My approach to the month of April in Chicagoland boils down to if it ain't snowing I'm happy. We had some unusually awesome weather to begin the month and now it seems, fingers and toes crossed, to have settled into mostly sunny skies with temps in the mid to high 50s. I'll take it!
I don't know about your, but I love watching the trees flower and then leaf out!
Today's review is for Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh. It is the fifth book in her Psy-Changeling series and I'm reading it as part of the COYER/Books of My Heart 2021 read-a-long.
The romance of this installment in the series centers on Dorian one of the Dark River pack's sentinels and Ashaya Aleine an M-Psy and arguably the top medical researcher for all the Psy. We knew at the end of Mine To Possess that the start of a romance between Dorian and Ashaya was imminent.
In this book, Nalini Singh features a Psy for whom Silence never really took, so that was a new revelation for the readers. We also get a manifestation of the duel nature of the net. As for Dorian, he is a latent shifter meaning, he is as jaguar as all his packmates, except he can't physically shift. This causes him physical and emotional pain. As I read, I *knew* at some point, some way Dorain was going to finally shift. I had full confidence that Nalini wasn't going to keep mentioning his inability to shift without at some point overcoming the problem. That's one of the reasons I am loving this series. I'm a rider on this journey, I'm not sure exactly what roads we are taking, but I have complete trust in our driver. Both Dorian and Ashaya have perceived flaws that make them different than others like them. Dorian can't shift and the Silence protocol didn't work on her. This leads to a deeper understanding of each other.
In addition to the relationship between Dorian and Ashaya, so much was happening in the political worlds of the Psy/Changeling/Humans. It's clear that the Psy Council is going to come crashing down. We don't know yet what that will mean for the PsyNet as a whole and now we have a new Human organization on the scene, what are their motivations and how will that affect the characters we have come to love. I am in awe at all the plot plates that Nalini Singh is able to spin at once--so much is happening in this world and I love to read it!
As I was reading, the sentences below said by Ashaya Aliene really struck me. 
I thought to myself, Wow, now I get it! That is a description of white supremacy with the Psy being the white supremacists--focused only on their 'race'. Over and over we have read how the Psy believe the Changelings and Humans as lesser beings driven by their emotions. The Psy only care about their bloodlines and having power through wealth. The Psy don't even seem to realize that Psy/Changelings/Humans are the same species and what hurts the Changelings and Humans also hurts the Psy.
Until the Psy realized they are all part of one humanity (for lack of a better descriptor) bad stuff is going to happen. Fortunately for us, we already know of a nascent network connecting all three races has taken root like a seed that will one day become a mighty forest by the end of this series.
2 comments:
Excellent review! I look forward to all these thoughts if you can join the chat Sunday. Thanks so much for participating in the Read-along.
Anne - Books of My Heart
I was saddened by that observation of Ashaya's about her race's heritage of what they left behind and what they didn't. Yes, I was all anticipation to see Dorian's cat, too. Great review!
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