The Degan Incident by Rob Colton Book Review

 I picked up this book recently on my Kindle for no particular reason, it was also 3 am... So I guess there is that. 

Now I went into this questioning my life choices, and not being able to fall asleep so here is the review of a tired person who read this on a whim at 3:30 am on a week night. 

This book was, well written I have to say after seeing the cover I was pretty sure it would be riddled with spelling mistakes, but it wasn't so good news from the get go. But then, the sentence structures killed it. So weirdly unipersonal, the MC did not have an original voice, all I know about him is that he is an orphan and had a bad ex, and has a sort of brother ? This felt more like descriptions for the idea of a novel rather than an actual novel.

Nothing was explained in this book, it was insta-love supposed soulmates we learn later, full of weird time skips and no chemistry could be felt between the main characters. They don't get to know each other ever, the characters are one dimensional and apart from cutting the tails of the males of the Degan species (with no explanation as why) there is no info on the species as a whole. I have never seen main characters so unconnected from one another. 

The author makes those weird leaps in info dumping where the MC is supposed to be at work and is suddenly talking about info in his head, and then about the Spaceport, whatever that is since we know next to nothing about anything. It is supposed to be a Sci-fi romance and rather felt like the author was throwing sci-fi-ish words to say " this is sci-fi, they are in the future, this is new tech" which I still don't know what it looks like apart from colorful colors ? 

The whole book had me pausing to wonder, and I have ADHD, about the connections and the change of subjects each paragraph and sometimes each sentences. The time skips where ill placed and the one info I was curious about, the war that happened for earth to join the coalition, was not really addressed ???

Now the supposed romance, They meet because our MC is working and Bastian (the Degan alien) is looking for a place to stay in the station, our MC lusts after him and shows him hotels (directions) and where the best food is in talking not actually showing. Then their second meeting Bastian is eating and there are no more places to sit at in the cafeteria so he offers to have him sit with him and then walks him back to his quarters, Bastian then gets invited inside and they have non-penetrative sex... Like Bastian SHOVES our MC's head into his armpits and proceeds to rub on him. Then after completion they shower and sleep on the dirty sheets ??? Because Bastian wants it ??? Also in that first meeting he calls our MC "Little one" ????? 

A lot of weird time skips ensue then before having penetrative sex Bastian explains that his cum modifies the DNA of people and makes them grow Degan properties ?? and our MC is like I don't care give it to me ???? Like boy are you mentally stable ???

He gets pregnant "Thank you weird DNA change" his soulmate disappears, gets kidnapped and tested on by human Navy, then tortured by the Degan commander/general, saved by Bastian Father (called sire in their language which also no info on that) and then glosses it over because "Bastian must have left me because I am not good enough" muhh huuu huuu.... Boy got tortured and still thinking about that oh well. The torture is never talked about, nor is Bastian's possessive ex when they get to his home country (after saving Bastian in a super short space war) "No he loves me everything else is BS". That boy got no trauma apparently even after months of testing and drugging, injections etc. 

All in all a read I sort of wish I could forget. 

I ended up giving it 1.5/5 stars because, it had good concepts like the species never addressed and the history never touched on, and the planet's lunar system on Degan home planet, also only addressed once. But dreadfully bad execution, someone needed to edit it and check the syntax of this and fluidity of the story. 

Bookarina. 

P.S: You can see the notes of my reading on goodreads with the excerpts.