There are not enough words for me to explain how lovely this book is to read. I was hooked from the first sentence. The worldbuilding in a short story has never been as good as it is in this book; world and races created beautifully to allow you to properly envision them in your mind. I yearn to see more of this place, these people. Ashlyn Forge has a true skill with her characters' voices and development, both focal and non-focal, and you will find yourself torn at moments between love and hate with some of them in books by her. That is no different in this book. The main characters are perfect, and the way they interact just struck me so strongly. You definitely want to pick up this book whether you're a fan of m/m sci-fi with some maturity and romance or not; just do it for the sci-fi alone. It's a read that is most definitely worth your time.

This one was one of the sweetest, most heart-breaking novels I have ever read. I recommend it to anyone that wonders if they should pick it up. Though definitely keep a box of tissues nearby cause it will squeeze your heart in ways unimaginable.

This book is not one that I'd recommend or read again. At first, I was quite happy to have gotten my hands on it as it sounded interesting, and at the start that was the case, but about halfway through the whole tone of the book changed -- not only that, but the the grammar and editing just went down the drain. The book wasn't the same anymore and you could see it in the way it was written as well as the way the characters behaved. All-in-all the book was truly disappointing.


SOMEWHAT SPOILERY BELOW



This book also falls prey to one of the more annoying trends I've seen in literature and film of late: the belief that the man is always in the wrong and that if he does anything that qualifies as "saving" the woman then he's insulting her, and he's an awful human being for doing it. Is there parts where he is in the wrong? Yes, and yet those parts rarely get addressed and are glossed over so easily. Yet this was not one of those times. Now, in some cases this can be written well, but in this book when the female main got all upset over this I wanted to strangle her as she wasn't the only one who'd pay if caught in what she'd done so what he did was smart — reasons aside. Then to redeem himself, and so that she would not leave him, the male main let her handle a situation that he should not have cause in a realistic situation(let me just say the outcome here is not even slightly so) she'd have made him lose his license as a lawyer. Instead, in order to show that she had changed and was far more worldly like she kept claiming, she should've actually let him handle the matter as he was more experienced in this case. What makes this even worse is that he put all the blame on himself which is part of this trend that I grow to hate cause it has little to do with portraying strong, equal women.