Primal Mirror by Nalini Singh

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into a family dark with shadowy secrets, as the world of the Psy teeters on the edge of a final catastrophic collapse...

Daughter of two ruthless high-Gradient telepaths, Auden Scott is not the child her Psy parents wanted or expected, even before her brain injury. Her thoughts are scattered, her memories fuzzy—or just terrifyingly blank. The only thing she knows for certain is that she must protect her unborn baby... a baby she has no recollection of conceiving and who draws an unnerving depth of interest from her dead mother’s closest associates.

Leopard alpha Remi Denier is a man driven by the primal instinct to protect. Protect his pack, protect his allies... and protect the mysterious woman who has become a most unlikely neighbor. With eerie eyes that see too much and a scent that alters in ways disturbing and impossible, Auden Scott is the enemy... but nothing about this strange Psy is what it seems, and Remi’s feline heart is as fascinated by her as his human half.

Then Auden asks Remi to help her shatter the wall of secrets that is the Scott bloodline. What they unearth will reveal a nightmare beyond imagination. This time, the battle is to the death...

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series!
For book one, Silver Silence, click HERE.
For book two, Ocean Light, click HERE.
For book three, Wolf Rain, click HERE.
For book four, Alpha Night, click HERE.
For book five, Last Guard, click HERE.
For book six, Storm Echo, click HERE.

 

 

Book 8
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Apple Books  ~  B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  Kobo
Hardcover (US)  ~  Berkley Romance

Audiobook (US)
Narrated by Angela Dawe

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
I have been waiting for this book since book seven.

Auden Scott. The daughter of Shoshanna Scott and Henry Scott. A broken Psy even before the PsyNet began to fail. Auden, who had carved out a somewhat simple life, is now on edge as her brain injury seems to be getting worse.

Remi Denier, the Alpha of RainFire, is a dominant – alpha – feline who finally accepted the mantle of leadership and formed his own pack. Buying land in the middle of nowhere Colorado, his plans for his pack are to lead a simple life – staying away from trouble.

But what happens when trouble finds him? News of Auden Scott inheriting the property adjacent to him makes a cat curious. Auden is not what he expects, even for a Psy. She's distant, almost as if she isn't processing what she's actually seeing. As if someone else is staring out of her eyes.

Auden doesn't know what is going on with her. She doesn't remember a lot of things that have been happening to her since the death of her mother, including getting pregnant. But she knows that her child is the answer to the question she doesn't remember.

The continuing world-building in this series is nice, but it also limits the story between Remi and Auden. I would have like to have seen more development between the main and supporting characters. The cameos of characters from other books gives added depth to Primal Mirror.

I really enjoyed this book, staying up late to read it all in one night. Then going back for a re-read the same week.


Erica – ☆☆☆
Primal Mirror is the eighth installment in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series as well as the 23rd installment in the Psy-Changeling Series. Primal Mirror cannot be read as a standalone. However, it can be read out of series order if familiar with the overall world-building, where you've read the majority of the series.

I need to preface this review by stating how I feel as if the overarching world-building and backstory is overly complex and completely buries the story attempting to be told. Added in with the female main character suffering from a brain injury, the beginning of the novel was nearly impossible to enjoy, filled with nothing but confusion, the need to make a spreadsheet to order events, and not much of entertainment value. It was purposefully confusing, not truly focused on either of the main characters, overshadowing any romance or connection the main characters may or may not have felt to one another.

I adored this series, as well as all of the other series Nalini Singh has written. I know this series like the back of my hand, not confused by events that have taken place. But there is an overall chaotic, end of days feeling to the novels as of late, which erases any feel-good emotions and entertainment value I may experience. Reading this series has become stressful, so it's difficult to root for the main couple in each novel, as their romance and connection is completely smothered by the never-ending plot arc that binds these novels into a series.

This series has become a slog, no longer pleasurable to read and enjoy as a couple finds their way to one another. I love angst, drama, and suspense, not one for in-my-face romance, but the overly complex world-building and backstory are drowning the main plot in the past few installments.

Auden Scott inherits the land next to Leopard Alpha Remi Denier's pack lands. She is suffering from a debilitating brain issue which stems from her family utilizing medical procedures outside of her consent, added in with the fact that she is also pregnant, which was a medical procedure outside of her consent, without her knowledge, which adds into the inability to remember events.

Auden Scott is a difficult character to connect with, not only because of the abuses she has suffered at the hands of her family, but the fact that she doesn't even remember these abuses, remember much of anything really. The ultimate of an unreliable narrator. How can the reader know Auden when she doesn't know anything about herself either? I could empathize and sympathize, but I was left feeling as confused as she was.

Remi Denier is easier to understand, especially since he is a reliable narrator. His narration easier to digest, but it is still overshadowed by all the hundreds of plots coming together to where the reader doesn't get to know him well enough to connect with him.

I wanted to love Auden and Remi, but I never got to know them. I wanted to ship them as a couple, but they barely shared any time together on the pages to develop a connection with one another and to the reader. A slow-burn vibe with no passion, no connection, or sexual attraction. Auden is suffering across the board, pregnant, and dealing with issues with her family and the PsyNet, she had no room for romance, so what little romance there was seemed oddly misplaced and paced.

This novel did not work for me. Auden and Remi used as a vehicle to continue to slog through the tangled, overly complex, anxiety-ridden, chaotic backstory and world-building, which I personally do not find very entertaining.

 

 

New York Times bestselling author NALINI SINGH is passionate about writing. Though she’s traveled as far afield as the deserts of China, the Highlands of Scotland, and the frozen landscapes of Antarctica, it is the journey of the imagination that fascinates her most. She’s beyond delighted to be able to follow her dream as a writer. Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand. You can contact her directly through her website. While visiting the site, Nalini invites you to join her newsletter for up-to-date news about both the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series, as well as fun exclusive extras, including free short stories set in her worlds.

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ARC provided by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided with a free copy of Primal Mirror (Psy-Changeling Trinity #8) by Nalini Singh to read and review.