Oh man....
I did not like Betsy. I didn't like her from the first book, and it just got worse in this one. She was a 27 yo woman, the daughter of the President, and she acted like a petulant child. In the first book it said she was a party girl, who selfishly decided she couldn't stand to marry a Kall warrior, so she ran away. Betsy, was so selfish and narcissistic, she didn't care that her actions jeopardized the peace treaty and potentially the deaths of millions for the WHOLE WORLD.
She whined about how she was so scared she couldn't bring herself to marry a Kall, and that she couldn't believe nobody, including her father, took up for her to get her out of the punishment she brought upon herself. She kept crying about her dad abandoning her and not helping her get softer treatment, but what did she expect? He had to go along with the decision to keep the peace treaty for the whole world!!!
In the first book, Fiona took Betsy's place and married Merokk who ended up being a good loving man. After she's caught, Betsy finds out about how happy Fiona is and says she wishes she had just done that to begin with. Fiona took Betsy's place to protect her mother, just one person. Betsy couldn't bring herself to do the same thing to protect all the humans on earth. I was blown away by her self-centeredness and belief that she was a victim somehow.
Betsy never once really apologized, had true remorse, or took responsibility for putting herself above all the humans on earth. She never even acted like she understood the true potential ramifications of her actions. To me, Betsy never redeemed herself, instead her constant self-centered thoughts just made me angrier. I couldn't relate to her, and she made me not even want to finish this. The only good thing about this was Edek.
Edek was the bright spot in this story. It was due to his good heart and character that he was able to let go of his hatred and resentment to fall in love with her. He forgave human's for what happened to his family and opened his heart to Betsy. He treated her much better than she deserved, that's for sure.
My rating stems from forcing my way through a whole book, reading about a character I couldn't stand and made me angry. This author has many other books I've really enjoyed, and I look forward to Layla's story next.
Even though this is an ARC review, I will always shoot you straight. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.