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A review by rainjrop
Unacceptable Risk by Kaje Harper
4.0
I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It contained werewolf tropes that I enjoy reading in fan fiction, so it was nice to read a longer novel about those things.
Simon really lays on the pet names, which, now that I think about it, I haven't really seen in other m/m romances. "Sugar" and "baby" are his favorites. I'm not a personal fan of pet names so I found them super noticeable, but it wasn't a bad thing.
Though Paul begins the book thinking he's 100% straight, his realization and exploration of his gayness/bi-ness were handled well. There's wasn't an overabundance of mental agonizing, long bouts of self-denial and avoidance, or liberal application of the "I'm only gay for you" sentiment, which I appreciate. That doesn't mean Paul didn't question or hesitate at all, but it was done in a reasonable manner with enough adult communication skills to save the situation.
*slight spoilers*
Though this forms the backbone of this novel's take on werewolves, I'm not a fan of the fact that only men are werewolves and the women are relegated to being human bondmates who are locked out of all decision-making when it comes to the pack or are soul bonded to werewolves without being told. They don't have agency. There are maybe three female characters in this book who are important enough to name and they all play the maternal schtick. The whole "wives and girlfriends" of the wolves thing reminds me of hockey, actually, where the WAGs hang out with each other, feed their manly men, and look pretty. In this book, the women's jobs are to be maternal and have babies. Ick.
Along that vein, all the werewolves are dudes, there's about a million of them, and they all have super-generic white guy names: Karl, Aaron, Paul, Simon, Mark, Mitchell, Brian, Joseph, Gordon, Frank, Cory, Stewart, Joshua, Zach, Alex. They're all so bland I could hardly remember who's who. It's like the author raided the resident list of a Midwestern suburban nursing home. I mean, I know the book takes place in Minnesota, but godt damn.
I'll probably poke around the rest of the series, though I'm a little disappointed they don't seem to focus on Paul or Simon.
Simon really lays on the pet names, which, now that I think about it, I haven't really seen in other m/m romances. "Sugar" and "baby" are his favorites. I'm not a personal fan of pet names so I found them super noticeable, but it wasn't a bad thing.
Though Paul begins the book thinking he's 100% straight, his realization and exploration of his gayness/bi-ness were handled well. There's wasn't an overabundance of mental agonizing, long bouts of self-denial and avoidance, or liberal application of the "I'm only gay for you" sentiment, which I appreciate. That doesn't mean Paul didn't question or hesitate at all, but it was done in a reasonable manner with enough adult communication skills to save the situation.
*slight spoilers*
Though this forms the backbone of this novel's take on werewolves, I'm not a fan of the fact that only men are werewolves and the women are relegated to being human bondmates who are locked out of all decision-making when it comes to the pack or are soul bonded to werewolves without being told. They don't have agency. There are maybe three female characters in this book who are important enough to name and they all play the maternal schtick. The whole "wives and girlfriends" of the wolves thing reminds me of hockey, actually, where the WAGs hang out with each other, feed their manly men, and look pretty. In this book, the women's jobs are to be maternal and have babies. Ick.
Along that vein, all the werewolves are dudes, there's about a million of them, and they all have super-generic white guy names: Karl, Aaron, Paul, Simon, Mark, Mitchell, Brian, Joseph, Gordon, Frank, Cory, Stewart, Joshua, Zach, Alex. They're all so bland I could hardly remember who's who. It's like the author raided the resident list of a Midwestern suburban nursing home. I mean, I know the book takes place in Minnesota, but godt damn.
I'll probably poke around the rest of the series, though I'm a little disappointed they don't seem to focus on Paul or Simon.