It’s going to be a while before I find another story this good. 

Aurora
Aurora’s going up on my list of top ten lesbian protagonists. I love the impact she has on people, her selfless nature, and her willingness to help others even when she has her own schedule to keep. I adore goody two-shoe characters when there’s a reason for their altruistic behavior and not written just because the author wants you to like them. Noon did an excellent job with Aurora’s characterization and personality.

I love her banter with Evie, her will to protect her friends, and most of all, I love how unapologetic she is about wanting Evie even though she knows she shouldn’t get attached to her. She’s humble, protective, and loyal. There were two occasions when she made me cry and want to hug her. She deserves the world.

Evangeline “Evie” Aquilar
Evie is complicated. There are things I love about her and things that made me wonder, “Why’d you do that?” I guess that contributes to how well rounded she is because she’s definitely not a one-note naïve innocent princess. She’s observant, persistent, sarcastic but a bit inconsiderate about people’s feelings sometimes, which I chalk to her living among her people for most of her life so she doesn't know how to treat someone outside her group. 

Aurora’s reason for not wanting to be with Evie makes complete sense. Evie’s reason for wanting to sleep with Aurora despite that reason? Not so much.

Yeah, she’s afraid of what her people will think of her being with Aurora, but dammit Evie, when a woman tells you she wants you for life, you don’t say, “We can fuck but let’s just be friends.”

She makes up for this though and I love her dynamic with Aurora. They belong together. 

This is probably the first story I’ve read in a long while where every minor character has their own personality, motive, and lives. They have things going on and exist before the two heroines meet them. I absolutely love that. It makes the world feel lived in. Off the top of my head, I can name Lucky, Selene, Yutu, Raven, Marcus, Lord Agustus, Oriana, Lady Adeline, and Valen. There are more and each one is their own character. 

Oriana is MVP sister of the year. Lady Adeline is the world’s #1 Okayest Mom; she’s not the best but she tries in her own way. Valen derserves #1 Dad of the Universe Award. 

It’s a fantasy with lesbian beast shifters. I came in expecting protective women who were territorial and wanted to claim mates. I got what I was expecting and enjoyed every minute of it. 

I found the chemistry between Aurora and Evie to be believable and sweet. Because most of the story is traveling, I liked that their time together wasn’t just trauma bonding but actually getting to know one another, so it didn’t bother me they were ready to jump each other’s bones after a few days. 

I only have one gripe about the story.

I don’t think the villainous character who was the source of Aurora’s tragic past got enough karma. This is not a criticism of the story. I just wanted to revel in seeing the terror and regret in his eyes, hear him beg and scream for his life, when he had to face the woman he once thought was a helpless child. He destroyed her world and I was desperately waiting for the moment he got his comeuppance. I was highly disappointed I didn’t witness it firsthand. Does that sound sinister? Sure, but he was a despicable person who deserved it.

But other than that, the story was solid. The worldbuilding was great when it was interwoven into the narrative, a little less so when it was put in dialogue as expository information, however, when it was good, it made the world feel alive. 

The author also knows how to show emotions but there were many times when it was told. Jaws clenching in anger, laughing until the smile reaches one’s eyes, those were all great when shown. It was a little harder to believe an emotion when a character simply stated it. Like I said however, when it’s shown, it’s phenomenal. 

TRIGGER WARNING

SA on a minor and attempted SA.

This is not part of the review. Just something I had to get off my chest and doesn’t affect my rating or thoughts about the book in any way.

It took me days to finish this book, not because it was long—I don’t mind longer books. It took me days to finish because of the unexpected reveal that Aurora was sexually assaulted by multiple, despicable men when she was just a minor. This comes so late in the book, I felt whiplashed. This traumatic event is on top of having to be beaten, tortured, then she had to watch her father die while the same men who hurt her hacked away at her father’s body as if she wasn’t going through enough already.

I had to put the book down for a few days because the mental images conjured by this reveal hurt me down to my soul. When I found the courage to pick up the book again, it was Evie who went through an attempted r*pe not long after it was revealed what happened to Aurora. So again, I had to put the book down for another day.

I understand this is dark fantasy. I understand “dark” means the less pretty side of humanity will be explored, but it should be explored, as in done to make the reader think on the whys, purpose, or what it means for humans to act in such a manor. I don’t think it should be used as shock factor or glossed over as something that simply happened in a character’s past.

It’s a cruel world, yes, but it’s cruel because we know when the world is beautiful alongside the cruelty it can be contrasted from.

So if something as sensitive as r*pe is in the story, whether mentioned or on the page, then the healing process should be as well. The recovery, the survival, the will to continue and have peace should be as well. Why write only one side of the coin and not the other?

In a way, I have to contradict myself. I understand the traumatic event no longer holds power over Aurora because look at what a strong woman she grew up to be. And Evie had a moment to realize what would had happened to her had it not been stopped. But again, if something like SA is shown and not implied, then recovering from it should also be shown and not implied.

I know things like this can happen without rhyme or reason. The perpetrator can get away and no justice or recovery may be achieved in real life, but in fiction, it’s something the author is consciously choosing to put in the story. Whether it’s to point out how dark their world is or to condemn a heinous act, there is also a choice to write the characters overcoming it.

An author doesn’t have control over how a reader reacts to themes or events that take place in their book, so it doesn’t make sense to gatekeep what can and can’t be in a story. But if something as sensitive as r*pe and gang r*pe is in the story, please at least add trigger warnings beneath the book blurb, after the acknowledgements, or somewhere so the reader knows what to expect. I want to love books and recommend them, not be traumatized by them.