I have been wrong before, and I will be wrong again (please don’t tell my husband) and I absolutely expected Carnage Island to be nothing but smut.  But of course, Lexi C. Foss had to take my preconceived notions and murder them violently.

It took me about 16% of the way through this book to realize it wasn’t all smut, and by then it was far too late. I was enraptured with the characters and actually laughing out loud at some of the things that were happening. (Side note, when you wake your husband up from laughing and you do not have a good reason behind it, he is a bit cranky.)  The story in the book centers around Clove, our rejected wolf.  When she finally gets the opportunity to shift and meet her wolf for the first time, it isn’t what she expected.  She is condemned to Carnage Island where she ultimately thinks she is going to die.

Obviously, that is not the case, or it would be a rather short novel.  She is thrown into the water in her wolf form, and almost drowns.  Then she is rescued by three men who want to help her.  Unfortunately, there is a bit of a twist in their plans, as she is the omega wolf they have been searching for.

I have read a few shifter novels at this point, and I found it interesting that the wolf the human shifts into, and the human, are not the same being. They are two different entities working together in the same body.  I found that to be interesting, and I kind of wish more had been devoted to explaining how that works, but it didn’t detract from the overall story.  As a matter of fact, the way Clove’s wolf prevented her from shifting back to protect her was incredibly interesting to me, and I appreciated it.  It was also intriguing to see that the different wolf clans in this book, were actually different.  It wasn’t just a clan name difference, but actual differences between the breeds of wolves.

One thing this book did incredibly well, is it had moments that focused on emotions.  Clove would try to hide her emotions, and would sometimes lie about them, and her three alphas forced her to confront those emotions and deal with them.  Maybe it isn’t the best way to deal with mental health, but I appreciated that at least some time was devoted to it.

As I said I did expect this book to be nothing but smut, and it did not end up that way, and honestly, I wish there had been a few more spicy scenes in this book. 

Overall – this was a good book that did not take super long to read at all.  If you want well developed characters, plots, and ideals, I would absolutely recommend picking this book up.  It is a darker novel though, and I would absolutely advice caution on whether or not you read it.

Plot – 8/10

Characters – 10/10

Originality –  8/10

General Joy of Reading – 8/10

Overall Score – 34/40

Carnage Island: A Rejected Mate Standalone Romance

Cost* –  $4.99.  This is included on Kindle Unlimited.

*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published