Reviewed by Jenna
TITLE: Wildness
AUTHOR: Mario Lipinski
PUBLISHER: MLR Press
LENGTH: 72 Pages
BLURB:
A Swedish scientist and his alien boyfriend pay the scientist’s family a first time visit on Christmas.
Dr. Ake Jorgensson is a scientist from Sweden whose invention of almost instant travel to any part of the universe will revolutionize space flight.
Khitain is a N’tari, a panther-like alien serving aboard a human space ship, and Ake’s boyfriend of three months. On Christmas, they visit Ake’s parents for the first time. As if meeting his in-laws weren’t stressful enough, feelings of inadequacy and fear haunt Khitain. His N’tari descent makes him a killing machine, and one wrong move could wipe out what is dearest to him. Ake, however, has to deal with his family’s ignorance and Khitain’s reluctance to let go of his restraint.
When something terrible happens during their Christmas Morning walk, the situation gets out of hands. Can love span even light years?
REVIEW:
This book takes place in the future in a time when space travel around the universe has become common. The story begins when, Ake, the Swedish scientist responsible for making space travel possible brings his alien boyfriend, Khitain, home for Christmas. Though Khitain looks like a panther and comes from a race of warriors, he’s actually quite sweet. He tries his best to fit in among Ake’s family, but he gets upset when Ake chides his family for not making the right type of food for Khitain. Khitain just wants to make a good impression on them. He is doing a pretty good job of learning Earth customs, but when they are faced with danger, Khitain’s natural instinct to protect comes out. He responds with violence to protect his lover and his family, but violence is not the way of humans.
This was such a sweet book. I loved how Khitain makes an effort to learn Earth ways and fit in. Also, despite being a warrior, he is awfully gentle. In fact, I liked his character the most. Though this book was short, there was a lot of world building in it, none of which confused me in the least. Despite the fact that the story begins in the middle of their relationship, their love is strong. I would say that I wanted to see more passion in this story, but the truth is that I was okay with that aspect being left out. I was under the impression at first that Khitain was some kind of shifter, but when he stayed in his panther-like form throughout story, I realized that wasn’t the case. Overall, the book was completely sweet, and I was happy with the romantic ending. I would recommend this to anyone who likes romantic m/m sci-fi.
RATING: 
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