A review by mx_manda
Mutt by Naomi Lucas
4.0
So.
When I first started reading this series, I made a terrible mistake: I assumed it was like other SFR series where it really didn't matter if you read them out of order, because they're all pretty much the same—some so much so that they literally repeat their own dialogue in certain points every time. I wasn't prepared for these, to put it mildly.
I had started with Chaos Croc—didn't get it, was confused. Tried this one. Was very confused and couldn't wrap my head around what was going on and why. Decided to start back at the beginning and finally figured things out by book 2 when it all clicked into place for me, and decided I would reread the books I started with and review them as it happened.
Well, today is finally that day for Mutt. More than 18 months later.
TW/CW: stalker ex, heroine on the run, memories/mentions of past violence committed to the heroine, the most dubious of consent and rape, mention of a rape, kidnapping/confined, stalker/obsessed hero
I say this every NL review I write, but I'll repeat it again: There are no marshmallow, safe Alphas in these books.
There are plenty of writers who write "monsters" and "beasts" who are 100% neither of those things. No shame, just don't expect them here. You wanted a monster, you're getting a monster. Lucas writes beasts and monsters who....act and think like beasts and monsters. While these cyborgs are part human, their humanity is always jaded and broken by their treatment, and it's rarely driving things. You're getting the beast paired with the coldness of the machine with little shots of soft from parts of these characters who want something soft for themselves.
Warning, mild spoilers ahead. They are contained under spoiler tags, but these do not always work.
While some of Lucas' shifters are almost soft bois, Reid...is not. He does have a heart-rending, desperate need to belong to someone and have someone belong to him, but he's also an obsessed stalker of a cyborg with an unstable personality and takes what he wants and seems to have no qualms about being disliked. So. No, he's not Nice. He's not waiting for verbal consent. And despite being a canine, he's super distrusting. And he's on a lonely mission:
Clara is...well, a big ball of trauma looking for a place to land and grasping at whatever straws she can. I'm not a fan of the Orphan/Foster Kid Who Makes Terrible Life Choices Trope—I've bagged on it in other book reviews—and the inevitable "being a mother will fix everything for me" that often comes along with it. As far as Lucas' heroines go, Clara is not a favorite, because she's very flat. I'm still not sure I could tell you much about her except that she has unusual eyes and a need and hate for domineering men. She spends the entire story wanting a Thing, then vehemently denying she wants that Thing.
I do agree with the more critical reviews of this story that it doesn't feel as polished as others in the series. There are several loose threads that are left hanging or get clipped right at the end in an unexpected way that's not as fulfilling.
But.
I do like that this story did fill in a little of the world building with details like dates and more clearly stating what life is like for women on Earth, as well as hinting at details in the next story. While the Trentians are mentioned several times in this story, there still wasn't much fed to us about them, leaving them largely shrouded in mystery along with what exactly is going on with Earth's government/s. Except that some "Trentian" women—I'm assuming hybrids—may be on Earth.
So this is far from a perfect story, but I still found myself really liking it.
When I first started reading this series, I made a terrible mistake: I assumed it was like other SFR series where it really didn't matter if you read them out of order, because they're all pretty much the same—some so much so that they literally repeat their own dialogue in certain points every time. I wasn't prepared for these, to put it mildly.
I had started with Chaos Croc—didn't get it, was confused. Tried this one. Was very confused and couldn't wrap my head around what was going on and why. Decided to start back at the beginning and finally figured things out by book 2 when it all clicked into place for me, and decided I would reread the books I started with and review them as it happened.
Well, today is finally that day for Mutt. More than 18 months later.
TW/CW: stalker ex, heroine on the run, memories/mentions of past violence committed to the heroine, the most dubious of consent and rape, mention of a rape, kidnapping/confined, stalker/obsessed hero
I say this every NL review I write, but I'll repeat it again: There are no marshmallow, safe Alphas in these books.
There are plenty of writers who write "monsters" and "beasts" who are 100% neither of those things. No shame, just don't expect them here. You wanted a monster, you're getting a monster. Lucas writes beasts and monsters who....act and think like beasts and monsters. While these cyborgs are part human, their humanity is always jaded and broken by their treatment, and it's rarely driving things. You're getting the beast paired with the coldness of the machine with little shots of soft from parts of these characters who want something soft for themselves.
Warning, mild spoilers ahead. They are contained under spoiler tags, but these do not always work.
While some of Lucas' shifters are almost soft bois, Reid...is not. He does have a heart-rending, desperate need to belong to someone and have someone belong to him, but he's also an obsessed stalker of a cyborg with an unstable personality and takes what he wants and seems to have no qualms about being disliked. So. No, he's not Nice. He's not waiting for verbal consent. And despite being a canine, he's super distrusting. And he's on a lonely mission:
Spoiler
he's a plant on Earth at a "cyborg fertility" clinic to ensure that the human government never figures out that cyborgs can biologically reproduce. He's there to sabotage all attempts, if he can not outright chase the candidates off by being extremely hostile and rude. That 0% success rate is intentional. (My first read through, I didn't know enough to pick up on this and found it weird.) Despite this, he can not help but find himself helping others in need, especially women, who end up there. So a lot of his chase off attempts involve funding what the women are really there for. His beast wants to protect even when his human tells him it's a way to get attached and cause nothing but trouble.Clara is...well, a big ball of trauma looking for a place to land and grasping at whatever straws she can. I'm not a fan of the Orphan/Foster Kid Who Makes Terrible Life Choices Trope—I've bagged on it in other book reviews—and the inevitable "being a mother will fix everything for me" that often comes along with it. As far as Lucas' heroines go, Clara is not a favorite, because she's very flat. I'm still not sure I could tell you much about her except that she has unusual eyes and a need and hate for domineering men. She spends the entire story wanting a Thing, then vehemently denying she wants that Thing.
I do agree with the more critical reviews of this story that it doesn't feel as polished as others in the series. There are several loose threads that are left hanging or get clipped right at the end in an unexpected way that's not as fulfilling.
Spoiler
Though, I will admit that having the convict ex get picked up by the popo before he can actually get to Clara does have a very real believability to it. But I'm not sure it was necessary to have Reid do anything at all at that point. And the rape of Marsha's girlfriend held hostage felt unnecessary and only there to give Reid an excuse to kill her captor. This universe Lucas has created is awful enough for women without "needing" to fridge one to give him motivation to act.But.
I do like that this story did fill in a little of the world building with details like dates and more clearly stating what life is like for women on Earth, as well as hinting at details in the next story. While the Trentians are mentioned several times in this story, there still wasn't much fed to us about them, leaving them largely shrouded in mystery along with what exactly is going on with Earth's government/s. Except that some "Trentian" women—I'm assuming hybrids—may be on Earth.
So this is far from a perfect story, but I still found myself really liking it.