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Series Review: The Suitable 'Verse by R. Cooper

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. Full Audio Here Powerful noble families known as the beat-of-fours, answerable only to a ruler and the mysterious, godlike fae, scheme and squabble amongst themselves, and go to war for the chance to put one of their own on the throne. But the fae might be pulling more strings than the nobles realize and they definitely have their favorites. A series of love stories loosely centered around the political crisis that led to the current ruler, featuring oblivious librarians, crafty though loving kings, an innocent half-fae noble, a legendary outlaw turned conqueror, worried warriors, clever guards, and an infamous beauty. PUBLISHER: Independently Published LENGTH: ~1000 pages so far AGE: Adult GENRE: Fantasy, Romance RECOMMENDED: Highly Queer Rep Summary: m/m and m/m/...

Animorphs Book 8: The Alien by K. A. Applegate

The Alien deals with isolation, uncertainty, and learning when/whether to trust. Ax must decide whether he's one of the Animorphs or just conveniently aligned. Ax tells the humans how Seerow's Kindness doomed their planet.

This book stands out for being the first real look at how differently Ax approaches everything as an Andalite. Its treatment of isolation while surrounded by friends and allies manages to be insightful without just treating Ax badly for not embracing the Animorphs as completely as they welcomed him. It's a delicate balance because too far in one direction would make it harder to trust them as a unit later in the series, but making him trust them too easily would make the conflict in this particular book seem pointless. It helps that there is a specific reason that Ax is hesitant to trust that goes deeper than just being uncomfortable, and I think it's handled well here.

A centaur-like alien with blue fur and stalk-eyes (Aximili the Andalite) turns into a human

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