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Psy-Changeling Trinity #4
Alpha Night
NYT bestselling author Nalini Singh returns to her breathtaking Psy-Changeling Trinity series with a mating that shouldn’t exist . . .
Alpha wolf Selenka Durev’s devotion to her pack is equaled only by her anger at anyone who would harm those under her care. That currently includes the empaths who’ve flowed into her city for a symposium that is a security nightmare, a powder keg just waiting for a match.
Ethan Night is an Arrow who isn’t an Arrow. Numb and disengaged from the world, he’s loyal only to himself. Assigned as part of the security force at a world-first symposium, he carries a dark agenda tied to the power-hungry and murderous Consortium. Then violence erupts and Ethan finds himself crashing into the heart and soul of an alpha wolf.
Mating at first sight is a myth, a fairytale. Yet Selenka’s wolf is resolute: Ethan Night, broken Arrow and a man capable of obsessive devotion, is the mate it has chosen. Even if the mating bond is full of static and not quite as it should be. Because Selenka’s new mate has a terrible secret, his mind surging with a power that is a creature of madness and death . . .
Alpha wolf Selenka Durev’s devotion to her pack is equaled only by her anger at anyone who would harm those under her care. That currently includes the empaths who’ve flowed into her city for a symposium that is a security nightmare, a powder keg just waiting for a match.
Ethan Night is an Arrow who isn’t an Arrow. Numb and disengaged from the world, he’s loyal only to himself. Assigned as part of the security force at a world-first symposium, he carries a dark agenda tied to the power-hungry and murderous Consortium. Then violence erupts and Ethan finds himself crashing into the heart and soul of an alpha wolf.
Mating at first sight is a myth, a fairytale. Yet Selenka’s wolf is resolute: Ethan Night, broken Arrow and a man capable of obsessive devotion, is the mate it has chosen. Even if the mating bond is full of static and not quite as it should be. Because Selenka’s new mate has a terrible secret, his mind surging with a power that is a creature of madness and death . . .
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2020
About the author
Nalini Singh
250 books27.1k followersI've been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There's no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.
I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).
So far, I've worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer's mill.
I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).
So far, I've worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer's mill.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,246 reviews
March 29, 2020
4 Stars
I am just going to be up front here and remind everyone that I am completely unable to be objective when it comes to this author and this series.
I have been reading this series since the beginning - and no, I don't mean "the beginning" in the sense that I've read everything since book one. I mean, "THE beginning," as in, I read these books as they were released, before goodreads was even a thing. You know, in that simpler, less-stressful, pre-social media crazed time.
But as I was saying...
I have read and re-read them ALL numerous times and consider myself a true fangirlwoman when it comes to this and Singh's other paranormal series (the Guild Hunter series).
So, yes, I am completely subjective in many areas when reading news books in this series...but I can also be a harsher critic in many ways too. Because when reading anything new in this series, I am holding it up against some of my ALL-time favorites books in the series, and in paranormal romance in general.
And let me just tell you, this one does a damned fine job of it.
This installment takes us back to Russia with the BlackEdge wolf pack, which is the changeling neighbor pack of the StoneWater bear pack (the focus of Silver Silence). Here we focus on Selenka Durev, the Alpha of the BlackEdge pack. Thus, this was a book of two major firsts in this series: 1) A female alpha changeling as a main character, and 2) A mating at first sight.
Yep, you read that right...a MATING AT FIRST SIGHT.
Like many fans, I was pretty excited about that prospect...albeit a little nervous that a Psy male wouldn't be able to give me the dominance and push/pull I crave in my male leads. After all, they can't all be a Kaleb. (Looking at you and you).
That said, I truly enjoyed every second of this book, although I am hesitant to say more so not to include any spoilers.
So why not 5 stars, you ask?
It's simple.
As much as I enjoyed it, it wasn't a Slave to Sensation, Mine to Possess, Kiss of Snow, or Heart of Obsidian AKA my favorites of the series (especially those last two).
But few things do.
Still. I truly enjoyed this one and I have faith that other fans of the series will too.
***ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***
I am just going to be up front here and remind everyone that I am completely unable to be objective when it comes to this author and this series.
I have been reading this series since the beginning - and no, I don't mean "the beginning" in the sense that I've read everything since book one. I mean, "THE beginning," as in, I read these books as they were released, before goodreads was even a thing. You know, in that simpler, less-stressful, pre-social media crazed time.
But as I was saying...
I have read and re-read them ALL numerous times and consider myself a true fan
So, yes, I am completely subjective in many areas when reading news books in this series...but I can also be a harsher critic in many ways too. Because when reading anything new in this series, I am holding it up against some of my ALL-time favorites books in the series, and in paranormal romance in general.
And let me just tell you, this one does a damned fine job of it.
This installment takes us back to Russia with the BlackEdge wolf pack, which is the changeling neighbor pack of the StoneWater bear pack (the focus of Silver Silence). Here we focus on Selenka Durev, the Alpha of the BlackEdge pack. Thus, this was a book of two major firsts in this series: 1) A female alpha changeling as a main character, and 2) A mating at first sight.
Yep, you read that right...a MATING AT FIRST SIGHT.
Like many fans, I was pretty excited about that prospect...albeit a little nervous that a Psy male wouldn't be able to give me the dominance and push/pull I crave in my male leads. After all, they can't all be a Kaleb. (Looking at you and you).
That said, I truly enjoyed every second of this book, although I am hesitant to say more so not to include any spoilers.
So why not 5 stars, you ask?
It's simple.
As much as I enjoyed it, it wasn't a Slave to Sensation, Mine to Possess, Kiss of Snow, or Heart of Obsidian AKA my favorites of the series (especially those last two).
But few things do.
Still. I truly enjoyed this one and I have faith that other fans of the series will too.
***ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***
December 16, 2019
March 5, 2020:
Some non-spoilery and incoherent post-reading thoughts:
1) I'm a major fangirl and incapable of being objective. I love critiquing it and arguing about what works/doesn't work, but that doesn't take away my unmitigated love/squeeing.
2) Fascinating relationship dynamic that is new to the series. Of course we've seen Dominant Changeling + Arrow/Dangerous Psy before, but it's usually accompanied by "Oh, we can't be together because xyz. I'm not capable of love. I don't deserve you because I'm too dangerous and I've done irredeemable things in the past." None of that here. Of course Ethan has major fears about his power and believes that he's broken by his trauma, but at no point does he push away Selenka because of it. The mating-at-first-sight dynamic is super intriguing; they're all in on the relationship, they just need to navigate falling in love and helping Ethan manage his psychic problems. So even though it's not a new pairing type to the series, I found the new iteration of the dynamic to be refreshing.
3) I have wanted an alpha heroine for so long and IT IS SO FREAKING GOOD. I love you, Selenka Durev. You have my heart forever and ever. Not that I had any doubt, since I stan for all changeling wolves, but it was nice to know I was right.
“If you are a true threat to me or mine, I will tear out your throat and walk away with your blood on my claws—and in my mouth.” She brushed one claw over his lips. “But if you’re not . . . well, zaichik, then we’ll play.”
4) Can we talk about Selenka and Valentin grumbling together about how difficult their Psy mates are?!!! And how Selenka is slowly suckered into liking Valentin even though she claims he's a nuisance?!! I have no real observation here, I'm just very much here for wolf and bear antics.
5) So the entire novel takes place in three/four days. It's a short time span and nonstop; most scenes are chronologically set immediately after the end of the previous scene. The pacing feels different than other books. I love it, but I recognize that some readers won't like it because it's unique. I think the pace works but I also never released a breath the entire time I was reading. It felt like I was on a roller-coaster; I need to reread now that I've calmed down and can appreciate the book without panicking about Ethan's psychic issues.
6) This book is really smart about The Architect. I wasn't sure if Nalini would reveal the identity this soon (and she doesn't). BUT she does leave enough tantalizing clues that an eagle-eyed reader could figure it out. I was stuck between a few choices in the beginning and finished the book with 100% certainty about the Architect's identity (keep in mind that I've read the series a million times and can remember obscure details about certain people).
7) I have long held a conspiracy theory about Nikita. ALPHA NIGHT not only solidified my evidence but added so many more facets to it! I love being right about things. 😂 I desperately need a Nikita book and I think we're getting one eventually. Not sure when, but hopefully it'll be in the next decade. 😭
8) Okay, if Berkley ever publishes supplementary materials to the text, I need the following: the Arrow Sex Education Manual, Wild Woman magazine (Aunt Rita's column!), and a script for that soap opera HOURGLASS LIVES. I need it all. The little snippets in the beginning of each chapter are so good!
9) This is a selfish complaint but let me be unreasonable for a moment. I love Sascha; I really do. But we see her in almost every book and I wish we saw the Laurens/Sienna more often. 😭 This is extremely irrational considering we just saw Sienna in WOLF RAIN. That being said, my other faves get screen-time: Ivy, Aden, Kaleb, Silver/Valentin, and Alexei/Memory.
10) I am fascinated by the evolution of consent/skin privileges in the 20+ book series. If you go back to the earlier books, there is never any dub-con but there is possessive/alphahole behavior around touching/sex. I don't have any trouble reading the early books but I recognize that sex was written very differently fifteen years ago.
Flash forward to 2020. There is a scene in ALPHA NIGHT that lays out consent in such a wonderful and explicit way. I'm intrigued by how the portrayal of consent/skin privileges has evolved in the past decade. Each book is a product of the time it was published in. I tolerate behavior in VISIONS OF HEAT (2007) that I wouldn't tolerate in a book published today. Someone smarter than me should write about it because the Psy/Changeling series is an excellent microcosm of changes in the romance publishing industry re: sex.
11) I am honestly amused by how many people need to get behind Sienna in line to murder Ming LeBon. My girl deserves to do it, but she has stiff competition! Has there ever been a more villainous character?
12) Random aside that has zero relevance to the plot: I am also amused by the confirmation that billionaire changelings don't exist (they're talking about a soap opera!). No wonder I love changelings; they're smart enough to know that being a billionaire isn't ethical! New theory: changelings are socialist if you think about their pack structure and how resources are divided. Don't yell at me; it's a working theory!
“You two realize a billionaire alpha wolf is an oxymoron?” Selenka muttered, rolling her eyes. “Alphas are about pack, not—”
13) My biggest critique of the Psy-Changeling-Trinity arc continues in this book. I love these books, I really do. But it's also more difficult to feel at ease from the very beginning. This is because we are introduced to a new pack and setting (StoneWater in SILVER SILENCE, BlackSea in OCEAN LIGHT, and now BlackEdge in ALPHA NIGHT). Everything is new. We have to learn the lieutenants' names, the dynamics between every pack member and the alpha, pack structure, pack history, past trauma, etc. Every pack feels different and it takes a while to settle in.
There's also a danger of not being fully invested in that pack's members if you don't know who they are. The sad events (injury/attack) don't hit as hard as, say, Eli (a minor character in the SnowDancer Pack) getting injured in KISS OF SNOW. Whereas the Silence Arc (first fifteen books) built on each other and focused on characters/packs that we were already super invested in, the Trinity Arc is more scattershot and moves from place to place. WOLF RAIN escaped this problem because it returned to SnowDancer territory. I love the scattershot approach because I love learning about new packs/cultures, but I won't deny that it takes getting used to. I've also realized that my rereads of the Trinity Arc are a far superior experience because I don't have to focus on learning new names/dynamics. Now that I'm already invested in the new secondary characters, the reread often yields stronger emotional punches.
While I adore BlackEdge and the new faces, I only became 100% invested in them a third of the way through (and now I'll be invested from the very start in a reread). I only noticed this disparity because the simultaneous PsyNet storyline ("How can we help save the PsyNet before it destroys us all?!)" is easy to sink into because it's a continuation of the past eighteen books. In conclusion: love the Trinity arc, love the new packs and faces, not fully invested from chapter 1, always get won over eventually, and the rereads are EVEN BETTER than the first read.
I could go on for a while so I'll stop here. Loved the book, but I fully acknowledge that I'm biased as hell. This series is my happy place and I'm sad to wait another year for a new installment.
Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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*
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March 2, 2020:
An arc of ALPHA NIGHT is on my kindle and my happiness is indescribable. I don't know if I'll read it right away or wait. A little patience might make the experience more enjoyable! And maybe I should categorize it as a Break-Emergency-Glass-If-Necessary book (aka "I need to retreat to my happy place after bad news"). We'll see. In the meantime, I'm ecstatic for Selenka's book!
*
*
*
December 16, 2019 (announcement of couple/book title):
As longtime president of the Selenka Durev fanclub, I just want to say that I FREAKING CALLED THIS BOOK.
ALPHA HEROINE. BROKEN ARROW. WOLVES. NO, I WILL NOT STOP SCREAMING.
This is already my favorite book of 2020 and it hasn't even been written yet.
Some non-spoilery and incoherent post-reading thoughts:
1) I'm a major fangirl and incapable of being objective. I love critiquing it and arguing about what works/doesn't work, but that doesn't take away my unmitigated love/squeeing.
2) Fascinating relationship dynamic that is new to the series. Of course we've seen Dominant Changeling + Arrow/Dangerous Psy before, but it's usually accompanied by "Oh, we can't be together because xyz. I'm not capable of love. I don't deserve you because I'm too dangerous and I've done irredeemable things in the past." None of that here. Of course Ethan has major fears about his power and believes that he's broken by his trauma, but at no point does he push away Selenka because of it. The mating-at-first-sight dynamic is super intriguing; they're all in on the relationship, they just need to navigate falling in love and helping Ethan manage his psychic problems. So even though it's not a new pairing type to the series, I found the new iteration of the dynamic to be refreshing.
3) I have wanted an alpha heroine for so long and IT IS SO FREAKING GOOD. I love you, Selenka Durev. You have my heart forever and ever. Not that I had any doubt, since I stan for all changeling wolves, but it was nice to know I was right.
“If you are a true threat to me or mine, I will tear out your throat and walk away with your blood on my claws—and in my mouth.” She brushed one claw over his lips. “But if you’re not . . . well, zaichik, then we’ll play.”
4) Can we talk about Selenka and Valentin grumbling together about how difficult their Psy mates are?!!! And how Selenka is slowly suckered into liking Valentin even though she claims he's a nuisance?!! I have no real observation here, I'm just very much here for wolf and bear antics.
5) So the entire novel takes place in three/four days. It's a short time span and nonstop; most scenes are chronologically set immediately after the end of the previous scene. The pacing feels different than other books. I love it, but I recognize that some readers won't like it because it's unique. I think the pace works but I also never released a breath the entire time I was reading. It felt like I was on a roller-coaster; I need to reread now that I've calmed down and can appreciate the book without panicking about Ethan's psychic issues.
6) This book is really smart about The Architect. I wasn't sure if Nalini would reveal the identity this soon (and she doesn't). BUT she does leave enough tantalizing clues that an eagle-eyed reader could figure it out. I was stuck between a few choices in the beginning and finished the book with 100% certainty about the Architect's identity (keep in mind that I've read the series a million times and can remember obscure details about certain people).
7) I have long held a conspiracy theory about Nikita. ALPHA NIGHT not only solidified my evidence but added so many more facets to it! I love being right about things. 😂 I desperately need a Nikita book and I think we're getting one eventually. Not sure when, but hopefully it'll be in the next decade. 😭
8) Okay, if Berkley ever publishes supplementary materials to the text, I need the following: the Arrow Sex Education Manual, Wild Woman magazine (Aunt Rita's column!), and a script for that soap opera HOURGLASS LIVES. I need it all. The little snippets in the beginning of each chapter are so good!
9) This is a selfish complaint but let me be unreasonable for a moment. I love Sascha; I really do. But we see her in almost every book and I wish we saw the Laurens/Sienna more often. 😭 This is extremely irrational considering we just saw Sienna in WOLF RAIN. That being said, my other faves get screen-time: Ivy, Aden, Kaleb, Silver/Valentin, and Alexei/Memory.
10) I am fascinated by the evolution of consent/skin privileges in the 20+ book series. If you go back to the earlier books, there is never any dub-con but there is possessive/alphahole behavior around touching/sex. I don't have any trouble reading the early books but I recognize that sex was written very differently fifteen years ago.
Flash forward to 2020. There is a scene in ALPHA NIGHT that lays out consent in such a wonderful and explicit way. I'm intrigued by how the portrayal of consent/skin privileges has evolved in the past decade. Each book is a product of the time it was published in. I tolerate behavior in VISIONS OF HEAT (2007) that I wouldn't tolerate in a book published today. Someone smarter than me should write about it because the Psy/Changeling series is an excellent microcosm of changes in the romance publishing industry re: sex.
11) I am honestly amused by how many people need to get behind Sienna in line to murder Ming LeBon. My girl deserves to do it, but she has stiff competition! Has there ever been a more villainous character?
12) Random aside that has zero relevance to the plot: I am also amused by the confirmation that billionaire changelings don't exist (they're talking about a soap opera!). No wonder I love changelings; they're smart enough to know that being a billionaire isn't ethical! New theory: changelings are socialist if you think about their pack structure and how resources are divided. Don't yell at me; it's a working theory!
“You two realize a billionaire alpha wolf is an oxymoron?” Selenka muttered, rolling her eyes. “Alphas are about pack, not—”
13) My biggest critique of the Psy-Changeling-Trinity arc continues in this book. I love these books, I really do. But it's also more difficult to feel at ease from the very beginning. This is because we are introduced to a new pack and setting (StoneWater in SILVER SILENCE, BlackSea in OCEAN LIGHT, and now BlackEdge in ALPHA NIGHT). Everything is new. We have to learn the lieutenants' names, the dynamics between every pack member and the alpha, pack structure, pack history, past trauma, etc. Every pack feels different and it takes a while to settle in.
There's also a danger of not being fully invested in that pack's members if you don't know who they are. The sad events (injury/attack) don't hit as hard as, say, Eli (a minor character in the SnowDancer Pack) getting injured in KISS OF SNOW. Whereas the Silence Arc (first fifteen books) built on each other and focused on characters/packs that we were already super invested in, the Trinity Arc is more scattershot and moves from place to place. WOLF RAIN escaped this problem because it returned to SnowDancer territory. I love the scattershot approach because I love learning about new packs/cultures, but I won't deny that it takes getting used to. I've also realized that my rereads of the Trinity Arc are a far superior experience because I don't have to focus on learning new names/dynamics. Now that I'm already invested in the new secondary characters, the reread often yields stronger emotional punches.
While I adore BlackEdge and the new faces, I only became 100% invested in them a third of the way through (and now I'll be invested from the very start in a reread). I only noticed this disparity because the simultaneous PsyNet storyline ("How can we help save the PsyNet before it destroys us all?!)" is easy to sink into because it's a continuation of the past eighteen books. In conclusion: love the Trinity arc, love the new packs and faces, not fully invested from chapter 1, always get won over eventually, and the rereads are EVEN BETTER than the first read.
I could go on for a while so I'll stop here. Loved the book, but I fully acknowledge that I'm biased as hell. This series is my happy place and I'm sad to wait another year for a new installment.
Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*
*
*
March 2, 2020:
An arc of ALPHA NIGHT is on my kindle and my happiness is indescribable. I don't know if I'll read it right away or wait. A little patience might make the experience more enjoyable! And maybe I should categorize it as a Break-Emergency-Glass-If-Necessary book (aka "I need to retreat to my happy place after bad news"). We'll see. In the meantime, I'm ecstatic for Selenka's book!
*
*
*
December 16, 2019 (announcement of couple/book title):
As longtime president of the Selenka Durev fanclub, I just want to say that I FREAKING CALLED THIS BOOK.
ALPHA HEROINE. BROKEN ARROW. WOLVES. NO, I WILL NOT STOP SCREAMING.
This is already my favorite book of 2020 and it hasn't even been written yet.
June 14, 2020
Did I read this wrong? Why didn't anyone else get annoyed with the time-frame this book is set in? The entire book takes place in just a few days with the first half of it being 24 hours. Because of that, I had a hard time taking these intense feelings of love and devotion seriously. I mean, it was within just hours of meeting that these things were thought by our couple:
Her: "She couldn't bring herself to trust anyone enough to allow them a glimpse of her heart. Until a damaged Arrow said, "I am yours" and meant it with all that he was."
This is within a couple of hours after meeting him for the first time. I've known servers in restaurants longer who also claimed they were mine and I didn't proclaim an undying love for them. Well, okay, there was that one guy who brought me this chocolate souffle that was to die for, but I embarrassed him, myself, and my husband by saying it. I have no regrets.
Him: Until her, need for a person hadn't even been a concept in his life... Now she was his air and his light.
Again, just met. So, this guy is smoking hot and has the tortured hero thing going and he falls this easily? It took my hubs years to realize that I control his air and his light. And, we still fight over the thermostat to control the air. Where the hell was this guy when I was young and single?
The struggle is real.
On the other hand, there is Ivo, who says this:
"I'm an eating specialist who has a vested interest in making friends with chefs."
And then I reconsider this love-at-first-sight scenario. Maybe a man can speak directly to your heart upon meeting and suddenly complete you in every way.
On the other other-hand, I think I'm in love with this bird instead. He understands me at a spiritual level.
As a person who has been with my hubs for 30 years, I can say with authority: it takes time to really know a person. Yes, that is mind-blowing, I know. So, I couldn't buy the things happening in this book. If it has just been stretched out over time, and not all happened over a long weekend, I would have enjoyed it. The problem was that I couldn't get the time-frame out of my mind as I read. All of those deep feelings and proclamations felt ridiculous.
Her: "She couldn't bring herself to trust anyone enough to allow them a glimpse of her heart. Until a damaged Arrow said, "I am yours" and meant it with all that he was."
This is within a couple of hours after meeting him for the first time. I've known servers in restaurants longer who also claimed they were mine and I didn't proclaim an undying love for them. Well, okay, there was that one guy who brought me this chocolate souffle that was to die for, but I embarrassed him, myself, and my husband by saying it. I have no regrets.
Him: Until her, need for a person hadn't even been a concept in his life... Now she was his air and his light.
Again, just met. So, this guy is smoking hot and has the tortured hero thing going and he falls this easily? It took my hubs years to realize that I control his air and his light. And, we still fight over the thermostat to control the air. Where the hell was this guy when I was young and single?
The struggle is real.
On the other hand, there is Ivo, who says this:
"I'm an eating specialist who has a vested interest in making friends with chefs."
And then I reconsider this love-at-first-sight scenario. Maybe a man can speak directly to your heart upon meeting and suddenly complete you in every way.
On the other other-hand, I think I'm in love with this bird instead. He understands me at a spiritual level.
As a person who has been with my hubs for 30 years, I can say with authority: it takes time to really know a person. Yes, that is mind-blowing, I know. So, I couldn't buy the things happening in this book. If it has just been stretched out over time, and not all happened over a long weekend, I would have enjoyed it. The problem was that I couldn't get the time-frame out of my mind as I read. All of those deep feelings and proclamations felt ridiculous.
October 7, 2020
4 Stars
This one took a bit for me to become fully invested in the story and it’s characters. Once that happened, though, I ended up loving it. Plus, the Bears were mentioned a lot in this book, and, oh how I love the Bears! Anyway, Alpha Night is a great addition to the Psy-Changeling series.
This one took a bit for me to become fully invested in the story and it’s characters. Once that happened, though, I ended up loving it. Plus, the Bears were mentioned a lot in this book, and, oh how I love the Bears! Anyway, Alpha Night is a great addition to the Psy-Changeling series.
March 30, 2020
OMG, So excited!! I love this series! What can I say? Why am I surprised anymore by the genius of Nalini Singh?
Disclaimer: This is one of the absolute best paranormal/ fantasy series out there. And the fact the storylines are still fresh, exciting, action packed and not a rinse & repeat of other books is a total joy.
Ethan Night
These are my LOVES with this book...
*We finally get a female alpha! I love a strong heroine and Selenka is a badass with a big heart!
*I can't get enough of the Arrows! And damn.. Ethan is my idea of the perfect man. OK so he will never be Kaleb but I loved Ethan's immediate devotion to Selenka and her pack. And he's proof virgins can still bring it! ( I would love to know what's in this Arrow mating manual)
*The instant mating was freaking awesome! I loved how these two grasped onto it with both hands and dug their claws in. It was very refreshing. Nalini did a great job of not throwing them in the sack immediately, but allowing the anticipation to build.
*So I figured out what Ethan's secret power was because he was constantly inferring things that only his type of psy would notice. My theory was that he constructed a shield to protect himself while Ming forced him to kill as a child. I loved that his shield was protecting him, but that the power refused to stay caged.
I only had one complaint...
*This book was really good but not a 5 star when compared to Kaleb and Hawke. So it was only a 4.5 star. Ha! My only complaint was that once Ethen unleashed his power, we never got a glimpse of what he could do with it. The book just kinda ended. Yeah, the book opened with him showing off his light saber power, but I wanted to see what he could do with this almost cardinal caliber power.
I bet you money we will be seeing him again in the future, showing off and being his badass loving self!! I remember when Sienna finally unleashed her power and it was hell on earth. Once she stopped fighting herself and mastered her ability, it was freaking Amazing. I was kinda hoping for a power display from Ethan once his shields were down and he was no longer fighting the power. But sadly...No.
Ok, so this book is a must read and the new arc with the Architect of Chaos is gonna be a wild ride. We've known the PsyNet was falling apart, but now with Ethan's special vision, we're able to understand why it's so weak. I look forward to more of Kaleb! And also anticipate Nikita's book may be what Hawke and Kaleb were...Freaking Amazing!!!
Disclaimer: This is one of the absolute best paranormal/ fantasy series out there. And the fact the storylines are still fresh, exciting, action packed and not a rinse & repeat of other books is a total joy.
Ethan Night
These are my LOVES with this book...
*We finally get a female alpha! I love a strong heroine and Selenka is a badass with a big heart!
*I can't get enough of the Arrows! And damn.. Ethan is my idea of the perfect man. OK so he will never be Kaleb but I loved Ethan's immediate devotion to Selenka and her pack. And he's proof virgins can still bring it! ( I would love to know what's in this Arrow mating manual)
*The instant mating was freaking awesome! I loved how these two grasped onto it with both hands and dug their claws in. It was very refreshing. Nalini did a great job of not throwing them in the sack immediately, but allowing the anticipation to build.
*So I figured out what Ethan's secret power was because he was constantly inferring things that only his type of psy would notice. My theory was that he constructed a shield to protect himself while Ming forced him to kill as a child. I loved that his shield was protecting him, but that the power refused to stay caged.
I only had one complaint...
*This book was really good but not a 5 star when compared to Kaleb and Hawke. So it was only a 4.5 star. Ha! My only complaint was that once Ethen unleashed his power, we never got a glimpse of what he could do with it. The book just kinda ended. Yeah, the book opened with him showing off his light saber power, but I wanted to see what he could do with this almost cardinal caliber power.
I bet you money we will be seeing him again in the future, showing off and being his badass loving self!! I remember when Sienna finally unleashed her power and it was hell on earth. Once she stopped fighting herself and mastered her ability, it was freaking Amazing. I was kinda hoping for a power display from Ethan once his shields were down and he was no longer fighting the power. But sadly...No.
Ok, so this book is a must read and the new arc with the Architect of Chaos is gonna be a wild ride. We've known the PsyNet was falling apart, but now with Ethan's special vision, we're able to understand why it's so weak. I look forward to more of Kaleb! And also anticipate Nikita's book may be what Hawke and Kaleb were...Freaking Amazing!!!
December 4, 2019
OMGOMGOMG. A female alpha wolf and an Arrow!!!
June 17, 2020
Question: when will Nalini Singh stop scalping me?
Answer: NEVER, APPARENTLY.
Every single Psy-Changeling/Trinity book I pick up is consistently, awesomely amazing. How? How??!?!? Where does one acquire this kind of talent? Because I would like to have it.
I don't even know what to say about this book because every part of it is so precious that talking about it all feels like spoilers. But I think you'll enjoy this if you like:
- romance
- of any sort
- literally any kind
And I think you'll ESPECIALLY enjoy this if you like:
- community, family, unconditional love
- twists and turns! but the safe kind that don't upset you, but they do surprise you
- wildly devoted heroes
- truly TRULY alpha heroines
- badasses of epic proportions in general
- queen/loyal knight dynamics
- lowkey morality chain feels
Ugh oh my goodness just read it. Read it all. Urgently!!!!
Answer: NEVER, APPARENTLY.
Every single Psy-Changeling/Trinity book I pick up is consistently, awesomely amazing. How? How??!?!? Where does one acquire this kind of talent? Because I would like to have it.
I don't even know what to say about this book because every part of it is so precious that talking about it all feels like spoilers. But I think you'll enjoy this if you like:
- romance
- of any sort
- literally any kind
And I think you'll ESPECIALLY enjoy this if you like:
- community, family, unconditional love
- twists and turns! but the safe kind that don't upset you, but they do surprise you
- wildly devoted heroes
- truly TRULY alpha heroines
- badasses of epic proportions in general
- queen/loyal knight dynamics
- lowkey morality chain feels
Ugh oh my goodness just read it. Read it all. Urgently!!!!
March 8, 2020
Alpha Night is a book that is action packed, and barely lets you breath. From beginning to end there wasn’t a boring minuted in this novel.
I loved that we finally got a female alpha, with her own wolf pack. Selenka was tough, strong, smart, and that she mated on first sight was the most unconventional and unique part of the book. Different. Intriguing. Fascinating. Her relationship with Ethan was something refreshingly new, which long standing series sometimes are lacking. The combination of Alpha wolf and Arrow Psy was a love-story that this series hasn’t seen yet, and I loved it.
I loved Ethan and Selenka together. The mating at first sight was bringing out the possessiveness, the togetherness between them, and I absolutely adored it. I’m also becoming more and more a fan of the bears. There is just something so charming about them, and I wouldn’t say no to a future wolf/bear pairing.
Alpha Night was as entertaining as all the other books in this series. And I don’t think I could ever get tired of them. Nevertheless I’m not yet as invested in the new characters as I am with the characters from the older books. Only more books will tell.
But besides that, a Nalini Singh book will always be on the very top of my tbr. I’ll drop everything to read it, and most often than not, it’s a one-sitting kind of read – as it was with Alpha Night.
Also I thought I would mention this, I found this fantastic review, that says it all so much better than I ever could.
___________________________________
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
Find more reviews and book recommendations on my blog
Follow me on Bookstagram
I loved that we finally got a female alpha, with her own wolf pack. Selenka was tough, strong, smart, and that she mated on first sight was the most unconventional and unique part of the book. Different. Intriguing. Fascinating. Her relationship with Ethan was something refreshingly new, which long standing series sometimes are lacking. The combination of Alpha wolf and Arrow Psy was a love-story that this series hasn’t seen yet, and I loved it.
I loved Ethan and Selenka together. The mating at first sight was bringing out the possessiveness, the togetherness between them, and I absolutely adored it. I’m also becoming more and more a fan of the bears. There is just something so charming about them, and I wouldn’t say no to a future wolf/bear pairing.
Alpha Night was as entertaining as all the other books in this series. And I don’t think I could ever get tired of them. Nevertheless I’m not yet as invested in the new characters as I am with the characters from the older books. Only more books will tell.
But besides that, a Nalini Singh book will always be on the very top of my tbr. I’ll drop everything to read it, and most often than not, it’s a one-sitting kind of read – as it was with Alpha Night.
Also I thought I would mention this, I found this fantastic review, that says it all so much better than I ever could.
___________________________________
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
Find more reviews and book recommendations on my blog
Follow me on Bookstagram
April 3, 2020
4 STARS
This was really good, I loved the romance a lot from the beginning!It has a great plot and the characters were unique!The romance was one of the best I have read so far from Nalini Singh!
The characters have a great chemistry, they were intense and I loved every minute they have together!I adored them and I wanted to hug them!They make me swoon!
This is a great book, it's fast paced and captivating!
This was really good, I loved the romance a lot from the beginning!It has a great plot and the characters were unique!The romance was one of the best I have read so far from Nalini Singh!
The characters have a great chemistry, they were intense and I loved every minute they have together!I adored them and I wanted to hug them!They make me swoon!
This is a great book, it's fast paced and captivating!
June 8, 2020
TITLE: ALPHA NIGHT
AUTHOR: Nalini Singh
SERIES: Psy Changeling Trinity #4, Psy Changeling #19
RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2020
GENRE: PNR
RATING: 4.5 STARS
CLIFFHANGER: No
READ MY REVIEW ON THE BLOG
I'm deeply in love with Nalini Singh's massive Psy-Changeling world. It's creative and futuristic and her love for detail just shines through in every book and on every page which makes for a cohesive reading experience. In Alpha Night BlackEdge alpha Selenka Durev and Arrow Ethan Night are being paired up.
These two experience a spontaneous mating at their first encounter which is supposed to be rare. These two know nothing about one another and are connected through an unbreakable bond. Both of them alpha in their own right with a matching strong will, skills that are beyond average, and demons that haunt them, now need to find a way to handle this bond and get to know each other and you as a reader are allowed to come along for the ride.
I loved Ethan so much who had strong intuition how to treat Selenka and her pack. He was so disarmingly honest, trusting, tender and enamored with his new mate. But there is something dark and powerful lurking in his mind that threatens to break free and he can't allow that because that means danger to Selenka. His need to protect her at any cost is deeply ingrained despite the new connection. Ethan's loneliness tugged on my heartstrings and I wished him nothing but happiness.
Being with Selenka, it filled an emptiness so deep inside him that it had no name.
Nalini Singh does a great job dropping hints what exactly it is that ails Ethan and if you pay attention the outcome won't surprise you. It definitely had me thrilled.
Selenka is a badass alpha who is 100% up to the job. She has no issue taking decisive action, that can include the death of anyone who threatens, endangers or hurts a member of her pack. But she also has a softer side and that makes her so very likable. These two fall in love with so much ease and so naturally, they are perfect for each other. Ethan and Selenka aren't just lovers and mates, they are affectionate, faithful friends and protectors.
His hair fell across his forehead as he moved to touch another tree, and suddenly he looked so young that her heart threatened to break. She would show him a world beyond pain and murder and hurt, she vowed it.
We now get a clear picture of The Architect's character and motives. I really can't wait to find out who The Architect is - whether it's a new character or somebody we know. My money is on the latter. While Ethan and Selenka's story wraps up with a bow the author leaves us with a bit of a cliffy in regards to the Psy-Net's deterioration. It will be interesting to see how this is being resolved in the upcoming books.
Of course we get to catch up with many of our beloved characters from previous books and I got such a kick out of reconnecting with Valentin and Silver, especially because the bears elicit so much exasperation in the wolves, yet they are close allies.
If you need a really good PNR series I can't recommend the Psy-Changeling world enough. While I think that you could get away reading this as a standalone with little or no confusion if you've read some of the previous books in this series, I wouldn't recommend it (and seriously, I don't know why you would want that with this series being so awesome). Nalini Singh's stories are magical and always make me care deeply about her characters and these two definitely dug their way into my heart. Her words are beyond beautiful and the love for this world is in her every word. I can't wait to find out who she'll pair up next!
For the first time in his life, he opened his soul . . . and in ran a wolf, the contact so hard and powerful and potent that his mind screamed in ecstasy.
June 3, 2020
Since the old constructs of Silence have crumbled and the divisions between the Psy, Changelings and humans have become less solid, everything is in flux. There is a secret faction that would like to ruin all the progress made toward unity and a desire to rule all three species. This is the overreaching story arc at play in the series, but at the heart of each installment is a romance and is sort of a standalone story. I do think a reader would benefit from reading in order to understand the continuing story behind all the attacks and dangers these groups face.
Alpha Night offers up an unlikely pair: Ethan, an Arrow and and Selenka, the Alpha of the Black Edge Wolf Pack. They’re thrown together after an attack on a joint symposium has them crossing paths and discovering they’re Mates. As in mating-at-first-sight…
The intense bond they share by mating, however, is shadowed by a force within Ethan that he keeps carefully reigned in; its forces ready to explode out at every turn. Being in a mating bond makes it difficult to keep this a secret, thank goodness, because Ethan needs help and Selenka is just the person to fight for her mate.
Loved the concept of a mating-at-first-sight, and with such an unlikely pair! Ethan’s a cold, efficient, deadly Arrow, and Selenka is a passionate fiery wolf-shifter. Both a strong power on their own. Sounds like an odd match, but I do love me an intense opposites-attract romance! I! was so fun watching them navigate the complexities of a mating while trying to get to know each other; admiring each other, their strength and conviction, more and more as they do. Ethan’s past broke my heart and I was happy he had Selenka in his corner. He needed unconditional devotion and love after what he went through. His devotion to Selenka and her Pack was also touching. He naturally fit in, despite coming from the cold, emotionless Silence protocol.
Selenka and Ethan were passionate and protective with each other. I’m happy that Selenka’s dominant nature didn’t scare Ethan or make him cower. He was a man confident enough to let his mate shine and take point when needed. He didn’t need to assert his own will or diminish Selenka in any way to feel more of a man, and it was lovely!
Nalini Singh has been nailing it with the Psy-Changeling Trinity series! I read a couple of the original series and enjoyed them, but there’s something about this new series I just love!
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
Alpha Night offers up an unlikely pair: Ethan, an Arrow and and Selenka, the Alpha of the Black Edge Wolf Pack. They’re thrown together after an attack on a joint symposium has them crossing paths and discovering they’re Mates. As in mating-at-first-sight…
The intense bond they share by mating, however, is shadowed by a force within Ethan that he keeps carefully reigned in; its forces ready to explode out at every turn. Being in a mating bond makes it difficult to keep this a secret, thank goodness, because Ethan needs help and Selenka is just the person to fight for her mate.
Loved the concept of a mating-at-first-sight, and with such an unlikely pair! Ethan’s a cold, efficient, deadly Arrow, and Selenka is a passionate fiery wolf-shifter. Both a strong power on their own. Sounds like an odd match, but I do love me an intense opposites-attract romance! I! was so fun watching them navigate the complexities of a mating while trying to get to know each other; admiring each other, their strength and conviction, more and more as they do. Ethan’s past broke my heart and I was happy he had Selenka in his corner. He needed unconditional devotion and love after what he went through. His devotion to Selenka and her Pack was also touching. He naturally fit in, despite coming from the cold, emotionless Silence protocol.
Selenka and Ethan were passionate and protective with each other. I’m happy that Selenka’s dominant nature didn’t scare Ethan or make him cower. He was a man confident enough to let his mate shine and take point when needed. He didn’t need to assert his own will or diminish Selenka in any way to feel more of a man, and it was lovely!
Nalini Singh has been nailing it with the Psy-Changeling Trinity series! I read a couple of the original series and enjoyed them, but there’s something about this new series I just love!
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
April 6, 2020
Ah, I'm so torn between a 4 and 4.5 star, only because I think the pacing at the beginning and end are a bit off, but aside from that, Nalini Singh kills it again. This was a great entry for my money, probably because I am an absolute sucker for these sweet Psy men learning to love through their changeling mates. I loved seeing an example where there's "mating at first sight" -- we've not seen that in the universe before, but I'd always kind of wondered why there's always this mating dance needed, so I appreciated her finding a new kind of story to tell that expanded what we know about the way her magic system works. I also loved seeing what a pack with a female alpha was like, and thought the dynamic between Ethan as such a powerful Psy & Selenka was very interesting. She totally sold me on the whys/hows of Ethan being so devoted & supportive right out the gate, and again, it created a fresh type of conflict in the series.
All in all, this was super satisfying for me and one of the books that worked best in the series.
All in all, this was super satisfying for me and one of the books that worked best in the series.
May 25, 2020
Release Day
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
4.5 hearts
Alpha Night was everything I’ve come to expect from Nalini Singh in her series set in a world with Humans, Changelings and Pys (Humans tapped into a mental web plain). The Psy-Changeling Trinity series is side step from the main Psy-Changeling series, meaning it is a good entry point for new readers who didn’t want to commit to the 15 other books in the series that cover one overlapping arc. Each book is written as a self-contained romance and so you can read them out of order or miss one or two and be okay. But I still recommend reading the series in order to get the full impact.
Ethan is part of an elite force called the Arrows. As a child raised in a world without emotion, he was kept separated and exposed to horrors and tortured under the old regime. Now he is a broken man on the verge of cracking, he knows he is broken and will probably not be able to live much longer if his mental state keeps deteriorating.
Selenka is the Alpha of a wolf pack. No one was more surprised than she was when her wolf decided on the spot that Ethan was her mate and shoved the mating bond on him. She wonders what it is about this man that made her wolf identify with him so quickly and why the bond feels like there is some static in the way. She will not let her mate go easily, even if he thinks it will be for the best if he spirals.
Selenka and Ethan will have to figure out their bond while also trying to get to whoever is trying to sow discord between the wolves and bears and is also trying to kill off members of Selenka’s pack. There is something not quite right in the net and Ethan is one of the only people in the world that can see it. He is going to need to hold it together if the Psy-Net is going to make it through the strange new attacks being placed on it.
I always get so drawn into these stories. They are like m&m’s and I just want to eat them all up by the handfuls. I was so happy to see some of my favorite characters from the past make cameo appearances. I loved how well Selenka and Ethan really fit together with things that they could bond on from their pasts. By the end it was clear to see why the two belonged together and how Ethan fit in her life.
Narration:
Angela Dawe has voiced all of the Psy-Changeling books and is the voice of the series for me. I had a great time with her yet again and really liked the Russian accent she provided for Selenka. Angela did a wonderful job yet again and I can't imagine anyone else narrating the series. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
4.5 hearts
Alpha Night was everything I’ve come to expect from Nalini Singh in her series set in a world with Humans, Changelings and Pys (Humans tapped into a mental web plain). The Psy-Changeling Trinity series is side step from the main Psy-Changeling series, meaning it is a good entry point for new readers who didn’t want to commit to the 15 other books in the series that cover one overlapping arc. Each book is written as a self-contained romance and so you can read them out of order or miss one or two and be okay. But I still recommend reading the series in order to get the full impact.
Ethan is part of an elite force called the Arrows. As a child raised in a world without emotion, he was kept separated and exposed to horrors and tortured under the old regime. Now he is a broken man on the verge of cracking, he knows he is broken and will probably not be able to live much longer if his mental state keeps deteriorating.
Selenka is the Alpha of a wolf pack. No one was more surprised than she was when her wolf decided on the spot that Ethan was her mate and shoved the mating bond on him. She wonders what it is about this man that made her wolf identify with him so quickly and why the bond feels like there is some static in the way. She will not let her mate go easily, even if he thinks it will be for the best if he spirals.
Selenka and Ethan will have to figure out their bond while also trying to get to whoever is trying to sow discord between the wolves and bears and is also trying to kill off members of Selenka’s pack. There is something not quite right in the net and Ethan is one of the only people in the world that can see it. He is going to need to hold it together if the Psy-Net is going to make it through the strange new attacks being placed on it.
I always get so drawn into these stories. They are like m&m’s and I just want to eat them all up by the handfuls. I was so happy to see some of my favorite characters from the past make cameo appearances. I loved how well Selenka and Ethan really fit together with things that they could bond on from their pasts. By the end it was clear to see why the two belonged together and how Ethan fit in her life.
Narration:
Angela Dawe has voiced all of the Psy-Changeling books and is the voice of the series for me. I had a great time with her yet again and really liked the Russian accent she provided for Selenka. Angela did a wonderful job yet again and I can't imagine anyone else narrating the series. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
February 16, 2020
ME ENCANTÓ!!!
Este es el libro 19 de la serie y el cuarto de la segunda parte Psy/Changeling Trinity y tenemos como protagonistas a Selenka alfa del clan de lobos BlackEdge de Rusia y Ethan Psy-tq perteneciente a los arrows.
Esa combinación cambiante alfa con un un Psy- arrow es demasiado atractiva y me gustó mucho es un poco parecida a la pareja que hacen Brenna y Judd que saben que su libro es uno de mis favoritos de la serie.
Instalove? Where?
Claramente hay un instalove/lust muy evidente pero ya estábamos advertidos en la sinopsis y sabemos que con los cambiantes no se aplican las mismas reglas. Al momento que se conocen surge una atracción y el vínculo que significa que Ethan es el compañero de Selenka ya que su loba lo eligió sin necesidad de un cortejo aunque cuando más conoce Selenka a Ethan su lado humano también lo va aceptando y amando.
Ethan y Selenka me gustaron muchísimo, después del libro de Kaleb no había disfrutado tanto la serie y todo es gracias a sus protagonistas.
Selenka fue mejor de lo que imaginé, pensé que sería toda ruda, dominante no me malentiendan lo es pero no con Ethan, con él es sólo Selenka y se permite se vulnerable, llorar y que él la consuele.
Ethan es simplemente amor, es ese hombre que necesitas abrazar y proteger de todo lo malo, aunque es una peligrosa flecha pero su corazón está tan necesitado de cariño, yo pensé que sería frío pero NO, es la persona más devota y amorosa con Selenka.
En cuanto a la trama principal y su villano, ya vemos más claras las cosas, aunque necesito saber quien es y a esperar otro año para tener pistas y a como quedó el libro y el futuro de la PsyNet THE WAIT WILL BE LONG.
Y que creían que se me había olvidado mencionar al dueño de mi corazón o sea mi bebesito KALEB pues no, si pensé que porque estaba ambientado en Rusia tendríamos más de él, si fuimos privilegiados con sus apariciones pero yo no puedo tener suficiente de él mi amor obsesivo y enfermizo NECESITA MÁS.
En conclusión el libro me gustó mucho y punto a favor es que aunque no apareció mucho Kaleb yo lo disfruté de igual manera.
Pd. No me quejaré si Aden sale menos en los siguiente libros, no me gusta que lo pongan en las mismas condiciones que Kaleb que no se le acerca ni tantito.
.
.
.
I´M SO EXCITEEED !!!
KEMOCION
KEMOCION
KEMOCION
Ya lo quiero leer !!!
Ya quería leer un libro de ella porque es la alfa de los lobos en Rusia y ¿Saben lo que eso significa?
Que potencialmente puede haber más Kaleb, todavía leo esta serie porque vivo por más momentos Kaleb que ustedes saben que lo amo con locura y pasión desenfrenada con una obsesión enfermiza.
Y cada vez que sale me da VIDA.
Este es el libro 19 de la serie y el cuarto de la segunda parte Psy/Changeling Trinity y tenemos como protagonistas a Selenka alfa del clan de lobos BlackEdge de Rusia y Ethan Psy-tq perteneciente a los arrows.
Esa combinación cambiante alfa con un un Psy- arrow es demasiado atractiva y me gustó mucho es un poco parecida a la pareja que hacen Brenna y Judd que saben que su libro es uno de mis favoritos de la serie.
Instalove? Where?
Claramente hay un instalove/lust muy evidente pero ya estábamos advertidos en la sinopsis y sabemos que con los cambiantes no se aplican las mismas reglas. Al momento que se conocen surge una atracción y el vínculo que significa que Ethan es el compañero de Selenka ya que su loba lo eligió sin necesidad de un cortejo aunque cuando más conoce Selenka a Ethan su lado humano también lo va aceptando y amando.
Ethan y Selenka me gustaron muchísimo, después del libro de Kaleb no había disfrutado tanto la serie y todo es gracias a sus protagonistas.
Selenka fue mejor de lo que imaginé, pensé que sería toda ruda, dominante no me malentiendan lo es pero no con Ethan, con él es sólo Selenka y se permite se vulnerable, llorar y que él la consuele.
Ethan es simplemente amor, es ese hombre que necesitas abrazar y proteger de todo lo malo, aunque es una peligrosa flecha pero su corazón está tan necesitado de cariño, yo pensé que sería frío pero NO, es la persona más devota y amorosa con Selenka.
En cuanto a la trama principal y su villano, ya vemos más claras las cosas, aunque necesito saber quien es y a esperar otro año para tener pistas y a como quedó el libro y el futuro de la PsyNet THE WAIT WILL BE LONG.
Y que creían que se me había olvidado mencionar al dueño de mi corazón o sea mi bebesito KALEB pues no, si pensé que porque estaba ambientado en Rusia tendríamos más de él, si fuimos privilegiados con sus apariciones pero yo no puedo tener suficiente de él mi amor obsesivo y enfermizo NECESITA MÁS.
En conclusión el libro me gustó mucho y punto a favor es que aunque no apareció mucho Kaleb yo lo disfruté de igual manera.
Pd. No me quejaré si Aden sale menos en los siguiente libros, no me gusta que lo pongan en las mismas condiciones que Kaleb que no se le acerca ni tantito.
.
.
.
I´M SO EXCITEEED !!!
KEMOCION
KEMOCION
KEMOCION
Ya lo quiero leer !!!
Ya quería leer un libro de ella porque es la alfa de los lobos en Rusia y ¿Saben lo que eso significa?
Que potencialmente puede haber más Kaleb, todavía leo esta serie porque vivo por más momentos Kaleb que ustedes saben que lo amo con locura y pasión desenfrenada con una obsesión enfermiza.
Y cada vez que sale me da VIDA.
June 11, 2020
3.5 Stars
This book takes us back to Russia with the BlackEdge wolf pack, a pack which neighbours the boisterous StoneWater bear pack. Here the focus is on Selenka Durev, the Alpha of the BlackEdge pack and Arrow Ethan Night.
Enjoyed the scenes with the pack kids in this. Selenka's dad made my teeth grind.
The memories/thoughts Ethan had of what he had endured as a child made my heart ache.
I enjoyed this, staying up super late reading it but I don't know it didn't have me bouncing insanely in my seat as I read and finished it, possibly one of the books in the series I may enjoy more and more as I re-read like with Silver of Silence. There's a thread of intensity I was expecting that didn't manifest.
This book takes us back to Russia with the BlackEdge wolf pack, a pack which neighbours the boisterous StoneWater bear pack. Here the focus is on Selenka Durev, the Alpha of the BlackEdge pack and Arrow Ethan Night.
Enjoyed the scenes with the pack kids in this. Selenka's dad made my teeth grind.
The memories/thoughts Ethan had of what he had endured as a child made my heart ache.
I enjoyed this, staying up super late reading it but I don't know it didn't have me bouncing insanely in my seat as I read and finished it, possibly one of the books in the series I may enjoy more and more as I re-read like with Silver of Silence. There's a thread of intensity I was expecting that didn't manifest.
January 23, 2021
2.5 ☆ Disappointing
Why did I do this to myself? Aargh, I had been reading grim nonfictions and needed a reprieve by switching genres.
Alpha Night is #19 in a series that has been losing momentum for the past several books. The author had found a formula and Singh is not deviating from it. There's a domineering changeling (aka animal shapeshifter) whose violent streak can be instantly switched off to dispense hugs and kisses for the weaker members of her pack. There's a repressed Psy (humans with psychic skills like telekinesis). Psys are still adjusting to the recent ending of Silence, the mental program which ruthlessly suppressed all signs of humanity. The two meet against the backdrop of constant threat to the Trinity Accord - the agreement among the 3 races of the Psy, the changelings, and unenhanced humans. The alpha and damaged Psy fall in love.
As to why I am so dissatisfied, Singh has gotten lazy for her two protagonists and the villains are cardboard characters. Her writing has become repetitive, when it is not excessively emotionally manipulative. Singh has only introduced 2 female alphas, and this story features the alpha of the Russian wolf pack. Selenka has a signature move which is to have her hands instantly become lethal claws (in almost every chapter) when she interacts with Ethan, her romantic interest.
I've read the entire series because my binge reading habit kicked in when I had found this series a couple of years ago. I had really liked Singh's world in which the Psys had climbed to the apex of the social and economic order and then noticed that internal power grabs were destabilizing their domination. Singh had done a great job of world-building for a series that was more PNR than UF, and her earlier relationships had more believable tensions and more subtlety. By book #16, Singh had switched gears as she entered what she called stage two and introduced a new villain, the Architect. Singh has been milking this enemy for all that it's worth over several books by revealing very little about the Architect's machinations to achieve global domination. She did, however, reveal the gender of the Architect, and I now have a new suspect . So in this respect, Alpha Night is an improvement from the preceding installment and gets a half star bonus.
Why did I do this to myself? Aargh, I had been reading grim nonfictions and needed a reprieve by switching genres.
Alpha Night is #19 in a series that has been losing momentum for the past several books. The author had found a formula and Singh is not deviating from it. There's a domineering changeling (aka animal shapeshifter) whose violent streak can be instantly switched off to dispense hugs and kisses for the weaker members of her pack. There's a repressed Psy (humans with psychic skills like telekinesis). Psys are still adjusting to the recent ending of Silence, the mental program which ruthlessly suppressed all signs of humanity. The two meet against the backdrop of constant threat to the Trinity Accord - the agreement among the 3 races of the Psy, the changelings, and unenhanced humans. The alpha and damaged Psy fall in love.
As to why I am so dissatisfied, Singh has gotten lazy for her two protagonists and the villains are cardboard characters. Her writing has become repetitive, when it is not excessively emotionally manipulative. Singh has only introduced 2 female alphas, and this story features the alpha of the Russian wolf pack. Selenka has a signature move which is to have her hands instantly become lethal claws (in almost every chapter) when she interacts with Ethan, her romantic interest.
Selenka closed her fingers around his chin, the contact light even as she sliced out her claws.The Psy is another dangerous Arrow (the Psy equivalent of black ops) who says that he's essentially broken. And yet, he's adopting a stray dog and voluntarily picking up and cuddling children in his mate's pack. By the story's end, which is only 3 days after the couple meets, Ethan declares his obsessive loyalty to Selenka, his only reason to live. Oh, and also that problem he feared that would keep him from his new mate turns out to be a non-problem and was very predictable.
The Arrow didn't respond to her challenge with aggression or cold retreat. "I am permanently damaged in ways that affect my psychic balance," he said.
I've read the entire series because my binge reading habit kicked in when I had found this series a couple of years ago. I had really liked Singh's world in which the Psys had climbed to the apex of the social and economic order and then noticed that internal power grabs were destabilizing their domination. Singh had done a great job of world-building for a series that was more PNR than UF, and her earlier relationships had more believable tensions and more subtlety. By book #16, Singh had switched gears as she entered what she called stage two and introduced a new villain, the Architect. Singh has been milking this enemy for all that it's worth over several books by revealing very little about the Architect's machinations to achieve global domination. She did, however, reveal the gender of the Architect, and I now have a new suspect . So in this respect, Alpha Night is an improvement from the preceding installment and gets a half star bonus.
June 7, 2020
Another solid installment in the series. I'm not usually a fan of insta love between the two main protagonists but Nalini Singh always makes it work. And it's nice once again to see the role reversed with the female being the alpha and the male, albeit not less powerful male, take the beta role.
June 15, 2020
It took me years reading lots of PNR romance before I get a storyline like this, a strong wolf pack leads by a female alpha! ❤️
How about that?
The hero is fantastic too! 😍
I want to read it again!
Yes, that good 😘.
❤️
How about that?
The hero is fantastic too! 😍
I want to read it again!
Yes, that good 😘.
❤️
April 12, 2020
4.5 stars
Instalove is a huge turn off for me. I slam it in just about every book I encounter. But I can accept it a bit more with a mating scenario in PNR than I can anywhere else. This book features a mating at first sight, which even in the confines of the world building is rare, and while the love isn't instant--let's be real--it only takes a few days to build.
The super-fast love aside, the instant mating thing actually worked for me. Something in Selenka's wolf recognizes Ethan as its mate and doesn't hesitate to grab on and refuse to let go. Ethan is a damaged Arrow (aren't they all?) and in a refreshing twist, doesn't shy away. Unlike, say, Judd, he was never conditioned to feel pain in contact or emotion. He's been empty and grayed out his entire life and with Selenka, glories in someone claiming him.
I flat out loved the way he was hers from the get-go. He never hesitated or prevaricated. He was knight to her queen--her weapon and shield and I was there for it. At the same time, it was awesome to see an Alpha heroine who wasn't a bitch. She never apologized for her strength, but she used it to take care of her pack. Nalini Singh painted her with nuance and I believed she'd shred anyone who hurt her man.
Though some people will always want books set among the original characters, I like the characters introduced with Silver Silence. The bears are a huge hit with me and though this is a wolf book, I'd be content for more stories set in this area. We still get lots of familiar faces visiting, and frankly, I applaud how Singh is keeping the series fresh.
Overall, I really liked this book. Singh is a great writer and this world is so well drawn, it's as familiar as an old friend. The couple was great and despite the speed, I felt their devotion and commitment 100%. The sex was good too.
(My only small niggle was that I had a little trouble connecting all the dots with the Scarab storyline, but I got there eventually.)
Instalove is a huge turn off for me. I slam it in just about every book I encounter. But I can accept it a bit more with a mating scenario in PNR than I can anywhere else. This book features a mating at first sight, which even in the confines of the world building is rare, and while the love isn't instant--let's be real--it only takes a few days to build.
The super-fast love aside, the instant mating thing actually worked for me. Something in Selenka's wolf recognizes Ethan as its mate and doesn't hesitate to grab on and refuse to let go. Ethan is a damaged Arrow (aren't they all?) and in a refreshing twist, doesn't shy away. Unlike, say, Judd, he was never conditioned to feel pain in contact or emotion. He's been empty and grayed out his entire life and with Selenka, glories in someone claiming him.
I flat out loved the way he was hers from the get-go. He never hesitated or prevaricated. He was knight to her queen--her weapon and shield and I was there for it. At the same time, it was awesome to see an Alpha heroine who wasn't a bitch. She never apologized for her strength, but she used it to take care of her pack. Nalini Singh painted her with nuance and I believed she'd shred anyone who hurt her man.
Though some people will always want books set among the original characters, I like the characters introduced with Silver Silence. The bears are a huge hit with me and though this is a wolf book, I'd be content for more stories set in this area. We still get lots of familiar faces visiting, and frankly, I applaud how Singh is keeping the series fresh.
Overall, I really liked this book. Singh is a great writer and this world is so well drawn, it's as familiar as an old friend. The couple was great and despite the speed, I felt their devotion and commitment 100%. The sex was good too.
(My only small niggle was that I had a little trouble connecting all the dots with the Scarab storyline, but I got there eventually.)
March 8, 2020
“Skin privileges with you might be delicious, but this attraction won’t protect you if you’re a danger to those I’ve sworn to protect.” She dug her claws in deeper. “Will you come as sweetly if I’m about to rip out your throat?”
I love a badass heroine, and I love that I can rely on Nalini Singh to give me one. And Selenka Durev isn’t just a badass—she’s an Alpha boss, in control and in charge, and not afraid to throw her power around when the moment calls for it. It might be an unpopular opinion but I’ve never not loved a Nalini heroine, even those who are less beloved by the readers of this series—Tally is a good example here—but wow, is a Selenka my favorite? Maybe. Just maybe. (Real talk: my favorites change with every re-read I do of this series, and I re-read it a whole hell of a lot. Selenka today, Adria tomorrow? Maybe Annie? The always awesome Sienna? *shrugs* I don’t know.)
Right, well, with that said, let me say this next: with a powerful female Alpha leading this book, it was always going to be a challenging read in terms of who she was paired with. Please know I never doubted Nalini was more than up to the challenge. Ethan Night, there are so many things to love about you and only one of them is the description of you in nothing but black boxer briefs that I’mma surely take to my grave as a beloved memory. I can’t say too much because spoilers are a no no but I will note that he is nuanced and unique. Perfect.
The dynamics of Alpha Night are incomparable and, really, just plain excellent. It makes this story different to all the others before it—and when added to the new pack setting, the unusual mating type, and the growth of the storylines around the Psy Net, the Architect, and the Consortium, it becomes something akin to book crack. (Or book Jax if you want a little in-joke.)
Anyway, just call me an addict. I’m not ashamed to be on the hook with this series—I have been for years, and have a tattoo to showcase my love for it (and the Guild Hunter series)—because it’s incredibly smart, fast-paced, and has epic world-building. Not only that, it always honors the idea of family, of pack, of the strength in love and acceptance, and if that’s not a message we all need to hear then I’m not obsessed with Matthias. (I am 100% obsessed with Matthias, just to be clear. Also Malachai.)
Anyway, all of this is to say something pretty obvious and very simple: Alpha Night is a marvel. Taking this series forward, it still manages to call back to all the important things that the Psy-Changeling series stands for, and it does it by highlighting a strong woman with a wolf’s heart and a damaged Arrow who hides depth behind a grey fog. I cannot WAIT to re-read this book. At least three times before I start the entire series again.
I love a badass heroine, and I love that I can rely on Nalini Singh to give me one. And Selenka Durev isn’t just a badass—she’s an Alpha boss, in control and in charge, and not afraid to throw her power around when the moment calls for it. It might be an unpopular opinion but I’ve never not loved a Nalini heroine, even those who are less beloved by the readers of this series—Tally is a good example here—but wow, is a Selenka my favorite? Maybe. Just maybe. (Real talk: my favorites change with every re-read I do of this series, and I re-read it a whole hell of a lot. Selenka today, Adria tomorrow? Maybe Annie? The always awesome Sienna? *shrugs* I don’t know.)
Right, well, with that said, let me say this next: with a powerful female Alpha leading this book, it was always going to be a challenging read in terms of who she was paired with. Please know I never doubted Nalini was more than up to the challenge. Ethan Night, there are so many things to love about you and only one of them is the description of you in nothing but black boxer briefs that I’mma surely take to my grave as a beloved memory. I can’t say too much because spoilers are a no no but I will note that he is nuanced and unique. Perfect.
The dynamics of Alpha Night are incomparable and, really, just plain excellent. It makes this story different to all the others before it—and when added to the new pack setting, the unusual mating type, and the growth of the storylines around the Psy Net, the Architect, and the Consortium, it becomes something akin to book crack. (Or book Jax if you want a little in-joke.)
Anyway, just call me an addict. I’m not ashamed to be on the hook with this series—I have been for years, and have a tattoo to showcase my love for it (and the Guild Hunter series)—because it’s incredibly smart, fast-paced, and has epic world-building. Not only that, it always honors the idea of family, of pack, of the strength in love and acceptance, and if that’s not a message we all need to hear then I’m not obsessed with Matthias. (I am 100% obsessed with Matthias, just to be clear. Also Malachai.)
Anyway, all of this is to say something pretty obvious and very simple: Alpha Night is a marvel. Taking this series forward, it still manages to call back to all the important things that the Psy-Changeling series stands for, and it does it by highlighting a strong woman with a wolf’s heart and a damaged Arrow who hides depth behind a grey fog. I cannot WAIT to re-read this book. At least three times before I start the entire series again.
June 15, 2020
RELECTURE : en relisant le tome avec Jason (de la série Guild Hunter de la même auteure) ça m'a rappelé Ethan ... Et bien sûr je n'ai pas pu résister ><
Ethan reste l'un de mes favoris et je ne me laisse pas de relire son histoire avec Selenka <3
REREADING : Rereading the book with Jason (from the Guild Hunter series by the same author) reminded me of Ethan ... And of course, I couldn't resist ><
Ethan remains one of my favorites, and I can't stop rereading his story with Selenka <3
French & English reviews
OMG CETTE SÉRIE !!! CETTE AUTEURE !!!
Je ne suis absolument pas impartiale en ce qui concerne Nalini Singh parce que j'adore TOUS ses livres et plus particulièrement les Psy Changelings qui est la première série que j'ai lu d'elle =D
Je recommande largement cette série à tous les fans d'urban fantasy mais aussi aux fans de romance : c'est le 19ème tome de la série et pourtant, chaque livre est meilleur que le précédent x) Plus d'une fois, ça m'est arrivée de vouloir vivre dans cette série =D J'aurais probablement été une humaine ou une Psy ... ><
Ce que j'ai particulièrement aimé :
- l'univers toujours aussi addictif avec les Psy, les changelings et les humains ... C'est intéressant de voir ce qui se passe en Russie avec différentes meutes =D (les loups et les ours <3)
- les intrigues que j'ai adoré !! L'Architecte (quand elle a parlé de virus, j'ai eu peur que ce soit Nikita mais j'espère que non parce que j'ai toujours l'espoir d'un livre avec elle et Anthony <3), les Scarab (flippant !!) mais aussi
- les personnages que j'ai ADORE !! J'avais adoré les personnages du livre précédent et je ne pensais pas que je pourrais aimer les prochains autant mais là, Selenka et Ethan <3 <3 (les animaux en papier, le manuel ... <3) J'ai adoré le côté badass de Selenka (c'est plutôt rare des personnages féminins autant alpha et c'est dommage =)) mais aussi le côté badass silencieux mais adorable d'Ethan (j'adore les Flèches qui sont mes favoris mais j'avoue que Ethan était particulièrement attachant ... Même si j'avais vu son secret venir à dix kilomètres =D)
- CETTE FIN !!! TELLEMENT D'IMPLICATIONS !! Je veux le prochain livre HIER !!
Bref, après cette lecture GÉNIALE, je vais relire l'intégralité de la série ... Et peut-être aussi les Guildhunter ><
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OMG THIS SERIES !!! THIS AUTHOR !!!
I am absolutely not impartial regarding Nalini Singh because I love ALL of her books and more particularly the Psy Changelings series which is the first series I read by her =D
I highly recommend this series to all fans of urban fantasy but also to fans of romance : it is the 19th book of the series and yet, each book is better than the previous x) More than once, it makes me want to live in this series =D I would probably have been a human or a Psy ... ><
What I particularly liked :
- the universe still addictive with Psy, changelings and humans ... It is interesting to see what is happening in Russia with the different packs =D (wolves and bears <3)
- the plots that I loved !! The Architect (when she spoke about the virus, I was afraid that it was Nikita but I hope not because I'm still hoping for a book with her and Anthony <3), the Scarab (creepy !!) but also
- the characters I LOVE !! I loved the characters in the previous book and I didn't think I could love the next ones as much but there, Selenka and Ethan <3 <3 (the paper animals, the manual ... <3) I loved the badass side of Selenka (it's pretty rare alpha female characters and it's a shame =)) but also the silent but adorable badass side of Ethan (I love the Arrows which are my favorites but I must admit that Ethan was particularly endearing ... Even if I had seen his secret coming very early =D)
- THIS END !!! SO MANY IMPLICATIONS !! I want the next book YESTERDAY !!
Anyway, after this AWESOME reading, I'm going to reread the entire series ... And maybe also the Guildhunter series ><
Ethan reste l'un de mes favoris et je ne me laisse pas de relire son histoire avec Selenka <3
REREADING : Rereading the book with Jason (from the Guild Hunter series by the same author) reminded me of Ethan ... And of course, I couldn't resist ><
Ethan remains one of my favorites, and I can't stop rereading his story with Selenka <3
French & English reviews
OMG CETTE SÉRIE !!! CETTE AUTEURE !!!
Je ne suis absolument pas impartiale en ce qui concerne Nalini Singh parce que j'adore TOUS ses livres et plus particulièrement les Psy Changelings qui est la première série que j'ai lu d'elle =D
Je recommande largement cette série à tous les fans d'urban fantasy mais aussi aux fans de romance : c'est le 19ème tome de la série et pourtant, chaque livre est meilleur que le précédent x) Plus d'une fois, ça m'est arrivée de vouloir vivre dans cette série =D J'aurais probablement été une humaine ou une Psy ... ><
Ce que j'ai particulièrement aimé :
- l'univers toujours aussi addictif avec les Psy, les changelings et les humains ... C'est intéressant de voir ce qui se passe en Russie avec différentes meutes =D (les loups et les ours <3)
- les intrigues que j'ai adoré !! L'Architecte (quand elle a parlé de virus, j'ai eu peur que ce soit Nikita mais j'espère que non parce que j'ai toujours l'espoir d'un livre avec elle et Anthony <3), les Scarab (flippant !!) mais aussi
- les personnages que j'ai ADORE !! J'avais adoré les personnages du livre précédent et je ne pensais pas que je pourrais aimer les prochains autant mais là, Selenka et Ethan <3 <3 (les animaux en papier, le manuel ... <3) J'ai adoré le côté badass de Selenka (c'est plutôt rare des personnages féminins autant alpha et c'est dommage =)) mais aussi le côté badass silencieux mais adorable d'Ethan (j'adore les Flèches qui sont mes favoris mais j'avoue que Ethan était particulièrement attachant ... Même si j'avais vu son secret venir à dix kilomètres =D)
- CETTE FIN !!! TELLEMENT D'IMPLICATIONS !! Je veux le prochain livre HIER !!
Bref, après cette lecture GÉNIALE, je vais relire l'intégralité de la série ... Et peut-être aussi les Guildhunter ><
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OMG THIS SERIES !!! THIS AUTHOR !!!
I am absolutely not impartial regarding Nalini Singh because I love ALL of her books and more particularly the Psy Changelings series which is the first series I read by her =D
I highly recommend this series to all fans of urban fantasy but also to fans of romance : it is the 19th book of the series and yet, each book is better than the previous x) More than once, it makes me want to live in this series =D I would probably have been a human or a Psy ... ><
What I particularly liked :
- the universe still addictive with Psy, changelings and humans ... It is interesting to see what is happening in Russia with the different packs =D (wolves and bears <3)
- the plots that I loved !! The Architect (when she spoke about the virus, I was afraid that it was Nikita but I hope not because I'm still hoping for a book with her and Anthony <3), the Scarab (creepy !!) but also
- the characters I LOVE !! I loved the characters in the previous book and I didn't think I could love the next ones as much but there, Selenka and Ethan <3 <3 (the paper animals, the manual ... <3) I loved the badass side of Selenka (it's pretty rare alpha female characters and it's a shame =)) but also the silent but adorable badass side of Ethan (I love the Arrows which are my favorites but I must admit that Ethan was particularly endearing ... Even if I had seen his secret coming very early =D)
- THIS END !!! SO MANY IMPLICATIONS !! I want the next book YESTERDAY !!
Anyway, after this AWESOME reading, I'm going to reread the entire series ... And maybe also the Guildhunter series ><
June 17, 2020
I am gonna be honest with you guys… I did not expect to love Selenka and Ethan as much as I did… obviously, I had high hopes… I always do with new books in this series, cause it’s one of my all time favourite ones :) but this gem… damn, it was amazing :) I was unable to do anything else until I finished the book and saw how the story ended… and now I am thinking this couple is one of the top three of my favourites in this series :) also, it was soooo good, that it made me want to reread the whole series… and it’s quite a challenge, cause counting all the novels and novellas officially published we are up to I think 29 stories so far ;) but I am determined to do it :) I’m thinking that if I can break it down over the year we have until the next release in the series it should be fine ;) I am really looking forward to reading all the installments and falling in love with this series all over again :)
disclaimer
until further notice, I will be adding this little disclaimer at the end of all my reviews… without boring you with unnecessary details I will say this… I’ve been in a writing slump for a while now… it’s happened before, but usually didn’t last very long… it’s connected to a lot of different things in my life, but all those details are personal so I won’t get into them right now… this time unfortunately it’s been already six weeks and it doesn't look like it’s gonna change anytime soon… in all this time I was unable to sit down and write reviews for the books I’ve been reading… and I don’t want to wait any longer, cause I already accumulated quite a few to do… so going forward I will be just writing a very short ones… with maybe an exception here and there if I feel like it ;) I don't want to put pressure on myself to write long and detailed reviews that I used to do for the longest time… instead I will try and add some links to other reviews here on Goodreads if I see ones that I feel share my thoughts and opinions on the stories I read… in the meantime I wish you all happy reading :)
XOXO
A
disclaimer
until further notice, I will be adding this little disclaimer at the end of all my reviews… without boring you with unnecessary details I will say this… I’ve been in a writing slump for a while now… it’s happened before, but usually didn’t last very long… it’s connected to a lot of different things in my life, but all those details are personal so I won’t get into them right now… this time unfortunately it’s been already six weeks and it doesn't look like it’s gonna change anytime soon… in all this time I was unable to sit down and write reviews for the books I’ve been reading… and I don’t want to wait any longer, cause I already accumulated quite a few to do… so going forward I will be just writing a very short ones… with maybe an exception here and there if I feel like it ;) I don't want to put pressure on myself to write long and detailed reviews that I used to do for the longest time… instead I will try and add some links to other reviews here on Goodreads if I see ones that I feel share my thoughts and opinions on the stories I read… in the meantime I wish you all happy reading :)
XOXO
A
September 15, 2020
Originally posted at:
I've enjoyed books in this series in the past and as much as I wanted to also love this one that was not the case. This book was interesting enough with the author's incredible powers of world-building. My problem was that I couldn't connect with the two main characters. There was something missing to create that link.
Selenka was everything I love in a female character! She was powerful in her own right, strong, and knew how to put people in their place. Though at the same time she was motherly, sweet, and caring with the people she considers family (which considering she's alpha of a wolf pack turned out to be a lot of people). I also love her patience with Ethan even though their bond was instant.
Ethan has been through a lot in his past. Due to that he believes he's not worthy of having a mate and thinks of himself as broken. It hurt to see him think of himself that way. Selenka did her best to prop him up and help him deal with his demons. I liked that he wasn't the stereotypical alpha male who takes control of situations and his mate.
The ending was nice! I like how the author intertwines this intricate plot to all these different character stories. It makes for an amazingly detailed and vast world. Even though I didn't adore this novel I am looking forward to more books in this series in the future.
The Audio Book:
The narration was great! All the characters were distinguishable from each other and there were no strange noises in the background of the audio recording.
I've enjoyed books in this series in the past and as much as I wanted to also love this one that was not the case. This book was interesting enough with the author's incredible powers of world-building. My problem was that I couldn't connect with the two main characters. There was something missing to create that link.
Selenka was everything I love in a female character! She was powerful in her own right, strong, and knew how to put people in their place. Though at the same time she was motherly, sweet, and caring with the people she considers family (which considering she's alpha of a wolf pack turned out to be a lot of people). I also love her patience with Ethan even though their bond was instant.
Ethan has been through a lot in his past. Due to that he believes he's not worthy of having a mate and thinks of himself as broken. It hurt to see him think of himself that way. Selenka did her best to prop him up and help him deal with his demons. I liked that he wasn't the stereotypical alpha male who takes control of situations and his mate.
The ending was nice! I like how the author intertwines this intricate plot to all these different character stories. It makes for an amazingly detailed and vast world. Even though I didn't adore this novel I am looking forward to more books in this series in the future.
The Audio Book:
The narration was great! All the characters were distinguishable from each other and there were no strange noises in the background of the audio recording.
June 22, 2020
I can't give more than 2.5 stars. The last half of a star is just because she's Nalini.
You see, if you're a long-term Nalini Singh fan - like a lot of us here - you'd understand that she could do it. She could deliver a book that is fresh and original and new. Even though we already know the plot and the happy ending it has, we still enjoy how Nalini gets there.
But this whole Trinity thing has been weak.
First, I feel like Nalini should apologize - and I don't even know to whom should she apologize first, but I guess it's gotta be Russia, first and foremost. Why?
Plenty of reasons. First, the landscape. None of Russia's landmarks or popular places made it into the novel. Second, Nalini's bastardized Russian was grating on the last of my Slavic nerve. So, maybe a person named Selenka could be called Selya in Russia. But I doubt it. Why did Selya grate on my Slavic nerves? Because we have a word "selyak" that is a derogatory term that means villager (sort of like the American term "redneck"). It's a derogatory term for someone who is uneducated, relies on brawn, and generally has zero common sense, most of the time being an asshole to other people and generally a bad person with no "culture." And yes, Selya could be the female version of selyak. And if you don't believe me, check it on google translate. Selya translates as "mudflow" when written in latin script, and "village" when written in Cyrillic.
If Nalini were to read my real name, she'd probably give me the most ridiculous nickname. Also, just because you added a k to Selena, it doesn't change the fact that your heroine was supposedly Russian but she had a ridiculous name that not only wasn't Russian, it was barely - barely - English too (apologies to any people named Selenka out there). The only Russian thing that she nailed was babushka and dedushka, and that was it. All the nicknames for the other people felt wrong, and not just in how they were spelled. Some of them didn't even make sense.
And I just can't get over this, because I trusted Nalini with my international cultural integration and I thought that she was doing a good job, but now I doubt it. If anyone asked me about an author that writes truly internationally, I would have said Nalini. However, the problems in Silver Silence with the Russian names and the Russian packs and the lack of Russian landscape were still present here, and for the life of me, I cannot decide why Nalini has decided to set two of her novels there, where she obviously only visited as a tourist and was probably not impressed much, because none of the landscape or the people or the culture made it into the novel. And while I'm all - ALL - for de-USA-ing novels and literature, I'm all for books set in Europe, Asia, and anywhere else in the world that is not the US (since we've had too much of America already, especially these days), but I wish Nalini had either given them international names without the stupid nicknaming, or done her research properly, not just talked with a few Russian people and then decided to go her own way anyway, as to how it sounded in her head. So, Selenka became selya - a brash villager with no decorum.
Additionally, she gave some characters Russian names, while others had international ones. And then she named Selenka's father Kiev.
As if Kiev belongs to Russia? As if Kiev is a Russian name and not the name of the capital of Ukraine? (Admittedly, sometimes it's spelled Kyiv, so maybe that got Nalini confused?)
Now, I'm the LAST person to care about being PC or whatever. As a writer, I feel like these days, you gotta be inclusive, you gotta be PC, and you gotta have two foreign characters, three African Americans, a redhead, a blonde, a gay, a trans-person, a lesbian, and a nonbinary one too, just so your novel doesn't get attacked by all the different groups who will feel not represented in your novel (as if each and every group should be in there by default). It's IMPOSSIBLE to please everyone. However. And, I'm not Ukranian. But I don't have to be to understand that there's still an underlying conflict between the two nations. And now, Nalini gave the name of their capital...to a Russian character. It grates on the nerves. Also, the most common Russian name in every bit of western literature is Yuri. Kiev is just as uncreative and boring as Yuri, and it seems like Nalini was at a loss as to how to name Selenka's father (because she already has a Yuri), so she went with the first thing that sounded vaguely Russian in her mind, Kiev.
Next, let's talk about the writing. More excerpts from Wild Woman that grated on the last of my feminist nerves. Look, when you say that a (changeling) woman will gut you with her claws if you piss her off, you insult the whole female kind, but you also insulted your main character too, who was supposed to deal with excessive anger issues (spoiler alert, unlike Zaira, Selenka never gets to do this).
At one point, barely fifteen pages into the book, Selenka calls Ethan "the Arrow who was hers."
Said the Arrow who was hers. Not, for example, her arrow. It's not purple enough.
In the business of writing, this is what we call padding to get to a certain word count. And usually, writers are supposed to cut away all of these things, so that the resulting book doesn't become a doorstop. If you had to pad your prose to ensure that you have a certain amount of words, it just means that your story maybe needs to be reworked or rewritten. Not padded.
And there was a lot of padding. And I can't handle Nalini's lilac prose (lilac because it's not that purple), especially when sentences like the one above tell me that Nalini's way too much in love with her own words (never a good sign. A writer who is constantly focused on improvement can barely handle reading their own sentences, because they constantly want to fix them and make them better. Nalini posts pictures of herself reading her old novels in the P-C series for "research." She even put the quotes around it. As in research, but actually, for enjoyment).
Nalini should also apologize to poets. This is a supposed poem called "Alpha" from an Anonymous person in the PC universe:
An alpha's word is law
An alpha's heart is pack
An alpha's tears are unseen
Alpha mine, my life is yours
AND HOW CHEESY IS THAT? Was it written by Ben from the SnowDancers?
Look, Nalini should apologize to the Mercants too. Here's a poem by Adina Mercant, called "Love Song."
A sharp blade
Thrust deep
Bloody droplets in the snow
I am not even going to comment. I am not, although I'm DYING to do so.
Listen, Nalini may write lilac prose, but she ain't no poet. She's way too in love with her own words to be one.
But you know what? None of it would have mattered if it had been backed up - or describing - a good story. A good overall story. But Nalini failed at that; hard.
And you know what the problem is?
Nalini fixed the worldwide problem - the conflict between the Psy, Humans, Changelings, and Forgotten (although it seems Nalini totally forgot about them, more on that later) - is over. Now they're working together. Selenka is among the last of the world leaders that we've met that hasn't had a story.
And she still doesn't. Selenka wasn't even important enough in Ethan's journey. And now this is gonna be full of spoilers.
Back in Visions of Heat, when Faith was struggling with the dark visions and was awash in dark psychic energy, her bond with Vaughn helped her handle it, helped her send it through the bond to him, where his changeling nature dealt with it. I could accept that. It's a good precedent.
But it wasn't used as THE THING THAT HELPS ETHAN. No, it was - SASCHA AGAIN - who helped.
If you didn't understand how and why Selenka and Ethan mate in the first two chapters of the novel, here's the non-lilac-purple-prose version: Ethan was going to kill himself. Not in the sense that he was going to literally kill himself, but he was about to throw his mind away and give in to what he believed to be Scarab (because Sudden Power Overflow Syndrome probably did not feel cheesy enough). Selenka's wolf, who recognized Ethan as mate (which, you know, was kinda lovely, because the only other person we saw that with was Riaz, and his story with Adria was made better for it). Anyway, when Selenka's wolf sensed this in Ethan, it pounced on him to keep him alive and sane because mate - and they ended up with a murky bond, in a similar way that Judd was blocking the mating bond with Brenna way back when the novels were great.
And that's all well and good. The path, now, was supposed to be about these two becoming mates in truth, however, the problem was - there was no problem.
None of Selenka's wolves were wary of this dark, dark Psy among them. In fact, changelings are so fucking open minded and flawless that they accept Ethan immediately. Changelings are the fucking Mary Sue of Nalini's world, especially the changeling packs that we're visiting in the novel. However, while that worked when the world was shit and full of psychopath Psy who were running the world (the Psy Council), now it just grates on the nerves because everyone is good. Human Alliance? Run by good people. The packs in Russia? Run by good people. Trinity? Run by good people.
And I'm supposed to believe that the Architect - who is slowly becoming more funny as a villain rather than scary - is going to be important. As if. If Scarab patients die or go mad, then the Architect barely has any time to put any of her schemes in order before it happens to her too. Giving your villain a supposedly deadly ailment with a death timeframe is not a good idea, especially when said villain has world domination plans. And we finally learn - that the Architect is female. Let the speculation begin! Oh wait, most of the psychos are dead, Nikita is in a secret relationship with Anthony, so of course, she's not the one, Tatiana is fading away in Kaleb's old bunker, which leaves only Ming and Shoshanna as possible culprits, and now, maybe Ming is having a midlife crisis combined with some gender dysphoria, but the bets now fall on Shoshanna.
Booooring.
So, in Shards of Hope, Zaira had to deal with anger-induced madness, and by the end of the novel, Zaira manages to do this spectacularly well. Selenka never had to deal with hers, at least, never outwardly. Sure, she had some pack problems, but she was never pushed into maddening rage.
And Ethan. Oh, Ethan, if you were only presented a little differently. Just like Silver's brother was obviously an empath, it was obvious that Ethan was one too.
I'm sick and tired of the empath story. I'm sick and tired of seeing Sascha in every damn novel. The whole plot was ridiculous:
Ethan: I'm a deadly light-bender. Really deadly. Oh, a puppy. I'll give him some food. Also, I am going to go mad, I have Scarab.
Sascha and Memory: Listen, you don't have Scarab.
Ethan: No, I do! I do! If I let down my shields, you will see.
Sascha and Memory: Okay, let them down then.
Ethan: What, do you mean, like right now? We need to get close to the ending of the book first.
Spoiler alert: they do get to the ending of the book before it's "revealed" that Ethan is just another E. What actually pissed me off was that we don't even learn what kind of abilities he actually has. Sure, he has something similar to Memory on the PsyNet, but we never actually see him use his "active field" empathy power, only his passive one - wherein he knows when people are in a relationship or related.
I can do that too, does that mean I'm also an empath? Am I also related to Ethan and Memory (as if their familial relationship came as a surprise later on!)
Meanwhile, Selenka really had no role in Ethan's development. That guy needed therapy first, and anything else second. Similarly to Memory, Ethan has already shrugged off everything and just wants to die as a result of his trauma and inability to feel anything. Literally. Reading his passages was like being submerged in tepid water - not even icy water - because I literally felt nothing. He touched Selenka and I felt nothing. Nalini made the same mistake as she did with Memory: failed to consult a proper psychologist or a therapist for the issues that Ethan was having. Of course, Nalini reiterates in this book that Memory survived due to being an empath and wanting to spite the guy who imprisoned her. Slapping all the people who suffer from PTSD and other issues in the face: you're not psychic, hahaha, nanana. And you don't want to spite the people who hurt you, that's why you're not sane. IT'S INSANE. HOW DID THIS GET PAST AN EDITOR? Oh, that's right, because Nalini is an established sale, so she can do whatever she wants now.
Ethan is just plain old suicidal, and the Arrows have failed to see this? Good job being an Alpha Aden.
And now, let's talk about the overall plot. There's someone in Selenka's pack that has betrayed her. Of course it's the father that feels sidelined for not being an Alpha. Of course it was. Was this supposed to be a twist or a shock? It was telegraphed the first time Kiev appeared in the novel.
Case closed, page ten.
Second. The PsyNet is breaking apart. No one talked to Sophia because they're stupid. Is there an effect on the PsyNet from Ethan mating with an alpha changeling? Who knows, who gives a shit, was this supposed to be important?
More importantly, no one talked to Dev Santos and the Forgotten. Kaleb didn't even think to ask Dev if, maybe, can we please, can we join your net so we don't die? It'll also bring the Silence story full circle? Yes, no, what're you saying?
Also, no one thought to ask Dev how they created their net, because maybe, maybe, we've seen other nets before (the SnowDancer web), the DarkRiver/SnowDancer cluster of webs, and we've seen Katya Haas actually living in the ShadowNet.
Aden and Kaleb breaking the net in pieces is the LAST THING they could have thought of, yet they did it first thing. And no, spoiler alert, they didn't talk to Dev.
And that's the problem. Nalini created this world, and it's a fun world, an exciting world. You can play in that world. Not every book needs to push the overall plot forward. Take Max and Sophia's book - they were dealing with a human serial killer and I loved it. But when you do write a novel that is supposed to deal with the worldwide problems, you gotta use all the assets you've created. Otherwise, you have holes in your story. And Trinity is a big hole.
Nalini should end Trinity, age Naya, Kit, Jules, and Roman, Ben, Marlee, and the other children, and start on Psy-Changeling the New Age. It would probably go down better than this.
You see, if you're a long-term Nalini Singh fan - like a lot of us here - you'd understand that she could do it. She could deliver a book that is fresh and original and new. Even though we already know the plot and the happy ending it has, we still enjoy how Nalini gets there.
But this whole Trinity thing has been weak.
First, I feel like Nalini should apologize - and I don't even know to whom should she apologize first, but I guess it's gotta be Russia, first and foremost. Why?
Plenty of reasons. First, the landscape. None of Russia's landmarks or popular places made it into the novel. Second, Nalini's bastardized Russian was grating on the last of my Slavic nerve. So, maybe a person named Selenka could be called Selya in Russia. But I doubt it. Why did Selya grate on my Slavic nerves? Because we have a word "selyak" that is a derogatory term that means villager (sort of like the American term "redneck"). It's a derogatory term for someone who is uneducated, relies on brawn, and generally has zero common sense, most of the time being an asshole to other people and generally a bad person with no "culture." And yes, Selya could be the female version of selyak. And if you don't believe me, check it on google translate. Selya translates as "mudflow" when written in latin script, and "village" when written in Cyrillic.
If Nalini were to read my real name, she'd probably give me the most ridiculous nickname. Also, just because you added a k to Selena, it doesn't change the fact that your heroine was supposedly Russian but she had a ridiculous name that not only wasn't Russian, it was barely - barely - English too (apologies to any people named Selenka out there). The only Russian thing that she nailed was babushka and dedushka, and that was it. All the nicknames for the other people felt wrong, and not just in how they were spelled. Some of them didn't even make sense.
And I just can't get over this, because I trusted Nalini with my international cultural integration and I thought that she was doing a good job, but now I doubt it. If anyone asked me about an author that writes truly internationally, I would have said Nalini. However, the problems in Silver Silence with the Russian names and the Russian packs and the lack of Russian landscape were still present here, and for the life of me, I cannot decide why Nalini has decided to set two of her novels there, where she obviously only visited as a tourist and was probably not impressed much, because none of the landscape or the people or the culture made it into the novel. And while I'm all - ALL - for de-USA-ing novels and literature, I'm all for books set in Europe, Asia, and anywhere else in the world that is not the US (since we've had too much of America already, especially these days), but I wish Nalini had either given them international names without the stupid nicknaming, or done her research properly, not just talked with a few Russian people and then decided to go her own way anyway, as to how it sounded in her head. So, Selenka became selya - a brash villager with no decorum.
Additionally, she gave some characters Russian names, while others had international ones. And then she named Selenka's father Kiev.
As if Kiev belongs to Russia? As if Kiev is a Russian name and not the name of the capital of Ukraine? (Admittedly, sometimes it's spelled Kyiv, so maybe that got Nalini confused?)
Now, I'm the LAST person to care about being PC or whatever. As a writer, I feel like these days, you gotta be inclusive, you gotta be PC, and you gotta have two foreign characters, three African Americans, a redhead, a blonde, a gay, a trans-person, a lesbian, and a nonbinary one too, just so your novel doesn't get attacked by all the different groups who will feel not represented in your novel (as if each and every group should be in there by default). It's IMPOSSIBLE to please everyone. However. And, I'm not Ukranian. But I don't have to be to understand that there's still an underlying conflict between the two nations. And now, Nalini gave the name of their capital...to a Russian character. It grates on the nerves. Also, the most common Russian name in every bit of western literature is Yuri. Kiev is just as uncreative and boring as Yuri, and it seems like Nalini was at a loss as to how to name Selenka's father (because she already has a Yuri), so she went with the first thing that sounded vaguely Russian in her mind, Kiev.
Next, let's talk about the writing. More excerpts from Wild Woman that grated on the last of my feminist nerves. Look, when you say that a (changeling) woman will gut you with her claws if you piss her off, you insult the whole female kind, but you also insulted your main character too, who was supposed to deal with excessive anger issues (spoiler alert, unlike Zaira, Selenka never gets to do this).
At one point, barely fifteen pages into the book, Selenka calls Ethan "the Arrow who was hers."
Said the Arrow who was hers. Not, for example, her arrow. It's not purple enough.
In the business of writing, this is what we call padding to get to a certain word count. And usually, writers are supposed to cut away all of these things, so that the resulting book doesn't become a doorstop. If you had to pad your prose to ensure that you have a certain amount of words, it just means that your story maybe needs to be reworked or rewritten. Not padded.
And there was a lot of padding. And I can't handle Nalini's lilac prose (lilac because it's not that purple), especially when sentences like the one above tell me that Nalini's way too much in love with her own words (never a good sign. A writer who is constantly focused on improvement can barely handle reading their own sentences, because they constantly want to fix them and make them better. Nalini posts pictures of herself reading her old novels in the P-C series for "research." She even put the quotes around it. As in research, but actually, for enjoyment).
Nalini should also apologize to poets. This is a supposed poem called "Alpha" from an Anonymous person in the PC universe:
An alpha's word is law
An alpha's heart is pack
An alpha's tears are unseen
Alpha mine, my life is yours
AND HOW CHEESY IS THAT? Was it written by Ben from the SnowDancers?
Look, Nalini should apologize to the Mercants too. Here's a poem by Adina Mercant, called "Love Song."
A sharp blade
Thrust deep
Bloody droplets in the snow
I am not even going to comment. I am not, although I'm DYING to do so.
Listen, Nalini may write lilac prose, but she ain't no poet. She's way too in love with her own words to be one.
But you know what? None of it would have mattered if it had been backed up - or describing - a good story. A good overall story. But Nalini failed at that; hard.
And you know what the problem is?
Nalini fixed the worldwide problem - the conflict between the Psy, Humans, Changelings, and Forgotten (although it seems Nalini totally forgot about them, more on that later) - is over. Now they're working together. Selenka is among the last of the world leaders that we've met that hasn't had a story.
And she still doesn't. Selenka wasn't even important enough in Ethan's journey. And now this is gonna be full of spoilers.
Back in Visions of Heat, when Faith was struggling with the dark visions and was awash in dark psychic energy, her bond with Vaughn helped her handle it, helped her send it through the bond to him, where his changeling nature dealt with it. I could accept that. It's a good precedent.
But it wasn't used as THE THING THAT HELPS ETHAN. No, it was - SASCHA AGAIN - who helped.
If you didn't understand how and why Selenka and Ethan mate in the first two chapters of the novel, here's the non-lilac-purple-prose version: Ethan was going to kill himself. Not in the sense that he was going to literally kill himself, but he was about to throw his mind away and give in to what he believed to be Scarab (because Sudden Power Overflow Syndrome probably did not feel cheesy enough). Selenka's wolf, who recognized Ethan as mate (which, you know, was kinda lovely, because the only other person we saw that with was Riaz, and his story with Adria was made better for it). Anyway, when Selenka's wolf sensed this in Ethan, it pounced on him to keep him alive and sane because mate - and they ended up with a murky bond, in a similar way that Judd was blocking the mating bond with Brenna way back when the novels were great.
And that's all well and good. The path, now, was supposed to be about these two becoming mates in truth, however, the problem was - there was no problem.
None of Selenka's wolves were wary of this dark, dark Psy among them. In fact, changelings are so fucking open minded and flawless that they accept Ethan immediately. Changelings are the fucking Mary Sue of Nalini's world, especially the changeling packs that we're visiting in the novel. However, while that worked when the world was shit and full of psychopath Psy who were running the world (the Psy Council), now it just grates on the nerves because everyone is good. Human Alliance? Run by good people. The packs in Russia? Run by good people. Trinity? Run by good people.
And I'm supposed to believe that the Architect - who is slowly becoming more funny as a villain rather than scary - is going to be important. As if. If Scarab patients die or go mad, then the Architect barely has any time to put any of her schemes in order before it happens to her too. Giving your villain a supposedly deadly ailment with a death timeframe is not a good idea, especially when said villain has world domination plans. And we finally learn - that the Architect is female. Let the speculation begin! Oh wait, most of the psychos are dead, Nikita is in a secret relationship with Anthony, so of course, she's not the one, Tatiana is fading away in Kaleb's old bunker, which leaves only Ming and Shoshanna as possible culprits, and now, maybe Ming is having a midlife crisis combined with some gender dysphoria, but the bets now fall on Shoshanna.
Booooring.
So, in Shards of Hope, Zaira had to deal with anger-induced madness, and by the end of the novel, Zaira manages to do this spectacularly well. Selenka never had to deal with hers, at least, never outwardly. Sure, she had some pack problems, but she was never pushed into maddening rage.
And Ethan. Oh, Ethan, if you were only presented a little differently. Just like Silver's brother was obviously an empath, it was obvious that Ethan was one too.
I'm sick and tired of the empath story. I'm sick and tired of seeing Sascha in every damn novel. The whole plot was ridiculous:
Ethan: I'm a deadly light-bender. Really deadly. Oh, a puppy. I'll give him some food. Also, I am going to go mad, I have Scarab.
Sascha and Memory: Listen, you don't have Scarab.
Ethan: No, I do! I do! If I let down my shields, you will see.
Sascha and Memory: Okay, let them down then.
Ethan: What, do you mean, like right now? We need to get close to the ending of the book first.
Spoiler alert: they do get to the ending of the book before it's "revealed" that Ethan is just another E. What actually pissed me off was that we don't even learn what kind of abilities he actually has. Sure, he has something similar to Memory on the PsyNet, but we never actually see him use his "active field" empathy power, only his passive one - wherein he knows when people are in a relationship or related.
I can do that too, does that mean I'm also an empath? Am I also related to Ethan and Memory (as if their familial relationship came as a surprise later on!)
Meanwhile, Selenka really had no role in Ethan's development. That guy needed therapy first, and anything else second. Similarly to Memory, Ethan has already shrugged off everything and just wants to die as a result of his trauma and inability to feel anything. Literally. Reading his passages was like being submerged in tepid water - not even icy water - because I literally felt nothing. He touched Selenka and I felt nothing. Nalini made the same mistake as she did with Memory: failed to consult a proper psychologist or a therapist for the issues that Ethan was having. Of course, Nalini reiterates in this book that Memory survived due to being an empath and wanting to spite the guy who imprisoned her. Slapping all the people who suffer from PTSD and other issues in the face: you're not psychic, hahaha, nanana. And you don't want to spite the people who hurt you, that's why you're not sane. IT'S INSANE. HOW DID THIS GET PAST AN EDITOR? Oh, that's right, because Nalini is an established sale, so she can do whatever she wants now.
Ethan is just plain old suicidal, and the Arrows have failed to see this? Good job being an Alpha Aden.
And now, let's talk about the overall plot. There's someone in Selenka's pack that has betrayed her. Of course it's the father that feels sidelined for not being an Alpha. Of course it was. Was this supposed to be a twist or a shock? It was telegraphed the first time Kiev appeared in the novel.
Case closed, page ten.
Second. The PsyNet is breaking apart. No one talked to Sophia because they're stupid. Is there an effect on the PsyNet from Ethan mating with an alpha changeling? Who knows, who gives a shit, was this supposed to be important?
More importantly, no one talked to Dev Santos and the Forgotten. Kaleb didn't even think to ask Dev if, maybe, can we please, can we join your net so we don't die? It'll also bring the Silence story full circle? Yes, no, what're you saying?
Also, no one thought to ask Dev how they created their net, because maybe, maybe, we've seen other nets before (the SnowDancer web), the DarkRiver/SnowDancer cluster of webs, and we've seen Katya Haas actually living in the ShadowNet.
Aden and Kaleb breaking the net in pieces is the LAST THING they could have thought of, yet they did it first thing. And no, spoiler alert, they didn't talk to Dev.
And that's the problem. Nalini created this world, and it's a fun world, an exciting world. You can play in that world. Not every book needs to push the overall plot forward. Take Max and Sophia's book - they were dealing with a human serial killer and I loved it. But when you do write a novel that is supposed to deal with the worldwide problems, you gotta use all the assets you've created. Otherwise, you have holes in your story. And Trinity is a big hole.
Nalini should end Trinity, age Naya, Kit, Jules, and Roman, Ben, Marlee, and the other children, and start on Psy-Changeling the New Age. It would probably go down better than this.
February 16, 2020
AMO AMO AMOOOOOOO
Tras los últimos libros de la serie pensé que comenzaba a perder el animo por continuarla pero este libro vino a callarme la boca.
Yo no recordaba el halo de melancolía 😔 de mis amados flechas ni la devastadora pasión de los cambiantes y esto amistades es lo que vemos aquí conjugado con un flecha preparado para recibir sus emociones.
El libro es de los más insta love que he leído.
Porque en serio... se ven y la loba ya lo quiere como su compañero así que avisados quedan.
A mi me gustó mucho e incluso me divertí en algunas partes. Además es un plus volver a ver a personajes anteriores. El que más me gustó fue Valentin, no sé porqué pero a mi me tiene en derretida 😂😂😂
Un acierto total este romance flecha-cambiante.
Llegué a la conclusión de que los romances en los que no se involucran los cambiantes no me han gustado tanto como deberían jaja porque el de Bo fue muy malito.
En fin, espero más de esta serie con ansias locas.
AHHHHHHHHHHH OMG!!! Me encanta 😍😍😍lo necesito ya!!!
Tras los últimos libros de la serie pensé que comenzaba a perder el animo por continuarla pero este libro vino a callarme la boca.
Yo no recordaba el halo de melancolía 😔 de mis amados flechas ni la devastadora pasión de los cambiantes y esto amistades es lo que vemos aquí conjugado con un flecha preparado para recibir sus emociones.
El libro es de los más insta love que he leído.
Porque en serio... se ven y la loba ya lo quiere como su compañero así que avisados quedan.
A mi me gustó mucho e incluso me divertí en algunas partes. Además es un plus volver a ver a personajes anteriores. El que más me gustó fue Valentin, no sé porqué pero a mi me tiene en derretida 😂😂😂
Un acierto total este romance flecha-cambiante.
Llegué a la conclusión de que los romances en los que no se involucran los cambiantes no me han gustado tanto como deberían jaja porque el de Bo fue muy malito.
En fin, espero más de esta serie con ansias locas.
AHHHHHHHHHHH OMG!!! Me encanta 😍😍😍lo necesito ya!!!
April 1, 2020
Nalini Singh is a master at building Other Worlds, and I definitely needed another world to escape into. Selenka is an Alpha wolf changeling (what other authors call shifters, Singh calls changelings), and when Ethan saves her life, she decides on a mating-at-first-sight, which is as unlikely in her world as in ours. Ethan is damaged, and much of the book is spent (between erotic encounters) trying to figure out exactly what is amiss with him due to previous cruel abuse. Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for this ARC.
June 16, 2020
YEs, I admit it, I'm addicted to this series and to this world!
Some books and better than others, but I love each and every one!
The Aoorws are one of my favorit people here and ethan is nothing if not an Arrow! They're so cool and so still, but inside they're all molten passion! And I cannot resist them! I'm such a slut! LOL
Also Selenka was good! A female Alpha wolf! WOW!
Was their story sudden and did their love develp in a few short days? Yes to all, but I still love every second!
I also love the way NS has with words: they just resonate inside me and it's like I'm there! I love it!
I'm also in love with Krychek (I love seeing him in books!!!) and I'm soooo curious what will happen with all the Scarab mess!!!
Some books and better than others, but I love each and every one!
The Aoorws are one of my favorit people here and ethan is nothing if not an Arrow! They're so cool and so still, but inside they're all molten passion! And I cannot resist them! I'm such a slut! LOL
Also Selenka was good! A female Alpha wolf! WOW!
Was their story sudden and did their love develp in a few short days? Yes to all, but I still love every second!
I also love the way NS has with words: they just resonate inside me and it's like I'm there! I love it!
I'm also in love with Krychek (I love seeing him in books!!!) and I'm soooo curious what will happen with all the Scarab mess!!!
February 8, 2020
Ok so I’m a huge Nalini Singh fan- love her GH, love psy changeling, love her contemporary romance and personally think she’s a GENIUS with novellas- which are always kinda an afterthought with other authors. But I won’t be buying this book OR borrowing from the library because:
The continuation of the psy changeling series (to be clear I’m talking about after allegiance of honor) has completely ruined the whole thing for me. I mean allegiance of honor was such a perfect way to end the series- I loved it, such a beautiful idea to go through the book roster and give everyone a nice ending... but then she didn’t stop there. Now it’s so so sad when a series ends, I know all us readers dread that moment, and up until now I thought there was nothing worse (in the book world) than that feeling... but I found it- watching a beloved series fall from grace
Here’s the things that bother me most. It’s like she’s choosing the B team characters that weren’t interesting enough the first time around and just tweaking the original storylines a wee bit. I mean let’s look at this in perspective: we went from Kaleb (the most of powerful psy in prob history) to.... his assistant? There’s was a lot of psy changeling books and storylines, SOME duplication is always going to happen and up til now she’s done a pretty good job with this. But not the ones in trinity. I quite literally wasn’t able to finish 2 out of the three last books bc I got so frustrated and felt my reading soul dying. That’s a big deal for me- I finish almost everything, I’m the type of reader that slogs through 400+ pages of monotony to find out what happens. But I’m so tired of it. Even Alexai’s book which had a whisper of the old magic about it didnt cut it for me- I spent the part of the book I read feeling like I’d already read that book before. Particularly the silent psy storyline (But I admit I was pretty much done with it after book 7 so my tolerance was low) I mean Singh is ultra talented but there’s limits to how many ways to describe a pretty simple concept:
non psy lover: I love you, please break silence
Silent psy: I can’t, it’s impossible because of X
*comes up with a magical solution that fixes the problem or allows them to be together sans silence*
The whole thing has just soured me on her books altogether. I still haven’t read the last two GH bc I’M SO FRIGHTENED! Anyways that’s my plea for the book future- please, please Nalini, use you powers for good (for both yourself and your readers). You are worth so much more than this.
The continuation of the psy changeling series (to be clear I’m talking about after allegiance of honor) has completely ruined the whole thing for me. I mean allegiance of honor was such a perfect way to end the series- I loved it, such a beautiful idea to go through the book roster and give everyone a nice ending... but then she didn’t stop there. Now it’s so so sad when a series ends, I know all us readers dread that moment, and up until now I thought there was nothing worse (in the book world) than that feeling... but I found it- watching a beloved series fall from grace
Here’s the things that bother me most. It’s like she’s choosing the B team characters that weren’t interesting enough the first time around and just tweaking the original storylines a wee bit. I mean let’s look at this in perspective: we went from Kaleb (the most of powerful psy in prob history) to.... his assistant? There’s was a lot of psy changeling books and storylines, SOME duplication is always going to happen and up til now she’s done a pretty good job with this. But not the ones in trinity. I quite literally wasn’t able to finish 2 out of the three last books bc I got so frustrated and felt my reading soul dying. That’s a big deal for me- I finish almost everything, I’m the type of reader that slogs through 400+ pages of monotony to find out what happens. But I’m so tired of it. Even Alexai’s book which had a whisper of the old magic about it didnt cut it for me- I spent the part of the book I read feeling like I’d already read that book before. Particularly the silent psy storyline (But I admit I was pretty much done with it after book 7 so my tolerance was low) I mean Singh is ultra talented but there’s limits to how many ways to describe a pretty simple concept:
non psy lover: I love you, please break silence
Silent psy: I can’t, it’s impossible because of X
*comes up with a magical solution that fixes the problem or allows them to be together sans silence*
The whole thing has just soured me on her books altogether. I still haven’t read the last two GH bc I’M SO FRIGHTENED! Anyways that’s my plea for the book future- please, please Nalini, use you powers for good (for both yourself and your readers). You are worth so much more than this.
April 13, 2021
I have mixed feelings about this one. We find ourselves back in Russia with alpha wolf Selenka Durev, and arrow Ethan Night. I had heard from the grapevine (my girlfriends) that this had a “mating at first sight” scenario, and I was curious to see how it would play out. I don’t want to give spoilers, so I’ll just say yes… they do form a mate bond during their first meeting…but… then a bunch of shit happens to delay the actual mating, so it didn’t feel like “insta love” to me.
I enjoyed the second half, but the first was rough going for me. My main issue was the character dynamic. (This is a total Jac thing) I LOVE strong/kickass leading ladies… love them! BUT, I like them to still be feminine with an equally kick-ass male. Selenka gets better, but for much of the first half she’s a growling, bossy, manhandling, emasculating she-hulk. This is a hard one, because I really like her being the alpha, but the chin grabbing, shoving, ultra-aggressive attitude with him following around like a good boy kissing her ass…just doesn’t do it for me. Hawke never acted like that and he’s a dude, just saying. To me, it felt like he was super duper whipped, and she was like..."you're cool, but I'm busy doing more important shit than you (while grabbing his chin then shoving him into a tree to eat his face off) so, off you go" 🤨😟 Ethan also improves, but IMO, he comes off more flat than damaged. (his backstory is very similar to Sienna’s) I needed some personality.
It’s hard to articulate, but if you’ve been reading the series. Kaleb for example, is crazy obsessed with Sahara; he’s super protective and supportive, but never comes off as weak, ass-kissy, or beta. They’re both virgins, but Kaleb owned it… took charge, was confident. While Ethan floundered a bit.
Bottom Line- First part would be 2 ⭐’s & the last would be 4, so I’m splitting the difference and going with 3 ⭐’s. Most of the setting takes place in Selenka’s pack, but we do get a little from Sascha, Memory, Aden & Kaleb. I wish we’d have got more on Ethan’s super power because it’s pretty badass. Again, my hang-ups are personal preference… I know some readers will love this dynamic. And, if you’re like me, stay patient because it improves/balances more after about the 60% mark. By the end I felt they were a good match.
I enjoyed the second half, but the first was rough going for me. My main issue was the character dynamic. (This is a total Jac thing) I LOVE strong/kickass leading ladies… love them! BUT, I like them to still be feminine with an equally kick-ass male. Selenka gets better, but for much of the first half she’s a growling, bossy, manhandling, emasculating she-hulk. This is a hard one, because I really like her being the alpha, but the chin grabbing, shoving, ultra-aggressive attitude with him following around like a good boy kissing her ass…just doesn’t do it for me. Hawke never acted like that and he’s a dude, just saying. To me, it felt like he was super duper whipped, and she was like..."you're cool, but I'm busy doing more important shit than you (while grabbing his chin then shoving him into a tree to eat his face off) so, off you go" 🤨😟 Ethan also improves, but IMO, he comes off more flat than damaged. (his backstory is very similar to Sienna’s) I needed some personality.
It’s hard to articulate, but if you’ve been reading the series. Kaleb for example, is crazy obsessed with Sahara; he’s super protective and supportive, but never comes off as weak, ass-kissy, or beta. They’re both virgins, but Kaleb owned it… took charge, was confident. While Ethan floundered a bit.
Bottom Line- First part would be 2 ⭐’s & the last would be 4, so I’m splitting the difference and going with 3 ⭐’s. Most of the setting takes place in Selenka’s pack, but we do get a little from Sascha, Memory, Aden & Kaleb. I wish we’d have got more on Ethan’s super power because it’s pretty badass. Again, my hang-ups are personal preference… I know some readers will love this dynamic. And, if you’re like me, stay patient because it improves/balances more after about the 60% mark. By the end I felt they were a good match.
July 28, 2025
Halloween Bingo 2026
I read this for the Shifters square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.
Another paranormal romance to tempt me into reading for Bingo. I am rereading Singh's Trinity series in preparation for her new book, due at the end of November this year. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I have read this volume once before but didn't review it. Understandable, as these books are pretty formulaic. The author, like me, seems to have a distinct preference for her Psy characters and has found many unique ways to fuck them up. In this one, Ethan Night can feel power pounding on his psychic shields and has learned to retreat into a grey half life to protect himself. Imagine his shock, at a conference for empaths, when the alpha wolf, Selenka, not only protects him, but is wounded while doing so. Having grown up under the jurisdiction of Ming Le Bon, master manipulator, Ethan has never experienced kindness or caring. He is bowled off his feet.
Selenka is equally unsettled, as she feels the mating bond slam into place with a Psy she doesn't know at all. She doesn't believe in mating at first sight, but her beliefs don't seem to matter. She is most dismayed to have found her mate, only to discover that he thinks he has Scarab Syndrome that will send him over the edge into self destruction. Plus, Ethan seems to be unnaturally devoted to her, which twinges her conscience.
This is a romance, so I knew as I picked it up where we would be headed. I think that's why paranormal romances are so effective during my reading slumps—I can count a happy ending while enjoying the journey to get there.
I read this for the Shifters square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.
Another paranormal romance to tempt me into reading for Bingo. I am rereading Singh's Trinity series in preparation for her new book, due at the end of November this year. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I have read this volume once before but didn't review it. Understandable, as these books are pretty formulaic. The author, like me, seems to have a distinct preference for her Psy characters and has found many unique ways to fuck them up. In this one, Ethan Night can feel power pounding on his psychic shields and has learned to retreat into a grey half life to protect himself. Imagine his shock, at a conference for empaths, when the alpha wolf, Selenka, not only protects him, but is wounded while doing so. Having grown up under the jurisdiction of Ming Le Bon, master manipulator, Ethan has never experienced kindness or caring. He is bowled off his feet.
Selenka is equally unsettled, as she feels the mating bond slam into place with a Psy she doesn't know at all. She doesn't believe in mating at first sight, but her beliefs don't seem to matter. She is most dismayed to have found her mate, only to discover that he thinks he has Scarab Syndrome that will send him over the edge into self destruction. Plus, Ethan seems to be unnaturally devoted to her, which twinges her conscience.
This is a romance, so I knew as I picked it up where we would be headed. I think that's why paranormal romances are so effective during my reading slumps—I can count a happy ending while enjoying the journey to get there.
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