There was an explanation that was perfectly serviceable for excusing her behavior, but it got to be too much, too annoying, and too constant for my tastes. I got so fucking sick of Devi constantly talking about her love that I could've puked. It was almost like it was more tell than show, even though it was trying to show- but instead of my being pulled in and seduced by the awesome that is Rupert, I found myself aggravated all the time. So that issue was pretty significant to me and it definitely affected my enjoyment of this particular book.Īnother thing that got to me here was the overbearing romance. I liked Anthony, he never once acted in a manner that was villainous (that was all Caldswell and Mabel) and in trying to do the right thing he got to have his soul destroyed. Making matters worse is after this massive scene in which my heart broke a bit Anthony is never mentioned again until the end when she hopes he didn't screw over her career prospects. She justified her actions in her own own way, making a point to shove it down my throat that Rupert understood her but Anthony didn't, but she had no right to be such an absolute bitch to him. It hurt to witness, and I hate Devi for the way she treated him at that moment. And then he bares his soul for Devi and I do mean bares. Standing up to Rupert in a way that was damn impressive - truly. Anthony went through hell for her, she lost a year in hyperspace and during that time he buried her - he'd been her friend and lover for seven years, and when he got word she was alive, but seemingly trapped with a known monster, he moved heaven and earth to go rescue her. This issue is one of the biggest hangups I had with this book. She and Rupert make peace with their horrible past (that was pretty hard for me to swallow since I thought the author was giving the heave-ho to traditional dynamics with the way people try to kill each other here) but as Devi begins to make peace with her feelings for Rupert, Anthony shows up intending to save her from an illegal monster. This last one wasn't technically bad per se, but the romance completely eclipsed the storyline, and several times made me feel like Devi and Rupert were barely the same people.ĭevi was just coming out of the hyperspace jump with Rupert at the end of the last book, and that's where we pick up here.

I fawned pretty hard over the first book in this trilogy, and I think I'll see that it stands the test of time as far as books I really got into, but with each book came more and more issues for me.

Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach