mrbear30021's review
4.0
Wow. Just... Wow.
I don't know how to describe how I feel about this short story, but I'll try. First off, Anna Butler sure knows how to rise the temperature when she gives us a "love" scene. The British may be thought of as reserved, but don't ever think that means passionless. I was worried that the sex aspect was going to be the main, pardon the pun, thrust of the story, but I was wrong. It is there as an accent to the character's relationship.
This is not a story of sex, but a story of love between a former sexual "butterfly" and a man newly divorced with an angry ex and a child. One is ready to go all in, and the other has some reservations. I could almost see myself in the story as I think we have all played one of the parts at some point in our lives.
The sci-fi in the story was fairly basic until we get further along. That's when Anna Butler gets creative. I can't say that her plot device was exactly fresh and new, as to me if felt a little familiar, though I can't quite put my finger on it as to why. That is not to say that it wasn't exciting to read. Because I though it was very much an exciting read. The thoughts and feelings of her characters come through loud and clear and quite believable. Her aliens are.. well... alien. I realize that this is a short story, so there wasn't time or space to fully develop the other cultures. But with any luck, they'll be around in other stories with more life and history written into them.
This is my first encounter with Anna Butler's writing. I know I will be reading more of her work, and I would highly recommend that you give it a try too. Be warned. this story does include a highly descriptive scene of physical intimacy between two men. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is also a section you can easily skip over and still enjoy the rest of Ms. Butlers offering.
I don't know how to describe how I feel about this short story, but I'll try. First off, Anna Butler sure knows how to rise the temperature when she gives us a "love" scene. The British may be thought of as reserved, but don't ever think that means passionless. I was worried that the sex aspect was going to be the main, pardon the pun, thrust of the story, but I was wrong. It is there as an accent to the character's relationship.
This is not a story of sex, but a story of love between a former sexual "butterfly" and a man newly divorced with an angry ex and a child. One is ready to go all in, and the other has some reservations. I could almost see myself in the story as I think we have all played one of the parts at some point in our lives.
The sci-fi in the story was fairly basic until we get further along. That's when Anna Butler gets creative. I can't say that her plot device was exactly fresh and new, as to me if felt a little familiar, though I can't quite put my finger on it as to why. That is not to say that it wasn't exciting to read. Because I though it was very much an exciting read. The thoughts and feelings of her characters come through loud and clear and quite believable. Her aliens are.. well... alien. I realize that this is a short story, so there wasn't time or space to fully develop the other cultures. But with any luck, they'll be around in other stories with more life and history written into them.
This is my first encounter with Anna Butler's writing. I know I will be reading more of her work, and I would highly recommend that you give it a try too. Be warned. this story does include a highly descriptive scene of physical intimacy between two men. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is also a section you can easily skip over and still enjoy the rest of Ms. Butlers offering.
alisonalisonalison's review
4.0
This is great sci fi. It features spaceships, creepy alien societies, vivid characters, detailed world-building, a nice love story, an exciting plot, great writing, and things that challenge the reader. I am a huge fan of Anna Butler's work and her Taking Shield series is one of my most favourites. This is one of her earlier offerings and it's a cracking good read. The ending is fascinating and slightly unsettling and was quite surprising when I came to it. It's sci fi, not romance, and though there is a love story, the ending is not a traditional romance ending, so if you're reading for romance you may be left unsatisfied. It might be worth noting that the end came at about 70% in my ebook, which made me raise my eyebrows. For a novella, there is an amazing amount of depth here, both in the characters and the story. This author always manages to pack a lot in without it ever being overwhelming, which I love. This is short, but awesome.
sylvia_is_reading's review
Kept skipping the sex in chapter one. No patience / not in the mood for this one.
see_sadie_read's review
3.0
This was almost really good. After a jerky first few paragraphs it smooths out into a pleasant story. Cal's love for Jeeze is really sweet and you definitely feel it. Jeeze you don't get much of a feel for, but he's an understandable object of affection for Cal. You get the start of an interesting world/universe and even some interesting side characters. Noah and Veronica especially caught my attention.
Unfortunately, however, after all that initial set up, the story peters out in more ways than one. The rescue went FAR too smoothly, involving too many contrivances and conveyances. Then it ends without concluding in any manner. It's not so much a cliffhanger as a sense of waiting. But all of the threads are left open.
Perhaps this is the first in a series. I don't know. The writing was strong enough that I'd be willing to follow the story, but I'm not fond of the serial format of publishing a story.
Unfortunately, however, after all that initial set up, the story peters out in more ways than one. The rescue went FAR too smoothly, involving too many contrivances and conveyances. Then it ends without concluding in any manner. It's not so much a cliffhanger as a sense of waiting. But all of the threads are left open.
Perhaps this is the first in a series. I don't know. The writing was strong enough that I'd be willing to follow the story, but I'm not fond of the serial format of publishing a story.
meghanreadsmm's review
4.0
The main characters and their relationship were quickly well developed. They were both engaging and sympathetic. A tragedy crashes down on them, leaving one character missing and another grieving and uncertain. Finally some good news comes to them and a rescue is looking possible. So far, the writing itself was quite good and enthralling. It is the last two pages of the story that left me disappointed and confused. It felt like a page or two had been removed, because the story leaves the POV character in a grim situation just waiting, with no resolution one way or the other. It seems like the author intended this, which is aggravating. It's left my emotions fluctuating between anger and grief on behalf of the characters.
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