Reviews

Antidote by R.A. Steffan

razzamatazzberry's review against another edition

There was a trifecta of things that made me stop around fifteen percent in the book. 

1. Skye made a really stupid decision without considering it, without the narrator giving reasons for why she would do that. 

Fine, i thought, maybe she'll redeam herself, and continued. 

2 and 3 happened within a sentence of each other. When Skye asks if Hunter will rape her, he answers "I prefer my sex partners to be begging before I take them, little sparrow." This does not actually say that he won't rape her, it is attempting a flirtation when she is afraid of being raped, and it uses a nickname that is completely unfounded. 

Collectively this made me go "gross" and i stopped reading. 

bookwife's review against another edition

3.0

Loved the story but I hated Skye. I hated her so freaking much.

redhairedashreads's review

4.0

 

4 stars - It was really good

It’s been years since I read this book but it was just as good as I remembered. Skye Chantrell escaped a war zone carrying a stolen antidote for a deadly bioweapon targeted towards humans. Her damaged shuttle crashes on a remote lunar outpost and into one of the Seven Systems' more feared criminal’s hands. But this brutal criminal isn’t what she expected and she quickly finds herself falling for him, and he for her. 

This was an absolute wonderful blend of romance and action, and just everything I love about sci-fi romance. Hunter and Skye start off a little rocky considering Skye thinks he is the worst criminal in the world but quickly their feelings can’t be ignored. I loved that while this is a fated mates story, we still see their relationship build and grow. It’s not an instant love fated mates story, which was perfect for the situation and these characters. Also, I really wasn’t expecting the Vithii mating practices but it was hot!

While these two are falling for each other, I loved that they remained focused on the mission at hand. While Skye initially seems to be out of her depth at sabotage, we quickly see that she has a core of steel and can be quite deadly with a gun when necessary. I love when we get a strong heroine who also isn’t afraid to show her grief and vulnerable side. I also appreciated that while Hunter had an extreme need to protect Skye, he fights it and lets her participate in the mission. 

Overall, this was an absolutely wonderful start to a series and I cannot wait to see what will happen next. Also, I really love this crew and can’t wait to learn more about them. 

Trigger Warnings: Skye's father was killed in front of her; grief; death of parents discussed; PTSD; 

 

crystal_bookworm's review

4.0

Good book

This was a good book. Well written, main characters that you fell in love with. Also quite fluffy and general feel good book. With meat of a good plot.

krysley's review against another edition

2.0

I was so aggravated by this book that I began skimming around the 75% mark. My personal rule is I don't rate books that I don't finish, but I really wanted to rate this one so I forced myself to finish it, even if that meant skimming the last 80 or so pages.

First of all, for a book that is supposed to be a science fiction romance, there isn't much science fiction. Or much real romance for that matter. I think this book easily could have been a modern "suspense" (because, let's be honest, there really wasn't any suspense either) rather than tagged as science fiction. The most science fictiony bits came in the form of spacecraft, teleportation, laser guns, and a cyborg. The rest of this was thinly veiled science fiction by adding random words.

There was no world building at all. We know that the Vithii are the dominant species (though the only thing that really separates them physically from humans is their weird dicks). We sort of know that they use humans as sex slaves, though this section seemed superfluous to the entire book since it was only brought up once. What else do we know about the Vithii? Not much. In fact, they use military time, drive vehicles that appear to be identical to what we as humans use, and act pretty much like humans. As I said, there was no world building or differentiating between Vithii and humans.

As for the romance, I don't understand how Hunter and Skye managed to fall in love when they had very few interactions and even fewer conversations. It was just, boom! We're in love. This is a clear cut case of instalove with no base for emotions to develop.

I think this plot would have been great if there had been better world building (or any at all!) and any kind of emotional development by either main character. The fact that they needed an antidote to protect an entire species from genocide is intriguing, but the story was handled poorly.

What I did like about the book: the secondary characters. I'm specifically talking about Kade, Draven, and Ash. Kade is an interesting case because of his addiction. I definitely felt some vibes between Draven and Ash, but I think there's a lot more going on with Ash than he's willing to tell the rest of the crew.

Though those three hold the potential for good stories, I won't be continuing with this series.

doorasbookshelf's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars.
I really enjoyed the books and the characters, but somehow during the big main event, I couldn’t really get into it. I kept skipping lines, but once the protagonist was in the safe house I got back into it again.

louise_lion's review against another edition

I was expecting something different and it’s my fault I picked it up without reading the description and maybe when I’m in the mood for alien romance I’ll pick it up again

bookwifereviews's review against another edition

3.0

Loved the story but I hated Skye. I hated her so freaking much.