Audiobook Review: Strange Love by Ann Aguirre
Strange Love
Series: Galactic Love #1
Author: Ann Aguirre
Narrator: Sarah Puckett
Published: January 20, 2020
Audiobook: 8 hours 40 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: January 11-18, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Audiobook Description:
He’s awkward. He’s adorable. He’s alien as hell:
Zylar of Kith Balak is a four-time loser in the annual Choosing. If he fails to find a nest guardian this time, he’ll lose his chance to have a mate for all time. Desperation drives him to try a matching service but due to a freak solar flare and a severely malfunctioning ship AI, things go way off course. This ‘human being’ is not the Tiralan match he was looking for.
She’s frazzled. She’s fierce. She’s from St. Louis:
Beryl Bowman’s mother always said she’d never get married. She should have added a rider about the husband being human. Who would have ever thought that working at the Sunshine Angel daycare center would offer such interstellar prestige? She doesn’t know what the hell’s going on, but a new life awaits on Barath Colony, where she can have any alien bachelor she wants.
They agree to join the Choosing together, but love is about to get seriously strange.
Jessica’s Review:
Please note that this book is out of my typical genre: I listened to it because it was free on Audible and it was also my friend Beccie’s top read of 2023.
And it was good. Our ‘couple’ is Beryl who is human and Zylar who is an insect-like alien. Beryl is accidentally taken from Earth along with her dog Snaps. They both find themselves in a competition for a mate, and this is Zylar’[s last time he can compete. It’s like a Hunger Games type competition, where yes, contestants can and do die. Both of our main characters are likeable, damaged, and actually sweet together. They both support each other and keep their communication open. They could be just about a perfect match despite being different species.
They learn to see past each other’s ‘strange’ looks. Zylar is very alien, and like an insect. Since they are from different planets, how do they communicate? No, Zylar doesn’t speak English: There is a mechanical translator that helps with that. And through this we get to see Snaps talk! He was such a riot and it never actually got old throughout the book. He is just like how you would think a dog would be! This translator is far from perfect and doesn’t get the meaning of every word correct (ie: the vernacular that Beryl uses.)
And yes there is alien sex and I could have done without the details! Give me fade to black anytime! But you can also see through these scenes how both Beryl and Zylar learn about each other and teach each other techniques.
The narrator is Sarah Puckett and she did a fabulous job with her narration! She brought all of these characters to life.
Overall, I enjoyed this one, but won’t continue with the series. I gave it four stars, which is good! If you are a romance reader like my friend Beccie is, you might love it as she did. Another one of my friends, Suleika read it and loved it as well. But she also read romance! Give Strange Love a try and see what you think!