talk about it, don't deal with it, really, in anything more than a superficial way. Then there's the miscarriages... We don't get to see how the women deal with those feelings at all. It's just dropped in there, like, oh, by the way, you won't have to worry about any scions/ partblood abominations crawling around, because now that their metaphysical "dad" is dead, they'll all drop dead in the womb, too. (Lovely. It's also confusing how this is handled, given the weirdly anti-choice/pro-life vibes Briggs had given about the topic of abortion, such as when Mercy comforts Sam about his ex-girlfriend's choice in another novel in this same story universe. It was the way she phrased it that rubbed me the wrong way then and now.)
Then there's the monster-creature-feature which just happens to look like a Lovecraftian Old One and seems to possess a [noisy!] hentai tentacle porn fetish... Even though it's explained that the creature takes its form from the imagination of humans nearby, one of whom was a big Cthulhu fan, based on his or her book collection back at the camp, it doesn't feel like a good fit for this series.
This book left me feeling irked, icky, unclean. Disappointed.
Sigh. I don't complain when Lovecraftian eldritch abominations pop up in the Dresden Files ("Outsiders!"), yet here I am complaining when they show up in Alpha and Omega. I don't know, it felt like a variation on the big baddie in River Marked (another Mercy novel), plus the creepy nonconsensual [tentacles!] sex stuff.
I'm just glad I waited for the free library loan instead of preordering the ebook or buying a printed version. I don't think this is one I'll reread for comfort/entertainment when I'm sick, like I have done with other books by Briggs.
I will say in closing it was nice to see some gay (or bi) ladies enter the Mercy/Anna universe. So far the only queer representation has been gay or bi men (cis guys), which I appreciated as a younger reader (eager for any positive/realistic representation in the media I consumed, even stereotypical). There are so many other letters/flavors in the rainbow. LGBTQ+...
This installation of Alpha and Omega was good in some ways (decent-albeit-disgusting main plot wraps up, addition of two queer female characters a plus) but fell short in many others in my hopes and expectations for the series.
The bad magic of Wild Sign functions like drug-facilitated sexual assault, with the victims' memories of the incident missing or clouded. Granted, this is not Briggs' first time doing this: in Iron Kissed, one of the first few Mercy Thompson novels, a human using coercive fae magic (via an object that pours a beverage you drink) sexually assaults Mercy, and another adult character shares his story about being a survivor of child abuse and rape... However, I feel like these topics were addressed and written somewhat better in Iron Kissed than in Wild Sign. Something is missing, besides the shift from the first-person perspective to third. The victims/survivors don't talk about it, don't deal with it, really, in anything more than a superficial way. Then there's the miscarriages... We don't get to see how the women deal with those feelings at all. It's just dropped in there, like, oh, by the way, you won't have to worry about any scions/ partblood abominations crawling around, because now that their metaphysical "dad" is dead, they'll all drop dead in the womb, too. (Lovely. It's also confusing how this is handled, given the weirdly anti-choice/pro-life vibes Briggs had given about the topic of abortion, such as when Mercy comforts Sam about his ex-girlfriend's choice in another novel in this same story universe. It was the way she phrased it that rubbed me the wrong way then and now.)
Then there's the monster-creature-feature which just happens to look like a Lovecraftian Old One and seems to possess a [noisy!] hentai tentacle porn fetish... Even though it's explained that the creature takes its form from the imagination of humans nearby, one of whom was a big Cthulhu fan, based on his or her book collection back at the camp, it doesn't feel like a good fit for this series.
This book left me feeling irked, icky, unclean. Disappointed.
Sigh. I don't complain when Lovecraftian eldritch abominations pop up in the Dresden Files ("Outsiders!"), yet here I am complaining when they show up in Alpha and Omega. I don't know, it felt like a variation on the big baddie in River Marked (another Mercy novel), plus the creepy nonconsensual [tentacles!] sex stuff.
I'm just glad I waited for the free library loan instead of preordering the ebook or buying a printed version. I don't think this is one I'll reread for comfort/entertainment when I'm sick, like I have done with other books by Briggs.
I will say in closing it was nice to see some gay (or bi) ladies enter the Mercy/Anna universe. So far the only queer representation has been gay or bi men (cis guys), which I appreciated as a younger reader (eager for any positive/realistic representation in the media I consumed, even stereotypical). There are so many other letters/flavors in the rainbow. LGBTQ+...
offthedeepend's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
readbooks_eatapples's review against another edition
5.0
Patricia Briggs knows how to keep me hooked.
This started slow, meandered a bit and involved characters I don't really like. There are things about this I felt were a bit too obvious, and I should know by now not to question. It's a dense story. You get deeper insight to the world and important characters, even a little more of a connection to the Mercy storyline than usual.
I feel like someone challenged Briggs to make one of the least likeable characters in the series a central focus, in a way that provokes sympathy and understanding. Like in a previous one, where the challenge was to make one of the most likeable characters a true villain.
And that ending. Shew. I can't wait for the next of either series. I'm going to have to reread AGAIN.
This started slow, meandered a bit and involved characters I don't really like. There are things about this I felt were a bit too obvious, and I should know by now not to question. It's a dense story. You get deeper insight to the world and important characters, even a little more of a connection to the Mercy storyline than usual.
I feel like someone challenged Briggs to make one of the least likeable characters in the series a central focus, in a way that provokes sympathy and understanding. Like in a previous one, where the challenge was to make one of the most likeable characters a true villain.
And that ending. Shew. I can't wait for the next of either series. I'm going to have to reread AGAIN.
bcbirrer's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
So much background in this! This grabbed me because you learn so much about Leah and Bran.
fortunaion's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
ufcasey's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
Um, we need to talk about that last chapter and epilogue! I need my GR friends that have read all the prior books in the Mercy series and this Anna series to read this book ASAP, please and thank you.
Random non-spoiler thoughts:
- Chapter 5 (especially via the audiobook) basically broke my heart.
- The new “enemy” of this book is seriously messed up and I am still not sure how it existed in the first place or who/what defeated it (or if it was defeated?)
- The last sentence of chapter 13!!
- I didn’t think Briggs could make me sympathize with a certain character, but she managed to do it.
- I am desperate for the next book in this series and in the Mercy series!!
Um, we need to talk about that last chapter and epilogue! I need my GR friends that have read all the prior books in the Mercy series and this Anna series to read this book ASAP, please and thank you.
Random non-spoiler thoughts:
- Chapter 5 (especially via the audiobook) basically broke my heart.
- The new “enemy” of this book is seriously messed up and I am still not sure how it existed in the first place or who/what defeated it (or if it was defeated?)
- The last sentence of chapter 13!!
- I didn’t think Briggs could make me sympathize with a certain character, but she managed to do it.
- I am desperate for the next book in this series and in the Mercy series!!
fictionalkate's review against another edition
5.0
I went into this book with high expectations and I wasn't let down. I love Charles and Anna and this latest adventure has them travelling to the Californian mountains (with Tag tagging along) to try and get to the bottom of a mysterious disappearance. It was great getting to learn more about some of the characters who are part of Bran's pack (and also yay! No fae! I enjoy them but sometimes I feel they overwhelm everything). Tag is hilarious with a certain darkness he keeps leashed. And Leah! Leah is someone I had been so curious about since we were first introduced and I appreciated how much we got to know about her and her past in this book.
The tie between magic and music is something that's been addressed before in the series and it was interesting getting to see how it worked in this situation and also how it played with the bonds between the characters. Briggs is known for putting her characters in some pretty dark and grim places - both physically and psychologically - and this book is no exception. But ultimately I left this book feeling hopeful for the characters. There were times when it wasn't the easiest book to read because of what was happening/had happened but I did feel a certain level of pride when things were resolved.
More than other books in the series so far I'm excited to read the next one because after Wild Sign there are some deep conversations needed to be had and things to be resolved between characters. It's fun. I didn't love the epilogue... whilst those events were somewhat hinted at extremely vaguely... I just.. nope. I'll choose to ignore that for the time being and concentrate on the last chapter instead.
The tie between magic and music is something that's been addressed before in the series and it was interesting getting to see how it worked in this situation and also how it played with the bonds between the characters. Briggs is known for putting her characters in some pretty dark and grim places - both physically and psychologically - and this book is no exception. But ultimately I left this book feeling hopeful for the characters. There were times when it wasn't the easiest book to read because of what was happening/had happened but I did feel a certain level of pride when things were resolved.
More than other books in the series so far I'm excited to read the next one because after Wild Sign there are some deep conversations needed to be had and things to be resolved between characters. It's fun. I didn't love the epilogue... whilst those events were somewhat hinted at extremely vaguely... I just.. nope. I'll choose to ignore that for the time being and concentrate on the last chapter instead.
reading_ninja's review against another edition
5.0
This is my favorite Alpha Omega book. Full of adventure, mystery, monsters, both good and bad, friendship, humour, a great read. Love getting to know Leah better.