Review: Dark Feather by Alta Hensley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Standalone - dystopian/captive
Release: September 24, 2016
Length: 226 pages

I had two choices in life—to be a breeder, or to be a soldier. To create life, or to destroy it.

I had chosen poorly.

The Earth’s thermostat is all but frozen, leaving two opposing factions, the Pennas and the Cyans, to spread throughout the forbidding tundra of a planet forever cast in a dark and deadly ice age, seeking only power and control now that the world has become a frozen ball of ice.

I was one of the Penna…until I could take no more. Science had almost destroyed our world, and I foolishly helped them continue in this quest. So I left and walked alone on the icy land until the Cyan found me.

Until HE found me.

Commander Rigby Moss was the leader of the Cyan army, and I was now his captive. Forced to learn the art of submission, as well as the art of war, I became his soldier. From the moment I was captured, I became a mighty warrior amongst a cast of men.

But I had a curse that haunted me daily. I was nothing but a mutant who possessed the answer for warmth, waterproofing, and ultimately, survival—feathers. They marked my skin, forever branding me as a Penna no matter how hard I tried not to be. I hated them. They shamed me. And although the feathers kept me alive, I was dead on the inside.

But I was HIS. And he would do whatever it took to battle my demons as we battled the enemy.

Could a dark and broken woman come to terms with friendship, trust, forgiveness and love? Could a woman taught to remain strong at all times, learn to submit? Could I let go of the darkness, the hate, the death, and all I knew? Was it possible to truly be his DARK FEATHER?

Find it here on Goodreads

My Review

I haven't read many sci-fi/paranormal romance books, so I'm no expert, but I rather enjoyed this read. To better understand the reasoning behind my rating, I thought I'd list everything I liked (or not) in point form.

Dislikes (let's get these out of the way first)
* the lack of Rigby's POV. Although I liked Tudor's character well enough, I felt that Rigby's perspective would further enlighten me on the dynamics of their relationship. As it stood, the story was too one-dimensional
* the lack of expansion. Time passes (no idea how much time) behind the scenes and some really interesting events occur but we, the reader, are left in the dark as to the details
* the contradictions. For example, it is explained that the Penna do not value emotion of any kind, feel no emotion of any kind, they are downright emotionless, but Tudor went on to say how much she 'hated' the life of the Penna. She even exacted revenge against the one who killed her mother (before meeting Rigby and learning emotion and falling in love). Dare I say, that was emotional?

Likes
* the battle scenes. Though short and not as gruesome as I thought they would be, the author did an incredible job with putting me right in the middle of each battle. These scenes were awesome!
* the relationship and love development between Rigby and Tudor. The author made their growth a thing of wonder.
* how surprised I was by how HOT some of the sex scenes were. Totally unexpected!
* honestly, the entire premise of the story was brilliant. It just need to be fleshed out more

Would I read from this author again? Heck ya!!