A review by bunnerz
Circus Save Me by Erin O'Kane, K.A. Knight
2.0
I love all the guys in the harem and the post-apocalyptic circus setting of the book, but the relationships between the characters were very shallow, and they all felt in love for each other way too easily, especially with Rhea's abused background and the dystopian society.
Blain was an asshole all the time just to be an asshole, and it got pretty irritating after half the book. I understand that he had a bad background that is later revealed, but you would think that he'd learn be more careful with his words.
Alcide the circus owner also kept trying to push everyone's freak powers all the time without common safety measures which was honestly insane. For example, His reasoning was just that everyone needed to push themselves further as quick as possible to protect themselves in case of an attack - pretty weak logic IMO for such harsh training measures.
I also thought that the threat of kidnapping and rape as a breeder got a bit repetitive after a while. Yes, it's a real danger in this dystopian world with few females, but there are more ways to lure Rhea off other than just hitting her in the head and having her wake up chained.
And Rhea herself... was a rather magical Mary Sue. Almost everyone immediately loves her except if they're obviously villainous in the book. Fluffy the mutant lion hated everyone except Rex, but Rhea was immediately able to cuddle with him upon first meeting. Nixon the giant would get in these huge rages that nobody could control (even Alcide with his charming abilities?), but on first meeting, Rhea went up to him and calmed him down. She would get herself into trouble, but she'd always show some new magical ability to save herself in the nick of time, or one of the guys would manage to track her down before anything serious happened. I'm also very skeptical how she could manage to live 20+ years and still remain a virgin in this dystopian world....
The giant mess of a hunter battle at the end of the book was just too much too fast. So many characters were killed off and severely injured, but I didn't feel that much empathy. The "redemption" of
I was pretty meh about this book as a whole, but was especially underwhelmed by the conclusion of this book with the hunter battle. The timing of the intimate scenes and the scenes in general were also a bit awkward and not that steamy. I will not be continuing this series.
Blain was an asshole all the time just to be an asshole, and it got pretty irritating after half the book. I understand that he had a bad background that is later revealed, but you would think that he'd learn be more careful with his words.
Alcide the circus owner also kept trying to push everyone's freak powers all the time without common safety measures which was honestly insane. For example,
Spoiler
shoving Rhea in an enclosed water tank to force her to adapt and make gills when everyone knew she couldn't swim was a bit over the top.I also thought that the threat of kidnapping and rape as a breeder got a bit repetitive after a while. Yes, it's a real danger in this dystopian world with few females, but there are more ways to lure Rhea off other than just hitting her in the head and having her wake up chained.
And Rhea herself... was a rather magical Mary Sue. Almost everyone immediately loves her except if they're obviously villainous in the book. Fluffy the mutant lion hated everyone except Rex, but Rhea was immediately able to cuddle with him upon first meeting. Nixon the giant would get in these huge rages that nobody could control (even Alcide with his charming abilities?), but on first meeting, Rhea went up to him and calmed him down. She would get herself into trouble, but she'd always show some new magical ability to save herself in the nick of time, or one of the guys would manage to track her down before anything serious happened. I'm also very skeptical how she could manage to live 20+ years and still remain a virgin in this dystopian world....
The giant mess of a hunter battle at the end of the book was just too much too fast. So many characters were killed off and severely injured, but I didn't feel that much empathy. The "redemption" of
Spoiler
Esme in the final battle was pretty weak. Considering all the traitorous behavior, I don't think it deserved a second chance in this dystopian world.I was pretty meh about this book as a whole, but was especially underwhelmed by the conclusion of this book with the hunter battle. The timing of the intimate scenes and the scenes in general were also a bit awkward and not that steamy. I will not be continuing this series.