Mated by V. K. Ludwig

5 Stars

The writing and editing of this novel was quite good, with only a few typos that I caught near the beginning of the novel in the ARC version of this manuscript. The world building here was excellent, with the author shining a big spotlight on the weaknesses of a society where the only legal unions are Fated Mate unions. The characterization was excellent, with both hero and heroine being people that were complex, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes hateful people. This hero was a real piece of work, and the author describes him masterfully, so that you hate his guts in the beginning of this novel but fully fall in love with him by the end. The heroine's trauma and reaction to her status in this society and her losses is sensitively and masterfully depicted. The development of these two characters' romantic relationship is heart wrenching, by turns sweet and rage inducing, with a terrifying low moment and gloriously well earned HEA. The plot and pacing is exciting, and the scenes of the beginning stages of women being integrated into the warrior stratum made me pump my fist in the air! It was thrilling. This novel has A LOT of angst, but it is exquisitely enjoyable because the high angst is caused by terribly serious or traumatizing plot developments and a high stakes plot. This novel used the Heroine Faking her Orgasms trope, the Enemies to Lovers trope, and the Breeder trope often used in sci-fi romances. The world building, plot, and pacing was all five stars. The characterization and development of the romantic relationship was also five stars. The combined score of this novel was therefore five stars. This novel has a well earned Happy Ever After ending which I fully bought into, which just shows how excellent this author is. I recommend this sci-fi romance to readers who enjoy romance novels, angsty or not, because I feel like this sci-fi romance will have strong cross-genre appeal. I definitely plan to buy myself a keeper copy of this novel. It was an incredible experience. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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