For the Sociology more than any spice (and there was salacious, voyeuristic spice) this book was intense - I might have preferred the scientific cold view from the first installment. It is an uncomfortable book, a study of human nature a century or so after capture and domestication. Is it easier to concede and become pet and if you are born pet would you even be aware of a different kind of existence? I ended up loving it.

What an interesting study of an existential crisis. A what if pets like dogs suddenly gained self-awareness and hated what they were in comparison to their wolf ancestors who would have ripped us to shreds instead of rolling for bellyrubs.

Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Good lord the humans are literal alien pets descended from that first study group in book 1.
Self-awareness of the descendants of abducted and farmed humans. Would we feel oppressed if we were born into it or would our awareness be restricted to petlike and understanding and subsequently blind loyalty and joy? Would we be the dogs of space?

Character Development/Favorite Character:
Yeah my favorite character was the Whistler aka Keeper actually named Kedeel.
The introduction of the Ornamental/Embellished Human into this herd is so precarious and rife with conflict because he is so acutely self-aware and infinitely pissed off.

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene: :
The Whistler Keeper is truly a secret anthropologist at heart: He makes the entire herd of humans work together. The established males Tranq and Avoc see and have to dig and work with the Ornamental/Kory. Also, removing that lush green barrier to take away the division between the established herd and the "outsider" Kory.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “I’ve been studded out since the day I was old enough to ejaculate viable semen. Do you want to know how many children I’ve cursed to being born a freak?” (well, this is Tragic, basically a Human French Bulldog)
🖤 “My line isn’t special because of any certain way our bodies are formed, but because we’re the small remaining line of wild-bred humans.” (Holy cannoli ...WTF)
🖤 “I have to wonder if I’m really the best female to pair him with. I’m too normal to correct the gap in his humanity” (Theresa on Kory)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Whistlers
■Gazebo-like cages/stud
-pens with...water features?
■Human Breeds: Ornamentals, Gentles, Rager etc. Basically Frenchies, Golden Retrievers, Pitbulls

StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Romance Books by 2025