Review: Primals by Lexy Timms

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Primals by Lexy Timms
Purchase link: Amazon

Primals is the introduction to Lexy Timms' reverse harem series involving a supposedly human woman, her best friend and three other Primal males who fall for her. It's fast-paced and action-packed.

This story was a compelling read in that I kept reading and wanting to know what was going on even with its many flaws and the fact that it frustrated the ever-loving heck out of me.

Let's start with Clarissa. She's a terrible heroine. She's naive and innocent but not in a good way. And she trusts surprisingly easily even though she's wary of the men she encounters each step of the way. She also has a tendency to run away when things get tough or confusing for her - a trait I hate in heroines. Geez, just stay and fight, and deal with the situation. Running away solves nothing. She's actually kinda stupid. And she's so weak that when she finds out the truth about herself, she becomes practically catatonic and all the men tiptoe around her because she's a delicate, fragile flower. I get that it's a big shock but c'mon, grow a backbone! She has one moment where she fights because she's overwhelmed by fear but she also fizzles out pretty quickly and needs to be rescued. In fact, she needs to be rescued a lot. Since this is a reverse harem story, she has four love interests. All the men are into her, only she's completely oblivious about their feelings for her or tries to ignore them even though with one of them, she can read his mind and clearly hear his thoughts about how he feels, and one of them straight out confesses how he feels to her. She's an idiot. She's also selfish and self-absorbed and the men (supposedly strong men) enable her. I'm not sure if she's the worst heroine I've ever read, but she ranks right up there.

As for the men, there's very little character development, and very little relationship development. They are all so focused on doing whatever Clarissa wants and keeping her happy that they come across as pansies even though they are supposed to be strong, alpha Primals (Ms Timms' spin on shifters). There's Sebastian, an alpha wolf. A bit snarky, a bit annoying but protective and strong. There's Theo, a bear. Kind, caring and protective. Also strong but with a gentle core. Then there's Toshi, a sneaky, cheeky predatory cat of some sort. And Kyle. The best friend. Who's been friend-zoned for so long, it's a wonder he's still sticking around.

For a reverse harem story, there's very little sexual or emotional tension mostly because Clarissa was so oblivious. If it was meant to be slow burn, I expect a lot more sexual tension and relationship development but there was none. And don't even get me started about what three of the men do at the end which pissed me off no end. I guess I have certain expectations from a reverse harem romance from other books I've read of the genre and this certainly did not meet them. And let us not forget that when they did finally have sex, they had UNPROTECTED sex!!! No condom in sight, no sex talk, nada. I get that this is a paranormal story, but still at least having the sex talk is the responsible thing to do especially between humans..

To be honest, I'm not even sure if I'd like to read the rest of the series. Part of me is curious about whether Clarissa ends up with all the men in a true reverse harem relationship but another part of me is not sure if I want to endure being frustrated with her all over again.

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