March 5, 2025 • 51 mins
This week we visit the Dark Imaginarium Academy in a sexy twist on the Van Helsing and Dracula trope as we cover Bite of Loyalty by R.L. Caulder. This is part 2 of 2.
Triggers: mild knife and blood play, violence, on page graphic death, death of a mother
Tropes: enemies to lovers, reverse harem, knife play, blood play, dom/sub dynamics
KU: yes!
Recommendation: both Traders wholly recommend and can’t wait to read more!
For more check out https://www.rlcaulder.com/.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
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the support.
Anyway, on to today's episode.
This book.
This fucking book.
(00:47):
I'm legitimately like 80% of the way through book 2.
Welcome to Your Saved Space, the podcast your partner friends, parents, whoever thinks
is dirty.
Don't have time to read books, want to understand the jokes in the tix-tox, we got you fam.
We're the spice traders and we deal in spicy books.
(01:08):
I'm Katie and I need it to make sense.
I'm Liz and I'm hypercritical.
As always, we start every episode with three things.
The first is a generic trigger warning.
You can find specific triggers for this book in our show notes, so please check those out.
Also we do use foul language and talk a lot about sex.
If you have sensitivity to any of this, please give this episode a skip.
Secondly, we talk about books.
(01:30):
The whole book, nothing but the books that helped me got us.
If you plan to read this book and don't want something spoiled right now, don't listen
to this episode.
Lastly, we acknowledge that a good book can hit you at the wrong time.
The views expressed in our discussion are our opinion and we absolutely don't want to
diminish the work and the talent of the authors in our community.
That said, we have some notes.
(01:54):
All right, so Katie, what are we talking about today?
Today we are talking about part two of the Bite of Loyalty by R.L.
Calder.
So this is part two of two.
If you didn't listen to part one or read the book, do one of those things.
(02:15):
This part is going to cover chapters 10 plus and then at the end of this episode we will
do our ratings like we usually do.
And whoa, buckle up.
I've got four pages of notes but I feel like this is still going to be a pretty girthy
ep because we got so much that happened.
So let's jump in.
(02:36):
Let's jump right in.
One thing I want to talk about at the start because especially coming off of the Royally
Not Ready, I feel compelled to say that Bite of Loyalty also happens within the span of
a week.
Okay, I also have that comparison.
(02:57):
I don't even know if it's a full week.
It feels like 72 hours.
Yeah, it's not a long time.
No, but I did.
I'll probably say this when we get there, but there is a like not BDSM, but the submission
(03:17):
domination sort of play that we get.
And in Bite of Loyalty, it's a much more, I mean, okay, there are other sides of this,
the relationship that we're going to talk about that is not healthy, but it's a much
more healthy portrayal of what that's supposed to be than what we got in Royally Not Ready.
It's that and I just really appreciate that even though Alina and our other characters
(03:40):
like say that they have this obsession, they will in the same breath say that I know that's
crazy because it's been two days.
Like I'm aware and they're not trying to gaslight you as readers into thinking this is normal.
Exactly.
And which is wild that we didn't see the Fated Meets thing coming.
At least I didn't because it makes sense when they're giving you this like I'm obsessed.
(04:01):
I don't know why.
It just like didn't occur to me that it was going to be a Fated Meets situation.
No.
No, not at all.
I didn't know until I was told.
But I think that also has to do with like the reverse harem thing because like very often
you'll read a reverse harem where it's like people are just obsessed capital O obsessed
for like not Fated Meets reasons.
(04:23):
Yes.
Agreed.
So I think that's where my head was at.
But yeah, the Fated Meets thing.
I knew when I was told.
And I knew when I was told.
And I was here for the reveal.
Like I was too.
It was and it was okay.
Okay.
Let's just get into it.
(04:43):
So we can talk about it later.
Cause it's at the very end guys.
So buckle up.
So we see Alina in combat training first thing.
She wears the leather outfit that Lincoln had left for her at the end of part one and she
gets to the gym early, but of course Lincoln has beat her to it.
Apparently he's a morning person.
He is running the obstacle course flawlessly and Alina makes no bones about watching him.
(05:06):
I also just I think look, I'm not here to like critique this book and the world building
very hard, but it does fall into the category of like we all have combat training for seemingly
no reason.
(05:27):
Yeah.
So in preparation, this is relevant in preparation for reading on a storm.
I was going back and listening to our coverage of fourth wing and I made all of the parallels
to Divergent and how angry I was in that book and like, holy shit, I chose some serious
violence for like the first half of the book.
(05:49):
Yeah, you did.
Sorry.
I'm so sorry.
So it brought back the combat training thing where I'm just like, what?
I mean, it makes sense for it to happen in all of these books, but it's just it's a trope
now to have combat training.
Yeah.
I mean, kind of like fourth wing, I think is a good example of like, you're a country
(06:12):
at war.
Like that's an Israel situation.
Like everybody's inscripted.
It makes sense.
In sanguish in a bite of loyalty.
Like what is the threat here?
And all of these vampires are just going to be like board members of like, like, yeah,
like, yeah, they're not mercenaries.
(06:35):
They're not military.
Like we haven't even been told about a military, if we're being honest, like you have Dracula
and his like board of directors.
Like that's the ruling body.
And there's no threat except for the slayers.
So it's a defense class.
Yeah.
I mean, like, I just fine.
(06:57):
It's tropey.
I know what it's here for.
I just had to bring that up because I'm just like, okay, I know, I know.
I do like how it plays out, but this book does also kind of fall in the fatal flaw of
she's fully out of school, but it takes place in two places.
Combat room and the cafeteria is like the whole book.
(07:18):
I know.
Well, and like it goes back to what I said in part one, like we spend a lot of time.
So I think like to put a finer point on it, it happened.
There's a lot of different places she goes to on campus and we get descriptions of none
of those places, zero of those places.
I'm I was this again comes at the end, but I brought this up in the first part where
I kind of was led to believe that the cafeteria had all animal blood and it was like bear
(07:43):
and sheep and like monkey.
But no, there's like different fridges and one is animal blood.
Right.
And so like generic animal blood.
Also, I don't know.
I'm not a vampire, but you would think they wouldn't want to drink cold blood.
Ew.
Yeah.
(08:03):
Ew.
Fucking gross.
Why did you say that?
I'm really sorry.
I'm just saying that to make you like that's and shit like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because then it starts to have the consistency of like those baby like applesauce pouches
that my daughter currently uses to eat a lot of food like the gogo squeezes.
(08:30):
I couldn't get past it.
And so I'm really sorry that I also traumatized you seeing as you had not thought of that.
But like, I appreciate you.
I just, I needed you to know.
So anyway, back to Cheap Begin Stretching and as soon join slash interrupted by Andre, who
(08:53):
does the thing that like weird guys do at the gym where they like stand too close and
then just wait for you to say something.
But somehow it's endearing with Andre.
I don't don't ask me to explain that.
There's so many things about Andre that are endearing where he should really just be disgusting.
And I'm like, okay, though.
Yeah.
So Alina says quote, I'd ask if there was something I could help you with, but we both
(09:17):
know I helped you more than enough last night.
If you get on your knees for me, I'll forget about you being a peeping Tom.
Throwing his words right back at him.
Oh yeah.
So Andre laughs at this and they actually fall into an easy banter after that.
And so he sits down next to her and they both start stretching, which of course Lincoln
(09:39):
does not like.
And neither does Maya, who soon joins them with the rest of their class.
And Maya immediately tries to warn Alina off Andre like he's taken.
He's not interested.
And they're just like, wow, we were literally just stretching next to each other.
Can you cool it?
Maya is pansy Parkinson to Andre's Draco.
(09:59):
Yeah.
But like, like more can in pansy Parkinson because like fanfic pansy Parkinson is cool.
Yes, exactly.
I mean, like the cannon pansy Parkinson, it was like hanging all over him when like they're
not a thing, but she thinks they're a thing.
Uh-huh.
But the fanfic pansy is one of my favorites.
(10:19):
I am really desperate.
Are there any stalkers on my ground?
So when Lincoln starts the class, he tells them that they have a new student and a special
one at that.
He introduces Alina Van Helsing, who has made it her mission to be top of the class in one
year.
Again, is this possible?
We don't know.
But he challenges the rest of the class to be as motivated as she is.
(10:43):
Alina sees it as outing her.
And of course, in her ridiculous leather outfit, she sticks out like a sore fucking thumb even
more.
But she rises to the occasion and basically tells the entire class to bring it on.
Also do things here.
She made one request of, I don't remember her name, but essentially the headmistress
(11:03):
and that was, I would like to introduce myself at Will.
She disregarded that.
And then Lincoln fully disregards that.
Just like, cool.
So why you can make that a point earlier?
My second thing is how did you not see that this outfit was so clearly a trap, which we
said in part one, but like, ma'am.
(11:25):
What are you thinking possibly?
I don't know.
So they get paired into sparring partners.
And of course, Maya and Alina are paired.
And Alina makes a fool of Maya pretty quickly.
She easily pins Maya to the mat and breaks her wrist.
She then starts going into blood lust, but someone bodily removes her from Maya, throwing
(11:47):
Alina against the wall.
Both Andre and Lincoln run to Alina to check in on her.
And Lincoln gives her a blood bag to help her recover.
He remarks that as he's suspected, Alina is still not operating at her full power, but
he adds that since she didn't adhere to the rules and let Maya up when she tapped out,
Alina now has detention.
So detention in this school basically prevents a student from attending the rest of their
(12:09):
classes for the day and thus missing out on the points that they would have accrued.
So Alina goes immediately to detention, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Which felt like, again, a trap.
Yeah, well, I also, so okay.
My inner feedback.
I really wish I understood more about the points situation because if Alina really wants
(12:36):
to be at the top of her class, shouldn't she have mapped this shit out?
How many points could I possibly, I guess we're different people.
We are different people.
And the other thing that I just felt kind of weak about this whole scene is that we
get her destroying Maya so cool.
But like he set her up to go to detention with the outfit.
(12:59):
Why not have sent her to detention immediately?
Why even let her have this first fight?
Right.
Like she's already in violation.
There's no consequences for that, it seems.
Exactly.
And then we have this scene because like, oh, you could be stronger if you drank more blood,
but also no one has told her anything about like how much she needs to eat or like how
often.
(13:19):
So like you're showing me how strong she is and showing me how pathetic Maya is.
But like, okay, you just want to get into detention.
Like, come on.
I want to talk about detention because a what the fuck be?
Why is this detention?
I don't know.
(13:40):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So let's get to detention.
So she basically goes to this room in the administration building, which I don't know where that is,
but whatever.
And she has to sit there alone and like basically reflect on how she can better keep her emotions
on lock.
And ostensibly she would just do that for the rest of the day, but there's no like,
there's no moderator.
(14:01):
Like that's the word.
Like no one's watching, you know.
So it's really just like an honor system detention, which makes no fucking sense.
But then, okay.
Okay.
But then also the thing about detention too, just very, very much reads like a below 18
kind of crowd.
Yes.
(14:21):
As was like college, which is what this is.
Like if you were disruptive in college, like you would just get dismissed from the class.
Exactly.
And if they're working on a point system, wouldn't she just lose points, like go negative?
Right.
Like why do you have to actively go to detention?
That doesn't make any fucking sense.
No, the detention thing felt very plot contrivy.
(14:42):
Yeah.
Like how do we make these two people meet?
Hmm.
When they could have just met at the party, but okay.
Okay.
It's fine.
Yeah.
It's fine.
So, okay.
So she's in detention, right?
And then another student shows up and this person has white blonde hair and lavender eyes.
Again with the fucking eyes.
There are other colors.
(15:02):
There are other colors.
As she enters, this person looks terrified and Alina can't help but wonder how she could
have ever earned a spot in detention.
We learn pretty quickly that this person's name is Alexandra.
So you might remember that name from her being the other special entrance student that Estrid
was drawn to.
And she tells Alina that she almost smoked someone with her powers and that's why she's
(15:23):
in detention.
Oops.
Whoopsie.
But we don't know what she is.
No, we don't.
So Alina introduces herself and ends up telling Alexandra all about what happened to her,
which brings up a whole host of emotions that Alexandra ends up helping Alina through.
Almost to the point where Alina doesn't know what's happening.
She feels like she isn't in control of what she's feeling and saying.
(15:49):
And Alexandra says, you know, I'm not doing anything and whatever you shared, like you
wanted to.
Yeah.
So she goes on to say that Alina doesn't have to be alone because Alexandra knows exactly
how terrible that is and she's been alone her entire life.
She invites Alina to a party happening later that evening and they leave detention as new
(16:11):
found.
Hopefully friends.
They're not really friends yet.
They're acquaintances, but they both like, think each other are cool and want to be friends.
Yeah.
They both don't want to be alone.
But what do you think happened here?
So I mean, I've read book two.
So kind of spoilers.
(16:32):
But it has to do with the kind of power that she has.
Okay.
So was it intentional or she just can't control her power?
She wasn't aware of it at the time.
Oh, okay.
Got it.
But I think so Alexandra is in the demon sector.
So she's like classified as a demon technically, I guess.
But she also has like five dudes in a harem.
(16:55):
So I feel like I haven't confirmed this, but I feel like she might have her own book that
intersects with her.
She does.
I saw that at the end of this book.
It links to both Bex and Alexandra as having her own books.
Yeah.
Cause we meet, we meet Bex like briefly and I didn't even write it down because I was
just like, that's weird.
Yeah.
(17:16):
We need it really briefly, but that's, it's like the very last page of the book is like,
you want to read about the other characters we've met?
Click here.
Yeah.
Okay.
That's cool.
I like that.
Yeah.
I like that too.
So we do get more information about Alexandra in Alina's story in book two, but we don't
find anything else about her.
Also, I just realized that it makes sense they have their own books because this author
(17:39):
has like those chunks series that seem like they all take place in the same world.
That's probably these guys.
Yeah, probably these guys.
Yeah.
Anyway, as Alina leaves Alexandra, she remarks to us inwardly quote, Alex made it too easy
to think I deserved forgiveness.
Oh, poor baby.
So then we get another yield perspective shift to Andre, who's sitting in class and grading
(18:01):
under the attention of Maya.
He tells us internally that he had sex with her once and since then she's acted like she
owns him.
He realizes that one act was a mistake and he regrets it terribly.
He tells us that beyond her entitled heirs, she basically bought her way into the school,
which is something that Andre can't stand.
He's a strong reward for achievement type.
(18:22):
Oh, I respect.
Yeah.
Alina, on the other hand, he's infatuated with and it doesn't bother him at all that
she used to be a slayer.
As the class ends, he tells Maya to leave him alone and as they exit the class, he hears
the professor say something snide about Alina who is absent due to detention.
So Andre takes it upon himself to stay behind and tell the professor that if he ever utters
(18:44):
Alina's name again, Andre will sick his father on him, which is very big mouth boy vibes.
Very big mouth boy vibes.
Wait until my father is about this.
So in the hallway, Alina is there surrounded by her peers who are jeering at her, calling
(19:06):
her a bitch.
She encourages them to expand their vocabulary just as Andre walks up to her.
He asks Alina when she's going to let in between her legs and she says that if he goes to the
party later that night, he can try to earn it, but no promises.
Back at the cafeteria, Alina runs into Maya again who tries to throw a punch at her, but
(19:28):
Alina pins her to the floor again, one of Maya's friends intervenes very ineffectively, but
before things can escalate too far, Lincoln arrives and breaks up the fight.
Maya accuses Alina of attacking her and when Lincoln asks whether that's true, Alina tells
him quote, sir, I would never do anything that would result in you punishing me.
I learned my lesson earlier.
(19:53):
So she knows that this will get under Lincoln's skin and it does, but rather than react in
the moment, he tells everyone to beat it and be responsible because anyone hung over the
next day will not get special treatment.
And to Alina, the fact that teachers know about the party takes the mystique out of
the whole thing, but she decides to still go anyway if only to work through the sexual
tension she's been feeling for Andre.
I do like her.
(20:16):
I just want to stir up trouble and now I'm kind of bummed that I'm not going to get
in trouble for going to this party.
Right.
I also didn't realize it until I was reading my notes back, but like, Maya literally gets
her ass handed to her like in the morning and then like still tries to pick a fight
with Alina in the afternoon.
I'm like, you're a glutton for punishment.
(20:38):
And then the very next day she gets her ass handed to her again.
At some point, Alina tells us that she starts feeling bad about handing Maya's ass to her,
but like Maya keeps coming back for more.
Exactly like you're not seeking her out.
She is putting herself in your way.
Therefore.
(20:58):
Yeah, you just got to defend yourself, right?
Free game.
So as Alina gets ready for the party, the reality of her situation starts to sink in a little
bit more than she's comfortable with.
She thinks about the usual rhythm she would have fallen into with Jade and Skye if the
three of them were going out.
There would be music, mystery and makeup, but there's none of those things there with
(21:22):
her now.
So she freshens up a little and heads out to the party alone.
As soon as she's outside though, Lincoln has her against the wall by her throat, which
was just like, what a way to say hello.
She likes it.
She likes it.
Alina is still salty about him outing her though to the whole class, so she gives him
no quarter.
(21:43):
She tells us that by him outing her, it felt like he had let her down and his antics this
time make her skin crawl.
As she pushes away from him and walks away, he calls after her, so she turns on him and
tells him, quote, I keep making excuses for why I should give this toxic thing between
us any of my time.
The truth is, if I wasn't fucking broken inside, I would never have entertained you after you
(22:03):
made your disgust for who I was blatantly obvious in Estrid's office.
Ruth.
Yeah.
Which I thought was a pretty strong like expression.
It was.
It was very strong.
So Lincoln admits to her that he wants her out of the academy so she doesn't get hurt,
to which she asks, quote, so what?
(22:25):
You tell everyone exactly who I am, so they'll ask me over to braid my fucking hair and paint
my nails.
The entire sector turned their wrath on me.
So yeah, obviously your reasoning makes perfect fucking sense, Lincoln.
I love this dude because like Lincoln doesn't know the reasons he's doing what he's doing,
but her being like, no, I refuse to accept this.
(22:45):
It makes no sense.
And you can't tell me otherwise.
Right.
And labeling the behavior for the toxicity that it is.
And when I contrast that to like Royally Not Ready, right, like we just drove right past
any of the toxicity to the point where like that main character, the female main character,
I forget her name, was like actively trying to like anticipate a swage, like soothe the
(23:09):
toxicity from the male main character.
And I was like, oh girl, that is not worth your time.
No, not at all.
And I really love that we have that here of like, I'm not, I'm not entertaining this.
Yeah, because Alina is essentially like, you better come correct when you talk to me, otherwise
forget about it.
Get out of here.
Like I have a hard enough time thinking about entertaining this in the first place.
(23:32):
The rest is up to you.
Right.
So Lincoln tells Alina that he knew that it didn't matter whether he outed her or someone
else because she would always be unashamedly herself, which is ultimately what is such
a turn on for him.
And like somehow this does it for her and they end up kissing and like it's a little
bit of hate kissing, right?
So it's not like she melted for him or whatever.
(23:56):
But as they kiss their fangs come out and they accidentally nip each other's lips and
exchange blood.
Whoops.
Oopsies.
And this causes both of them to experience a searing pain on the back of their necks.
And then for a moment, Alina can hear Lincoln in her head, but instead of explaining what
might be happening, Lincoln just runs away and leaves her alone.
(24:21):
He has no idea how to process his emotions.
No, not at all.
And Alina even says that, which I appreciate.
She's like, well, clearly he's not emotionally mature enough to deal with this, so I'm going
to go get drunk.
Exactly.
I, there's so many.
I'm going to go out and highlight it in this book because even though this takes place
(24:41):
in the span of like all of four days, I really like the way that she calls up the toxicity.
There's a line later and it doesn't really spoil it now, but a character jumps to conclusions
and we'll get there.
And she says like, he could have just asked me a couple questions and we say that all
the time we get the miscommunication troops.
Like just ask a follow up.
Right.
(25:01):
I really appreciate it to have a character that's like, just ask a follow up question
and we could have avoided all of this.
Right.
Like you're part of the problem, dude.
You're part of my story.
Exactly.
So this reaction from Lincoln immediately makes Alina regret letting him in in the slightest.
(25:22):
So like I said, she goes to the party in search of a stiff drink.
The whole time she's there, she starts looking for Alexandra, but she ultimately doesn't
see her.
So she loses herself in dancing and has a couple of drinks until she feels it.
During one of these times when she's in line for a drink, she learns about Alexandra's
friend, Alora, and learns that she's the daughter of the Queen of Hell, who we learned earlier
(25:43):
in the book, united hell and created a polycule with the seven princes of hell, which like
sign me up for that story.
Am I right?
I need that story.
Absolutely.
And I was good on this offer because I feel like she delivers.
Yes.
Anyway, when Alina has a good alcohol blanket on, she decides to go and find Andre.
(26:07):
He's with a gaggle of other vampires playing essentially beer pong, but Alina suggests
that they find somewhere more private and he immediately is like, wherever you want
to go, let's do it.
Let's go, baby cakes.
So then they find a secluded spot and end up sitting together and flirting.
But when Andre sweeps aside Alina's hair, he sees a mate mark on the back of her neck
and freaks the fuck out.
(26:28):
He loses every modicum of cool.
Yeah.
Like he goes zero to a hundred really quick.
Yeah.
And Alina has no idea what's happening, but when Andre tells her that there's a mark
on her neck and it means that she's swapped blood with her mate, she immediately understands
what happened and is crushed.
She's also crushed by Andre's reaction and not asking a single fucking follow up question,
(26:52):
just assuming the worst about her.
She can't reconcile why she can still feel so strongly about Andre if Lincoln is her
true mate.
And I'm like, girl, I have some ideas about that.
Whoever could guess that maybe you have multiple mates in this year, a reverse harem story.
And to reiterate, Andre goes zero to a hundred basically thinking that like she's just been
(27:16):
manipulating him the whole time and is pretending.
And I again, appreciated a character that calls him out where she's like, dude, I wasn't
raised a vampire.
I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
Right.
Like, this is not a thing.
Oh yeah.
This is not a thing that I've ever heard of.
Right.
(27:37):
Oh yeah.
I'm an asshole, which I appreciate.
He also owned that pretty quickly in his own head because like she leaves, but yeah, I
did too.
So Alina leaves the party and spends the rest of the night alone in the morning when she
goes to the cafeteria.
Maya Ryals her by saying that Andre came back and fucked her all night.
Alina has a very visceral reaction to that idea, but quickly realizes that Andre wouldn't
(27:59):
do that.
She tells Maya that she's pathetic and Maya still won't take the hint.
She tries to attack Alina.
So Alina cold clocks her right in the fucking face.
As she leaves, she tells the bystanders quote, someone to let this bitch know that I'm tired
of kicking her ass.
I'm actually starting to feel bad about it.
Because this is the third time in 24 hours that she has handed Maya her ass.
(28:25):
Which like Maya, like regroup, come up with a better fucking plan.
Right.
Like, I get that they have super healing so she doesn't continue to suffer for a while,
but you gotta be embarrassed, right?
You gotta be embarrassed.
And if, if you're not like your friend should be like telling you that you should stop.
(28:46):
Yeah.
So on her way to class, Andre tries to talk to Alina, but she avoids him.
When she arrives for her mentoring session, it's with Lincoln because of course it is.
And he's been training and he's hot and sweaty.
He is the last person that Alina wants to see, but her body reacts to him all the same.
They go back and forth, but ultimately end up canoodling.
(29:08):
Alina tells him quote, I'm not asking for forever.
I'm asking you to make me forget about the rest of the world while it's just you and
me in these four walls.
So he obliges.
And we start with a great blow job scene and then we end with him going down on her.
And when they're both stated, he uses his vamp speed to take them back to his room.
(29:30):
So okay, the scene was great, except I couldn't get past the gym shorts thing.
I couldn't get past the gym shorts thing either.
Like it just comparing this in a couple ways, which I will to royally not ready.
It brought up the like boxer briefs thing where I'm like, why are you giving me this
much detail?
Yeah, I don't need to know that.
(29:51):
Like I would have preferred it to be sweatpants.
Honestly, honestly, that would be fine.
But the other thing that I did like in here, I think we called it out or you called it
out in the first part where typically Lincoln calls her Spitfire, but occasionally he's
called her princess, which was a bummer originally.
And I still kind of hated it for like throughout this whole scene because he switches from
(30:12):
Spitfire to princess for the whole scene.
And it's very much that like domination submission thing, but his internal monologue, I don't
know if it's here later, but it doesn't really matter.
It's like within this chunk of time is talking about like I always thought something was
wrong with me because I wanted to get women to submit to me.
(30:35):
But now I see that she's not really submitting.
She's like giving me the like trust to take care of her.
And I'm like, yeah, because that's how it's supposed to work.
Right.
Exactly.
And he also makes the distinction of like I only call her princess in those situations
to like signal that that's like what we're entering into.
Exactly.
Like he goes to, they get to the next step.
(30:58):
He brings her to his room and goes to call her princess and then stops.
Yeah.
And in his internal monologue is very much like that doesn't fit her unless we're in
that scene.
So again, very much a scene, like a playtime scene.
And that made princess not so bad for me because it's like a little bit of the time
that she's in the derogatory, which like she's into.
Yeah, I totally agree.
(31:18):
I was, I was back into princess like on the princess train with that dynamic.
Yeah.
It made sense in that dynamic.
And I was like, all right, all right, cool.
Yeah.
Um, just a couple more things about this scene.
It's got all of the things that we like, like it's specific.
It's got the like emotional connection and communication thing, which I love.
(31:41):
And like, even though it's the submissive, like a little bit of a toxic dynamic, I still
thought it was a healthy scene because like he made sure that she got hers and then also
did the aftercare thing.
Yeah.
He did all the steps.
And even with the pushing, like we get a little bit of like knife play here.
Oh yeah.
I forgot about that.
(32:02):
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Um, but we get still like that repeated consent every step of the way.
Like he lets her like still run like how far he can push it.
Right.
Yeah.
So you get that dumb sub thing, but like he says, like, I'm not taking control of this.
Like we are equal partners in this.
(32:23):
And it shows that really well.
Yeah.
I agree.
I super agree.
Yeah.
He full on holds a knife to her throat.
So yeah.
There's a little bit of blood play.
I mean, obviously it's vampires, but like different because of the knife situation.
But not quite hunting out of line with the gun.
So I was here for this.
No, there's the scale and that's not it's nowhere near.
(32:46):
Hunting out.
Oh, hell.
So they're back in his room and he's like holding Alina because he like carried her
back there.
And when he goes to like sit her on his bed, she bakes him not to leave her, which makes
him feel like the real piece of shit that he is because yeah, you were in that one.
But yeah, you shouldn't feel like a piece of shit.
(33:07):
So he lies on the bed with her and just holds her.
He tells her that he's not leaving and will be there for however she needs him to be.
He knows he fucked up and hopes to one day be the person that she can confide in, which
was a good fucking apology.
Yes.
It was really good.
He made up for it very quickly.
Like just I can't stop comparing specifically the Royalee not ready because like in that
(33:31):
book we talked about how every single time whatever his fucking name was fuckface dude
tried to apologize or like entered into an apology adjacent territory.
He just talked about how like shitty he felt and didn't really actually ever apologize
for like making her feel bad or like not like keeping up his end of the bargain or like
(33:53):
anything like that.
And like Lincoln in this scene really hits all of the highlights.
He says, I know I fucked up.
I know I left you when you needed me and made you feel like shit and I know I have to earn
that back and so I'm here for however you need me to be.
Great.
I love that.
It's great.
It's a perfect model for an apology.
Correct.
(34:15):
So the next day Alina goes down to the cafeteria but finds that the animal blood fridge is
completely empty.
So she runs to find Lincoln but when she does she finds him and Andre locked in a battle
presumably over her.
So when she can't get their attention she strips and yells that she's naked and that
does the trick beautifully.
(34:35):
Was a wild choice but it works.
Such a wild choice.
She tells Lincoln about the problem with the fridge and the lack of sustenance.
And so while the three of them figure out what to do and I have to add here that she
does put her clothes back on but they are quickly joined slash interrupted by Estrid
and Dracula of all people.
(34:58):
And I don't know if it was like here or when they Estrid actually introduces Dracula but
this is when I texted Liz and said Drake is Dracula.
I'm dead.
I'm dying.
I'm dead.
You're going to have to cover the part two without me because I, wow I did not see this
coming.
I didn't see this coming at all and I was tying over your text messages.
(35:22):
Like I had made that prediction but like I didn't really think.
I was like wouldn't it be interesting if and then a few hours later I get that text and
I couldn't handle you're like you're going to have to do this on your own.
I've died.
It's rare that a book these days makes me feel giddy but I was literally like you see
(35:44):
the TikToks where it's like oh kicking my feet up in the air because I'm giddy.
Like this book got me really fucking close.
This same.
So to be fair you spoiled this for me and I was not the least bit mad about it because
your delivery was so fucking good.
But then even knowing that Drake is Dracula I still didn't see the end of this book coming
(36:10):
and so that's where like I got the kick in my feet squeals.
Right.
Yeah.
I was like oh my god.
So yeah I don't know if I wasn't thinking critically about the story or what but yeah
Drake is Dracula so if you read the back jacket no spoilers I guess anyway.
So let's get into it.
(36:32):
Dracula is described as having ebony hair that slicked back with longer hair resting
on top and the sides shaved shorter.
He's got a three piece suit on that fits like a glove and to top it all off he has a perfectly
trimmed dark beard.
Alina tells his quote everything about him screamed money power and sex which like of
all of the three like this is the most my type.
(36:54):
Me too for sure.
Lincoln doesn't hasn't done it for me at all yet and Andre just still kind of feels
like a kid in some ways.
Andre just reminds me of all of the boys that we dated in high school.
Very much.
Anyway so Esther introduces Dracula Drake to Alina and he's immediately enchanted and
(37:17):
Alina doesn't get it.
She's like why are you treating me so nicely and pretending that you didn't slaughter
my entire family like what are we doing here.
Then Drake greets Lincoln and Andre and clearly knows them and though Alina is confused we
know that the three of them go way back.
Alina definitely clocks the attitude change with Andre though and is worried.
(37:37):
Esther tells them that Drake has a new place on his board that's opened up and Andre's
dad won't shut the fuck up about Andre so Drake is here to test the current students
and pick a board member.
Drake announces that he's going to start with Alina and Lincoln tries to stay like saying
oh she's a fledgling like she needs to be watched and Drake is like Pishposh applesauce
I'm ancient I can handle it.
(38:00):
Like was a good argument because Lincoln what are you going to do it's literally right
and he's also like I don't I don't want to be accused of like being unfair like everybody
should get the same treatment like no distractions like we're going to do this.
And we don't actually ever know how he intends to test the rest of the population because
as soon as everybody leaves Alina and Drake alone like Alina basically tries to kill him
(38:24):
immediately immediately.
And the thing that sets her off is like Drake is trying to keep the banter light and he
remarks quote of Van Helsing huh I'm sure there's an interesting story behind behind
how you became a vampire and a student at this academy and she's just like she calls
on her fire sword and just like lunges at him yeah not not a good not a good opening.
(38:51):
So yeah she takes out Devarar and tries to like stab him but she runs into an invisible
barrier that she can't pierce and so she's like okay maybe it's the magic sword so she
takes out like daggers and tries the same thing and she's like on top of Dracula on
the ground and he's on a totally different page because he's like into it right like
(39:13):
he's into her and Alina feels that as soon as she's on on top of him like feeling the
physical closeness then she's like oh fuck I'm kind of turned on right now why am I so
turned on I should want to kill this person.
Yeah and she's also having like why is it so hard for me to kill him physically because
he has this invisible barrier but she also has like grief about it.
(39:34):
Right like she doesn't like the thought of killing him makes her want to cry through
the the smut that she wants to do or I guess the sex that she wants to have.
So she tries to fight through these mixed emotions still tries to kill him and Drake
asks like why are you trying to kill me and she tells him it's because he ordered the
(39:56):
slaughter of my family dumbass and she pleads to know like why she can't kill him like what
is this barrier I keep running into and I just picture her comically like stabbing
against the barrier that like pokes his skin and he tells her quote faded mates can never
kill each other Alina.
This is what I was feeling because like the barrier I thought it was just because he was
(40:21):
so like old and powerful powerful you just can't kill me obviously but the way he talks
is so endearing because she pulls out the daggers is like trying to stab him and he
like you said is just like why are you trying to hurt me like I truly don't understand
why you're attacking me right now like me is not trying to defend himself like he's
(40:43):
just laying there.
Right let me see if I can find the actual like line because it's pretty fucking funny.
It's so funny and then the reveal the reveal.
He says quote why are you distraught over this revelation Alina it's a wondrous moment
(41:04):
that so few ever get to experience in all my centuries of life I've searched relentlessly
for the queen of my board and I finally found you and quote which like if somebody said
that to me I'd be like okay I know me too and that the way you delivered it is how I
heard it in my head like I finally found you just like calm and collected yeah like why
(41:25):
are you trying to hurt me beloved why does this bring you stress my beloved oh my god
it's just like I the end of my notes said say dead I'm dying I'm dead I died I'm not
here anymore like this book and it's so good like I and full disclosure like I finished
(41:47):
this book we have another fucking book to read on our schedule I am like 80% of the
way through book two so we updated our schedule to fit in book two of this book because it's
so fucking good.
It's so good and like so the fated mates can never kill each other Alina he breathed out
and the last line is and with those words my soul died I still want to start the second
(42:15):
book immediately and just be like I could just probably read it by tomorrow and then
start the yeah yeah I mean it's a fast read it's fine it's like 370 pages it's nothing
how hard can it be
(42:42):
alright girl let's get into our readings yes so how do we rate the spice level we both
gave it a four which is interesting I gave it a four and I actually didn't really expect
you to primarily because we only get one scene and they don't even have sex no penetrative
(43:03):
sex yeah to be clear did you have sex and so I as usual I want I wanted more but the
scene was just so good and so like well detailed we get all the things we like like before
detailed the emotion it was a really good representation of that Dom sub relationship
(43:24):
and even throughout all that we get the or within their kind of that this is why you're
obsessed with each other even though it's been all of 48 hours in the fated mates thing
this kind of gets into other ratings but I had no problem with the fated mates I usually
don't like fated mates so I was just like I'm here for all of this which I think is
(43:47):
saying something it's it's for sure saying something because usually that's not my jam
I just it's it would be a five for me if we had one more scene on a sense all I needed
yeah same and I also want to say that like we we will like knock a spice rating if it's
(44:09):
like not well written or if there's like actually not any sex at all but like it definitely
helps the rating like even though we had one scene because all of the sexual tension and
angst between Lincoln and Alina and Alina and Andre is just so good like there's a
lot of will they won't they which is just amazing and a lot of the internal monologues
(44:30):
we get from all parties are really steamy so even though they're not acting on it like
this whole boy they want to it's just 400 pages of sexual tension yeah yeah which is
great and somehow that doesn't get boring no I didn't get bored with it at all yeah
so then let's go into writing style and we both rated that as three and it really just
(44:57):
comes down to the editing stuff right like there were several just like the words were
not the right words to be using yeah using there the most recent one I read was the line
was like and his pupils dilated to pinpricks I'm like that's not dilation that's constricting
(45:21):
mm-hmm but but okay and like so there's there's a few of those yeah so like just just one more
pass with the edits would have been great but like the actual style of the writing is
very good it's very snappy like it's it's very accessible it's you fly through this
book I mean it's almost 300 pages and usually we kind of bitch about like how long 300 pages
(45:47):
can actually feel you don't feel it in this book which I think is no worth noting yeah
it flies it's very hard to put down there's not a lot of there's no this gets a little
bit to the next one so I'll save it so let's get into quality of storytelling how did we
write that we both also gave that a three I think what made it a three for me and not
(46:08):
a four is there are some things I don't like like we visit a whole bunch of places and
get zero descriptions of any of them any of them we don't have a map which is also kind
of a bummer it also it's not so much that it takes place over the span of three days
(46:30):
but that does kind of bother me but the time line is so cramped and so it forces us to
spend every minute with them but none of those minutes feel wasted so like that's what I
was gonna kind of say in writing style is that there's not there are no conversations
that I feel like didn't need to happen I just wish that they had been spaced out over I
(46:52):
don't know a month yeah no I totally understand what you're saying and I agree because like
I don't feel like there were many scenes in this that needed to be edited out I'm struggling
to think of even one example but it does feel her saying I want to introduce myself yeah
just no one did that that's not a writing thing I'm just like but it's the complete
(47:14):
disregard of her wishes I do think it's interesting though that like to people that matter to
her she does introduce herself so like she introduced herself to Andre she introduces
herself to Alexandra that's true I don't remember if she introduced herself to Dracula
or not or if Esther did that for her Esther did it for her actually I think Lincoln does
(47:38):
it because Dracula says like oh it's nice to meet you miss and she's just staring and
I think Lincoln is like this is Alina Van Helsing since she clearly can't speak for herself
right now or like something snarky like that oh my god yeah thanks again Lincoln Jesus Christ
(47:59):
but anyway yeah no I do feel like it is kind of a weird choice to make it happen over like
less than a week like three days like when you very clearly could have clearly spaced
it out like you could have had like a one line fixer of like you know it took me a couple
of weeks to get my bearings and I didn't really get to interact with people but Andre and
I seem to be kind of friends and I saw Alexandra a couple of times like that's yeah a sentence
(48:22):
right because just to put a finer point on this I think it's been three days because
she's been to one class and that was combat training she was in detention for the rest
of the other day and then the next day she just had like okay she had two classes that
she wouldn't do and mentoring which ended up where she ended up giving her mentor a
blow job like and where you mentor a blow job and then this is the third day like it
has been 72 hours yeah that just feels tight nice and tight which is how they like it
(48:52):
yeah but um yeah so I think that with just like a couple of other questions that I have
about like how does the school point system work like why does nobody else seem to think
that it's like why is no why are we unclear on whether or not she can actually be top
of the class in a year like what the fuck does Slayers do actually yeah yeah kind of
(49:15):
the political background I'd like to know more on and it sounds like Slayers are just
hard-earners it sounds like Slayers are like real hardcore preppers that like did sovereign
state bullshit on in Montana or something and so people just kind of leave them alone
but like don't take them seriously yeah and no one's like hiring them like they're just
(49:40):
kind of trying to eliminate all the vampires for no reason than the fact that they don't
like them right like okay cool because the vampires seem well controlled as far as I
can tell yeah they seem fine they're your government so why are you here anyway yeah
anyway so we gave it a three so you get a three do we recommend this book yes yes go
(50:08):
read it right now go read it right now it'll take five minutes it's one of my favorite
books that we've read and I hated it in the first chapter because of the whole like roses
are red violets of blue like that you hated that so much I know there's one other line
that kind of gave that same vibe but I didn't hate it as much I actually highlighted it and
(50:29):
it's after all a girl has to keep it classy not trashy which is a little bit nasty and
I was like okay why are we here people don't talk like this no it's fucking weird but I
(50:50):
don't even know where I was going with that it's okay it's so much better than it seems
like it's gonna be totally totally totally all right guys we did it those are our thoughts
on bites of loyalty by RL Calder thank you as always for joining us on this journey let
us know what you thought you can find us on the socials we are now only on tiktok and
(51:11):
good reads and of course on patreon so if you like our podcast and want more consider becoming
a patron because we release patreon exclusive episodes there on our off weeks and if you
really really like us drop us a review wherever you listen and until next time we'll see
ya bye繁' excited about it
Hey friends, Liz here to invite you to check out our Patreon.
(00:04):
That's where we publish extra episodes every other week and that's also where we will
continue any series we're reading.
So if you liked our coverage of Akatar, Guild, High Mountain Court, or Fourth Wing, check
out our Patreon to continue those series along with us.
We also let you know what we're reading each month in advance in case you want to read along
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There might be a few other surprises throughout the year for our Patrons as well.
(00:26):
You can get all of this for just $3 a month, so check it out and we would really appreciate
the support.
Anyway, on to today's episode.
This book.
This fucking book.
(00:47):
I'm legitimately like 80% of the way through book 2.
Welcome to Your Saved Space, the podcast your partner friends, parents, whoever thinks
is dirty.
Don't have time to read books, want to understand the jokes in the tix-tox, we got you fam.
We're the spice traders and we deal in spicy books.
(01:08):
I'm Katie and I need it to make sense.
I'm Liz and I'm hypercritical.
As always, we start every episode with three things.
The first is a generic trigger warning.
You can find specific triggers for this book in our show notes, so please check those out.
Also we do use foul language and talk a lot about sex.
If you have sensitivity to any of this, please give this episode a skip.
Secondly, we talk about books.
(01:30):
The whole book, nothing but the books that helped me got us.
If you plan to read this book and don't want something spoiled right now, don't listen
to this episode.
Lastly, we acknowledge that a good book can hit you at the wrong time.
The views expressed in our discussion are our opinion and we absolutely don't want to
diminish the work and the talent of the authors in our community.
That said, we have some notes.
(01:54):
All right, so Katie, what are we talking about today?
Today we are talking about part two of the Bite of Loyalty by R.L.
Calder.
So this is part two of two.
If you didn't listen to part one or read the book, do one of those things.
(02:15):
This part is going to cover chapters 10 plus and then at the end of this episode we will
do our ratings like we usually do.
And whoa, buckle up.
I've got four pages of notes but I feel like this is still going to be a pretty girthy
ep because we got so much that happened.
So let's jump in.
(02:36):
Let's jump right in.
One thing I want to talk about at the start because especially coming off of the Royally
Not Ready, I feel compelled to say that Bite of Loyalty also happens within the span of
a week.
Okay, I also have that comparison.
(02:57):
I don't even know if it's a full week.
It feels like 72 hours.
Yeah, it's not a long time.
No, but I did.
I'll probably say this when we get there, but there is a like not BDSM, but the submission
(03:17):
domination sort of play that we get.
And in Bite of Loyalty, it's a much more, I mean, okay, there are other sides of this,
the relationship that we're going to talk about that is not healthy, but it's a much
more healthy portrayal of what that's supposed to be than what we got in Royally Not Ready.
It's that and I just really appreciate that even though Alina and our other characters
(03:40):
like say that they have this obsession, they will in the same breath say that I know that's
crazy because it's been two days.
Like I'm aware and they're not trying to gaslight you as readers into thinking this is normal.
Exactly.
And which is wild that we didn't see the Fated Meets thing coming.
At least I didn't because it makes sense when they're giving you this like I'm obsessed.
(04:01):
I don't know why.
It just like didn't occur to me that it was going to be a Fated Meets situation.
No.
No, not at all.
I didn't know until I was told.
But I think that also has to do with like the reverse harem thing because like very often
you'll read a reverse harem where it's like people are just obsessed capital O obsessed
for like not Fated Meets reasons.
(04:23):
Yes.
Agreed.
So I think that's where my head was at.
But yeah, the Fated Meets thing.
I knew when I was told.
And I knew when I was told.
And I was here for the reveal.
Like I was too.
It was and it was okay.
Okay.
Let's just get into it.
(04:43):
So we can talk about it later.
Cause it's at the very end guys.
So buckle up.
So we see Alina in combat training first thing.
She wears the leather outfit that Lincoln had left for her at the end of part one and she
gets to the gym early, but of course Lincoln has beat her to it.
Apparently he's a morning person.
He is running the obstacle course flawlessly and Alina makes no bones about watching him.
(05:06):
I also just I think look, I'm not here to like critique this book and the world building
very hard, but it does fall into the category of like we all have combat training for seemingly
no reason.
(05:27):
Yeah.
So in preparation, this is relevant in preparation for reading on a storm.
I was going back and listening to our coverage of fourth wing and I made all of the parallels
to Divergent and how angry I was in that book and like, holy shit, I chose some serious
violence for like the first half of the book.
(05:49):
Yeah, you did.
Sorry.
I'm so sorry.
So it brought back the combat training thing where I'm just like, what?
I mean, it makes sense for it to happen in all of these books, but it's just it's a trope
now to have combat training.
Yeah.
I mean, kind of like fourth wing, I think is a good example of like, you're a country
(06:12):
at war.
Like that's an Israel situation.
Like everybody's inscripted.
It makes sense.
In sanguish in a bite of loyalty.
Like what is the threat here?
And all of these vampires are just going to be like board members of like, like, yeah,
like, yeah, they're not mercenaries.
(06:35):
They're not military.
Like we haven't even been told about a military, if we're being honest, like you have Dracula
and his like board of directors.
Like that's the ruling body.
And there's no threat except for the slayers.
So it's a defense class.
Yeah.
I mean, like, I just fine.
(06:57):
It's tropey.
I know what it's here for.
I just had to bring that up because I'm just like, okay, I know, I know.
I do like how it plays out, but this book does also kind of fall in the fatal flaw of
she's fully out of school, but it takes place in two places.
Combat room and the cafeteria is like the whole book.
(07:18):
I know.
Well, and like it goes back to what I said in part one, like we spend a lot of time.
So I think like to put a finer point on it, it happened.
There's a lot of different places she goes to on campus and we get descriptions of none
of those places, zero of those places.
I'm I was this again comes at the end, but I brought this up in the first part where
I kind of was led to believe that the cafeteria had all animal blood and it was like bear
(07:43):
and sheep and like monkey.
But no, there's like different fridges and one is animal blood.
Right.
And so like generic animal blood.
Also, I don't know.
I'm not a vampire, but you would think they wouldn't want to drink cold blood.
Ew.
Yeah.
(08:03):
Ew.
Fucking gross.
Why did you say that?
I'm really sorry.
I'm just saying that to make you like that's and shit like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because then it starts to have the consistency of like those baby like applesauce pouches
that my daughter currently uses to eat a lot of food like the gogo squeezes.
(08:30):
I couldn't get past it.
And so I'm really sorry that I also traumatized you seeing as you had not thought of that.
But like, I appreciate you.
I just, I needed you to know.
So anyway, back to Cheap Begin Stretching and as soon join slash interrupted by Andre, who
(08:53):
does the thing that like weird guys do at the gym where they like stand too close and
then just wait for you to say something.
But somehow it's endearing with Andre.
I don't don't ask me to explain that.
There's so many things about Andre that are endearing where he should really just be disgusting.
And I'm like, okay, though.
Yeah.
So Alina says quote, I'd ask if there was something I could help you with, but we both
(09:17):
know I helped you more than enough last night.
If you get on your knees for me, I'll forget about you being a peeping Tom.
Throwing his words right back at him.
Oh yeah.
So Andre laughs at this and they actually fall into an easy banter after that.
And so he sits down next to her and they both start stretching, which of course Lincoln
(09:39):
does not like.
And neither does Maya, who soon joins them with the rest of their class.
And Maya immediately tries to warn Alina off Andre like he's taken.
He's not interested.
And they're just like, wow, we were literally just stretching next to each other.
Can you cool it?
Maya is pansy Parkinson to Andre's Draco.
(09:59):
Yeah.
But like, like more can in pansy Parkinson because like fanfic pansy Parkinson is cool.
Yes, exactly.
I mean, like the cannon pansy Parkinson, it was like hanging all over him when like they're
not a thing, but she thinks they're a thing.
Uh-huh.
But the fanfic pansy is one of my favorites.
(10:19):
I am really desperate.
Are there any stalkers on my ground?
So when Lincoln starts the class, he tells them that they have a new student and a special
one at that.
He introduces Alina Van Helsing, who has made it her mission to be top of the class in one
year.
Again, is this possible?
We don't know.
But he challenges the rest of the class to be as motivated as she is.
(10:43):
Alina sees it as outing her.
And of course, in her ridiculous leather outfit, she sticks out like a sore fucking thumb even
more.
But she rises to the occasion and basically tells the entire class to bring it on.
Also do things here.
She made one request of, I don't remember her name, but essentially the headmistress
(11:03):
and that was, I would like to introduce myself at Will.
She disregarded that.
And then Lincoln fully disregards that.
Just like, cool.
So why you can make that a point earlier?
My second thing is how did you not see that this outfit was so clearly a trap, which we
said in part one, but like, ma'am.
(11:25):
What are you thinking possibly?
I don't know.
So they get paired into sparring partners.
And of course, Maya and Alina are paired.
And Alina makes a fool of Maya pretty quickly.
She easily pins Maya to the mat and breaks her wrist.
She then starts going into blood lust, but someone bodily removes her from Maya, throwing
(11:47):
Alina against the wall.
Both Andre and Lincoln run to Alina to check in on her.
And Lincoln gives her a blood bag to help her recover.
He remarks that as he's suspected, Alina is still not operating at her full power, but
he adds that since she didn't adhere to the rules and let Maya up when she tapped out,
Alina now has detention.
So detention in this school basically prevents a student from attending the rest of their
(12:09):
classes for the day and thus missing out on the points that they would have accrued.
So Alina goes immediately to detention, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Which felt like, again, a trap.
Yeah, well, I also, so okay.
My inner feedback.
I really wish I understood more about the points situation because if Alina really wants
(12:36):
to be at the top of her class, shouldn't she have mapped this shit out?
How many points could I possibly, I guess we're different people.
We are different people.
And the other thing that I just felt kind of weak about this whole scene is that we
get her destroying Maya so cool.
But like he set her up to go to detention with the outfit.
(12:59):
Why not have sent her to detention immediately?
Why even let her have this first fight?
Right.
Like she's already in violation.
There's no consequences for that, it seems.
Exactly.
And then we have this scene because like, oh, you could be stronger if you drank more blood,
but also no one has told her anything about like how much she needs to eat or like how
often.
(13:19):
So like you're showing me how strong she is and showing me how pathetic Maya is.
But like, okay, you just want to get into detention.
Like, come on.
I want to talk about detention because a what the fuck be?
Why is this detention?
I don't know.
(13:40):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So let's get to detention.
So she basically goes to this room in the administration building, which I don't know where that is,
but whatever.
And she has to sit there alone and like basically reflect on how she can better keep her emotions
on lock.
And ostensibly she would just do that for the rest of the day, but there's no like,
there's no moderator.
(14:01):
Like that's the word.
Like no one's watching, you know.
So it's really just like an honor system detention, which makes no fucking sense.
But then, okay.
Okay.
But then also the thing about detention too, just very, very much reads like a below 18
kind of crowd.
Yes.
(14:21):
As was like college, which is what this is.
Like if you were disruptive in college, like you would just get dismissed from the class.
Exactly.
And if they're working on a point system, wouldn't she just lose points, like go negative?
Right.
Like why do you have to actively go to detention?
That doesn't make any fucking sense.
No, the detention thing felt very plot contrivy.
(14:42):
Yeah.
Like how do we make these two people meet?
Hmm.
When they could have just met at the party, but okay.
Okay.
It's fine.
Yeah.
It's fine.
So, okay.
So she's in detention, right?
And then another student shows up and this person has white blonde hair and lavender eyes.
Again with the fucking eyes.
There are other colors.
(15:02):
There are other colors.
As she enters, this person looks terrified and Alina can't help but wonder how she could
have ever earned a spot in detention.
We learn pretty quickly that this person's name is Alexandra.
So you might remember that name from her being the other special entrance student that Estrid
was drawn to.
And she tells Alina that she almost smoked someone with her powers and that's why she's
(15:23):
in detention.
Oops.
Whoopsie.
But we don't know what she is.
No, we don't.
So Alina introduces herself and ends up telling Alexandra all about what happened to her,
which brings up a whole host of emotions that Alexandra ends up helping Alina through.
Almost to the point where Alina doesn't know what's happening.
She feels like she isn't in control of what she's feeling and saying.
(15:49):
And Alexandra says, you know, I'm not doing anything and whatever you shared, like you
wanted to.
Yeah.
So she goes on to say that Alina doesn't have to be alone because Alexandra knows exactly
how terrible that is and she's been alone her entire life.
She invites Alina to a party happening later that evening and they leave detention as new
(16:11):
found.
Hopefully friends.
They're not really friends yet.
They're acquaintances, but they both like, think each other are cool and want to be friends.
Yeah.
They both don't want to be alone.
But what do you think happened here?
So I mean, I've read book two.
So kind of spoilers.
(16:32):
But it has to do with the kind of power that she has.
Okay.
So was it intentional or she just can't control her power?
She wasn't aware of it at the time.
Oh, okay.
Got it.
But I think so Alexandra is in the demon sector.
So she's like classified as a demon technically, I guess.
But she also has like five dudes in a harem.
(16:55):
So I feel like I haven't confirmed this, but I feel like she might have her own book that
intersects with her.
She does.
I saw that at the end of this book.
It links to both Bex and Alexandra as having her own books.
Yeah.
Cause we meet, we meet Bex like briefly and I didn't even write it down because I was
just like, that's weird.
Yeah.
(17:16):
We need it really briefly, but that's, it's like the very last page of the book is like,
you want to read about the other characters we've met?
Click here.
Yeah.
Okay.
That's cool.
I like that.
Yeah.
I like that too.
So we do get more information about Alexandra in Alina's story in book two, but we don't
find anything else about her.
Also, I just realized that it makes sense they have their own books because this author
(17:39):
has like those chunks series that seem like they all take place in the same world.
That's probably these guys.
Yeah, probably these guys.
Yeah.
Anyway, as Alina leaves Alexandra, she remarks to us inwardly quote, Alex made it too easy
to think I deserved forgiveness.
Oh, poor baby.
So then we get another yield perspective shift to Andre, who's sitting in class and grading
(18:01):
under the attention of Maya.
He tells us internally that he had sex with her once and since then she's acted like she
owns him.
He realizes that one act was a mistake and he regrets it terribly.
He tells us that beyond her entitled heirs, she basically bought her way into the school,
which is something that Andre can't stand.
He's a strong reward for achievement type.
(18:22):
Oh, I respect.
Yeah.
Alina, on the other hand, he's infatuated with and it doesn't bother him at all that
she used to be a slayer.
As the class ends, he tells Maya to leave him alone and as they exit the class, he hears
the professor say something snide about Alina who is absent due to detention.
So Andre takes it upon himself to stay behind and tell the professor that if he ever utters
(18:44):
Alina's name again, Andre will sick his father on him, which is very big mouth boy vibes.
Very big mouth boy vibes.
Wait until my father is about this.
So in the hallway, Alina is there surrounded by her peers who are jeering at her, calling
(19:06):
her a bitch.
She encourages them to expand their vocabulary just as Andre walks up to her.
He asks Alina when she's going to let in between her legs and she says that if he goes to the
party later that night, he can try to earn it, but no promises.
Back at the cafeteria, Alina runs into Maya again who tries to throw a punch at her, but
(19:28):
Alina pins her to the floor again, one of Maya's friends intervenes very ineffectively, but
before things can escalate too far, Lincoln arrives and breaks up the fight.
Maya accuses Alina of attacking her and when Lincoln asks whether that's true, Alina tells
him quote, sir, I would never do anything that would result in you punishing me.
I learned my lesson earlier.
(19:53):
So she knows that this will get under Lincoln's skin and it does, but rather than react in
the moment, he tells everyone to beat it and be responsible because anyone hung over the
next day will not get special treatment.
And to Alina, the fact that teachers know about the party takes the mystique out of
the whole thing, but she decides to still go anyway if only to work through the sexual
tension she's been feeling for Andre.
I do like her.
(20:16):
I just want to stir up trouble and now I'm kind of bummed that I'm not going to get
in trouble for going to this party.
Right.
I also didn't realize it until I was reading my notes back, but like, Maya literally gets
her ass handed to her like in the morning and then like still tries to pick a fight
with Alina in the afternoon.
I'm like, you're a glutton for punishment.
(20:38):
And then the very next day she gets her ass handed to her again.
At some point, Alina tells us that she starts feeling bad about handing Maya's ass to her,
but like Maya keeps coming back for more.
Exactly like you're not seeking her out.
She is putting herself in your way.
Therefore.
(20:58):
Yeah, you just got to defend yourself, right?
Free game.
So as Alina gets ready for the party, the reality of her situation starts to sink in a little
bit more than she's comfortable with.
She thinks about the usual rhythm she would have fallen into with Jade and Skye if the
three of them were going out.
There would be music, mystery and makeup, but there's none of those things there with
(21:22):
her now.
So she freshens up a little and heads out to the party alone.
As soon as she's outside though, Lincoln has her against the wall by her throat, which
was just like, what a way to say hello.
She likes it.
She likes it.
Alina is still salty about him outing her though to the whole class, so she gives him
no quarter.
(21:43):
She tells us that by him outing her, it felt like he had let her down and his antics this
time make her skin crawl.
As she pushes away from him and walks away, he calls after her, so she turns on him and
tells him, quote, I keep making excuses for why I should give this toxic thing between
us any of my time.
The truth is, if I wasn't fucking broken inside, I would never have entertained you after you
(22:03):
made your disgust for who I was blatantly obvious in Estrid's office.
Ruth.
Yeah.
Which I thought was a pretty strong like expression.
It was.
It was very strong.
So Lincoln admits to her that he wants her out of the academy so she doesn't get hurt,
to which she asks, quote, so what?
(22:25):
You tell everyone exactly who I am, so they'll ask me over to braid my fucking hair and paint
my nails.
The entire sector turned their wrath on me.
So yeah, obviously your reasoning makes perfect fucking sense, Lincoln.
I love this dude because like Lincoln doesn't know the reasons he's doing what he's doing,
but her being like, no, I refuse to accept this.
(22:45):
It makes no sense.
And you can't tell me otherwise.
Right.
And labeling the behavior for the toxicity that it is.
And when I contrast that to like Royally Not Ready, right, like we just drove right past
any of the toxicity to the point where like that main character, the female main character,
I forget her name, was like actively trying to like anticipate a swage, like soothe the
(23:09):
toxicity from the male main character.
And I was like, oh girl, that is not worth your time.
No, not at all.
And I really love that we have that here of like, I'm not, I'm not entertaining this.
Yeah, because Alina is essentially like, you better come correct when you talk to me, otherwise
forget about it.
Get out of here.
Like I have a hard enough time thinking about entertaining this in the first place.
(23:32):
The rest is up to you.
Right.
So Lincoln tells Alina that he knew that it didn't matter whether he outed her or someone
else because she would always be unashamedly herself, which is ultimately what is such
a turn on for him.
And like somehow this does it for her and they end up kissing and like it's a little
bit of hate kissing, right?
So it's not like she melted for him or whatever.
(23:56):
But as they kiss their fangs come out and they accidentally nip each other's lips and
exchange blood.
Whoops.
Oopsies.
And this causes both of them to experience a searing pain on the back of their necks.
And then for a moment, Alina can hear Lincoln in her head, but instead of explaining what
might be happening, Lincoln just runs away and leaves her alone.
(24:21):
He has no idea how to process his emotions.
No, not at all.
And Alina even says that, which I appreciate.
She's like, well, clearly he's not emotionally mature enough to deal with this, so I'm going
to go get drunk.
Exactly.
I, there's so many.
I'm going to go out and highlight it in this book because even though this takes place
(24:41):
in the span of like all of four days, I really like the way that she calls up the toxicity.
There's a line later and it doesn't really spoil it now, but a character jumps to conclusions
and we'll get there.
And she says like, he could have just asked me a couple questions and we say that all
the time we get the miscommunication troops.
Like just ask a follow up.
Right.
(25:01):
I really appreciate it to have a character that's like, just ask a follow up question
and we could have avoided all of this.
Right.
Like you're part of the problem, dude.
You're part of my story.
Exactly.
So this reaction from Lincoln immediately makes Alina regret letting him in in the slightest.
(25:22):
So like I said, she goes to the party in search of a stiff drink.
The whole time she's there, she starts looking for Alexandra, but she ultimately doesn't
see her.
So she loses herself in dancing and has a couple of drinks until she feels it.
During one of these times when she's in line for a drink, she learns about Alexandra's
friend, Alora, and learns that she's the daughter of the Queen of Hell, who we learned earlier
(25:43):
in the book, united hell and created a polycule with the seven princes of hell, which like
sign me up for that story.
Am I right?
I need that story.
Absolutely.
And I was good on this offer because I feel like she delivers.
Yes.
Anyway, when Alina has a good alcohol blanket on, she decides to go and find Andre.
(26:07):
He's with a gaggle of other vampires playing essentially beer pong, but Alina suggests
that they find somewhere more private and he immediately is like, wherever you want
to go, let's do it.
Let's go, baby cakes.
So then they find a secluded spot and end up sitting together and flirting.
But when Andre sweeps aside Alina's hair, he sees a mate mark on the back of her neck
and freaks the fuck out.
(26:28):
He loses every modicum of cool.
Yeah.
Like he goes zero to a hundred really quick.
Yeah.
And Alina has no idea what's happening, but when Andre tells her that there's a mark
on her neck and it means that she's swapped blood with her mate, she immediately understands
what happened and is crushed.
She's also crushed by Andre's reaction and not asking a single fucking follow up question,
(26:52):
just assuming the worst about her.
She can't reconcile why she can still feel so strongly about Andre if Lincoln is her
true mate.
And I'm like, girl, I have some ideas about that.
Whoever could guess that maybe you have multiple mates in this year, a reverse harem story.
And to reiterate, Andre goes zero to a hundred basically thinking that like she's just been
(27:16):
manipulating him the whole time and is pretending.
And I again, appreciated a character that calls him out where she's like, dude, I wasn't
raised a vampire.
I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
Right.
Like, this is not a thing.
Oh yeah.
This is not a thing that I've ever heard of.
Right.
(27:37):
Oh yeah.
I'm an asshole, which I appreciate.
He also owned that pretty quickly in his own head because like she leaves, but yeah, I
did too.
So Alina leaves the party and spends the rest of the night alone in the morning when she
goes to the cafeteria.
Maya Ryals her by saying that Andre came back and fucked her all night.
Alina has a very visceral reaction to that idea, but quickly realizes that Andre wouldn't
(27:59):
do that.
She tells Maya that she's pathetic and Maya still won't take the hint.
She tries to attack Alina.
So Alina cold clocks her right in the fucking face.
As she leaves, she tells the bystanders quote, someone to let this bitch know that I'm tired
of kicking her ass.
I'm actually starting to feel bad about it.
Because this is the third time in 24 hours that she has handed Maya her ass.
(28:25):
Which like Maya, like regroup, come up with a better fucking plan.
Right.
Like, I get that they have super healing so she doesn't continue to suffer for a while,
but you gotta be embarrassed, right?
You gotta be embarrassed.
And if, if you're not like your friend should be like telling you that you should stop.
(28:46):
Yeah.
So on her way to class, Andre tries to talk to Alina, but she avoids him.
When she arrives for her mentoring session, it's with Lincoln because of course it is.
And he's been training and he's hot and sweaty.
He is the last person that Alina wants to see, but her body reacts to him all the same.
They go back and forth, but ultimately end up canoodling.
(29:08):
Alina tells him quote, I'm not asking for forever.
I'm asking you to make me forget about the rest of the world while it's just you and
me in these four walls.
So he obliges.
And we start with a great blow job scene and then we end with him going down on her.
And when they're both stated, he uses his vamp speed to take them back to his room.
(29:30):
So okay, the scene was great, except I couldn't get past the gym shorts thing.
I couldn't get past the gym shorts thing either.
Like it just comparing this in a couple ways, which I will to royally not ready.
It brought up the like boxer briefs thing where I'm like, why are you giving me this
much detail?
Yeah, I don't need to know that.
(29:51):
Like I would have preferred it to be sweatpants.
Honestly, honestly, that would be fine.
But the other thing that I did like in here, I think we called it out or you called it
out in the first part where typically Lincoln calls her Spitfire, but occasionally he's
called her princess, which was a bummer originally.
And I still kind of hated it for like throughout this whole scene because he switches from
(30:12):
Spitfire to princess for the whole scene.
And it's very much that like domination submission thing, but his internal monologue, I don't
know if it's here later, but it doesn't really matter.
It's like within this chunk of time is talking about like I always thought something was
wrong with me because I wanted to get women to submit to me.
(30:35):
But now I see that she's not really submitting.
She's like giving me the like trust to take care of her.
And I'm like, yeah, because that's how it's supposed to work.
Right.
Exactly.
And he also makes the distinction of like I only call her princess in those situations
to like signal that that's like what we're entering into.
Exactly.
Like he goes to, they get to the next step.
(30:58):
He brings her to his room and goes to call her princess and then stops.
Yeah.
And in his internal monologue is very much like that doesn't fit her unless we're in
that scene.
So again, very much a scene, like a playtime scene.
And that made princess not so bad for me because it's like a little bit of the time
that she's in the derogatory, which like she's into.
Yeah, I totally agree.
(31:18):
I was, I was back into princess like on the princess train with that dynamic.
Yeah.
It made sense in that dynamic.
And I was like, all right, all right, cool.
Yeah.
Um, just a couple more things about this scene.
It's got all of the things that we like, like it's specific.
It's got the like emotional connection and communication thing, which I love.
(31:41):
And like, even though it's the submissive, like a little bit of a toxic dynamic, I still
thought it was a healthy scene because like he made sure that she got hers and then also
did the aftercare thing.
Yeah.
He did all the steps.
And even with the pushing, like we get a little bit of like knife play here.
Oh yeah.
I forgot about that.
(32:02):
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Um, but we get still like that repeated consent every step of the way.
Like he lets her like still run like how far he can push it.
Right.
Yeah.
So you get that dumb sub thing, but like he says, like, I'm not taking control of this.
Like we are equal partners in this.
(32:23):
And it shows that really well.
Yeah.
I agree.
I super agree.
Yeah.
He full on holds a knife to her throat.
So yeah.
There's a little bit of blood play.
I mean, obviously it's vampires, but like different because of the knife situation.
But not quite hunting out of line with the gun.
So I was here for this.
No, there's the scale and that's not it's nowhere near.
(32:46):
Hunting out.
Oh, hell.
So they're back in his room and he's like holding Alina because he like carried her
back there.
And when he goes to like sit her on his bed, she bakes him not to leave her, which makes
him feel like the real piece of shit that he is because yeah, you were in that one.
But yeah, you shouldn't feel like a piece of shit.
(33:07):
So he lies on the bed with her and just holds her.
He tells her that he's not leaving and will be there for however she needs him to be.
He knows he fucked up and hopes to one day be the person that she can confide in, which
was a good fucking apology.
Yes.
It was really good.
He made up for it very quickly.
Like just I can't stop comparing specifically the Royalee not ready because like in that
(33:31):
book we talked about how every single time whatever his fucking name was fuckface dude
tried to apologize or like entered into an apology adjacent territory.
He just talked about how like shitty he felt and didn't really actually ever apologize
for like making her feel bad or like not like keeping up his end of the bargain or like
(33:53):
anything like that.
And like Lincoln in this scene really hits all of the highlights.
He says, I know I fucked up.
I know I left you when you needed me and made you feel like shit and I know I have to earn
that back and so I'm here for however you need me to be.
Great.
I love that.
It's great.
It's a perfect model for an apology.
Correct.
(34:15):
So the next day Alina goes down to the cafeteria but finds that the animal blood fridge is
completely empty.
So she runs to find Lincoln but when she does she finds him and Andre locked in a battle
presumably over her.
So when she can't get their attention she strips and yells that she's naked and that
does the trick beautifully.
(34:35):
Was a wild choice but it works.
Such a wild choice.
She tells Lincoln about the problem with the fridge and the lack of sustenance.
And so while the three of them figure out what to do and I have to add here that she
does put her clothes back on but they are quickly joined slash interrupted by Estrid
and Dracula of all people.
(34:58):
And I don't know if it was like here or when they Estrid actually introduces Dracula but
this is when I texted Liz and said Drake is Dracula.
I'm dead.
I'm dying.
I'm dead.
You're going to have to cover the part two without me because I, wow I did not see this
coming.
I didn't see this coming at all and I was tying over your text messages.
(35:22):
Like I had made that prediction but like I didn't really think.
I was like wouldn't it be interesting if and then a few hours later I get that text and
I couldn't handle you're like you're going to have to do this on your own.
I've died.
It's rare that a book these days makes me feel giddy but I was literally like you see
(35:44):
the TikToks where it's like oh kicking my feet up in the air because I'm giddy.
Like this book got me really fucking close.
This same.
So to be fair you spoiled this for me and I was not the least bit mad about it because
your delivery was so fucking good.
But then even knowing that Drake is Dracula I still didn't see the end of this book coming
(36:10):
and so that's where like I got the kick in my feet squeals.
Right.
Yeah.
I was like oh my god.
So yeah I don't know if I wasn't thinking critically about the story or what but yeah
Drake is Dracula so if you read the back jacket no spoilers I guess anyway.
So let's get into it.
(36:32):
Dracula is described as having ebony hair that slicked back with longer hair resting
on top and the sides shaved shorter.
He's got a three piece suit on that fits like a glove and to top it all off he has a perfectly
trimmed dark beard.
Alina tells his quote everything about him screamed money power and sex which like of
all of the three like this is the most my type.
(36:54):
Me too for sure.
Lincoln doesn't hasn't done it for me at all yet and Andre just still kind of feels
like a kid in some ways.
Andre just reminds me of all of the boys that we dated in high school.
Very much.
Anyway so Esther introduces Dracula Drake to Alina and he's immediately enchanted and
(37:17):
Alina doesn't get it.
She's like why are you treating me so nicely and pretending that you didn't slaughter
my entire family like what are we doing here.
Then Drake greets Lincoln and Andre and clearly knows them and though Alina is confused we
know that the three of them go way back.
Alina definitely clocks the attitude change with Andre though and is worried.
(37:37):
Esther tells them that Drake has a new place on his board that's opened up and Andre's
dad won't shut the fuck up about Andre so Drake is here to test the current students
and pick a board member.
Drake announces that he's going to start with Alina and Lincoln tries to stay like saying
oh she's a fledgling like she needs to be watched and Drake is like Pishposh applesauce
I'm ancient I can handle it.
(38:00):
Like was a good argument because Lincoln what are you going to do it's literally right
and he's also like I don't I don't want to be accused of like being unfair like everybody
should get the same treatment like no distractions like we're going to do this.
And we don't actually ever know how he intends to test the rest of the population because
as soon as everybody leaves Alina and Drake alone like Alina basically tries to kill him
(38:24):
immediately immediately.
And the thing that sets her off is like Drake is trying to keep the banter light and he
remarks quote of Van Helsing huh I'm sure there's an interesting story behind behind
how you became a vampire and a student at this academy and she's just like she calls
on her fire sword and just like lunges at him yeah not not a good not a good opening.
(38:51):
So yeah she takes out Devarar and tries to like stab him but she runs into an invisible
barrier that she can't pierce and so she's like okay maybe it's the magic sword so she
takes out like daggers and tries the same thing and she's like on top of Dracula on
the ground and he's on a totally different page because he's like into it right like
(39:13):
he's into her and Alina feels that as soon as she's on on top of him like feeling the
physical closeness then she's like oh fuck I'm kind of turned on right now why am I so
turned on I should want to kill this person.
Yeah and she's also having like why is it so hard for me to kill him physically because
he has this invisible barrier but she also has like grief about it.
(39:34):
Right like she doesn't like the thought of killing him makes her want to cry through
the the smut that she wants to do or I guess the sex that she wants to have.
So she tries to fight through these mixed emotions still tries to kill him and Drake
asks like why are you trying to kill me and she tells him it's because he ordered the
(39:56):
slaughter of my family dumbass and she pleads to know like why she can't kill him like what
is this barrier I keep running into and I just picture her comically like stabbing
against the barrier that like pokes his skin and he tells her quote faded mates can never
kill each other Alina.
This is what I was feeling because like the barrier I thought it was just because he was
(40:21):
so like old and powerful powerful you just can't kill me obviously but the way he talks
is so endearing because she pulls out the daggers is like trying to stab him and he
like you said is just like why are you trying to hurt me like I truly don't understand
why you're attacking me right now like me is not trying to defend himself like he's
(40:43):
just laying there.
Right let me see if I can find the actual like line because it's pretty fucking funny.
It's so funny and then the reveal the reveal.
He says quote why are you distraught over this revelation Alina it's a wondrous moment
(41:04):
that so few ever get to experience in all my centuries of life I've searched relentlessly
for the queen of my board and I finally found you and quote which like if somebody said
that to me I'd be like okay I know me too and that the way you delivered it is how I
heard it in my head like I finally found you just like calm and collected yeah like why
(41:25):
are you trying to hurt me beloved why does this bring you stress my beloved oh my god
it's just like I the end of my notes said say dead I'm dying I'm dead I died I'm not
here anymore like this book and it's so good like I and full disclosure like I finished
(41:47):
this book we have another fucking book to read on our schedule I am like 80% of the
way through book two so we updated our schedule to fit in book two of this book because it's
so fucking good.
It's so good and like so the fated mates can never kill each other Alina he breathed out
and the last line is and with those words my soul died I still want to start the second
(42:15):
book immediately and just be like I could just probably read it by tomorrow and then
start the yeah yeah I mean it's a fast read it's fine it's like 370 pages it's nothing
how hard can it be
(42:42):
alright girl let's get into our readings yes so how do we rate the spice level we both
gave it a four which is interesting I gave it a four and I actually didn't really expect
you to primarily because we only get one scene and they don't even have sex no penetrative
(43:03):
sex yeah to be clear did you have sex and so I as usual I want I wanted more but the
scene was just so good and so like well detailed we get all the things we like like before
detailed the emotion it was a really good representation of that Dom sub relationship
(43:24):
and even throughout all that we get the or within their kind of that this is why you're
obsessed with each other even though it's been all of 48 hours in the fated mates thing
this kind of gets into other ratings but I had no problem with the fated mates I usually
don't like fated mates so I was just like I'm here for all of this which I think is
(43:47):
saying something it's it's for sure saying something because usually that's not my jam
I just it's it would be a five for me if we had one more scene on a sense all I needed
yeah same and I also want to say that like we we will like knock a spice rating if it's
(44:09):
like not well written or if there's like actually not any sex at all but like it definitely
helps the rating like even though we had one scene because all of the sexual tension and
angst between Lincoln and Alina and Alina and Andre is just so good like there's a
lot of will they won't they which is just amazing and a lot of the internal monologues
(44:30):
we get from all parties are really steamy so even though they're not acting on it like
this whole boy they want to it's just 400 pages of sexual tension yeah yeah which is
great and somehow that doesn't get boring no I didn't get bored with it at all yeah
so then let's go into writing style and we both rated that as three and it really just
(44:57):
comes down to the editing stuff right like there were several just like the words were
not the right words to be using yeah using there the most recent one I read was the line
was like and his pupils dilated to pinpricks I'm like that's not dilation that's constricting
(45:21):
mm-hmm but but okay and like so there's there's a few of those yeah so like just just one more
pass with the edits would have been great but like the actual style of the writing is
very good it's very snappy like it's it's very accessible it's you fly through this
book I mean it's almost 300 pages and usually we kind of bitch about like how long 300 pages
(45:47):
can actually feel you don't feel it in this book which I think is no worth noting yeah
it flies it's very hard to put down there's not a lot of there's no this gets a little
bit to the next one so I'll save it so let's get into quality of storytelling how did we
write that we both also gave that a three I think what made it a three for me and not
(46:08):
a four is there are some things I don't like like we visit a whole bunch of places and
get zero descriptions of any of them any of them we don't have a map which is also kind
of a bummer it also it's not so much that it takes place over the span of three days
(46:30):
but that does kind of bother me but the time line is so cramped and so it forces us to
spend every minute with them but none of those minutes feel wasted so like that's what I
was gonna kind of say in writing style is that there's not there are no conversations
that I feel like didn't need to happen I just wish that they had been spaced out over I
(46:52):
don't know a month yeah no I totally understand what you're saying and I agree because like
I don't feel like there were many scenes in this that needed to be edited out I'm struggling
to think of even one example but it does feel her saying I want to introduce myself yeah
just no one did that that's not a writing thing I'm just like but it's the complete
(47:14):
disregard of her wishes I do think it's interesting though that like to people that matter to
her she does introduce herself so like she introduced herself to Andre she introduces
herself to Alexandra that's true I don't remember if she introduced herself to Dracula
or not or if Esther did that for her Esther did it for her actually I think Lincoln does
(47:38):
it because Dracula says like oh it's nice to meet you miss and she's just staring and
I think Lincoln is like this is Alina Van Helsing since she clearly can't speak for herself
right now or like something snarky like that oh my god yeah thanks again Lincoln Jesus Christ
(47:59):
but anyway yeah no I do feel like it is kind of a weird choice to make it happen over like
less than a week like three days like when you very clearly could have clearly spaced
it out like you could have had like a one line fixer of like you know it took me a couple
of weeks to get my bearings and I didn't really get to interact with people but Andre and
I seem to be kind of friends and I saw Alexandra a couple of times like that's yeah a sentence
(48:22):
right because just to put a finer point on this I think it's been three days because
she's been to one class and that was combat training she was in detention for the rest
of the other day and then the next day she just had like okay she had two classes that
she wouldn't do and mentoring which ended up where she ended up giving her mentor a
blow job like and where you mentor a blow job and then this is the third day like it
has been 72 hours yeah that just feels tight nice and tight which is how they like it
(48:52):
yeah but um yeah so I think that with just like a couple of other questions that I have
about like how does the school point system work like why does nobody else seem to think
that it's like why is no why are we unclear on whether or not she can actually be top
of the class in a year like what the fuck does Slayers do actually yeah yeah kind of
(49:15):
the political background I'd like to know more on and it sounds like Slayers are just
hard-earners it sounds like Slayers are like real hardcore preppers that like did sovereign
state bullshit on in Montana or something and so people just kind of leave them alone
but like don't take them seriously yeah and no one's like hiring them like they're just
(49:40):
kind of trying to eliminate all the vampires for no reason than the fact that they don't
like them right like okay cool because the vampires seem well controlled as far as I
can tell yeah they seem fine they're your government so why are you here anyway yeah
anyway so we gave it a three so you get a three do we recommend this book yes yes go
(50:08):
read it right now go read it right now it'll take five minutes it's one of my favorite
books that we've read and I hated it in the first chapter because of the whole like roses
are red violets of blue like that you hated that so much I know there's one other line
that kind of gave that same vibe but I didn't hate it as much I actually highlighted it and
(50:29):
it's after all a girl has to keep it classy not trashy which is a little bit nasty and
I was like okay why are we here people don't talk like this no it's fucking weird but I
(50:50):
don't even know where I was going with that it's okay it's so much better than it seems
like it's gonna be totally totally totally all right guys we did it those are our thoughts
on bites of loyalty by RL Calder thank you as always for joining us on this journey let
us know what you thought you can find us on the socials we are now only on tiktok and
(51:11):
good reads and of course on patreon so if you like our podcast and want more consider becoming
a patron because we release patreon exclusive episodes there on our off weeks and if you
really really like us drop us a review wherever you listen and until next time we'll see
ya bye繁' excited about it
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