Primal Mirror & Atonement Sky, a double review from Joanna

I had taken a break for a couple of years, but found these two on special in an Audible sale so took the advantage to catch up with the endlessly fascinating world she has created.

After introducing the Eve expanding groups of Changeling species, Singh appears to be sticking with the female Psy – male alpha pairings these days, and the tropes are the same in every book. The threat to the PsyNet has been going on for the whole of the Trinity series, and the plots are essentially the same each time, but somehow it doesn’t stop me wanting to keep reading – I got through both within a matter of weeks. I don’t recommend starting here if you don’t already know these books – while you do get some recap, there’s a lot that would be confusing if you don’t already know how this world works.

Primal Mirror takes us back to the leopards, but in a new pack, Rainfire. I think Remi Denier must’ve appeared in the early books but didn’t make much of an impression. This has him falling instantly for beautiful but damaged (and very pregnant) Psy heiress Auden Scott, daughter of the evil Shoshanna who was unmasked as the nefarious Architect from previous instalments. As ever, Auden is a psychometric Psy with a traumatic past and seemingly terminal brain condition, who has never known love. Her talent is gaining knowledge from touching objects, which is more of a curse than a gift. And Remi is a hunky but damaged predatory Changeling with a traumatic past and an instant recognition of his fated mate. So the outcome is never in doubt. I guessed what was going on pretty early so the twist wasn’t as shocking as it should’ve been, and the usual Deus Ex Machina fix was not a surprise either. I enjoyed the cameos from previous characters, rolled my eyes at the flowery repetition of the writing, and devoured it regardless. 🐆🐆🐆🐆

Atonement Sky features Adam from the WindHaven pack, who have been mentioned in previous book as allies in previous conflicts, but it’s the first time we’ve seen their home in the Arizona desert. The beautiful damaged Psy in this one is Eleri, a Justice Psy linked to Sophia from Bonds of Justice, all the way back in book eight of the original series. While Singh has been publishing these books for twenty years, only about four years have passed in the series timeline. It makes it hard to remember who’s who sometimes, but I remember liking that one because for once it had a human in the relationship.

This one also features a Psy with a terminal brain condition to add the usual ticking time bomb for the plot. Eleri is on the hunt for a Psy serial killer, and this takes her into the territory of the man she unwillingly betrayed ten years earlier, but who never forgot her. I liked that this one had more of a mystery to it, and the new side characters she introduced made it more interesting too, especially the secondary romance. 🦅🦅🦅🦅

These books are my guilty pleasure, and I will keep reading them, although would love it if Singh could change her formula just a bit as it makes them annoyingly predictable. The audiobook narration was good, and she’s toned down the love scenes which was a relief for me. I always like it when we return to past characters like Sasha Duncan from the very first book, but then wish she would continue the stories of some of the other packs and feature pairings outside of the usual.