★★★★ #DarkMemory #ChristineFeehan #NetGalley
The Ancient ones in the brotherhood are slowly finding their mates, one painful fight at a time. This time, it is Petru who is finally able to find his soulmate. Since he is one of the best fighters, it only makes sense that his mate would be someone who can also fight. Boy can she fight! Safia was raised to be the defender of her people. Her abilities are off the chart and I like her all the more for her humble attitude.
What I enjoyed about this story is the community and family Safia grew up in. According to the author's notes, this is loosely based on a real life society that she had the pleasure learning about their culture and way of existence. This is how a functioning society and family unit should be. I like how even though it is a patriarchal society, they treated their women as equal partners. They had no issues with Safia being the chosen one in their family. Being a female didn't cause for any resentments from her brothers. Unfortunately, it did in the broader community and that is not surprising.
From a plot perspective in this long storyarc, it moved slowly. It is predictable and follows the same path as pretty much every book prior to this one. What makes this one more interesting for me is the rich culture of Safia's people. I liked learning about how they help each other. I like how the family members support each other and find what they were passionate about. This is an idealistic goal to strive towards. When it works, it is beautiful to witness.
The big showdown between Safia and the "big evil" was a bit anti-climatic. There is a lot of build up from the get go of this story. The integration between Petru and Safia into a couple was relatable and I liked how the fears were allayed. Safia's concerns about how her life would change once she married/mated with Petru were valid. Petru like all old male Carpathians tended to be high handed in his decisions and unable to use his words to communicate. Still, he tried and it all worked out in the end. This paranormal romance is recommended to readers who like strong heroines.
*provided by NetGalley
