3.5 rounded up to 4 because I'm having a good time in this universe. The world building is SO GOOD, though the romance felt a little copy & paste from the first one. I also had issues with some of the start of the romance, particularly in the forced nature of it; the fact that Vaughn touching Faith a lot against her will is presented as a good thing to to break her barriers was icky all around.

Honestly, with these two I just skipped through most of the romance parts to get back to the plot. Though the romance bits I did listen through were pretty dang spicy. Nalini Singh knows how to write.

Onward! Loving this world so far. WHY WAS MY DUMB ASS EVER SO AGAINST THIS SERIES?

Judd is still a supremely unsexy name, but I loved Judd and Brenna together and the overall plot and world building is still so good and I didn't mind the romance in this one much as I did in [b:Visions of Heat|215643|Visions of Heat (Psy-Changeling, #2)|Nalini Singh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388450756l/215643._SY75_.jpg|208772]. In fact I think I was just as invested in Judd and Brenna's journey as I was in learning more about the world at large. Regarding the big romance roadblocks for them:

Spoiler

how super great was it that Judd could figure out his power to such a level that he not only put a bullet-torn heart back together, but could also undo the Silence in his own mind? All that build up and worry from Brenna for the answer to be like half a day of him lying unconscious in the snow (dumbass, did you forget that cabin from earlier in the book??) to fix up his brain and IT'S ALL GOOD? The bond is there? Brenna can shift now?? OKAY! I like a HEA, but damn. I expected something different, I guess.

I do want to note that I've really been enjoying Angela Dawe's narration. Thankfully, between my two library cards, I've had 0 wait time between audiobooks and she's killing it.

On to book four because this series has pulled me out of my reading slump with the delicious candy it is because I have SO MANY bigger plotty/world building questions.

This was a nice short story, but I don't think it did much for Enola as a character or the world of the books. We don't learn a single thing here that we didn't already know/infer from the end of book 6. This would have made so much more sense as an interlude between books 4 and 5, or books 5 and 6.

A nice quick story, but ultimately meaningless.

YOOOO THE OVERALL WORLD PLOT IS GETTING WILD I'M SO INTO THIS.

Spoiler

FAITH'S DAD IS A NEW COUNCILOR? DOES CALEB KNOW HE'S PART OF THE REBELLION?? CALEB CONTROLS THE DARKMIND??? FUCK. SO MUCH IS GOING ON!

Getting it out right away: every single one of the covers for this book have white washed Clay. Disappointed, but not surprised.

I really liked Clay and Talin, but there was one big aspect of this I didn't enjoy as much... (tw: sexual abuse)

Spoiler

Clay was mad at Talin for sleeping around AS A BROKEN, TRAUMATIZED TEEN/YOUNG ADULT WHEN HE WASN'T IN HER LIFE as if that was Talin cheating on him and he just accepted that and they moved on?? UUUGGGGHHHHHH. She was sexually abused as a child! She had trauma! SHE LITERALLY TELLS HIM AT TIMES SHE WASN'T EVEN AWARE SHE WAS SLEEPING WITH MEN BECAUSE SHE WAS IN DISSOCIATIVE FUGUE STATES THAT SHE DIDN'T REMEMBER AFTERWARD. SHE WOULD COME TO IN A STRANGE MAN'S BED. WHAT THE FUCK, CLAY. FUCK YOUR POSSESSIVE ALPHA LEOPARD BULLSHIT!

It ruined what I thought could have been a really great romance overall, but at least everything else about it was good - lots of push and pull and angst with the pair because their pasts left them with deep scars.

I also may or may not have screamed in realization when they figured out Talin's deal at the end. (I was in my car on my way to work this morning when I did, hopefully no other drivers saw me lose my shit.) I didn't see that coming, and it didn't feel like a random magical fix out of nowhere. It made sense! It hooked into an already established aspect of the DarkRiver world! It expanded on the history of the world as a whole! Damn, this series is good.

On to book 5!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for a solid thriller with some really good main character work. I really disliked all the characters, but I couldn't stop reading about all of them and their entangled lives and history together.

Content warnings:

Spoiler

Sexual assault, eating disorders, infidelity, drug use & abuse.

BOO TO DORIAN AND HIS RAGE ISSUES

BOO TO ASHAYA BLAMING HERSELF FOR TURNING HIM BACK TO THE GUILT AND RAGE

BOO TO THINKING THAT A MAN'S OWN ISSUES THAT HE WON'T GET HELP WITH ARE FOR A WOMAN TO CARRY AND TO FIX

BOOOOOOO

The rest of the world building and story in this series as a whole continues to be great, but the romance ruined this for me.