Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Falling Into the Black
SERIES: A Planet Called Wish #3
AUTHOR: Caitlin Ricci
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 145 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2017
BLURB:
A Planet Called Wish: Book Three
Sometimes there’s a difference between duty and doing what’s right. And sometimes doing what’s right comes with a high price.
Every aspasian at Asiq adores the handsome peacekeeper Resan—all except for Arin. While the other workers vie for Resan’s attention, Arin avoids him at all costs, which rouses Resan’s suspicion. When he discovers Arin is a runaway slave, Resan is bound by law to return him to his master. It is only later that Resan realizes what he’s done. Arin’s owner bought him at twelve, married him, and not only violated Arin himself, but loaned him out to his friends. Resan has returned him to a life of rape and abuse, and now he must make a decision: free Arin and abandon the oaths he swore as a peacekeeper, or leave him to languish and abandon his own conscience and heart.
REVIEW:
As you can tell from the blurb, this book adressed a very difficult topic and as such is very hard for me to review. Not only because there were times I struggled to read what was happening to Arin, but also because I struggled with my reactions to Arin’s coping mechanisms and Resan’s behaviors. I know I will not find the words to explain exactly how this book made me feel so please forgive me if this review is a bit muddled or confusing.
With that being said, I really enjoyed this book. It took me outside of my comfort zone on multiple occasions and made me stop and really think about why I was reacting as I was to things happening on the page. It also forced me to stop and think about things from a different point of view and made me really learn patience because I had to wait for the characters to screw up and learn things in their own time. This book really challenged me in a lot of ways, and I was NOT expecting that at all. I LOVED it.
Arin and Resan were both very complex characters who had a lot of depth when you took the time to slow down and really pay attention to the context behind the words and actions. Once I figured out that there was a HUGE difference between what these men were doing and saying and what they really felt inside, this book opened up to me in a lot of ways. I was very put off at first by Resan and Arin both. I didn’t understand them or their actions and to be honest, I didn’t really like them as men or as a couple. For the longest time, I could not figure out how this story was going to play out. Then I started to pick up on the little things and see that Arin had massive coping mechanisms that lead him to act in ways he would not have otherwise. When coupled with his abusive past, it made so much sense that he would need to appear strong. But it hurt so badly watching him suffer and refuse to acknowledge he was suffering. Once he started to break down and admit to needing help, I fell in love with him and NEEDED him to find someone who would put him and his healing first.
I almost gave up hope that Resan would be that man, but in the end, he also acknowledged he needed to grow and heal and he could do that by providing for Arin. Resan became a great man and I grew to like the idea of him and Arin as a couple. I did struggle a bit with the romance because it felt a bit rushed, but it actually worked out very well because the author surprised the hell out of me with the outcome of this journey.
This story ended up not even being a complete story, but instead turned out to simple be a beginning and that was PERFECT for Arin. The author did not try to fix him or heal him or force perfectino out of him. Instead she simply got him to a point where he can start to live again. I did feel the ending was a bit abrupt but it leaves so much room for growth later that I can overlook the sudden ending. This is not the end of Arin and Resan and I really hope to see them again in the future to see how they are healing and growing together. I would love to see how they are learning to live with Arin’s past,because that is another thing the author did well. She acknowledged that Arin isn’t the only one affected by his abuse, but Resan is too because being a partner to a survivor is not easy and the partner needs to learn to deal as well.
Overall, I felt this story was very well done and it was so much more that I anticipated. I loved it and I hope you will too, though be warned it will trigger some folks.
RATING:
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