Irene Kiew's Reviews > Stranded

It's a very similar premise to Ice Planet Barbarians -- human women crash landing on a planet that has a bunch of male aliens, only they are green instead of blue. An illness wiped out all the women and children some years ago. The main difference here is that there are different tribes of aliens (although same race) and the different tribes are said to not all have the same customs or moral code. Also, if a couple are fated mates, they'll meet in a "dreamscape" while asleep and can communicate in that dreamscape, even though while awake they can't understand each other's language at all.

I loved the idea of the dreamscape. This also means that Gregar knew right from the beginning that Liv is his mate, and he was intensely protective of her. He's an honorable male, totally my favourite type of hero. His gratefulness to be granted a mate was very heartwarming, as was his determination to be the best mate he could be for Liv and to take care of her and win her over.

I appreciated that Liv wasn't a helpless female, but she also wasn't equipped with survival skills so she did the best she could with what she had. She wasn't TSTL and also not coy about being attracted to Gregar or being with Gregar. But I especially was thankful that neither Liv nor Gregar are ruled by their "physical urges" or attraction, as is the case in so many books nowadays. Many times, Gregar's body reacted to the close proximity with Liz but he would say to himself, "Now is not the time," and refuse to act on it. Likewise, Liv is not blinded by the D and doesn't just fall onto the D every opportunity she gets.

I had a sneaking suspicion about Liv's sister and was a bit sorry to be proven right, because it was a bit too convenient and predictable for the plot. Trying not to give any spoilers here. I also thought that for all Gregar's vigilance and talk about the other tribes who might attack, the fact that no ambush or confrontation ever occurred was a bit of an anti-climax.

Overall, it was an entertaining read and well-plotted, so it's deserving of four stars.