Wow, what book was I reading compared to all the 4 to 5 star reviews? I struggled to make it to 46% before giving up, I should have done so much sooner. I don’t believe I would read more from this author after this sample of her writing. The flow was horrible. The plot is predictable. The characters are boring & not memorable. I felt Grace was too annoying & self-absorbed, we really don’t get much from Dekkir, other than he’s a fantastic warrior, physically sick from her rejection, & insatiable with sex once the relationship gets past her rejection. Also, from the physical description of Dekkir, he sounds like he’s almost white (a super pale) alien even with hair so light it’s almost white, nowhere did I read he’s blue anything, so why is the cover art a turquoise blue alien torso?
The story is full of holes. starting with time frames, how long was the point of time between everything, arriving at Dekkir’s home to the psychic interrogation to leaving on the caravan, when did the caravan arrive at its destination, how long were they at said destination before she takes that magic pill? This could have all taken place within days, weeks or months, whose to say. Then there are the other things, what was this about a month of training suddenly mentioned out of nowhere or even what for? Then there’s stupid things, like the creatures from the caravan sounded like giant apes or something, how did they carry the caravan, I’m trying to picture it, since the author left too much for the reader to try to imagine, was it on their backs or did they walk upright carrying it or what? At 46%, there wasn’t a mention yet if the king was saved or not. Then there are the questions about her so called new psychic abilities, she can feel the thoughts & emotions of people 2 floors below her if she’s not careful, but she can also hear her mentor who is on the planet’s moon, wow, stretching the distance a little unbelievably?! There was no solid description for too many things going on up to the 46% when I quit. I don’t want a “fill in the blanks with your own imagination” book, otherwise I could just become an author myself!
The emotional worries of sexual harassment or sexual abuse all because he sniffed her hair, held her hand a tad too long, & told the king (his father) that she was his fated mate were beyond ridiculous. She goes ballistic over that stuff, without giving a reader a justification for her extreme freak out, it came across as just lame over reacting on her part. I also got annoyed with all the time spent reading about her hair & hair care to keep it from going frizzy.