Book Review: Breeder - Cara Bristol

Cara Bristol

Breeder

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley for free, with the intention of providing a review. All thoughts, notes, opinions are my own.

I will include vague spoilers but nothing that would ruin the story line, just potentially give away a few character and plot points.

Where do I even start with this book.... I've had highs and lows with reading this. And honestly? At one point I struggled to pick it back up again. But I did, and I'm glad I did.

First off, I'd recommend completely skipping the first page which gives a lot away. Go straight to chapter 1. You wont miss anything as everything is explained. I did and I think I enjoyed it more. 

At first I thought this was another book that wasn't my usual genre. Set on a different planet, similar to ours, we meet the main characters within the first chapter. Commander Dak is an 'Alpha', a highly ranking ruler of a province on an alternative planet. 
You find out that whilst this race is similar to ours in looks, they are not in customs and traditions. Woman are seen as inferior and only used as slaves and what they call "Breeders". Basically their job is to produce offspring for the Alphas and then after that they are relegated to cleaning etc. 
Our anti hero, Dak, is searching for a Breeder when he meets Omra. I wont go into specifics as the way he meets her and how are parts of the main story line further along so I wont ruin it. 
The first half of the book is basically them adjusting to each others new roles and how they deal with their lives now they have each other in it. Obviously they engage in a romantic relationship which is severely frowned upon and they both have to cope with the implications of this. 

So before I continue, i'll do a first half briefing. I absolutely LOVE this. I'm completely engaged and drawn in by this fantastic alternate world with their quirky dressing, their language, their weird ideas on how woman work and act, alien animals and transport. Its incredible. I'm already hoping this is the first of a series (it is) and that I will get to read the rest (I will).

Then the next bit happened. Dak's and Omra's sexual tension becomes too much and they do the deed. They apparently like it so do it again. And again. And again.

This is where I struggled to pick it back up.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a young 32 year old. I'm also married and have been with my husband for 10 years. We have a son. I'm not a prude, by far. But when it comes to reading (and writing) I think a lot can be left to readers imaginations. When I write, I imply and I lead up to but writing sex scenes just isn't for me. I'm an adult so if its implied, that's cool, power to them. I don't mind reading them, at all. I've read 50 Shades. We've all read 50 Shades. I'm definitely not a stranger to it (also looking at you James Herbert with 'Once').

What I'm not a massive fan of is 13 chapters (exaggeration) of solid sex.  
Again, its cool. Its well written. Due to their language some of the gross words normally used are replaced so its not unbearable. 

What mostly upset me was that I felt a lot of the book was taken up with this. I kind of had an idea of how the story line was going to go, which I was looking forward to, and subsequently did happen. But I felt like it was rushed. The big built up, anticipated, final event was over so quickly. Cara could have really made a big deal out of and written so much more about what happened. 
She wouldn't even need to cut the smut. If the last event and the lead up was more detailed, not so easily resolved and had a bit more drama to it, it would have been balanced. Which is a shame because once I got over that hump and picked the book back up I thoroughly enjoyed it.

To be fair, once that main chapter or two of sex stuff was over it wasn't as intense. There was a lot less of it and when it did happen it didn't drag on. But I do feel like the depth of the story line was compromised due to the extent of the word porn in the middle.

So to summarise, I think the book was great. My copy included two chapters from the next one which looked interesting. Same place, same characters, different situation. And Cara explained enough about the characters in Breeder to captivate your interest for the next book. Which I will be buying. The story line was brilliant. I think this alternate world shes created is wonderfully done. Its alien but its believable! 

Would I recommend this book? Probably. Not to my Nan though. 

Book Review; It Was Always You - Georgie Capron

Georgie Capron

It Was Always You

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley for free, with the intention of providing a review. All thoughts, notes, opinions are my own.

I will include vague spoilers but nothing that would ruin the story line, just potentially give away a few character and plot points.

Let me first begin by saying that this isn't the type of book I normally go for. Sure, I'm a sucker for the occasional Nick Sparks book and I do like a romantic story line but I tend to like that sandwiched between tonnes of drama and action. But, as I've got older, I've noticed my tastes are becoming more diverse with music especially and with reading. So reading the description to this book peaked an interest.

Almost instantly were introduced to the main character, Libby. We also find out quickly that she's in Italy and is travelling. I like how this Georgie Capron doesn't mess us around with the characters and you get a feel for them as soon as she introduces them so its easy to like/dislike them. 

This care free, unable to settle down girl is on her last stint before returning home to her best friends to start her normal, office job to try and create some stability in her life. As you have already got a feel for this girl, you already clock on that this isn't what she wants but thinks is what she needs so you instantly connect to her. 
At home is her two best friends, a married couple, who have been her friends since school and clearly have a close bond. Jules is obviously her confidant and the "fun" friend and Angus is clearly the one she a deeper bond with. Her constant worry about his disapproval or disappointing him is endearing. We learn quickly about a brief romantic dalliance between the pair when they were young but its something that they never continued and its something that isn't heavily played on. 

During the entire book, Georgie manages to keep a nice balance of descriptive text and actual conversations. Nothing that irks me more than 14 paragraphs on the type of grass shes standing on. She gives you enough to set the scene but doesn't drown you in directions and how many different colour shades she sees. 

My only criticism is that I found it kind of predictable. Not constantly. I mean, to be fair, the name of the books a touch of a giveaway but you are thrown off the case during the first half of a book. Every time something of significance happened I could fully predict the next big event in the story. Maybe its just because I've read a lot of books, I don't know.
That being said, It wasn't annoying. Because even though I found myself predicting what happened next, after I put the book down I spent the rest of my time wondering how she would react, cope or deal with said issue. 

I will mention that there is a mention of depression. One of the characters close to Libby suffers and I think Georgie Capron dealt with it well. I have a very good understanding of depression having close people to me that suffer so the way she approached it and how the characters supported and offered advice etc was great. I applaud the author for including this part of the story. The main thing I got from it was that it's OK to have depression. It doesn't define you or make you less of a person and it's certainly OK to ask for help. Whether its advice, to talk it out or medication. I definitely like the message she gave.

Another nice little sidenote is that she uses modern social apps. WhatsApp, email, Skype. I thought that was a great touch and would resonate with younger or more tech savvy readers. Its not included too much so that older or less tech savvy people wouldn't understand. My Nan - who refuses to touch an iPad (although I did get her to read a Kathy Reichs mini story on my iPad once in Greece!) and has only just upgraded her button keypad phone to my old touchscreen - would understand the references due to the way its written in.

When I read this book I was on a short break in the forest with my husband and son. I started reading before I left and finished it whilst there. I read from the minute my son went to bed until It was time for me to sleep, keeping my iPad next to me whilst I was cooking dinner or sitting on the balcony/decking. It was incredibly hard to put down! The night I did finish it Id stayed up stupidly late to read the last few chapters and even when I had put it down I spent the next hour thinking about it and going over it in my head. Mostly because I knew I had to review and I was mentally writing it but Its rare that a book gets me like that. 

In conclusion, the ending was great. I really got invested with the characters and rooted for Libby all the way through. I was thrilled with the ending and thought it tied up everything perfectly, the result being what I was really wanting, what the character Libby needed and the others involved. Even though there wasn't explosions, or murders, or kidnapping etc she still get you on your toes and it didn't get boring at all. Literally only lost a star due to the predictability.

Would I recommend it? Definitely would. I'd even re-read it. Which I don't do that often as my to-do reading list is massive.