jurnee_reads's reviews
325 reviews

This first book did a really great job of setting up the world! I love me some world building! The alien planet Ketahn lives on is interesting and “other worldly” enough for it to be believable so I was able to really immerse myself in it. I loved learning about the vrix and their society, the descriptions of everything hit it home for me.

The romance between our leads was… goodish. I enjoyed seeing them learn things about each other and getting comfortable with each other.

I love Ketahn’s pov in regards to Ivy, he makes everything seem so passionate and intense. When reading through Ivy I feel like I’m missing something. I’m missing some of her character, some of her story, her motivations, like she wasn’t really an important part of this story. It’s never explained why she was chosen to be on the ship for colonization, she doesn’t seem to have any real skills for it so I can’t imagine that out of… maybe 10,000 applicants she was picked. I also don’t know what she cares about except starting new. She doesn’t talk about anything else.

One big gripe, Ivy and Ketahn pick up each other’s languages really fast… faster than I would expect. It feels unreal how well their able to communicate in a month.

She didn’t decide to ask him about where he found her until they were together for a month. That’s an awfully long time. Their language barrier shrunk a lot and very quickly so that’s not the issue, it seems she just didn’t ask in all that time. I’m sure it’s for “plot” reasons but it seems contradictory to how she behaved when he first found her. She was adamant to going back and seeing if any other humans survived… then she simply… doesn’t care anymore? Forgets? What? It’s weird.

The sex was hotter than it should have been considering this is a spider alien… but it was hot as hell. The only thing I wish would have been different is the communication, that just didn’t exist… so in my opinion there should have been a dub-con trigger warning. Trigger warnings do not ruin books and should be used more often.

I’m sure in future books their relationship will be more explored so I don’t have an issue with that being a little up in the air.

All in all, good read and I’m looking forward to the next ones.

It’s taken a while for me to get to this book, but now that I’ve finished it I immediately want to dive into the third book! Lots of romance and fluffy scenes, fantastic sex scenes, but honestly the best part of this book is when the vrix interact with the humans. Ahnset is especially interesting and sweet with the humans but she also has great sibling moments with Ketahn which I enjoyed a lot.

The action, the romance, the pure alien of it all… gotta love.

A perfect end to the trilogy! Just wonderfully done. I’m greatly looking forward to the next books as well.

This held some really interesting elements that I think sets it apart from other alien romances, making it really enjoyable for me. Seeing Thrax grow as a being was great and I appreciated how Claire devolved in her confidence and courage as well. Love seeing characters grow.

Nemon really makes this the book that it is, he’s a great lead. Joanie is sweet as well and I enjoyed learning more about her. Nemon is such a sweetheart, insisting on them taking it slow for Joanie’s best interest. Even when she’s flinging herself in his arms he pulls back, giving her time to focus on her own well being instead. That’s adorable and not something you see in alien/monster romances often if at all. He’s also very smart, which I love, his curious nature is adorable.

The way this series keeps expanding on the world is my favorite part. I like seeing new parts of society for these aliens and how that impacts the choices they make.

Nahash is a good lead but though not my favorite. Cass is a fantastic mate for him though. She’s so loyal and understanding. The fact that she has so much experience reading others and working with people makes her cut out to handle all of his moodiness perfectly.

The middle of the book got boring for me, took me a while to get through that part because I just couldn’t keep my focus on it. Near the end is when things were the most interesting.

Is anyone else curious about Ava? Does she have a story I haven’t come across? Reading more about her and the other ladies was very fun, I love callbacks. Their little society and “family of freaks” is just too cute.

One of my favorite for this series for sure! I love the dynamic between the leads, all that push and pull, and how they soften each other as a result. The little surprise at the end was great too! I’m looking forward to the next book.

This was such an easy read, it’s shorter so I was able to get through it in one morning. I think it ties things up nicely for the Kaluma. Kazel is a great lead and I really liked seeing how devoted he was to his cause. Rain is a great match for him. Even though Rain sees herself negatively, cowardly and useless, she’s actually quite brave given the opportunity and she was really given the chance to shine. I like Racks and Carew a lot! Carew is smart and sweet even if she’s made questionable choices. You can tell she wants to do right by others but desperately wants to survive and be with her mate.

Seeing all the past characters again was a nice way to wrap up this part of the series!

I relate a lot to Raven and U’dron so that’s probably influenced my opinion on this book, but oh well. The fact that they both love music is great, it’s something we haven’t really seen yet in this series and I was wondering when we’d get to it. They’re a nice match as well, U’dron is so patient and tender while Raven has a deep need to be accepted… but she doesn’t have to try with him. The misunderstanding earlier on in the book between them is really dumb, like just some basic communication and no assumptions would have solved that. Also, why does U’dron even think that Raven knows he’s “not a true hunter”? It wouldn’t make sense for her to know that about their tribal customs. Reminds me that he’s cute but he’s a little dumb lol

Loved the introduction of new characters, always here for some expansions on the world and cast. We also saw Raven actually talking to a lot of the characters so I feel like we learned some things about them, I appreciate that.

Great read!

What can I say? I’m a sucker for some shitty characters learning and doing better. Growth is my kink.

Everything is written so well that it sort of balances out how frustrating the two leads are. They suck at communication more so than any couple that has graced the pages of this series. Ruby does have a way with words and for that I love her. She even made me feel for these two dunderheads.

Bridget’s clay making project is clearly an analogy for her relationship with A’tam and I just adore that. Seeing how it was going throughout the book clued me into the timeline of their relationship, when it was getting better and worse. I can appreciate a good analogy.

The best thing in the book is HOW they resolve their issues. Knowing why they’re bad at communicating wasn’t really intriguing. While it goes deeply onto Bridget’s issues with her mother, I did get tired of hearing about it. Like she knows her mother messed her up, it’s frustrating that she’s still so hung up on the woman even on an alien planet and with the knowledge that she’s most likely dead given the state of Earth (info provided to us by Daisy in an earlier book). A’tam latter admitting his issues was more heart felt but it was only touched on once and I would have liked to see more about it, like actually read the scene instead of Bridget simply mentioning it.

Big points for the real issues that are touched in this book. Not every couple has amazing sex all the time, not everyone with great anatomy was great in the sack, and being able to communicate this to your partner isn’t exactly easy for everyone. It touches on an issue that we actually deal with in our world. Men are taught sex is something they take, that as long as they get it in they’re doing it right, while women are taught to endure, that there will be pain but you grit your teeth and remain silent. There are some who are taught better of course, but these ideas are common for a lot of Americans especially. Being able to open up to your partner and be honest with them about your needs is important, and for these two it was going to take a lot to get them there. Thank goodness for Steph ❤️