Visions of Heat

So, I'm showing off the features of my spiffy early Christmas present, a Kindle Voyage, and one of my coworkers asks what I'm reading on it.

Me: Um...Visions of Heat

a pause

Me, a bit sheepishly: It's a sexy book.

It's funny. I don't have extensive knowledge of paranormal romance, but if this series is any indication, the genre has quite the loophole going for its characters. If the supernatural elements weren't present, the readers would want the men in these books locked up. They're possessive, they're pushy, they're handsy, and they act like stalkers. But since the leads in this series are not human, but shape-shifters, all their questionable behavior can be chalked up to "Well, he's a cat." So instead of urging the women to run for show more their lives, we're counting down to the inevitable declaration of love for the ages and the steamy sex. And the claiming of mates. That happens too.
I can make fun, I can laugh and shake my head at myself, but I do like this series. Singh really knows how to build the sexual tension, and her characters are likable enough. The world is interesting, and it opened it up a lot at the end of the second book. The world is getting bigger and the mystery of what's going on in the PsyNet has ramped up.
The over-the-top relationships amongst the DarkRiver pack hold an odd appeal for me too. The writing can get gushy, and I did a fair amount of eye-rolling with this second book, but as much as these books are about hot men wholly committing to the one woman who can fulfill them (which they tend to know after a few days' acquaintance, if not sooner), they're also about people finding themselves and a place to belong. And hey, if that happens to be in the company of very sexual beings who can't keep their hands off you, well that's just part of the package when you get mixed up with shape-shifting jaguars and leopards and whatnot. Everyone knows that. show less

It's not horrible.

World-building got progressively intriguing. I admit to curiosity as to how Singh was going to keep forcing members of these two 'races' to interact enough to overcome prejudice. (As an aside, Singh, can we talk about 'race' in your world? Because I'm almost 90% sure you mean 'species' at most. I mean, everyone's humanoid. How do you explain that?). And, not to be too spoilery, but is it weird that I found the most interesting character the juvenile Netmind? I'll concur with Her Shrimpiness that there was a lot of cut and paste with the storyline, although unfortunately, Singh didn't seem to be able to cut and paste the emotion of the characters from the first one. Which, you know, makes a romance less interesting. show more Definitely one for the world-building, and for the occasional appearances of Sacha and Lucas. show less

3.5 stars

I read this for the Diverse Voices square for Halloween Bingo

Blood dripped down pale green walls, soaked into the slightly darker carpet, splattered the comm console. A charnel house she could smell—hints of putrid death hidden in the iron-rich taint of blood. Revolted, she could do nothing as he walked farther into the room, placing his feet in the dark red liquid that had once run in a living being’s veins. The blood in the bathroom had had nothing to soak into. His feet slapped into it with a splash.

This is the second book I've read in the series and while its about shapeshifters, a sub-genre I'm not usually about, I can't deny the certain je n'ais se quoi about it. However, I also can't deny that I'm pretty sure there show more is a solid 30-40% that I don't understand, lol. The PsyNet where all the Psy minds are connected, along with the Web of Stars and now the addition of a separate Being that is the PsyNet??? I'm hanging on my fingernails on this wild ride.

Taking out for a second the sci-fi paranormal stuff I don't always fully get, the world and wide cast of characters are infinitely fascinating, I'm curious about all of them. The serial killer mystery here wasn't explained fully to my satisfaction and for being an important catalyst for our heroine, it was kind of ignored. While the relationship between the hero and heroine was sexily satisfying, I'm not sure I felt the emotional build up; they had chemistry but didn't emotionally draw me in beyond that.

I'll definitely be reading on in the series as the next book looks to be about Judd, the dark Arrow Assassin. show less

Another great installment in the world of Psy and changelings.

World building was good. We didn't see many places with Faith's home and the forest/aerie being most prominent.

Character development was very good. We got a lot of insight into Faith's mind and reasoning, we got to know her fears of cascading and her fear of letting go.
As with the first book, for the Psy to go from Silence to feeling is very well written.
Vaughn was a great character, well thought out and he felt real. And I loved reading more about Sacha and Lucas :D Looking forward to all the interaction that is to come.

Pacing and flow were very good with enough action and excitement to counteract the conversations.
The main story arc is moving along nice and slowly (but show more not too slowly :D).

The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. And yes, there is sex described in this book (shocking... I know :p).

All in all, I enjoyed the book, it was a very smooth and enjoyable read. Looking forward to the next installment! show less

Faith is an F-Psy, one of the rare Psy who can see the future. And she’s one of the best of the best, literally worth billions from her forecasts

Until her visions become more unpredictable, dangerous and horrific – and she sees not just economic trends, but some brutal murders. The killer stalks her dreams and she fears she may be heading for the inevitable insanity that everyone expects the F-Psy to suffer – or she may crack enough for even her limited freedom to be shattered… for her “own good” of course

But is the only alternative the mysterious, ominous werejaguar who seems so obsessed with her and will not stop until he has demolished all her walls?

It’s difficult to write a review when nearly everything positive I want show more to say about this book I have already said in my review of Slave to Sensation, mainly the world setting. The whole history and complexity of Psy society, their different powers and abilities and how they’ve evolved with the introduction of the Silence is excellent. I like that we can still see crumbs of why the Psy would have turned to Silence even as we also see how it is so terrible for them now. I like as we explore more and more of the Changelings own history as well – particularly since it shows a lot of their brutal pasts (even if there is a sense of giving the male love interests tragic pasts because nothing makes brooding alpha males sexier than deep seated childhood trauma, apparently) and that their society is also not perfect. It would be easy to paint Changelings as good and Psy as bad but there’s clearly more involved in that. I also like how we had a brief introduction of humanity to this series – just a reference because more wouldn’t be relevant.

I like how this has been developed and the introduction of the Netmind and what that actually means for the Psy race. This world setting is not only fascinating and unique but it is also growing and developing.

The writing continues to be excellently paced and well balanced, bring in both the world building and action and development in a well balanced manner.

I have to say I wasn’t a big fan of Vaughn or Faith. I think both of them were pretty much avatars of their supernatural nature without a whole lot of characterisation on top of that. Faith is a repressed F-Psy and that’s pretty much her character. I didn’t really get much of a sense of her as a person. I’m much more interested in seeing the relationship between her and her father. Or even just in her father. The same goes for Vaughn, he’s a were-jaguar who is close to his Beast but I don’t have much of a sense of him as a person beyond that. Which is a shame because we already have hints of his personality with his choice of decorating and the fact he’s an artist by profession. We also needed more of their actual relationship beyond “rawr sexy psy” “zomg so hot jaguar” mating bond, relationship, declarations of love – job done.

Sadly, the most toxic element of the romance I complained about it Slave to Sensation is repeated in this book – and multiplied several times over. Vaughn has zero respect for Faith’s consent or body autonomy.

Faith firmly believes that touch will overwhelm her. Because she has been brought up with no physical contact and convinced that F-Psy will literally pass out and have seizures if they are touched. Worse, because that risks bringing down her shields to the psy-net and expose herself to anyone who wishes to violate her privacy and her mind. We even see an example of this when Vaughn repeatedly touches her despite her saying no and despite Sascha telling him not to do this.

But it doesn’t matter WHY Faith is saying Vaughn shouldn’t touch her. What is relevant is, like Sascha in the previous book, Faith repeatedly tells him over and over again that she doesn’t want to be touched. Her reasons are irrelevant. If someone doesn’t want you to touch them, you do not touch them. Establishing this romance on Vaughn not giving even the slightest shit about Faith’s boundaries is not romance, it’s a foundation of disrespect and abusiveness

Actually, I take it back – it does matter why Faith was saying no. Not because she thinks she will literally suffer and die from his touch – but because she is wrong. Because the story establishes Vaughn’s touch as the only thing that saves her from her dark visions. And Vaughn insists that Faith needs his touch to help break her Silence Conditioning that is weakening her and making her vulnerable

And he’s right

Why, in the name of all that is sensible, is he right? How does he know anything about the Psy, their physiology or what they can endure? How does he know Faith, her powers, her mind better than she knows herself? This comes down to him basically knowing Faith better than she knows herself. He ignores her consent, but it’s “ok” because he knows what’s good for her – far better than she knows herself. A man violating a woman’s bodily autonomy because he knows what she needs better than she does is such a destructive trope that I honestly can’t even begin to dredge up words to describe this.

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I would’ve cut out about 30% of this book. The romance felt super sidebar, and the trials the gang goes through felt redundant. It took me forever to read the last 40% because it was just not engaging anymore. I kept getting the impression that the book should’ve ended and then something new happened, so I guess, like this review, the pacing was all off..

Next in series? I'll take a look at the reviews...

I definitely liked this book better than the first Psy-Changeling novel. This was a much fuller story. I had the sense that the author had a plan as she wrote this installment. In Visions, Singh has developed her vision of the future, and she has the perfect tool: a character deeply entrenched in the world and workings of the cold, mentally gifted Psy. Whereas the first novel's protagonist, Sascha, lived on the fringes of her community as a "defective" Psy, Faith is a highly valued and carefully protected F-Psy (a foreseer), a cornerstone of the Psy's world. Her problems affect everyone. In this book, we learn more about the ruling Psy Council, the Psy's history, the Net and of course, about the advantages that make the ruthless Psy a show more formidable power, where before we were offered only vague, unformed notions. Perhaps what makes this much development possible is the science, or rather science fiction, which grounds the novel. Singh bases a lot of her world on technology that actually exists (and a lot that doesn't). For example, the Net that connects the minds of the Psy is very reminiscent of our internet, if we could access it through the convenience of our own minds, LOL. Take that, Verizon™. It's details like these that really make the tale richer. It's easy to envision the world Singh crafts. I have to respect an author that takes such care to research and shape her characters' society. It's clear when an author's put forth that effort. It was chilling to read about the cutthroat Psys, where children are planned and produced, where a father constantly watches his child, ready to coldly betray her to a tyrannical government if she betrays any sign of a conscience (see Equilibrium). Government in a romance novel-- unheard of, LOL. All the manipulation and propaganda and sci (I think a character at one point even mentions "doubletalk")-- loved it. Singh must be well-read. Since Faith is important to the government and the governing Councillors are kind of the -brilliant and brutal- villains in the book, the conflict's on a broader scale and, to my mind, much more bold and epic. Faith is powerful and she has perhaps as many reasons to fall in line with the government as to fight them. That's another interesting conflict. She's not just a working Jane who finds she has certain gifts and then stumbles on a killer. She's trying to move societies, stir rebellion-- and set us up for sequels, LOL. And for once, a foreseeing character has no qualms about using her gift for profit-- she profits and then some. In fact, in Singh's world, forecasts are not only a matter of course. They're business and very clinical too. However, lest you think I'm describing a scifi book, let me tell you about the other side of the coin: the changelings, werecats who are decidedly of this world. Singh does take some liberties with cat dynamics and behavior, but they're still recognizable, climbing and all. Vaughn is more animal than most, even his changeling fellows, and it was certainly interesting to read about a man who is never quite human. That comes across very well, when Singh writes that "an animal looked out through his eyes," but while Vaughn is as possessive and fierce as you'd imagine (whew), he's no Caveman. He's an intelligent fella and sometimes he understands Faith's people better than she does. His advice to her is invaluable and he patiently pushes Faith to step outside her bounds. His perspective seemed much more present in this book than Lucas was in the first. I would have liked to have learned more about his character, but there was action to plot and a world to build.There was much more romance in this book than the first. Faith's relationship with Vaughn and her progress as she breaks her binds is the central focus of the book, but there is a suspense subplot, a murderer on the loose. All in all, Visions was like a paranormal romance wrapped in 1984 goodness, which was pretty much a match made for me, LOL. When a novel's grounded in years of literature and science and ideas, it tends to be a Good Read. Now I have to read the other books involving yummy secondary characters Singh not-so-subtly hinted at in Faith's "visions." If you're a fan of alphas, romance, shifters and scifi, I recommend giving this a try. show less