Review: Intriguing read, lots to think about.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 28, 2014
This series has a terrible name (The Bachelor Battles) and a terrible cover (fiery hearts). It looks like it's going to be crappy erotica, and if the description hadn't peaked my interest, I would have passed it by. I recommend you ignore the title and cover when deciding whether you'll read the book.*NOTE* This book is largely about the recovery of one man from a life of abuse: physical, mental, and sexual. While the abuse is not depicted, the results of that abuse and how he heals are the focus of this book. For some, the material in this book may trigger personal demons and/or harmful memories.WHAT I LIKED----------------* The book throws you into blood, violence, and both mental and physical pain right out the gate.  It's unapologetic in it's harshness - no softening or sugar-coating of the brutality.* The love relationship between the main characters felt both horrible and sweet. Horrible because of it's foundation and harsh evolutionary challenges. Sweet because each of them fights their own instincts to find a tenderness that their world insists is impossible.* During and after reading it, my mind is tumbling over itself with self-examination. The author's take on a society where the women have developed into the gender who can't control their violence and sexual urges while men have been bred to be weak and compliant isn't as hamfisted as that description just made it sound. :) On the contrary, the author captures so many subtle things between the characters in this reverse environment that my head keeps circling around them. Primarily, I find myself asking what I'd think about this book if the genders were *not* reversed. If the enslaved gender was women, and the barely controlled warriors were men. If Candice was a man and Daniel was a woman, how would I be reviewing this book? Honestly, I probably wouldn't have gotten more than a quarter of the way through without being completely pissed off by the gender stereotypes, violence against women, and expected subservience of the female gender. I probably would have put the book down. Instead, because the genders are reversed, the book made me *think* as I read each scene -- not just about how things were playing out in the fiction, but about how similar situations would play out (and how I would feel about it) in this real life world.* I'm intrigued by the concept of evolution in women sparked by the reduction of the male population. This certainly isn't the first fiction based on that concept, but much of what I've read explores more how women would *behave*. "The Change", instead, plays with the idea that actual physical evolutionary changes could come about from such an imbalance - changes to ensure survival of the species - changes out of the control of the people/animals evolving.* Dual perspectives, both in first person, is something I would expect to hate. I found it well done. It felt like I was slipping back and forth between two people's personal journals, and I really enjoyed having both perspectives, especially given the harsh realities in the relationship.WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE-------------------* Too many exclamation points. The use of them in this book felt like the character was shouting like a teenager - especially in the places where they were used. "She was so hot!" kind of breaks the sexual tension when it's a grown man thinking it about a grown woman. That's a little junior high for me.* Every so often, some of the sentences feel a little clunky and "amateur". I would have liked it if the writing quality was more consistently strong. However, for me, the story and the high quality of the rest of the writing more than made up for those lapses.* Even though the ending leaves you knowing everything isn't wine and roses from here on out, there was still something too "happily ever after" about it for me. The romance in this book is certainly non-traditional. However, the wrap-up felt like the wrap-up of a traditional romance - like everything's cool because the main characters finally got together. For me, this romantic plot was too harsh and gritty for me to buy that kind of wrap-up.If you like dystopian survival fiction with plenty of violence, hard relationships, and BAD THINGS happening, this book is worth a whirl. If that's not your style, but you're intrigued, maybe peruse it at your library or get a sample for your e-reader before buying.