OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Matriarch Saved" by J.Y. Olmos.]

The Matriarch Saved is book one of the Hive series by J.Y. Olmos. It is classified as science fiction and available on Amazon for $4.99. The book is around 400 pages, but the font is fairly large making for a quick read.

Alien ships have shown up around Earth and have begun stealing resources. They start with the Great Lakes as well as most of the world’s iron. Evonne and her family are preparing to flee the city when the alien’s kill her husband and child. Evonne is spared and finds herself on a ship filled with other females of breeding age.

The women aboard the alien ship are trapped in a cycle of being gassed, experimented on, and waking naked in a room. Quite a bit of time passes before they are rescued by another ship full of seemingly human males (albeit quite large, human males.) Evonne is separated from the rest of the women leaving her to wonder exactly who these people are and what they want with her. The leader of the ship, Kalerant Torneau, has ordered her to stay in his quarters for the duration of the trip.

The plot is fairly straight forward and develops quite nicely throughout the book. We learn about the aliens as Evonne does, which allows the reader to empathize better with her situation. If I had anything negative to say about the plot, it would be that not much is mentioned about exactly what went on during the alien abduction. I didn’t find myself missing anything, especially as the story developed further (I wouldn’t want to read the gory details anyway). However, some may be left wanting more details specifically about that time.

The book definitely belongs in the science fiction genre, and the author does a great job of creating alien species and planets. I don’t want to give too much away, but the aliens that are featured in this book have quite a different way of life than what we are used to. This left me intrigued and dying to read more. I will say that there is a definite element of romance included in this novel. The author is very tasteful in how the sensuality is presented with no explicit sex scenes, but the romance is unavoidable. Those that are looking for a science fiction book without any element of romance will want to steer clear of this book. Yet, because the author has handled the issue with such delicacy, I would say this would be appropriate for older teens.

It also bears mentioning that there were very few errors in this book. I think I saw only one or two in the whole 400 pages. The formatting is also well done. Although it is not strictly necessary – the author does a good job of explaining terms throughout the story – there is a glossary of terms in the back of the book. This glossary covers not only foreign terms, but characters as well.

There is no doubt in my mind that The Matriarch Saved deserves a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I started out thinking that it would probably end up with 3, but the story just grew on me. I was not ready for the book to end, and I do need to point out that there is a cliffhanger ending. I realize that not everyone will appreciate that; but, in this instance, it simply made me want to hurry up and buy the second book. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good alien romance, including any young adult readers.

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The Matriarch Saved
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Great review. I like that you mentioned that the font is big so I am not intimidated by the 400 pages - I am usually afraid of reading anything over 350 pages. This does sound intriguing.

Yeah. I wouldn't worry that is 400 pages. It really isn't that many with the font and spacing. It goes quickly.

Great review! Hm...an alien ship trapping women and treating them poorly is something that is both disturbing and yet gripping for a fictional read. I like how the author takes the time to explain some new vocabulary because this is usually a feature that would turn me off from science fiction. I'm glad that you enjoyed the read!

Thanks hsimone. I love when the story captures me as this one did. As far as vocab, a good author can use foreign or invented words yet give you enough clues to help you know what they mean.

The aliens sound intriguing so I will be adding to my want to read list. Thanks for the great review!

Thanks spirit. If you do read it, let me know what you think.

kandscreeley wrote:Thanks spirit. If you do read it, let me know what you think.

Will do.

I like that we learn about the aliens as Evonne learns about them not just because we are able to empathize with her more but I think it might keep us just generally more interested in the story to not know things before a character. For example, if I am watching a movie and I know that a character is going to die before s/he does I tend not to care much for the character.

It's not often to find a science fiction book with a female lead. Usually people think of this genre as one reserved only for the boys. So I love the fact that the main character is a girl.

Great Review! ?

General Doc wrote:I like that we learn about the aliens as Evonne learns about them not just because we are able to empathize with her more but I think it might keep us just generally more interested in the story to not know things before a character. For example, if I am watching a movie and I know that a character is going to die before s/he does I tend not to care much for the character.

Very true. I understand where you are coming from. It definitely did keep my interest. In fact, it made my interest grow along with Evonne!

-- 05 Jun 2017, 07:30 --

Amagine wrote:It's not often to find a science fiction book with a female lead. Usually people think of this genre as one reserved only for the boys. So I love the fact that the main character is a girl.

Great Review! ?

Absolutely! Plus, (which I don't think I stated), she's a little bit older than the typical character at around 40. Which is also unique!

At first, just reading the synopsis, I too didn't think this book would be that enjoyable. You make a lot of interesting points in the review that make me reconsider this one. Glad it was a pleasant surprise for you

Thanks Marisa. I was leery when I first started the book, but the author did a great job sucking me in to the story.

Great review.

An interesting premise! I liked it that the aliens "have quite a different way of life than what we are used to". The large font is a bonus, but I dislike cliffhanger ending. Oddly, there is no ebook version on Amazon. Thank you for the excellent review!