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lindoforbes's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
eesh25's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to my exams, both my reading and reviewing are all over the place. I've started four books since the 6th but haven't finished a single one and I've been putting this review off for a week. Even now, with a few days off, I'm not in the reviewing mood, so bear with me please.
This book follows Clay, a sentinel in the DarkRiver pack of changelings. He's got a dark and violent past and that's turned him kind of... dark and violent. He constantly feel like he's on the edge of going rogue. Then, someone from the past, someone he thought was dead, comes back and there's hope. Talin faced some very traumatizing things at a very early age. Clay was her best friend. But due to a violent act, she's separated from him and, in her trauma, asks her social worker to tell Clay that she died in a car crash. Now she in trouble and has no other option than to tell Clay the truth so that he can help her.
First of all, can you believe this girl? She practically fakes her own death — sure she was just a kid then but she had 20 years to correct her lie. She didn't — and then demands that Clay help her? And people say that I'm unfair to female characters. Well, if they're going to be like this, what do you expect?
On top of that, the book was still all about her and her sensitive little feelings. She pushed her best friend away, didn't contact him for 20 years, and still got to spend the entire novel whining about how she was insecure and afraid that he would leave her just because he left her before. Fuck you! He didn't leave you. He went to juvie for saving your life! The least you could do is apologise and try to make it up to him instead of demanding comfort and being pissed at the guy because he didn't immediately get over your faked death!
Ugh!
Before I started this review, I only disliked Talin. Now I hate her. There's a serious case of special snowflake syndrome going on with her, and this was all just made worse by the fact that Clay was made out to be the bad guy for being mad at her. And his emotional trauma was never touched upon. He was just supposed to get over it because he's a guy and he's tough. Well guess what? Being tough doesn't make you immune to emotions! How could Clay's feelings just be dismissed like that! I am seriously pissed off right now.
But... rant over. I don't want to spend much more time talking about the fact that the girl who ran out on the guy got to whine about her, practically unfounded, fear of abandonment for over half the book while he was criticised for being angry for half a chapter. And don't even get me started on the possessive bullshit she pulled despite not having any right after what she did.
Then there was their relationship. I didn't feel it. They were best friends and mates so they got together. That's all there was to it. There could have been a connection between them but I just felt like that chunk of the book was missing. And at this point, I'm starting to wonder why I've given the book 3 stars.
Oh wait, I know. Talin is human.
For the last three books, we've stayed mostly with the changelings or the Psy. But this installment introduced us to the humans part of the world and I really liked getting introduced to that. Humans are, in fact, not incompetent. They're just highly underestimated, mainly by the Psy. With the changelings, they prefer to live in their own packs so they aren't always involved with humans.
But here they were, and it was great. Another thing that was great was seeing the past characters and the relationships, the way they've grown. Things with the Psy council are seriously amping up and I'm so excited for that. I mean, they're still pulling shit but it's more build up at this point. Things are gonna blow and people are gonna die, hopefully not any of my faves, and I can't wait.
In the end, I can conclude that anything that didn't have to do with Talin or the romance was good. I was interested in Clay and I wish he was given more of an arc. This is not a book I would recommend, but it introduced some pretty important characters so if you're going to continue the series, you should read it.
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, and another new group is heard from. I don't think I will ever understand the Psy...threatening children??? Talk about insecure.!
It's sweet how Clay reconnects with Tally. Very homey series.
It's sweet how Clay reconnects with Tally. Very homey series.
kcoleman's review against another edition
5.0
This is the best one so far, I'm truly LOVING this series!
roraima's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
allingoodtime's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was a solid read that did a lot to move the overall Psy-Changeling plot along, but the romantic match didn’t work for me the way the others have in this series. I’m not sure what was missing from the Talin/Clay match-up, but it was not as intense as any of the other mates as of yet.
Talin is a human who grew up in the foster care system. She and Clay met when they were children as Clay’s mom was human and he didn’t grow up in a pack. In fact, Clay’s Changeling nature upset his mom so he learned at a young age to suppress it and he still has no idea what pack his father was from. Clay is a few years older than Talin and always protected her as best he could, he was just a kid himself. There is a lot of trauma that happens to the kids and they end up being torn apart when they are still young.
I had high hopes for this couple. I love the setup of who they are to each other and how they interacted as kids. But there is so much anger and hurt between them. Talin made some not-so-great decisions in her young life and Clay does not react well to her secrets. Talin also doesn’t react well to what Clay did that tore them apart in the past. Somehow, even though the story moves along well, their path to forgiving and ultimately love seems unbalanced.
Oddly, I still found both characters to be great. There are some great interactions with others in Clay’s pack, especially Dorian, and Talin becomes an integral part of the DarkRiver pack by the end. I think, if you’re reading this series, it would be a mistake to skip this book. There is a lot that is revealed that is obviously going to be important to the series. It’s still a great read, it just doesn’t live up to the previous books. But that’s a high standard anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Torture and Kidnapping
booksbydann's review against another edition
2.0
Relectura: Cambio las 3 por 2 ⭐
Nunca más vuelvo a leer este libro, definitivamente la próxima vez que trate de leer la serie me lo salteo. Si bien me encantó la introducción de Los olvidados a la ecuación, su historia y su importancia en la escena mundial, mi visión quedó nublada por todo lo que me hacían enojar o me desgradaban las actitudes de los personajes. Más allá del perfil psicológico bien hecho que la autora le da a los protagonistas, estos dos no aportan nada bueno. Durante el 80% del libro mantienen una relación no sana y recién en los últimos capítulos vemos un verdadero cambio, lamentablemente tarde.
Nunca más vuelvo a leer este libro, definitivamente la próxima vez que trate de leer la serie me lo salteo. Si bien me encantó la introducción de Los olvidados a la ecuación, su historia y su importancia en la escena mundial, mi visión quedó nublada por todo lo que me hacían enojar o me desgradaban las actitudes de los personajes. Más allá del perfil psicológico bien hecho que la autora le da a los protagonistas, estos dos no aportan nada bueno. Durante el 80% del libro mantienen una relación no sana y recién en los últimos capítulos vemos un verdadero cambio, lamentablemente tarde.
efecaulfield's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
authorsandrahenry's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25