Rox’s Renegades by Rowan Thalia – A Book Review

Posted March 11, 2020 by Booksandblurbs in Dystopian, PNR, Reverse Harem, Reviews / 0 Comments

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Rox’s Renegades

(Soldiers of Blood & Ruin – Book 1)

by Rowan Thalia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dystopian, Fast Burn RH, PNR
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down & Dirty

The Dystopian genre gets a PNR twist with this fast burn Reverse Harem, throwing a team of mismatched soldiers and their vampire partner into a world determined to kill them. Fast paced and dangerous, this is available on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

BioWar, World War III

Sixty years ago, the first shot was fired.

In the last ten years, our country has fallen. Chemical agents dropped mercilessly on friend and foe alike have created two new species of humanoid, and the world population has been reduced to small colonies of humans fighting against them to survive.

Out on a routine patrol, my team and I run into the worst kind of trouble. Branded and left for dead by our superiors, we form bonds that cannot be broken and find asylum with the enemy.

Seeking knowledge, my sexy team of four and I race across the wasteland fighting zombies, mutants, and our own transformation for the one thing that can give us answers: a sample of untainted DNA. Aligned with vampires and on the run, we thought things couldn’t get worse until a hidden threat finds me.

When conspiracy is the norm, who can I trust?

The war is not over and the fight between the species has just begun.

Thoughts on Rox’s Renegades

A day after I officially finished this novel and I am still mulling my thoughts. I liked it… and I didn’t. There were parts that tickled the senses and kept me flipping the pages, while other parts made me roll my eyes or skim scenes.

There was a decent amount of character development, or rather, character introduction – for I am not sure if any of them, (aside from Kir) actually grow in this novel… the POV’s are more for clarity and reader awareness of WHO these people are, and why they do what they do.

The situation they find themselves in is harsh, reminiscent of most Zombie games or movies I have seen over the last two decades. Add in the addition of Vampires (whose backstory still doesn’t make sense to me, considering the flush and lush culture they’ve got going on) and you’ve got the setting for a story that probably should have been a lot more interesting than it was.

Maybe it is just me, but I couldn’t fully connect – and there are enough details here and breadcrumbs that I really wanted to. I don’t know about Rox, and aside from Kir and Ace, I am not really convinced I like the guys (but that’s half of them, right?). Ah well.

Pros:

The Base concept is brilliant.
The Team thinks on their feet.
Idea of a Bio War is terrifying and brutal… because that could really happen.
Family kinda sucks.
Mind Reading.

Cons:

The writing was tilted in places.
The flow of the narrative felt jarring far too often.

Perspective

First Person, Multiple POV

Ending Type

Cliffhanger

Rating

Mature

Romantic Dynamic

MMMMF

Character Age Range

25+

My Final Verdict on Rox’s Renegades

While this narrative did not fully capture me, it is suitable for Dystopian fans along with those immersed in the Reverse Harem Genre. Fast burn and fast paced, it ebbs and flows across a ruined world, filled with far more dangers than the characters first realize. Available on Kindle Unlimited.

Published May 20th, 2019
234 Pages