1st read: May 2020
2nd read: May 2023

I love this series and I love the story that spans across all of the books. Each book (mostly) focuses on a different couple. Even if I don't especially love the couple, I still like a lot of the book.

The main characters of this book, Katya and Dev, are perfectly fine and interesting. There were some strong heartfelt moments in the book, but they never really grabbed me as a couple.

Katya was held captive, tortured, and her mind was altered against her will. She was dumped unconscious in front of Dev's building. Dev is the leader of Shine, an organization created by the Forgotten, people who are descended from the Psy who broke off from the others several generations ago.

Katya and Dev are both sure that her mind was implanted with directives to hurt Shine, but they are still drawn to each other. ( )

So far, I've been annoyed at every single book in this series. Without fail, the male main character acts disrespectfully and without decency at the beginning of the book, and he never apologizes for it. However, it's mostly been of a level that I've been able to ignore, and it doesn't last very long.

In this book, it takes ages, and it disgusts me. The female main character, Katya, has been brutalized and has had some REALLY bad experiences with being locked up. And the male main character, Dev, keeps her prisoner. The justification is nowhere near good enough. There would have been ways around the problem, and even if there was a risk in helping her, it would have been easy enough to involve Katya in the decision making, instead of forcing her. She is a reasonable woman and obviously a good-hearted one, she would have complied with what was necessary. Dev was very well aware that she was not to blame for what happened to her.
So, no excuse for locking her up, and definitely no excuse for making a move on her when she is your prisoner, and the power balance is so far off to be almost non-existent.

Aside from all that, I really saw nothing appealing in Dev's character, not even when he turned around after half the book. Also, at least the main characters in the other books had an excuse for acting Neanderthal, if not a good one, since they were half animal, but Dev really doesn't.
Then there were the letters of someone who lived through the period when Silence started. They were boring and didn't add anything to the story. I already feel that the books are starting to splinter more, with little intermezzo's of side characters, and the stupid letters weren't helping.
And finally, there were nowhere near enough changelings in a book that belongs to the psy-changeling series. There was a psy and a forgotten, and I find the forgotten to be boring. The only character that appealed to me was Dev's grandmother, and she has a very small role.

So, I would give this one a pass. ( )

Why is kidnapping in romance such a thing? Why!?!?! ( )

This one I enjoyed a little less. Too much emphasis on how he is so dominant and lethal and she is so weak, yet so strong. The story remained good, but I had not as much connection with Katya and Dev as I could have had. ( )

My twin sister has been telling me to read this series for years and despite liking the other Nalini Singh's I had read I never got around to reading it. After reading these books I can't imagine why I hesitated to read them ; they are really good. The story is fresh and original, the writing style is engaging and the characters are so well written that you truly get invested in their lives. I have enjoyed all the books in this series psy, changeling and human as they are all fascinating in their own way. ( )