Book 61, 2022
Revelation by Patrice Michelle
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
On my lunch break Friday, I finished reading Scions: Revelation by Patrice Michelle. It's the third part of the "Scions" trilogy, with main characters Caine, a werewolf, and Emma, a werepanther.
Afraid he's losing his ability to control his shifts, Caine has left his pack to live among humans. He's drifting and alone with no real purpose until he catches the scent of a remarkable young woman in a club. Emma has no idea she's not human, not until someone kidnaps her aunt and she's forced to make some difficult choices in a bid to save her. Caine and Emma should be mortal enemies, but they are drawn to one another. Will their connection be the final piece of the puzzling prophecy that promises salvation to all nonhumans?
This may be the third book of the series, but it's the first I read. The author did not do a good job of providing back story, which left me floundering as I tried to figure out who was who, the good guys, the bad guys, and what the hell was going on. There were different names for the nonhumans: werewolves were the Lupreda, vampires the Sanguinis, and werepanthers the Velius. It seems the vampires created the werewolves to prey on, and the werewolves in turn created the panthers to prey on. How nice. As for the two main characters, he's a brooding jerk and she's a naive innocent. Yawn. I don't know why it was classified as a romance. Instead, it was a series of action scenes, battles, and betrayals while the main characters fought their lust-fueled attraction to one another. And really, that's all it was. It wasn't love; it was lust. That can be exciting, but don't slap a bow on it and call it love. And, why are all these short, paranormal romances so misogynistic? I hate that. I started keeping notes of my stream-of-consciousness WTF:
- She's 21?!
- Stop grabbing her when she tries to walk away from you
- He has to carry her through the snow and then give her a spank when she objects?!
- Now they have to share a bed. Really?
- Physical abuse when she won't (can't) answer his questions
- Aaaaand now he's blaming her for his lack of self-control. Fabulous
- How many times can this stupid slut get kidnapped?!
- Here comes the attempted sexual assault by the bad guy, which is apparently a Silhouette Nocturne staple. Good grief
- Even as a bad-ass panther, she can't win?
- Aaaaand now we're physically restraining her. So romantic
- She literally just asked him to 'let me go', and he literally outright refused
- Oh, and now he's all about seducing her but without any penetrative sex because he's so effing noble.
- Now our virgin is giving head like a pro. Head? More like *head desk*
- Just wrapping a hand loosely around her nape can 'lock her in place'? Gag me
As if all that crap wasn't bad enough, Emma was a Mary Sue. Her boss, Jared, had the hots for her, Caine obviously did, and the bad guy, Malac, wanted her, too.
Favorite line: "I'll grant your every wish if I can, but your safety comes above my own."
The story was awful. It was more about lust and power than it was about love and romance. Back story wouldn't have made it any more palatable, but at least it might have made more sense. Hated it. It's getting two stars, as the writing was good, even though the story was atrocious.