BEYOND THE RED
Source: eARC via the Publisher on Edelweiss
Publisher: Sky Pony PressPublication Date: March 1, 2016
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Summary:
Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.
Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.
When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves in to the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide.
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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I think my problem with this one is that I was anticipating something more. The first half of the book didn't keep my attention the way I wanted it to and I was thinking that there would be something MORE out of the whole "genocide" and "flee"-ing that is mentioned in the summary. It was almost as though that was hastily added in or that there wasn't enough that "happened" and something else needed to be added to the drama of the story.
Another problem was that the romance was just like what? I got the slow build between Eros and Kora, that was fine-ish. I still think he should have almost cared a little more about her killing his family but let's put that aside for now. I had a problem with the "love" that Serek has for Kora. It seemed to come out of NOWHERE. She didn't even invite him to try to be her mate and he kinda just showed up and suddenly was in love with her? It felt like there was nothing leading up to that whatsoever. And that it was more about convenience than anything. Like there had to be a connection between Eros' eye colour and meeting his "family" so there had to be an introduction between the two. And Serek was just a good guy who was super chill and was like "okay well I will determine if you are my kin" but that didn't seem to fit with what Kora said about his family as a whole.
The world building also wasn't that great. I felt like there wasn't much given in terms of the hierarchy and what Kora's overall position was. It seemed as though there were countries but even those countries had hierarchies amongst themselves but that wasn't really explained to me either. It seemed as though Serek and his family had a lot more power and influence than Kora but why? I just felt like not enough happened and not enough was explained for me to accept that this was happening.
It all just felt so .. convenient. Everything that happens or gets revealed just makes it easier for the characters to have their HEA.
I wanted to like it more than I actually did. I thought there was such good potential but it just didn't actually reach it.
I think my problem with this one is that I was anticipating something more. The first half of the book didn't keep my attention the way I wanted it to and I was thinking that there would be something MORE out of the whole "genocide" and "flee"-ing that is mentioned in the summary. It was almost as though that was hastily added in or that there wasn't enough that "happened" and something else needed to be added to the drama of the story.
Another problem was that the romance was just like what? I got the slow build between Eros and Kora, that was fine-ish. I still think he should have almost cared a little more about her killing his family but let's put that aside for now. I had a problem with the "love" that Serek has for Kora. It seemed to come out of NOWHERE. She didn't even invite him to try to be her mate and he kinda just showed up and suddenly was in love with her? It felt like there was nothing leading up to that whatsoever. And that it was more about convenience than anything. Like there had to be a connection between Eros' eye colour and meeting his "family" so there had to be an introduction between the two. And Serek was just a good guy who was super chill and was like "okay well I will determine if you are my kin" but that didn't seem to fit with what Kora said about his family as a whole.
The world building also wasn't that great. I felt like there wasn't much given in terms of the hierarchy and what Kora's overall position was. It seemed as though there were countries but even those countries had hierarchies amongst themselves but that wasn't really explained to me either. It seemed as though Serek and his family had a lot more power and influence than Kora but why? I just felt like not enough happened and not enough was explained for me to accept that this was happening.
It all just felt so .. convenient. Everything that happens or gets revealed just makes it easier for the characters to have their HEA.
I wanted to like it more than I actually did. I thought there was such good potential but it just didn't actually reach it.
I skimmed this review because I was afraid of spoilers and I haven't read this book yet.. It's been one of my most anticipated debuts of 2016 but lately, I'm seeing one bad review after another and it's making me more and more nervous... I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it much. "Convenience" is something that I really HATE in books. Thanks for sharing! <3
ReplyDeleteBrittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles