The Outcasts by Alexa Black
< — SPOILER ALERT — >
This review will contain spoilers. If you aren’t afraid of spoilers, please continue to read. If you don’t want spoilers of any kind skip down to the book description and my star value for the review.
I did not hate this book, but I feel that I should have. For reasons.
I was expecting a sci-fi romance and what I got was a pseudo bondage fantasy story with overt religious connotations.
< — YOUR LAST WARNING THIS IS WHERE THE SPOILERS BEGIN — >
The only thing about this book that is remotely sci-fi is the premise that one of the characters is a space bus driver that leaves earth and discovers aliens. But it turns out that the aliens are actually demons (outcast, because they were cast out of heaven) and the planet she landed on is actually hell. She is attracted to the demon Kara and they begin a master/servant relationship. Which included sex, but weird, unfeeling sex. There was no chemistry between the two characters.
We are left with a billion questions that are glossed over or just never answered. We learn very little of the ring dwelling outcast and why they are up there and even less about those that are still on the planet’s surface doing what demons in hell are supposed to do to the eternally damned humans.
Why isn’t the human in the story worried about her own immortal soul after learning there is indeed a hell? Were we ever even told why she was out flying aimlessly in space looking for alien life in the first place?
If there had been more character building and more world building, I might have enjoyed this more. I finished the book, so it wasn’t awful, just not that great. I will give it 2 out of 5 stars.
Time to nitpick about the cover. I know, I know, don’t judge a book by the cover. I’m not. For the most part I like this cover. It just bothers me when the cover artist hasn’t read the character or book description before creating the cover. (I wrote a book and did not have much say in my own cover. So I know I can’t blame the author here.) Okay, back to my nitpicking. The Outcasts are described as having cracks all over their bodies not craters. The effect the artist used here does give an alien or otherworldly feel to the character, but it isn’t the character that I read about in this story. While I can say, good job Sheri Halal (cover artist), it just doesn’t hit the mark (at least not for me).
Book Description from Bold Stroke Books
Sue Jones is a spacebus driver from a nowhere colony. Yearning for adventure, she pilots a shuttle into uncharted regions—and crash-lands in a harsh world. Kara is an alien whose people are Outcasts who have been banished to this world and survive in Rings above the storm-swept surface.
When Kara rescues her and brings her to the Rings, Sue soon learns that the Outcasts believe humans belong on the surface. As Sue discovers her protector’s secrets, Kara struggles to keep Sue safe and her own feelings at bay. Can love bridge the gap between worlds and heal the deepest of wounds?
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.
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