**Spoilers**
Age gap is in the description, so it's not a surprise, but the way it's executed - in my opinion - was disturbing.
Tessa- the fmc, is really overdone. She is of legal age, 21, but she presents and conducts herself like she's 15, maybe even younger. It was hard to get past.
The constant stuttering (without a speech impediment). The extraordinary, extreme, insane level of niavety --- for someone who is supposedly a genius but also doesn't know basic human biology.
Her meek disposition paired with the aforementioned niavety bordering on ignorance along with small things like others having to wipe her mouth (more than once), her child like thoughts, questions ...and perspectives really paint her as an overgrown toddler. Reading about her, you could fully imagine yourself answering her questions and patting her on the head. Without context, you would think she was a developmentally disabled bioengineering savant.
Yes, her father has kept her sheltered, but come on! You would think she was locked in a bunker, and spare parts were thrown down to her the way she acts.
I appreciate the inclusion of disability in the story. That was well done.
Tessa enters a dom/sub relationship as a virgin(duh) with three of her professors.
The depiction of this kind of relationship given Tessa's characterization was really problematic and uncomfortable to read. From the point that Tessa moves out of her dorm the story all but dissapears, and it's all sex from there.
I like spicy books, so that's not an issue outside of the fact that the story stopped advancing outside of Tessa's sexual awakening. But I skipped many of the scenes because it felt cringy and exploitive for this character. No amount of on page consent made it better. And the collar?! Sigh...
There were like 3 pages of plot at the very end-- concluding in a cliffhanger.
Kenny - Justice for Kenny. He was exceedingly patient and compassionate. Hopefully, things will work out for him in the next book.
Cassius - Overly aggressive. Maybe approaching abusive, dressed up in alpha male camouflage. A kiss isn't an apology. Domination depicted at a toxic level. A chariacture of the temperamental jerk who is obsessed with you. And you love him... because...reasons?
Kal-El - The most human of the professors, the daddy issues lend interesting context given what/who he is.
Cicero - The balance between the other two. The most logical.
Orion- Sure, he was unhinged at the very end, but I found Cassius and Tessa to be more bothersome. At least Orion' s shenanigans were plot related. I wish the story relative to Orion, his program, and/or his past were included. It would have provided a buffer in relation to the sex and fmc's origin story.
Sam - She was the fun, slightly stereotypical friend, but in a lovable way.
Overall, I think the story would have been better with an older or at least a marginally more mature fmc. You could still reference the impact of her trauma, disability, and sheltered upbringing without reducing her to a mental tween-ager. Honestly, many teenagers are more mature. It's jarring when contrasted against her supposed intellect and the nature of the sex scenes.