Fetal Position by Carolyn Huynh ARC Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The version I am reading is an ARC - any changes made for the final publication are not reflected in this review. Fetal Position will be available to purchase on December 8, 2026. 

I would first like to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review. The premise of this book, in addition to the alluring cover, really made me stop in my tracks - a declining birthrate, male loneliness epidemic at its height, and seventh wave feminism catapulting women into a world fueled by robot servants and climbing the corporate ladder. But what if the modern, independent, corporate woman grew tired of her success? What if the burn out lured her into a mindset of looking for a way out? Lena Do, a product created by artificial sperm and the daughter of Gemma Do, a pioneer in technological advancements, is supposed to be loving every minute of her child-free, man-free life. Hatch, a start-up garnering traction by promising select women a relaxing, ease-filled life in exchange for producing children for men who want to continue their lineage, catches the eye of Lena when she reaches her breaking point, and she soon finds herself shuttled away to the trad wife lifestyle. The cost? More than she ever anticipated.

Science fiction is such an impactful genre, especially when the concepts at its core hit all too close to home - government policing bodies, making decisions on who can love who - it is jarring in its similarities to the current modern age. Much like in Annie Bot by Sierra Greer, readers are exposed to how even in a futuristic setting that operates under the illusion that women are appreciated, men still are able to use them for their own personal advantages. Huynh creates a world that has women at the top of the career ladder and men at the very last rung, with the appearance that they can only make it in life with the assistance of robot butlers at home as their jobs are replaced by the very things that do their laundry. The sentience of the robots provides an interesting perspective throughout the book - they are not human, yet there is an eerie underlying feeling like they know the characters so much more intensely than another human could. Anticipating needs, telling them how to feel, and being an intricate part of day-to-day tasks makes them an ever-present entity that the characters and the readers cannot escape.

The way Lena slowly falls deeper into Hatch and the promised lifestyle while still remaining hesitant regarding how their practices actually work shows the duality of woman - she is supposedly here to leave behind the hardship of her current life, yet she is determined to discover the secrets those in charge of Hatch are keeping from the women. As more women begin to disappear or meet an untimely end, Lena's suspicions grow deeper, she is thrust into a dangerous game of ensuring her life is not put on the line while she attempts to get to the bottom of what exactly Hatch is using these women for beyond being baby machines.

As Lena's backstory is slowly uncovered and the readers become exposed to the likelihood of her presence causing more harm than good to Hatch's operation, we also see the horrors of incel dogma impacting the children birthed from Hatch. Without having father figures, their ideology still becomes rooted in misogyny and their distaste towards stay-at-home mothers and career women is present without the social construct at play. While they were basically engineered to think this way, it was ever too real as today's modern society is encompassed by being male-centered, even when it comes to women's issues and rights.

Since this is an advanced reader copy, I expected a few typos here and there and likely some choppiness before the final draft - the main thing that stood out to me was an inconsistency about 75% into the book, where it notes that Lena is being asked about a lease renewal for her second insemination. Why is this odd? Because she already had her second insemination - failed, nonetheless - so unless the author was trying to rewrite history, an update is to be made. Obviously I would not let this influence my overall opinion of the book since I know it is not the final version.

An interesting exploration of motherhood, influence, and survival, Fetal Position dives into the thought process of what if being a mother was able to be profitable and be engineered? What are the costs? And more importantly, what are the sacrifices?

You can add Fetal Position on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

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Twisted Little Truths (Saint View High, #3) by Elle Thorpe Review

This review contains spoilers - read with caution. Content warnings include: Sexual assault, death, grief, past abuse, substance abuse, mental trauma, past child neglect, past child abuse, child sexual abuse, abuse, graphic violence, past sexual abuse, and torture. Reader discretion is advised. You can read my review of Dangerous Little Secrets on my blog, now!

Sure, it has been about four and a half years since I read the second installment of this series, but considering I was able to remember everything even after all that time, I would say that this series certainly left a lasting impression. Lacey, our leading lady, is what I consider to be the greediest girl on the planet with her not one, not two, but THREE boyfriends. Like girl, please leave some for the rest of us, this is getting out of hand. And how is this possibly socially acceptable to the town?? It is fiction, so I will live in bliss, but this is one of the reasons I typically do not venture into the world of why choose or reverse harem - I will always imagine the group breaking up after the end of the book. The only thing that surprised me upon returning to this series was the fact that I forgot one of the boys is literally named Banjo... I just cannot believe it.

Lacey may be a greedy little girl, but boy oh boy....the spice was there and readers will be forever grateful for it. For a why choose, I do think the author could have written more scenes with all four involved, as it felt like we were watching Lacey go on a world tour of getting bent in new ways by one or two of the boys at a time, but we only got a couple scenes with the whole little gang. To be quite honest, it would have been more impactful if these polyamorous amateur detectives spent more time together doing freaky stuff.

Did I have to look back at my review of Dangerous Little Secrets to remember what exactly happened before this final installment? Yes indeed. And thank goodness I included spoilers in that review, because while I did begin to remember the events after getting through a few chapters, so much goes on with all of these characters and perspectives, it can get overwhelming. I do wish we got to see more of Banjo's perspective - his characterization definitely deserved some more attention, especially since Colt was basically the number one boy whose attention consumed Lacey. And on that note, it truly felt as though Lacey put Colt on a pedestal and the other two boys felt like consolation prizes by the end. I would have been fine if it ended with Lacey and Colt together and having Rafe and Banjo as their own pair. With a why choose, I should be rooting for everyone to be together, not splitting off - the chemistry needed some work when it came to the four of them as a whole.

Owen is still a little nasty piece of work that apparently has two favorite activities - drugging people and assaulting girls. He is like a little gnat that will not leave you alone, and every single time he showed up on page, I wanted to throttle him. And with the father he has, I am not surprised that his behavior has been brushed aside and even encouraged. Meredith had me wanting to pull my hair out at the end - my girl, you were underage and sleeping with a married man!! Truly had me gobsmacked when that was revealed, but the second Lacey noticed her tattoo, I knew it was only a matter of time until the dots were connected. Lawson can rot deep down for the rest of eternity.

I hate, hate, HATE the accidental pregnancy trope, even more so when it happens to high schoolers... truly nauseating. Especially with everything that Lacey and the boys are dealing with, I cannot imagine them thinking that having a child at this very moment was an alluring idea. It really did not make sense for the characters - you would think that the polycule would want to be child-free for a long time, considering their extracurricular activities. It felt like the author was trying to put a bow on the ending, but it came off as though this child would basically be the security to tie the group together so they would never break up or separate. Realistically, I would imagine this group would not want to have child, if ever, for years to come.

The slow reveal of what Lacey's mother was put through and the true horrors that Lawson inflicted upon both his family and a handful of girls in town was diabolical. I felt like I was doing a complete 180 on my feelings towards her mother and truly felt bad for her by the end. I always had a lingering feeling that Lawson was up to no good, but for it to be this insane and vile was something that nauseates the reader. While there are certainly characters that still should have received the same fate as Lawson, one can only hope they meet their maker sooner rather than later. This series was entertaining, shocking, and I had an overall enticing experience - considering the content warnings, this may not be the series for everyone, but the author maintains reader engagement. I flew through this so quickly and could have read another one hundred pages if Thorpe provided it. If you are new to why choose or bully romance, this may be the series to kick start your adventure.

You can add Twisted Little Truths on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications. The complete Saint View High trilogy is available now to read and add on Goodreads.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Hunt the Villain (Villain, #2) by Rina Kent Review

This review contains spoilers - read with caution. Content warnings include: Parental abuse, homophobia, the death of a parent due to cancer, and scenes of violence and shootings. You can read my review of Kiss the Villain on my blog, now!

While you do no necessarily need to read the Legacy of Gods series or Vipers series in order to dive into Villains, I do think it makes the reading experience more enjoyable - having the knowledge of the other couples' stories really immerses the reader into the world. Vaughn and Yulian's relationship was always lingering in the background of some of Kent's books, and while readers were able to pick up on some small hints and eggs hidden throughout the stories, we finally get to do a deep dive on what has been eating these two up for years. There is so much tension surrounding them, and color me surprised when Kent decided to show us the very flashbacks that had these boys at each other's throats.

The little callbacks to other couples are always nice and make the readers feel connected to a largest story at hand, and you can appreciate the fact that Kent tries to keep any spoilers from bubbling up to the surface when they are mentioned. Especially regarding the main events in some of the other books - while I would recommend reading them in order, you can always hop around if you do not mind already knowing some minor details about the other couples beforehand. The earlier couples from Legacy of Gods are not mentioned nearly as much as others, and to be frank, the mothers and fathers of those characters have more mentions. Maybe now is a good time for me to finally read this series in order beyond Legacy of Gods and Vipers.

Vaughn witnessing the way Yulian's father beats him like no one's business throughout the years felt like a wake up call to him - Yulian may be unpredictable and outlandish, but he is so incredibly burdened by an abusive household that holds his sister against him to make him compliant. While on the other hand, Vaughn, while still expected to be the perfect example of an heir, does not have to face brutalization from his own family. From what we have seen in Kiss the Villain, we know that the elders are not supportive of same sex relationships, so watching both of these boys hide from public view while trying to be together is just as heartbreaking knowing the consequences to Vaughn and Yulian would be barbaric. Considering everything that Kayden and Gareth went through in that book, you could only imagine what the elders would be capable of. We certainly bear witness to Yulian's father's brutality when he has him kidnapped and beaten to a pulp just for being with a man - it was heartbreaking to read the horrors he had to endure.

Kent's past couples all have been pretty strict when it comes to who seems to take charge in the relationship, and yet with Yulian and Vaughn, we see them truly fight to best the other. Whether that applies to familial disputes or bedroom activities, they both are comparable to one another - I never felt as though they were unequal in the relationship. The jealously from the two of the boys is unmatched as they struggle to come to terms with what they mean to each other while trying to maintain their secret hookups. Both act like this is a casual thing, but it is clear from the beginning that they could never be casual about one another, taking things to the extreme no matter the cost.

I was honestly surprised this installment had so few content warnings compared to Kiss the Villain - I was expecting to be put through the ringer with Vaughn and Yulian - and while they certainly had their obstacles, it was mild in comparison to what we have seen before. The closest we got was Yulian's torture by his father compared to what Gareth endured from Kayden's family. The smut was insane in this installment - even though Yulian and Vaughn were relatively new to doing things with men, they evolved together and it made for some wild chapters that put some of Kent's other works to shame. My jaw dropped several times and the flow of it all felt very natural, it never felt like Kent was throwing in spicier scenes to make up for pages or plot. I am certainly intrigued to see what she has in store for the third couple in Crave the Villain.

Looking for more Rina Kent? You can read my reviews for Legacy of Gods: God of Malice, God of Pain, God of Wrath, God of Ruin, God of Fury, God of War, and Vipers: Beautiful Venom, Sweet Venom, and Tempting Venom on my blog, now!

You can add Hunt the Villain on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!