Not really satisfying…and her mates are AWFUL
This entire series had so much potential. I would’ve appreciated a more in depth explanation about how humans and shifters interact with one another at the beginning of book one, (when Falon was on Earth) so I wasn’t so surprised when Falon just accepted that she was a Gryphon when she fell through the portal and landed in an entirely different realm. The beginning just happens so quickly, with certain situations that were completely unnecessary and could’ve been cut out in order to make room for more “world building.”
**SPOILERS**
Falon takes her grandmother’s ashes to the mountains, as her grandmother wanted to have her ashes spread out in a specific site when she passed. No sooner has Falon accomplished this task she starts to feel odd, and the next thing you know Falon is in BIRD FORM - initially she thought she was a dragon - but when she lands she realizes she’s a giant bird-like creature. She was struck down and then she’s attacked and taken prisoner. Falon is thoroughly confused, and cannot understand what the heck is going on and why she’s being dragged in front of some medieval like court to be interrogated. She comes face-to-face with Z who is the leader of The Hidden - a group of Gryphon shifters who have run off, refusing to be branded by the Avowed, and forced into a sort of slavery. Z’s second in command, R, is slightly more welcoming to Falon than his leader, (Z is pretty much an a-hole from the second he and Falon meet).
At first Z is convinced that Falon is a spy for their enemies, the Avowed, and is determined to prove it. Both Z and R have this strange connection to Falon though, and even she and her Gryphon (whom she affectionately names Pigeon) agree that there is “something there,” even if she does hate them most of the time (Z especially). When R goes off on a mission, Z seizes his chance! He sleeps with Falon, then shrugs her aside and tells her to leave, and if she ever returns to their castle he’ll kill her! Falon is CRUSHED, absolutely heart-broken, she had begun to believe Z had feelings for her, and her Gryphon had grown very attached to his Gryphon. Well, it doesn’t take much time after she is forced to leave that Falon finds herself in a dangerous situation! She’s caught in a net, and kidnapped by T, who is the brother of the King of the avowed, Lazza - a true psychopath, a king bent on destroying all of the hidden and/or marking them to serve him.
I liked Falon to a degree. I thought she rolled with the punches, and kept persevering despite all the adversity in front of her…what I didn’t like…I didn’t like how Falon turned into an entirely different woman in front of her “mates.” Now I use this term lightly because Falon had instant chemistry with these douche canoes, but no idea that she was mates to them. They knew the second they touched her, heck saw her, that she belonged to them and said nothing.
Falon, despite being in an unknown realm, and at a severe disadvantage tries her best to “fit in.” And even listen to Z, the leader (her unknown mate) even when he’s being an ass, and that’s like ALL THE TIME! She makes excuses for Z and R’s deplorable behavior towards her all the time, even when they use her like she’s a common prostitute and not a cherished mate!! Z especially is cruel, and mean. He uses the excuse of her still possibly being a spy even though he KNOWS she isn’t, to keep her at arms length. He even goes so far as to make out with another woman IN FRONT OF Falon when he knows she’s his mate but she doesn’t.
Once everything comes to a head at Lazza’s court, and Z, R, T and Falon (yes I’m using just the first letter in their names, not to save you from spoilers, but because I honestly disliked them that much) barely escape the evil king and the true traitor in Z’s camp, R’s evil sister who had been in disguise and spying for the evil king. At this point I honestly wanted to wash my hands of Falcon’s entire harem - they gave me a headache just reading about them. All they did was fight, argue, demean, and put Falon down. Even when Falon has the smart idea to search out the Ouef (a group that had pretty much wronged the Grphon’s, but held no love for the evil king - had magic, and could help) her “mates” still disparaged, undermined, and put her down. Z’s behavior snd attitude gets worse, not better as the series continues, even in book three he’s horrible - AND IT’S THE LAST FREAKING BOOK!!!! There is no connection between Falon and her mates in 3 books because she’s either never with them, or when she briefly sees them (and they aren’t using her for sex) they’re blaming her for all of their misfortunes and problems!!!
Falon, being a good person, even tries to break the bonds between the four of them, and that just pisses them off further and gives Z more reasons to hate her!! Oh and this is after she learns that they freaking mated her WITHOUT HER CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE! She still tries to give them their freedom, even when they’re treating her like absolute garbage!! At every turn, every moment spent of this book without Falon trying to free the Grphons and break the vow, is spent of her supposed mates acting like petulant, horrible, selfish, cruel a-holes. Now if it had been an enemies to lovers trope, and lasted maybe a book or maybe a book and a half I think I could’ve stood for it, and looked forward to the MMC’s groveling for her forgiveness! But Z treats her like shyte and doesn’t even acknowledge how important she is to him until the end of the series, not the end of the book, the END OF THE FREAKING SERIES! Add in T’s deplorable behavior in book 3 and frankly her entire harem sucked hard!!! They were awful and totally didn’t deserve her!
To add injury to insult the end of the series, book 3 was absolutely horrible!! I’m not kidding, the ending was positively awful!!
I wouldn’t waste my time on this series unless you like hopeless heroines chasing after unworthy awful mates!