The Faerie Mates

Dark World: The Faerie Games 3

By: Michelle Madow

Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso

In the Faerie Games, it’s kill or be killed. And I’m going to survive, no matter what the cost.

Who will win the next Emperor of the Villa competition? Will I tell Julian that we’re soulmates? And most importantly - will Julian, Cassia, and I defeat Octavia and make it out of the Games alive?

I’ll do whatever’s necessary to survive. Because I’m Selena Pearce - raised by the leaders of Avalon, born of a powerful witch and a faerie prince, and gifted with magic from Jupiter.

And I’m not going to let fear control me any longer.

Get ready for a rollercoaster of adventure and romance in The Faerie Mates, the third book in this addicting, twist-filled fantasy series by USA Today best-selling author Michelle Madow!

©2019 Michelle Madow (P)2020 Michelle Madow

love

I'm a hopeless romantic and in all in. The performance carried me away into the games.

Copyright hunger games

100% hunger games story line to a T. Have to finish but so disappointed. Hunger games with magic

Graphic Sex

Selena is 16 but she had sex with Julien. Their lovemaking was televised? The mother of Octavia tried to sell her for money because they were abandoned by her husband. Octavia also is a sadist.

A HUGE departure w/graphic gore, 16+ sex scenes!

I will try not to include any specific spoilers but that is impossible to totally avoid and still offer the warning that I feel should be shared. So stop reading now if any level of spoilers bothers/disappoints you.

I was really enjoying listening to the entire Dark World series with my 12 yr old daughter, starting with the Vampires and then Angels series. While the previous had very subtle hints about "mating" it wasn't descriptive, nor was the act a significant focus in any of the books. That is until this book. 😡

Given the expectation of those scenes to be glossed over as in previous books, I was incredibly shocked by what was included here. While not adult level erotica, it was explicit enough to quickly turn it off until I could pre-listen and see how far it went and whether or not my daughter could continue listening with me. This is completely overlooking the fact that one character just turned 16, and the other is presumed to be significantly older (and of course, more experienced as these storylines always seem to go 🙄), though I cannot recall the age of the other being mentioned.

Examples of graphic descriptions include (paraphrasing because I don't remember the exact wording) "I was dying to have him and felt myself come apart as his hands slid under my skirt, groaning at the wetness he found before sliding his fingers inside me". 😡

And if this was not disturbing enough, these scenes were recorded and televised EVERY SINGLE TIME as the golden orbs circled around them, watching every second. After the first few encounters, the characters acknowledge that they no longer care that their most intimate moments are being watched by the entire Otherworld, and give into the moment completely. This feels like low-key level voyeur programming. 😡

So again, while not super graphic by comparison to others, it was a huge departure from what I had come to expect, and enjoy, about the rest of the books in this world. There was enough warning that I was able to mark the timestamps for each following scene so that I could just skip it entirely when re-listening with my daughter, but that lessened the overall enjoyment of the rest of the book.

There are also frequent references of another character basically prostituting themself for favors in the games, repeatedly detailing that they allow others to "have their way" with the character's body, allowing anything and everything the other may want. There is further borderline abusive tendencies from this character towards another they profess to love, as they force the other to accept their intimacies with others for the sake of winning the games. This slowly erodes and destroys the character forced to accept the behavior from the one claiming to love them. It is never made 100% clear whether the professions of love were entirely genuine or not, which was also frustrating.

If that was the only greivance then I could have overlooked and accepted it as par for the course in today's society, but...it wasn't. There was also malicious, gratuitous gore and outright sadistic, torturous behavior from one of the main players that added nothing to the story except an overall sense of discomfort and disgust. It's been a while since I read the Hunger Games but to my recollection even the worst moments there didn't really come close to a troubling scene in this book.

As an adult, the book was enjoyable, if somewhat cringy during the torture scene, but from this book on, the series is no longer appropriate for younger teen listeners without a lot of time, effort and parental filtering. I don't know if this deviation will continue in the next books, but will review those accordingly as I finish (alone first without my daughter 😖) each, and am disappointed to have this enjoyable time shared together come to an abrupt and incomplete end. 💔