If you haven’t read my review on Goodreads, I’ll attach it here and continue with the spoilers after it:
I think Nalini is my favorite author just because I love this series so much. The world she’s created is so complicated and unique that I find myself constantly rereading the novels and discovering new details.
This one was particularly interesting because of the insta-mating, something we haven’t seen before. The fact that it features a new wolf pack is a plus in my book. I like that Nalini is branching out to different cultures and we get to see something different. I hope the next book features a culture we haven’t gotten to see before.
The story takes place over a few days and god, there’s so much taking place. It feels as if it should be happening over a couple weeks at least but nope, we have one thing after the other thrown at us.
As much as I love Nalini’s writing, there’re always things that bug me about a book. The “mystery” about Ethan was obvious from the beginning, though I do like that he has a sub-designation we haven’t seen before.
I also didn’t like how quickly Selenka and Ethan’s relationship develops. It all happens so quick that you’re left feeling a little lost. I can’t get myself to not like them though.
As always, there’re characters from previous novels who show up and I always fangirl, that’ll never change. Especially when they’re my faves. I don’t think we got to see as much of the pack as I would’ve liked but that’s probably because we’ve spent so much time with the SnowDancers and BlackEdge functions similarly.
I don’t have major gripes with the books and I wouldn’t say I didn’t like it, the couple just isn’t as well developed as the ones who’ve come before them. So as much as I like the book, I can’t deny that I’ll probably forget about Selenka and Ethan because they don’t leave a lasting impression.
Spoiler review starts from here:
I really hope you’ve read the books that come before this because otherwise, there’s a lot you may be lost about.
We’ve seen all kinds of matings in the series but never an insta-mating and I’m glad we haven’t. Ethan and Selenka go from strangers to being obsessed with each other within pages. Yes, I know that matings are supposed to be magical and the mates come before anyone else. But, would an alpha wolf really trust herself to mate with a stranger?
Lucas and Hawke took ages to realize who their mates were. Even Mercy’s cat didn’t trust Riley enough until the end of their book so what would make Selenka’s wolf trust Ethan so easily? It’s explained as her wolf realizing how close to the edge Ethan was and hauling him to safety but no one would care that much about a stranger, no matter how intriguing he is.
To be fair, I didn’t really have a problem with their coupling while I was reading the novel. It was only after I finished that I started thinking about it. Ethan goes from having no care for anyone to being completely devoted to Selenka in pages. As soon as they mate, he’s ready to lay his life down for her.
You’re telling me that a man who can’t even get himself to trust Aden and Abbott, the ones who helped him escape from his prison and supported him, suddenly cares so much about a woman that he’s instantly ready to do whatever she says.
I love to see a man supporting a strong woman but I feel like Ethan’s devotion went a little too far. He’s constantly telling Selenka that he’ll do whatever she says, having no regard for his own feelings, and she goes along with it. Yeah, she doesn’t take advantage of it but it still made me a little uncomfortable when Ethan would say “whatever you want.”
The other thing that bugged me was the “mystery” around Ethan’s sub-designation. I know we’ll never get a sad ending to a Nalini novel so I’m never worried when a main character is “dying.” I liked seeing his Tk because it was something we’ve never seen before. Being able to control light? Sick as fuck. But, the whole time we’re to believe he has Scarab Syndrome and is going to die. Even Silver survived her Tp-A so I felt no tension.
We’re constantly told that everyone is comfortable around Ethan, that he feels their emotions, and we’re not supposed to guess he’s an E? Really? It’s pretty cool to have an Arrow be an E but how was that not everyone’s first guess when he kept telling you he knew what you were feeling?
I know it sounds like I have a lot of problems with the book but I really don’t lol. It’s good and I finished it pretty quickly. It’s just that it’s not as solid as the previous novels, especially when compared to the other alphas.
I really did like the integration of his unique E abilities though. Ethan and Memory are the only ones able to clean the Net of decay and though it’s cool to see, we’re also told they’re not able to do enough to save the Net so it has to be broken into pieces.
I honestly thought Nalini would go the route of finding a cure rather than breaking it up. It’s going to be interesting to see where she goes with the series and who the next couple will be. I’m hoping for another new pack but one never knows with Nalini.
