Grisette's Reviews > Rabid

** spoiler alert **
4.4 stars

⏳ [Re-read project #8 of 2024, 1st proper review, rating maintained]

When I first read this back in 2021, I recall that the world building was amazingly done but that it was not the lightest of read. Many elements made me queasy.

Now, fast forward some years later, I still found some of the subject matter heavy (esp. the first quarter of the book) but as a more seasoned reader, I was able to wade through more valiantly. What really stunned me hard this time around was the quality of the writing. The writing duo got down to really mean business. Their writing was very sleek and vivid. It triggered the right atmosphere and emotion at each turn of Seneca's dizzying journey. It was magical to read how their prose elegantly shifted to evoke in turn oppressiveness, despair, danger, wariness, violence, primal lust as well as blooming attraction, empathy and pack togetherness. And their words were so beautiful, but also precise, in describing Seneca's angst and 'rabid' feelings - there were no wasted words in purple land or false sophisticated veneer.

That line drawn in the sand, everything he said, it all bursts from the pent-up emotions I’ve bottled. Like I’ve lit the end and thrown a Molotov cocktail, it explodes in a roar of anger from my mouth that echoes from the mountains and then floods from the tears finally broken free as I cry.

And cry.

And cry.

It’s not a quiet cry. These tears aren’t soft and slow. This is a rending of my soul to expel all the shit I’ve been harboring. I scream at the mountains, the sky, the rocks, my jagged edges, until my voice is lost and my throat is raw. I gnash and yank and pull as I purge myself of the wrongs, the taint, the loss. I spill my soul on the side of the mountain, desperately needing to get this all out so I can breathe again, so I can rise up and be able to look myself in the eye and be the wolf and the woman I can be.

For a genre that often has sloppy writing, I am very impressed.

Both the romance and the plot development were very solid. The chemistry between Seneca and Tyran was electric and palpable. I loved how he pushed her to move up and see things from a different angle. I loved how she pushed back when he was making the wrong assumptions. I loved how he was quick to humbly admit his mistake and apologise. I loved how she had the courage to let go and trust him and the pack. Both authors shined with the way they smartly developped the growth of the romance between Seneca and Tyran. And the sex... omg... so scorchingly sexy and steamy (and the dirty talk was 🥵🔥)!!

What was missing? Not much. The book was a smidge too long in my appreciation. I liked how the development of the story was paced with time to grow in an organic manner (even if all the high-octane events in fact occurred in less than a fortnight) but somehow with the charged writing style, it felt overlong and moodheavy at times. Also, while the villains were real evil, by the end, their motive and capability felt underwhelming. And, I wished there were a few chapters from Tyran's POV, esp. how he felt when he met Seneca and why he left her alone the next morning.

This book and its world has good potential in having its own series. The secondary characters were so well drawn that I would want to see more. I hope that IA/RK duo get to revisit Seneca's world in the future.