No. No. No. Spoilers I guess.

No. Just no.
I usually enjoy Marcus's writing, so this review came as a surprise.
From urban fantasy to abolitionism to empire building to alien invasion.
I'm gunna struggle to put my thoughts into words, but hear/read me out.
This story is jarring at best, with paradigm shifts littered throughout. It started as a pretty interesting urban fantasy with the main character trying to profit when he's unexpectedly thrust into a supernatural world. Then it starts toeing the line of abolitionism after he experiances the racism and slavery in this other world, which though alittle off focus was fine with me. Then, it unexpectedly turns into an empire builder after the american government makes a abrupt entrance to basicly kick Marvin and co off of earth for super contrived reasons. Finally ending with an alien invasion and info dump in the epilog.
Character where inconsistent and personalities changed abruptly several times through, especially the MC and heroines.
Its like Marcus tried to follow a trend, got bored midway through and rather than just stop, tried to transition the story into something else rather than waste what he probably spent quite alot of time struggling to write.
I was willing to give him a pass because I liked his previous works up until the epilog. This is just bad. Well written, but bad. I honestly hope that he takes a break to just get his thoughts together.
I don't recommend at all. Really, this felt like a bait and switch and I'm probably not going to continue this series if it ever gets a sequel.

P.S. the narration is pretty good. I hold no real faults there, though the editing can use some work. there was a cut they missed close to middle ending.

5 people found this helpful

All over the place.

Everything is all over the place. The MC acts according to his situation, not according to a set personality. It's like whatever the author needs him to be, he is.
The story is set up with a goal but then suddenly it changes, twice. Normally not a big deal but the characters just seem to take everything in stride and not really being bothered by what happens around them or to their situation.

There was this one part that really rubbed me the wrong way.
There's a character who is a real family man. Happily married for 30 years or something like like. 100% dedicated to his wife and daughter. He ends up following the gang to the other world and is miserable. He wants to go home and is willing to leave his wife and daughter behind. Not really something he would do with how the characters was set up. Everything leading up to it made me believe he would suffer as long as his family is happy, but no. He just wants to leave. Next time we hear about him, his wife has taken another man into their bed and he is completely fine with it to the point that him leaving isn't mentioned again.
Again, something his character, as set up, wouldn't really accept. It just came completely out of left field. There was zero set up to him either being bi or a cuck. And the wife was never shown to be interested in another man.

The author seems to have a story in mind and then just change the characters to fit that story. No one acts according to a set character. If he wants one character to act one way, those around them always accept it without a word.

The characters as a whole are also boring. No one really stands out and appart from the main female, no one gets any character development. For the other characters, they seem to do that off screen, so to speak. One minute they act one way and the next, they are done with their character development and then act like that for the rest of the book.

Overall it feels scatterbrained and rushed. The author has had an issue with rushing his books in the past but this one was especially bad. Only reason it gets two starts is because the narration was well done. The book itself is just bad, stay away. Even if you liked his past work.

2 people found this helpful

Meh

Lame how it’s a harem and the mc keeps saying he wants other dudes around. This alpha is beta

1 person found this helpful

Awesome premise

I'm really enjoying this one. Marcus knocked another one out of the park. Dual narration performance nails the characters. I'm looking forward to more like this!

1 person found this helpful

Great Story

Love the twist at the end! I hope the 2nd one comes out soon! wonder what is girl will find out when he has to beat his mother in law

1 person found this helpful

5 stars

Another great book by Marcus Sloss. The dual nareation really brings the book to life.

1 person found this helpful

Confusing

Lots of plot holes and progression without context. I found myself confused as to how the story arrived where it was multiple times. It was like things happened in the background that were integral to the story, but with no mention of them and we were just supposed to continue like we knew what hapened. The second scenes were not bad I didn't cringe at least. However some of the romances were confusing even barring the pride dynamic. At one point Judith and that inquisitor woman fight over Jaco. Then Marvin takes her into the pride and she says to him to claim what has always been his... like weren't you just fighting over who would be the dominant woman of jacos...... also the author wastes half the book trying so hard to not let this be another isekai " guy goes to another world and dominates everything" book just to end up there. I like that genre nothing wrong with it... he just couldn't make up his mind..

l loved it ❤️

Wow! thats it? when will we get book 2? i want to know what happens next.

Alyssa Poon is a treasure

I quickly want to say the story has so much potential, but shifts (see what I did there?) the focus of what is & where is the story going and/or trying to be - multiple times - though this may get cleared up as it evolves in future volumes. Or not. I can't really tell because the ending was kind of abrupt relative to the build up. It's almost as if someone dared the author to include as many genres as possible and then he got bored at the end, tied some things up and called it good. The narrator's do make the ride fun, and in particular I must highlight Alyssa Poon doing a fantastic job. During steamy scenes especially. Felt like I needed a cigarette after a few of them, and I don't smoke. Are they necessary to the story? No. But Alyssa makes them worth not skipping over, and I have to give a shout out for her enthusiasm. Some of these scenes are extended and detailed, so don't pop this one in to listen to over the car speakers on a family road trip. Or work commute.
In summary, if you like the genre(s?) it's worth a read for filler while waiting for the next installment of a favorite series. And for Alyssa. I'm going to search for more of her work now...

Shifter Fun. with a twist.

This one was pretty good. I liked the story. The run through of an OP over worked NYC average to some guy. the adventurs are brought to life by the narration and the twisty epilog brings it all together. the shag spots were ok and I'm grateful for the female reader those parts would have been bad with out her. I'd recommend this this title. and narrators to like minded folks.