3.5 ⭐️

While I really did enjoy this story and the world created within its pages, there are some issues that keep this from being a top rated book for me.

Firstly, the greatest part of this was the highly detailed and interesting alien species, the Geminidae. They truly felt real to me with how much effort the author puts into describing their species and society and all that goes with it. Learning about them was very enjoyable. The romance between our leads was lovely, you could really feel the bond between them all and I felt like I really got to know them as characters before the romance really picked up which made it that much more enjoyable.

The main issue I have is that things go very slowly in the book and it never feels like there are actual stakes which can make it a bit boring. The author is very descriptive, which is good, but it can also drag… especially when she’s mostly rehashing things that have already been shown and discussed. It makes for a slow read for me, which I’m not a fan of. I also prefer if there are some clear stakes going on outside of the relationship shown… which doesn’t really happen except for occasional mentions of political and public unrest and one short event at the end of the book. It wasn’t enough for me to be honest.

The spice was decently spicy, not too wild but also very emotional and hot in its own right. The first time is the best, the other times are just ok.