This book is divided into two parts. Separation and Reunion.
SEPARATION
In separation we are acquainted with seven year old Rachel as she escapes the bullies of her neighborhood as they ridicule and hurl stones at her for being different. She, along with her foster brother Richard (age twelve) and parents are part of the race of the Aman-kai with green slanted eyes that can see in the dark.
This is a story of an arranged marriage. Something I have been open minded about for as long as I can remember so it actually pissed me off when dear old mother stole Rachel away. Mother wanted to give her child a chance at a real life. One where she wouldn't be considered a freak. Where she could make her own choices, and not wait around for Richard to come into her room and rape her like her father had done to her mother.
'Rape' being an objective word in this case.
Rachel loves Richard with all her heart, and all she wants out of life is to be with her big brother forever.
The only thing that ticked me off with this, is that when it came down to the bonding ceremony (one where no sex is involved, only oaths and such).. Rachel had yet to have the Bonding and Mating thing explained to her. They asked if she would accept Richard as her, pretty much, mate and she replied, "Does that mean I can be with Richard forever?"
They said yes. She said yes. A couple of cuts and licks later, the deal was sealed.
She should have been allowed a proper understanding. Anyway... time passes.. and soon, her mother is yanking her out of school and they're on the run. End of Separation.
REUNION
Seventeen years, three months, and five days later...
(as Richard tells it. LoL)
Still in Rachel's POV, it's a month away from her wedding day to Charlers Rivera the Third. They've been together for two years, four months, and one week.. Yeah, you know it's a book of fiction when the males are that precise to a date...let alone remembering it at all!
I have a lot to say about this book. It's always a great story when you wake up at 5 AM with your fingers itching to blog. Of course as sleeps lulls you back into unconsciousness, you also lose all memory of what was thought. Which sucks cuz I have come to realize I have a much bigger vocabulary at five in the morning.
Anyway... I put myself in a certain mind set going into this book. Here is a man who, because of circumstances of fate, has been raised alongside his mate as her brother. Obviously, very early on everything was explained to him. She's not his sister, not to him. From an early age, he protects her, teaches her, bonds with her, and anxiously awaits being truly together with her.
Living the story on his side makes it a great read.
Living it on Rachel's side, which you're somewhat forced to do because it's written from her POV, it is rather intense. Anyone with any history of rape or child molest in their life need steer clear. Her dreams alone will rip your sanity apart.
But going at it as a man trying to earn the love of his mate, despite how they were raised, and despite society's rules, trying to get Rachel to let go of how the world perceives them - as brother and sister - it's rough.
It made me think deeply about the taboos of our culture. What is perfectly acceptable elsewhere is practically the spawn of Satan here in America. What makes one culture tower over another? What is one wrong. Why is the other right?
I consider myself an open minded person. Anything is possible. Live and let live. Die and let burn. And all that jazz.
In the Amon-kai way.. before a male breeds with his female, he goes to her night after night, slowly and gently easing her into being his mate. Let me tell you, my mind whirled when they found penetration without breaking her virgin barrier. (I am still a virgin on so many levels.)
Side note - the sex is hot in this book!
Anyway, back to the point, as science proves, the body will respond sexually despite any mental fear or apprehension. So yes, even though, as Rachel's mother experience, her body was willing, her mind was not. It's rape. Cut and dry.
Adding even more weight to the issue, is that as a male Amon-kai, Richard is cursed. Only bonding with his mate will deliver him from the compelling urge to kill with every full moon. Something he's been doing since he was sixteen. He needs Rachel to break the curse.
But he's not willing to take her against her will to achieve it.
Of course, on the other side of that, it doesn't stop him from taking each and every little thing Rachel does offer. Seriously, for a chick that is in such an uproar about it being taboo to fuck her 'brother', she isn't so guarded about letting him kiss, fondle, rub, suck, and lick her entire body. And Richard's 'just a little more' manipulative seduction technique may drive you crazy if you allow yourself to stay in Rachel's THIS IS MY BROTHER! mindset.
And then... *sigh*.. we get to about eighty percent of the book and things just... ugh. The level of degradation skyrockets. And suddenly Rachel doesn't have the idea of just incest to contend with. Now bestiality has come into play. And for all that I have read... and come to expect from author Evangeline Anderson, I was in no way prepared for this: It felt good to be so completely filled and fucked, it felt right to be held and taken this way. Right to bow my head, spread my legs, and submit to being owned.. being bred.
I am now and for ever terrified of Evangeline Anderson.
So I've called it rape... and manipulation... and yet... those are human terms. Applied to humans. But the Amon-kai are not human. So what is it then? Is it nature? Is it... wrong?