Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca & NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

I really wanted to love this one as a lover of non-human romance, hidden identity trope, and queer rep, but unfortunately it fell short of my expectations.

Maybe it’s because we started the book with both characters already having deep feelings for one another, but I had a hard time seeing and connecting with the romance. We see bits and pieces of their relationship forming through flashback group texts, which helps some, but with the robotic way our alien mmc Tam thought & spoke it was a bit harder at times to feel the romance. It did, however, make the genuinely sweet things he said feel even more hard earned.

The pacing also felt off, especially how much time we spent between the two officially professing feelings & intention to be together up to the end resolution seeming to drag on, then have a rushed last minute situation. That being said, I would’ve loved a short epilogue in the end exploring how the conclusion played out in a few years down the line, or even a 6 month check in.

One thing I did enjoy about this book is the bits of world building we got for what alien civilizations are like compared to earth. I loved the comparisons, and one of my favorite things in a human x nonhuman romance is when the nonhuman comments in how weird something that normal humans do every day is to them. I love alien & monster romance make us take a critical eye to what we’ve normalized in our societies, even if the critiques of humankind weren’t particularly deep in most cases.

Found family was also a big part of this book with a big group of self-proclaimed weirdos & space nerds meeting for the first time irl after being online only. I loved seeing the group dynamics and finding those that get you, and I’m curious to see what happens to the restroom of the characters if this continues as a series!

Overall cute concept but I don’t think I’ll be rereading this one!

Spice rating 1/5 
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two scenes described briefly & without detailed language

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Rep:

Tropes