Anna's Reviews > Gloam

“Gloam” by Lily Mayne

4.5⭐️/5⭐️
4🌶/5🌶

“I didn’t care what he looked like. Despite my immediate attraction to him, looks had nothing to do with this. This was because I wanted him, Gloam. Desperately, with every part of me. With an intensity that was frightening, because I’d never felt that way about anyone.”

Adam (Rig) is fascinated by the caged monster held captive by Collector Mary. He knows there’s more to him than his brutal appearance, and he makes up his mind to free him. Agreeing to work for Mary at her monster menagerie, Adam follows her through the Wastes. Through this tireless journey, Adam learns the monster’s name: Gloam. And he learns that his kind are gentle, academic-minded monsters. The two form a strong bond through their struggles, as they work toward freeing Gloam from Mary’s clutches. But Adam soon learns that he’s in more danger than he initially thought, and freeing Gloam will be the most difficult task he’s ever faced.

-ETA: I bumped this up half a star, and a full star on Goodreads because I love these two so much!

-This book was hard to read. Not because it was bad, but because it was so depressing. At times this felt like a horror story, I was so scared for Adam and Gloam. The situations these two faced seemed especially dire because they were constantly meeting roadblocks. My goodness, they couldn’t catch a break. And their personalities made it that much more heartbreaking, because Adam and Gloam are the definition of soft bois. They are peaceful, empathetic, kind, sweet; they are not the destructive type at all, but are forced into a corner time and time again. I think the circumstances they experience make them, perhaps, the strongest couple so far in the series.


-I was on the edge of my seat the entire book, I didn’t know what was going to happen next, and how Adam was going to free Gloam. It seemed like an impossible task for a good chunk of the book, and once Adam learned what needed to be done, I was so impressed with how the story started to come together. I say this in every review, but Lily Mayne has some of the most impressive world building I’ve ever read about in any book series. I’m blown away by how she has woven each book together, the cohesiveness is nothing short of genius.

-Gloam had my heart as soon as he started communicating with Adam. I love that we get to meet an intellectual monster. Aytorins, Gloam’s monster species, are scholars who study language and history. I just loved that, and I loved his reasoning for going through the tear into the human world. Of course, his story broke my heart, it’s full of suffering and seems quite hopeless. But thank goodness for Adam’s stubborn empathy, he never even considered giving up on Gloam; that’s some true love shit right there.

-Adam, who we first meet in “The Rycke”, is like a mega-watt sunshine character. He’s bouncy, exuberant, joyful, and overall such a bright spot in this scary dystopia. He didn’t even have a strong attachment or attraction to Gloam initially, but he couldn’t bear to see someone being held captive against their will. Once he gets to know Gloam, understands who he is as an individual, a strong mutual attraction blossoms.

-I’m so thankful for the last 30% of the book, because it was pure fluff; I really needed the lighter side of Adam and Gloam’s story. Everything leading up to about ~75% was hit after hit of brutality, but then you get such a soft conclusion to their romance.

-This series is so stinking good, everyone should read it. Even if you don’t read monster romances, you should really consider reading this series.