kirreadsbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
offmyredcarpet's review
1.0
DNFd. This is not a sci-fi romance. It is sci-fi erotica. Which is fine but that is not what i thought I was getting. I’m so tired of inadequate book descriptions. Proper description and categorizing would have kept me from this book and I wouldn’t be here writing a negative review.
The writing is immature. The dialogue is sub-par. The initial concept is great and unique but quickly devolves into a shallow story. It is clear to me that some authors attempt to incorporate kink into their writing without knowing anything about it. BDSM is a consensual handing over of power to a trusted Dominant. It is not, in any form, abusive. If you want to write about kink, learn about kink.
FMC kept getting told to “calm down” and “pay attention” when she was having an appropriate response to being abducted. I read alien abduction romance books on the regular. It is my primary genre. Please allow FMCs to have real responses to being abducted instead of this “oh well whatever can I do” inner dialogue that’s being served because you want to write a submissive smut story but don’t know how to do it without being misogynistic.
The writing is immature. The dialogue is sub-par. The initial concept is great and unique but quickly devolves into a shallow story. It is clear to me that some authors attempt to incorporate kink into their writing without knowing anything about it. BDSM is a consensual handing over of power to a trusted Dominant. It is not, in any form, abusive. If you want to write about kink, learn about kink.
FMC kept getting told to “calm down” and “pay attention” when she was having an appropriate response to being abducted. I read alien abduction romance books on the regular. It is my primary genre. Please allow FMCs to have real responses to being abducted instead of this “oh well whatever can I do” inner dialogue that’s being served because you want to write a submissive smut story but don’t know how to do it without being misogynistic.
raven168's review
2.0
I'm a little conflicted with this one. While I really like the premise and oh was it hot, I take issue with the whole brainwashing and body training thing. It annoyed me so very very much that Dawn was "conditioned" to respond to Gavrill and was expected to call him and accept him as her master no matter how he treated her. Only making it worse was his constantly keeping her on a leash. Collars are okay, but the moment you snap that leash on, you're way too close to pet territory for me. Which is also a huge problem for Dawn. She absolutely hated when Gavrill treated her like a dog, but all he had to do was pretty much touch her and she gave in. She almost used the "training" she went thru as an excuse to not fight against things that she did not like.
One day Dawn had received an ereader in the mail with some books pre-loaded on it. She didn't question anything and dove right into the stories. Multiple times. Then one night, the reader starts going wonky and next thing she knows, she's in excruciating pain, then thankfully blackness. She wakes up on an alien ship where she finds out that the books are actually a way for this species to find females that would be receptive to another species that the books were written about. Lucky Dawn, gets to be the first female taken. Using varies methods, this alien conditions Dawn's body to respond the presence of the Tsenturion that she is being given to as tribute. Considering everything, she takes the whole situation quite well.
Gavrill is the high commander of high commander of what remains of his entire race. Their entire planet had been incinerated by an enemy they never even interacted with yet, and only those off planet survived. And since the attack happened during a huge mating ceremony, only men are left. And they have dedicated their lives to destroying those that destroyed them. Until Gavrill is notified that his tribute has arrived. Now he finds himself doing things he never thought he would and constantly fighting his desires.
From the moment Dawn shows up in front of Gavrill, he is obsessed with claiming her over and over. So much so that he is often late for his own shift on the bridge, which causes a lot of anger to build in his second. Pretty much every moment that Gavrill and Dawn are together, they're having sex. It was frustrating when Dawn took issue with how she was being treated or with something that these aliens have greatly misunderstood about humans, but she never said anything about it. Or if she did, she so easily got distracted or let it go. I don't know how or why, but eventually Dawn finds herself in love with Gavrill. But with the way he treats her, she knows for sure that he would never see her as anything other than "his tribute". He wants her for what she is, not who, and it hurts her more than she thought possible. When Gavrill's ship is attacked by the enemy and Dawn kidnapped, Gavrill makes known what is most important to him. But before he can do anything stupid, Dawn makes her way back to him with more information about the enemy than they ever got for themselves. Their relationship has reached the breaking point, and it's in a most cliche way that Dawn learns she has misunderstood Gavrill the whole time.
Admittedly, it could be interesting to see Gavrill's second getting his tribute next considering how vehemently he is against the entire tribute program, but at the same time I feel like he would treat the girl worse than Gavrill did.
One day Dawn had received an ereader in the mail with some books pre-loaded on it. She didn't question anything and dove right into the stories. Multiple times. Then one night, the reader starts going wonky and next thing she knows, she's in excruciating pain, then thankfully blackness. She wakes up on an alien ship where she finds out that the books are actually a way for this species to find females that would be receptive to another species that the books were written about. Lucky Dawn, gets to be the first female taken. Using varies methods, this alien conditions Dawn's body to respond the presence of the Tsenturion that she is being given to as tribute. Considering everything, she takes the whole situation quite well.
Gavrill is the high commander of high commander of what remains of his entire race. Their entire planet had been incinerated by an enemy they never even interacted with yet, and only those off planet survived. And since the attack happened during a huge mating ceremony, only men are left. And they have dedicated their lives to destroying those that destroyed them. Until Gavrill is notified that his tribute has arrived. Now he finds himself doing things he never thought he would and constantly fighting his desires.
From the moment Dawn shows up in front of Gavrill, he is obsessed with claiming her over and over. So much so that he is often late for his own shift on the bridge, which causes a lot of anger to build in his second. Pretty much every moment that Gavrill and Dawn are together, they're having sex. It was frustrating when Dawn took issue with how she was being treated or with something that these aliens have greatly misunderstood about humans, but she never said anything about it. Or if she did, she so easily got distracted or let it go. I don't know how or why, but eventually Dawn finds herself in love with Gavrill. But with the way he treats her, she knows for sure that he would never see her as anything other than "his tribute". He wants her for what she is, not who, and it hurts her more than she thought possible. When Gavrill's ship is attacked by the enemy and Dawn kidnapped, Gavrill makes known what is most important to him. But before he can do anything stupid, Dawn makes her way back to him with more information about the enemy than they ever got for themselves. Their relationship has reached the breaking point, and it's in a most cliche way that Dawn learns she has misunderstood Gavrill the whole time.
Admittedly, it could be interesting to see Gavrill's second getting his tribute next considering how vehemently he is against the entire tribute program, but at the same time I feel like he would treat the girl worse than Gavrill did.
sunnyxviii's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
🔥 5/5
❤️ I liked the FMC’s attitude of “no one will save me — gotta save myself”
💔 Wasn’t into the BDSM elements 😅
❤️ I liked the FMC’s attitude of “no one will save me — gotta save myself”
💔 Wasn’t into the BDSM elements 😅
retiredhsmom's review
5.0
Love It!!!
I haven't read anything from Golden Angel that I haven't loved. This is no exception. She partnered with another favorite author of mine, Lee Savino. Both authors insert humor into their writing. I kept going back to the funny scenes and re-reading them.
This book will definitely be one I re-read over and over. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Disclosure: I received an ARC copy via Booksprout and purchased the book as well.
I haven't read anything from Golden Angel that I haven't loved. This is no exception. She partnered with another favorite author of mine, Lee Savino. Both authors insert humor into their writing. I kept going back to the funny scenes and re-reading them.
This book will definitely be one I re-read over and over. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Disclosure: I received an ARC copy via Booksprout and purchased the book as well.
ryoko24's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
serialromancelibrarian's review
4.0
Fun romp
I enjoyed the premise of this story. Very creative! There were a few typos, but they didn’t totally detract from the story. The heroine was a bit whiny and needy. Not sure why she chose an the time of an impending war between alien races to make everything all about herself and play the victim. She needed to grow a pair and grow some self-esteem while she was at it. She was a bit nerve-wracking to me. Our hero was yummy—pretty much perfect in every way. Looking forward to the continuation of this series. The cancer patient in the epilogue is very intriguing. I want to read more!
I enjoyed the premise of this story. Very creative! There were a few typos, but they didn’t totally detract from the story. The heroine was a bit whiny and needy. Not sure why she chose an the time of an impending war between alien races to make everything all about herself and play the victim. She needed to grow a pair and grow some self-esteem while she was at it. She was a bit nerve-wracking to me. Our hero was yummy—pretty much perfect in every way. Looking forward to the continuation of this series. The cancer patient in the epilogue is very intriguing. I want to read more!
dorsa_mel's review
4.0
The thing that I love about this genre is how creative authors are with their description of alien “junk”. Some vibrate, some have extra parts, and ALL are extra large, but I have to say this was the most bizarre peen that I’ve seen described in a book! An extra long shlong with the head of a cobra, surrounded by freely moving tentacles with little suction cups at the end, with one particularly long and well placed tentacle. I didn’t know whether to shudder or be intrigued! Eeeeeek!
Aside from the weird alien anaconda, this book was better than expected. I give it a solid 3.5, rounded up to 4 stars. It took me a while to warm up to the characters, and to be honest even by the end of the book I wasn’t 100% sold on Gavril or Dawn. I found Gavril to have 0 personality and I found Dawn to be annoying, needy, clingy and a cry baby. But I liked the world building and I think it’s a great introduction to the series. I can’t wait for the next book!
Aside from the weird alien anaconda, this book was better than expected. I give it a solid 3.5, rounded up to 4 stars. It took me a while to warm up to the characters, and to be honest even by the end of the book I wasn’t 100% sold on Gavril or Dawn. I found Gavril to have 0 personality and I found Dawn to be annoying, needy, clingy and a cry baby. But I liked the world building and I think it’s a great introduction to the series. I can’t wait for the next book!
madgeefood's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
see_sadie_read's review
2.0
2.5
Utterly ridiculous, but not taking itself too seriously either. Meta enough to make it interesting, as Dawn is well aware that her predicament is predicated on her favorite fictional erotic books (which are just like this one), but that fantasies aren't necessarily what one wants in reality.
Unfortunately, the book lacks in connection. Several of the important conversations that need to be had either aren't had or are had with the wrong person. Essentially, Dawn and Gavrill may speak to others, but when together they're entirely inside their own heads. They don't have conversations, they just fuck. I couldn't feel their love grow in the slightest. Further, all that sex got boring. It's not just that there's so much of it (I would expect that in an erotic novel). It's that it's all basically the same and eventually it felt redundant. Lastly, Dawn's 'misunderstanding' felt forced and artificial. It's been done better a thousand times before.
The writing is pretty sound though. And I feel like the authors tried to grapple with the fact that the 'brides' will be enslaved, even if that word isn't ever used The reader is supposed to understand they love their situations. I never could quite make the leap, personally. I also thought some of the BDSM tropes felt shoehorned into the plot, honestly.
All in all, not great. But not a horrible version of what it is either.
Utterly ridiculous, but not taking itself too seriously either. Meta enough to make it interesting, as Dawn is well aware that her predicament is predicated on her favorite fictional erotic books (which are just like this one), but that fantasies aren't necessarily what one wants in reality.
Unfortunately, the book lacks in connection. Several of the important conversations that need to be had either aren't had or are had with the wrong person. Essentially, Dawn and Gavrill may speak to others, but when together they're entirely inside their own heads. They don't have conversations, they just fuck. I couldn't feel their love grow in the slightest. Further, all that sex got boring. It's not just that there's so much of it (I would expect that in an erotic novel). It's that it's all basically the same and eventually it felt redundant. Lastly, Dawn's 'misunderstanding' felt forced and artificial. It's been done better a thousand times before.
The writing is pretty sound though. And I feel like the authors tried to grapple with the fact that the 'brides' will be enslaved, even if that word isn't ever used The reader is supposed to understand they love their situations. I never could quite make the leap, personally. I also thought some of the BDSM tropes felt shoehorned into the plot, honestly.
All in all, not great. But not a horrible version of what it is either.