Review: Probably need more context
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2012
I might have enjoyed this story more if I'd heard of Anya Bast before and maybe read one or two of her novels. This story obviously needs a bit more context than what is here. That said, I am trying to not let that affect my evaluation of this story.I rate this a solid "eh". In terms of voice and mechanics, Bast does a competent or better job 80% of the time, and the rest of the time falls into moments of "telling" or just plain stating the blindingly obvious. The sex is fun. Nothing special.The story itself has two major flaws, ignoring my lack of larger context for the character. The first is that I am so sick of seeing shapeshifter romances where the couple being together is foregone conclusion because they're "mates". It's one step above "Their love is prophesied" in fantasy. I might not even have noticed this too much if I found the characters likeable, and again, I might lack a lot of context, but I found the characters to be nothing special. Cardboard macho hero, cardboard rebellious heroine who really just wants to belong. The hero, as a matter of fact, made me quite angry at the beginning of the story with a few scenes of non-consenting sexual contact being eroticized. Gross.When the big climactic battle came, I got confused and made sure I hadn't somehow flipped past five pages. It came out of nowhere, and then was over, I guess, and I was like, "So is everything solved now? Great! I guess."Not recommended if you haven't read Anya Bast's novels, perhaps not strongly recommended in general.