Scan barcode
A review by sinamile
Bestial Alpha Collection by Hollie Hutchins
3.0
Rating: 2.35 π
ARC Review: received for free via Booksprout for an honest review
*Note: Review contains spoilers*
TW: ableist slurs, barely negotiated sub/doming, slut shaming, kidnapping, blury consenting
Slay Me
I actually like this one. It's an ARC so it isn't completely 100, but it's good. It's funny and nice and as the story goes on the characters become likeable. It's pretty well put together but then kind of loses its way again with another dragon attack and the sex both times was kind of described so weirdly it was kind of awkward to read.
I think the biggest issue I have with this is that it seems a bit rushed, as though there's not enough breathing time. I wanted to know about Yelena and Razac, know they're history from before all this, especially Razac. There's so much that could've been learned about his history.
I'll admit, at first I wasn't into it. There was something tiring about the prose of the story, as though I'd read it many time before, but it got better as I read on. Yelena is strong will and she does seem to fall a bit under the 'not like other girls' thing, but she's funny and sarcastic and although she's only human, she seems to be able to keep up with Razac.
And Razac. At first I was kind of Meh about it, like I knew how his character was supposed to come across like, but it was falling short. I was low-key disappointed. But the story went on and he turned out not to be exactly like I imagined he'd be. Razac is actually pretty funny and hella sarcastic. There's a softness to him that I wish would've been explored more. I want to know so much more about him, especially before the events of the book. I want to know: who was Razac before Yelena.
I live for the enemies to lovers prose in books and this is one of those books. I just wish that there had been more, yah know, that there'd been more time to explore the enemies to reluctant allies to friends to lovers thing, it would've slayed my heart to watch it come to life.
Over all this is a good story and quiet enjoyable and I'd possibly read it again.
3/5
Sold to a Wolf
I was kind of disappointed by this one. It isn't at the level of Slay Me. Darla and Baine are okay characters but I wasn't really routing for either of them. There was something superficial about the characters, like they were half thought out.
There's BDSM in the story and I wish there'd been more negotiation talk before they actually got down to it. I wanted scenes were they discussed what they want, what they're comfortable with, what they expect from the other. Most of the time it just felt like it was thrust at us (excuse the pun). I wanted a little more.
The sex descriptions in this one are a lot better than in Slay Me though, I will admit that, but that was pretty much it. The rest of the story kind of fell short, it felt choppy and rushed. Like, there were good ideas to it, but they weren't explored enough. I think the thing that bothered me most was how lacking all the other characters were. It's a short story, yes, but there could've still been some development to the mentioned characters. The only character I actually liked as the mom, she seems a little more real then all the other characters.
Another thing that I didn't enjoy so much was Darla's consistent judging of other women. There's a particular scene where she meets an old high school friend and there judginess. Th whole scene seems so random and awkward I still don't understand it. I feel if Darla and the friend were emote familiar with each other, and it wasn't ome random meeting, then it would've meant more, but with the way it was executed, it fell short.
A part of the story that I did enjoy a lot though was the switching of dominance between Darla and Baine. That was unexpected and wish it was explored more because that's something different, a man used to dominating finding that he's just as comfortable and happy being dominated. Like I needed that!
Over all, this was meh at best.
2/5
Abducted by Dragons
I didn't hate it, but I didn't really like it that much either.
Abducted by Dragons seems so rushed and choppy, even more so than the other stories. Everything moved too fast. This is a story I think I would've appreciated more if it been made a full length rather than a Novella.
I didn't really like Tatyana. There was something superficial about her as a character. It's like everything wrong was happening to her and she just wasn't giving me the reactions I'd expect. She was kind of two dimensional, her character kind of dull. Like I wanted to see more of her kicking and screaming and demanding answers from her kidnappers, but she was mostly just going with the flow of things so easily.
Like, I don't know how I'd react to being kidnapped and told I'd need to sleep with some dude to save dragon-kind, but I think there'd be a lot of crying and inner screaming, and just general panicking. Tatyana didn't really do much of that. Like she was sad and she was scared, I guess, but it wasn't at a deep level.
And I know this is only a short story, but I needed more of her parents reaction. Like your kid got kidnapped by a fricking dragon king and you just...... accept it? Nah. I wanted a little more fighting and arguing and 'not my child, you beast!'
And speaking of, I wasn't really a fan of Garen either, like I didn't care much for him so much that I couldn't even really remember his name. Maybe if Tatyana had asked more questions of him and I'd gotten to know him more, I would like him. But I wasn't given enough to route for him. He's the main love interest, I need more than just: he's the dragon king who's super rich and super powerful.
I liked Brock and Ash way more than Garen and I really wanted to see more of Brock being the hard as a shell but actually super squishy inside character and Ash being the young guy who thinks he's the shit but is actually kind of awkward and just wants to impress the older guys. They're also kind of just there, but they're side characters in a Novella I don't need to know much about them.
And something that really confused me, like a lot: how is the prophecy mentioned so much but is like not explained enough. Like, okay, I get it, but at like a superficial level, but it was never explained more, never dug deeper into. Like I wanted to know more, how does Tatyana benifit, does she get powers or something cool, later on or is she just going to be dragons mate and nothing more. Like how does she help save the world, beside making Garen stronger, is that her only role or is there more to it.
Like, I feel like this story has plotholes in it. Like it's a well thought out story with poor execution. I really do wish it was a full length novel rather than a Novella. I really wanted to know more than what I got. I wanted to watch as Tatyana and Garen got to know each other more and fall in love. Like, they're start wasn't a great one, but I would've loved to see how it was handled going from 'you just snatched me off the street you asshole' to 'you snatched me off thge street you asshole but you're not a bad person'.
And I wanted to know more about the opossing dragon fraction. Like they were mentioned for tention or something, but never more than that. And every time they showed up to try counter kidnap Tatyana if cringe coz it was so awkward and just seemed shoved. I don't even know how to explain it, but it wasn't well executed. Like the bad guys were used to show that the people who'd originally kidnapped Tatyana were actually the good guys and she should trust them more because they're the only ones that can protect her. Like, it's kind of awkward the way it's done.
So much in this story fell short because of its length and it hurts because I feel if it was given more time, spaced out a little more, it would've been so much better!!
2/5
Overall the ideas are good but the execution and the length make the stories seem choppy and unfinished. They aren't bad story and are quiet enjoyable. I just wish that each one was it's own full length novel because think that that would give the characters more convincing growth and make us fall in love with them more, route for them harder.
Overall score: 2.35/5
ARC Review: received for free via Booksprout for an honest review
*Note: Review contains spoilers*
TW: ableist slurs, barely negotiated sub/doming, slut shaming, kidnapping, blury consenting
Slay Me
I actually like this one. It's an ARC so it isn't completely 100, but it's good. It's funny and nice and as the story goes on the characters become likeable. It's pretty well put together but then kind of loses its way again with another dragon attack and the sex both times was kind of described so weirdly it was kind of awkward to read.
I think the biggest issue I have with this is that it seems a bit rushed, as though there's not enough breathing time. I wanted to know about Yelena and Razac, know they're history from before all this, especially Razac. There's so much that could've been learned about his history.
I'll admit, at first I wasn't into it. There was something tiring about the prose of the story, as though I'd read it many time before, but it got better as I read on. Yelena is strong will and she does seem to fall a bit under the 'not like other girls' thing, but she's funny and sarcastic and although she's only human, she seems to be able to keep up with Razac.
And Razac. At first I was kind of Meh about it, like I knew how his character was supposed to come across like, but it was falling short. I was low-key disappointed. But the story went on and he turned out not to be exactly like I imagined he'd be. Razac is actually pretty funny and hella sarcastic. There's a softness to him that I wish would've been explored more. I want to know so much more about him, especially before the events of the book. I want to know: who was Razac before Yelena.
I live for the enemies to lovers prose in books and this is one of those books. I just wish that there had been more, yah know, that there'd been more time to explore the enemies to reluctant allies to friends to lovers thing, it would've slayed my heart to watch it come to life.
Over all this is a good story and quiet enjoyable and I'd possibly read it again.
3/5
Sold to a Wolf
I was kind of disappointed by this one. It isn't at the level of Slay Me. Darla and Baine are okay characters but I wasn't really routing for either of them. There was something superficial about the characters, like they were half thought out.
There's BDSM in the story and I wish there'd been more negotiation talk before they actually got down to it. I wanted scenes were they discussed what they want, what they're comfortable with, what they expect from the other. Most of the time it just felt like it was thrust at us (excuse the pun). I wanted a little more.
The sex descriptions in this one are a lot better than in Slay Me though, I will admit that, but that was pretty much it. The rest of the story kind of fell short, it felt choppy and rushed. Like, there were good ideas to it, but they weren't explored enough. I think the thing that bothered me most was how lacking all the other characters were. It's a short story, yes, but there could've still been some development to the mentioned characters. The only character I actually liked as the mom, she seems a little more real then all the other characters.
Another thing that I didn't enjoy so much was Darla's consistent judging of other women. There's a particular scene where she meets an old high school friend and there judginess. Th whole scene seems so random and awkward I still don't understand it. I feel if Darla and the friend were emote familiar with each other, and it wasn't ome random meeting, then it would've meant more, but with the way it was executed, it fell short.
A part of the story that I did enjoy a lot though was the switching of dominance between Darla and Baine. That was unexpected and wish it was explored more because that's something different, a man used to dominating finding that he's just as comfortable and happy being dominated. Like I needed that!
Over all, this was meh at best.
2/5
Abducted by Dragons
I didn't hate it, but I didn't really like it that much either.
Abducted by Dragons seems so rushed and choppy, even more so than the other stories. Everything moved too fast. This is a story I think I would've appreciated more if it been made a full length rather than a Novella.
I didn't really like Tatyana. There was something superficial about her as a character. It's like everything wrong was happening to her and she just wasn't giving me the reactions I'd expect. She was kind of two dimensional, her character kind of dull. Like I wanted to see more of her kicking and screaming and demanding answers from her kidnappers, but she was mostly just going with the flow of things so easily.
Like, I don't know how I'd react to being kidnapped and told I'd need to sleep with some dude to save dragon-kind, but I think there'd be a lot of crying and inner screaming, and just general panicking. Tatyana didn't really do much of that. Like she was sad and she was scared, I guess, but it wasn't at a deep level.
And I know this is only a short story, but I needed more of her parents reaction. Like your kid got kidnapped by a fricking dragon king and you just...... accept it? Nah. I wanted a little more fighting and arguing and 'not my child, you beast!'
And speaking of, I wasn't really a fan of Garen either, like I didn't care much for him so much that I couldn't even really remember his name. Maybe if Tatyana had asked more questions of him and I'd gotten to know him more, I would like him. But I wasn't given enough to route for him. He's the main love interest, I need more than just: he's the dragon king who's super rich and super powerful.
I liked Brock and Ash way more than Garen and I really wanted to see more of Brock being the hard as a shell but actually super squishy inside character and Ash being the young guy who thinks he's the shit but is actually kind of awkward and just wants to impress the older guys. They're also kind of just there, but they're side characters in a Novella I don't need to know much about them.
And something that really confused me, like a lot: how is the prophecy mentioned so much but is like not explained enough. Like, okay, I get it, but at like a superficial level, but it was never explained more, never dug deeper into. Like I wanted to know more, how does Tatyana benifit, does she get powers or something cool, later on or is she just going to be dragons mate and nothing more. Like how does she help save the world, beside making Garen stronger, is that her only role or is there more to it.
Like, I feel like this story has plotholes in it. Like it's a well thought out story with poor execution. I really do wish it was a full length novel rather than a Novella. I really wanted to know more than what I got. I wanted to watch as Tatyana and Garen got to know each other more and fall in love. Like, they're start wasn't a great one, but I would've loved to see how it was handled going from 'you just snatched me off the street you asshole' to 'you snatched me off thge street you asshole but you're not a bad person'.
And I wanted to know more about the opossing dragon fraction. Like they were mentioned for tention or something, but never more than that. And every time they showed up to try counter kidnap Tatyana if cringe coz it was so awkward and just seemed shoved. I don't even know how to explain it, but it wasn't well executed. Like the bad guys were used to show that the people who'd originally kidnapped Tatyana were actually the good guys and she should trust them more because they're the only ones that can protect her. Like, it's kind of awkward the way it's done.
So much in this story fell short because of its length and it hurts because I feel if it was given more time, spaced out a little more, it would've been so much better!!
2/5
Overall the ideas are good but the execution and the length make the stories seem choppy and unfinished. They aren't bad story and are quiet enjoyable. I just wish that each one was it's own full length novel because think that that would give the characters more convincing growth and make us fall in love with them more, route for them harder.
Overall score: 2.35/5