Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 5, 2021
This romance might've been the one that felt most organic to me. Roy didn't even like or trust Seth at first, but they spent a lot of time together, and the feelings developed. The BDSM connection brought down barriers between them and brought them closer, but their feelings were definitely not all about sex. It was about how they looked out for each other, took chances for each other, proved they could trust each other.
Much as the author has put care into every relationship and sex element in this series, he clearly put care into the BDSM. There was lots of mention of how much consent, care, and discussion goes into it, as well as some of the reasons people are into it. There was only light BDSM shown in the book though, just some bondage with ropes.
This book even touched on the idea that being different isn't bad, that it's only a problem when the world is rigidly designed for people who are a certain way with no room for those don't fit that mold. Sometimes people aren't lazy or inept, they just need a different method of learning or doing things. In the book, it was about Seth's aura, and how he made links and used his abilities, but it's relevant to neurodiversity and probably lots of situations.
I didn't realize this would be the last book, but it was, and it was a good ending. The ending wasn't overdone, but it was wrapped up enough, especially with a hint of things from Seth's pro-cog ability, to be satisfying and happy. And since this was the finale, it had the big showdown, and it was fun seeing all the characters work together and use all their different kickass abilities.
Overall, this was a great series about what our world might be like if some people developed sci-fi abilities with detailed world-building, likeable characters, super healthy and communicative relationships, great lgbtqia+ rep, and a great over-arching story to tie it all together!
*Even though each book in this series focuses on different characters, I recommend reading them in order, or you might be lost in regards to some background info, plot elements, and character/relationship backgrounds.*