Brace yourself my darlings, I’m getting my Omegaverse on this week. Today, we have Tabitha Black’s first foray into the Omegaverse with Primal Possession. Tabitha has shown up here before, and I really enjoy her books. I’m hoping that she continues her O-verse series, because I really liked it, and am really looking forward to seeing what comes next.
If I were to rank the MF Omegaverse books I read by darkness, and please, please, please don’t ask me to, I would probably put this one on the lighter side of dark. It would probably be by the Sara Fields books. There is darkness in it, bad things happen, but it isn’t as dark as other stories. Of course, it’s not light either. See, this is why I don’t want to really rank the books by darkness. And keep in mind, darkness is in the eye of the beholder. What I consider dark-ish may send other people screaming. Anyway, enough of that.
This is the story of Arius and Saskia, and the city of Sandor. The city itself really has to be considered a character, I think, because it shapes a lot of what happens in the book, and I expect that it will continue to do so through the rest of the series.
In Sandor, Alphas rule, Omegas are barely considered people, and Betas are stomped under the feet of the Alphas. The king, Deimos, is fucking insane, and keeps putting up new and crazier rules and laws.
Some of the existing rules say that after Omegas test as Omegas at 12, they aren’t allowed to go to school anymore, and when they are 18, they have to go to the Facility. All Omegas are to be housed there, and once a month, the Alphas can go visit to see if they can find their mate. Of course, as would happen anywhere, there are Omegas who have managed to hide and not go to the Facility. Saskia is one of those Omegas. She does everything she can to stay hidden, but sometimes she has to go out and just get some air. That’s what she does on this particular day, but then the Trappers get her, and drag her to the Facility. And it just so happens to be Market Day, which all the Alphas will be visiting to find their mates.
Arius and his dearest friend, Evander, are talking about needing to find a mate. Arius’ uncle hasn’t found a mate, and it’s important that Arius does so that he can keep the bloodline going. Oh, did I forget to mention that Arius is the king’s nephew and heir? Yup. So, Evander drags Arius down to the Facility, and he discovers his perfect mate, Saskia. Poor Evander, for all his pains, he gets left behind once Arius tosses his mate over his shoulder and leaves.
One of the things I like about this book is that I got a real historic feel from it even though it takes place in modern or future times. Tabitha doesn’t pin down a time period, but there are cars and cell phones, so that helps there. One of the reasons that it feels like it happens in history is the names. Arius comes out of ancient Greek, Deimos out of ancietn Rome, and Saskia comes from Old German, but you can still find it used now. (Hi, Saskia) Deimos happens to be one of the horses that pulls the chariot of the Roman God of War, Mars. His name means Panic. Arius, as far as I can tell, and yes, I do go looking at interesting names, relates to Ares, the Greek God of War. Interesting connection, no? And Saskia, which is such a lovely name, can mean different things, depending on where you are looking. If you look at the Slavic languages, it means protector of mankind. Out of Old German, it probably means a Saxon woman. Which is all a long digression to say that the names of the main characters, and even Arius’ servants are all very classical names, which helps to muddy the time period.
Of course, that’s not all I like about this one. I love the connection between Saskia and Arius. It is something deeply special between them.
In a lot of MF Omegaverse, the Alpha starts out as a massive jerk and then as he and his Omega start to bond, you see some changes, but Arius was never really an Alphahole. There are a couple of times when he is a jerk, but I don’t think that he really means to be a jerk, it just happens, and he feels so bad about it later. Saskia is a very strong character, and she has a really sweet core, which does nothing to negate the strength. In fact, I think that they temper each other and make her stronger altogether.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens now. I’m hoping we get Evander’s book soon. I like him.
Did I mention that Deimos was insane? Well, he’s really fucking insane. Having people yanked out of their bed in the middle of their night because of his delusion? Yeah.
I totally get the reason why Arius didn’t do anything before, but then… Yeah.
OK, that’s all on this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!
If you like Omegaverse, make sure that you come back and read the next couple of days, because there is going to be so much more coming up.
In Between the Pages 