This is going to be a controversial review, so if this is your favourite book than I am so happy for you! Finding books that we enjoy or feel a connection to is one of the joys of reading. Now with that out of the way, here we go! 

Ali Hazelwood got her start at writing in Fanfiction, so I feel like what I'm about to say should be obvious to her, but get that cash in this late stage capitalist hell hole I guess 🤷🏼‍♀️ 

Alpha Beta and Omega universe first originated in the Supernatural fandom in 2010 and since then it's spread throughout Fanfiction and many, many fandoms. It takes many unique forms, sometimes there's scruffing and sometimes there's periods, sometimes there's shifters or werewolves, or sometimes the characters are mostly human but with scent glands and slick. 

But one of the prevailing things of this trope is playing with power imbalances by giving the in power group (most often men) a taste of what it's like to lack that power. What do I mean by this you ask? Well male omegas can't control when they go into heat, they get chastised for provoking alpha's by their scent, their clothing, does this sound familiar? They get the blame if they're assaulted. They get paid less if their aloha allows them to have a job. Their rights to their own bodies are taken away, from birth control to abortion to if they want to have sex or not. 

Do you see what this trope is getting at? Yes, by making the usually powerful character the omega they can finally experience what women, LGBTQ+, and other minorities experience every day. It's cathartic. And yes there's oftentimes a lot of erotica in the ABO universe, but it is so so much more. 

So by writing a woman omega and male alpha story it feels like all this history, all this social commentary is being thrown away. Especially when this is the general publics first experiences with this trope. It feels like another thing that's been taken away from minority groups and misused. Especially by someone who has gotten their success off the back of fanfiction. 

Besides all of this I still didn't enjoy the writing, and as I'm sure you can tell by all the above, I read a lot of Fanfiction so that's saying something.