Reviews

Whisper of Sin by Nalini Singh

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heabooknerd's review

5.0

WHISPER OF SIN was such a fantastic novella and I'm always amazed at how much story Nalini Singh can pack into such a short page count. I loved seeing the early days of the DarkRiver pack, before they became a well known force in San Francisco. I also adored going back and seeing how Ria and Emmett met since they were already together in SLAVE TO SENSATION.

Ria was such a sassy and feisty character and I loved her mix of sometimes being shy but never afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself. She has the force of will to stand up to Emmett's protectiveness and not let herself get steamrolled by her meddling family. I also loved Emmett and all his growls and cat-like moments. I love how Singh writes her changeling characters with such a great balance of human and animal characteristics.

Every time I read WHISPER OF SIN it just makes me so excited to read the rest of the PSY-CHANGELING series!

Content Warning: book starts with the immediate aftermath of an attempted rape (assault not shown); pregnant side character with on page complications during labor

eesh25's review against another edition

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4.0

Whisper of Sin is a novella-slash-prequel to the Psy-Changeling series. You can read it without having read any of the other books of the series and it gives no spoilers, but I saw a couple of reviews from people who read it that way and didn't enjoy it as much as those who were familiar with the series. But it's not that it doesn't make sense; the book is still entirely cohesive, just not as enjoyable, I guess; which makes sense since it was written as a companion novella for the fans.

Anyway what I'm trying to say is that if you want to read this novella, I think you should read at least the first book of the series, Slave to Sensation, beforehand.

That said, the story follows a human girl who is being targeted by a dangerous gang, and the DarkRiver pack of leopard changelings (i.e. wereleopards) who have claimed the area as their territory, are determined to take the gang out so that they don't gain power. That includes making sure the girl, Ria, remains unharmed. Emmett is the changeling who's taken it upon himself to ensure her safety. And if he also plans to seduce and court her in the process, well that's just an added bonus.

I enjoyed the novella. I've read the first four books in the series so I'm not the best source for info on whether new readers would enjoy it. I'm not sure why they wouldn't, but it may have something to do with the fact that a large part of my enjoyment was because of the familiar faces and the easter eggs. The story, on its own, is good. It's part romance and part pack and family dynamic, but I guess it may not be enough. For me, everything was great.

The writing and pace are both great, there's no excessive drama and the characters are likable. The author also does a fairly good job of introducing the world.

One thing I almost didn't catch, but which was a really nice addition, was about Dorian, a changeling. In the series, he loses his sister to a serial killer before even the start of book 1 (don't worry, that's not a spoiler) and he's angry, upset and feels guilty. Here, that's yet to happen and we get to see him being happy and flirty. It was really nice to see, but also kind of sad because we might never see him like that again. I'm still glad that the author decided to include that.

Overall, this is a really good novella that's definitely worth reading.

roraima's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

alisonhori's review against another edition

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3.0

Weird to read an Emmitt outside of the Twilight Universe but no matter....enjoying the fluff escapism of this series and the novellas are pretty fun diversion. Nothing to memorable here but fun for the read...

beautifuldissonance's review against another edition

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3.0

Too much romance and not enough of the world building that I love from Nalini Singh. That's only to be expected with a novella though. If you read Singh for the romance plotlines then you'll probably love this story.