Grab Gladiatrix (Hybrid #6) Drafted By E. Jaye Edition

of the best books in the series in my opinion, we get to find out about some characters that we have only heard about before in a great setting.
It may seem odd to start reading the Hybrid series at BookGladiatrix but as it appeared to be a standalone I took the plunge and jumped in to the universe of humans, dakarans and garians.

It didnt take long to decide that the bad guys were the lizard like garians, They even seem to have it in for their own young as they operate an arena system of gladitorial combat to only get the smartest and fittest of their young to adulthood.
The rest are either killed by their opponents in the ring or by their own brethren in a bloody battle for supremacy,

Here we are introduced to Azrica, a female dakaran, She is the gladiatrix of the title and a slave of the garians forced into combat in the arena, Shes a most kickass heroine, There arent many people she doesnt want to kill, garian, human or her own kind, And the remainder shes happy to watch die as long as they take as many garians with them as they can,

The supporting cast of characters all come alive in this strange, combative world, Best of all is Hal, the stud slave, who if he isnt impregnating one of the female brood slaves is trying to, Hal provides some light relief in the bloody darkness of Azricas revenge driven world, Slavery, casual murder and sex are the only life the humans of the arena know, Emma Jaye does a good job of showing the brutality of this life,

The downside for me is the arrival on the scene of characters from previous books in the series, Im sure their appearance would have meant more to me if Id come through the whole series, as it was I didnt have a great deal of empathy with them which may have been different if Id followed them from the start.


Despite this, Gladiatrix does hold its own as a novel, although the abrupt ending clearly points me in the direction of Book.
Im heading back to Bookrather than continuing withto find out more of the background of the universe that Emma Jaye has created before moving on.

HybridGladiatrix is a departure from the previous books in the series, I would actually called this a stand alone story as well, but I know that it will all tie up in the end, This story tells of Azrica, a Dakaran warrior, if you will, She has been in captivity for most of her life, serving as a slave to a barbaric race, called the Garians, She has been forced to fight in the sands, a gladiatorial arena, surviving everything that is thrown at her, She only has a handful of friends in this godforsaken place, Hal, Jeron and her Garian guard, if you could call her a friend There are a few surprises as you read through, and everything will make sense the further you read.


The story is well written, and brutal in places, quite gory, I love that! And I would recommend this read to anyone, and can't wait to get stuck in to the next book,

This was my first book in the series, but I felt it easy to pick up and follow along, I wouldn't say it is a standalone, as there is no resolution at the end cliffhanger ending typical of a serial, so be ready for that! but as far as reader confusion there was none.
The author did a good job of making everything easy to understand,
The strength in this story is definitely the worldbuilding, Lots of complexity here, and some interesting characters as well, My only complaint would be it got a bit repetitive at times, but only in a minor way so I'm not detracting a star for that.
The world is harsh, and there is a feeling of hopelessness about the character's fates that is a bit of a downer, but the characters are strong and interesting so it is very readable in spite of that dismal outlook.

The major flaw, in my opinion, is the many instances of backtracking, describing things that had happened, It would have been far more interesting to read these events in real time, or simply to skip them and move on to more action.
In many ways, it felt as if this story could have been much, much longer, Lots of stuff was summarized, in a sort of "telling" way, Which was okay, because it was interesting stuff, but would have made for a more dynamic read had it been more show, less tell.

Still, it was a fun read that kept me interested and wanting to read the next installment, Would recommend!
I received this book in exchange for an honest review Librarian's Note: Alternatecover edition for ASIN: sitelinkBSEHJUA

Kill or be killed is the only thing that matters to Azrica, the redeyed devil who scared the humans in the slave compound of the garian arena almost as much as the lizards she fought against.
The garian philosophy that only the best of their young, the strongest, the most cunning and intelligent should make it to adulthood played right into her hands.
Azricas philosophy was far simpler, killing as many lizards as possible before she had that inevitable unlucky day, Federation humans were nearly as bad, as they were equally responsible for her situation,
The only fly in her simple, ordered life was a certain blond stud male named Hal, Bred to fight and reproduce, he did both frequently and damn well as he made his way steadily up the slave hierarchy, Despite the brutality of his life and the everpresent prospect of a violent death, he always had a smile on his face and a flirtatious comment on his lips.
He treated her as a friend, a future lover, even though she did her best to persuade him otherwise by slitting the throat of a man who had tried to bed her.

When Azrica unexpectedly survives a final level bout, not only is she given control of the warmblood compound and tasked to produce more successful human gladiators, she is awarded a slave.
Unfortunately for Hal, a newly caught, puny, white skinned male, named Jeron is selected instead of him, She couldnt possibly prefer him, could she

Contains graphic M/F scenes and violence, It is intended for a mature audience only,
Word count:,plusexcerpt from Hybrid: Chimera
A version of this book was previously published as part one of Cat ClanChimera.
On the Garian home world, life is reduced to basic biological functions if you live at all, Garians are reptilian meat eaters, They eat each other and any other species is considered extra tasty, The only form of culture, status or entertainment is survival of the fittest, Their hatchlings are only worthy of maturity if they prove themselves in the arena by killing and eating their opponents of whatever species, Off world slaves are the preferred food of Garians and are entirely doomed to that fate, For a slave on the Garian home world, you are used as either breeding stock or adversaries for the hatchlings in the arena, Either way you are only livestock, destined to be eatentoday or tomorrow, The first moment you are not productive in the breeding pens or the arena, you are immediately eaten, dead or alive, The story revolves around the hopeless struggle for one more day of life for the alien and human slaves, one of which has a special ability, a second soul, and a desire to see the primary lizard overseer dead.

This book is part of a series and the author has made it work both as a standalone and for advancing the world building in this alternate universe.
The plot and pace are very well done, capturing the readers interest from the first page and keeping your interest

from start to finish.

The writer has considerable skill and imagination, creating very believable characters and situations, Circumstances require the central characters to be selfabsorbed, the only trait thats considered admirable, because its the only way anyone has any chance to live for one more day.
I found the hellish conditions and completely amoral behavior sad to the point my memory of the story will only be how horrible everything was.

I was given a copy of this book for an unbiased review,
This novel was far more than I expected, and was a thoroughly enjoyable read! Unlike some of the others in this series, Gladiatrix manages to balance out a lot of the more graphic sex scenes with action, world building, and character development.
I found learning more about the greater galaxy in which this series was set was probably my favourite part of the novel, especially as there is a rich backstory there I have really enjoyed.
It was also interesting the way the main character was linked to an earlier character in the series, without them ever actually meeting, And I reallye enjoyed Azrica as a character too there was an interesting tapestry that made her tick,

Probably the main thing that detracted from the story were spelling and grammar errors, as these were fairly distracting, There was also a bit of repetition towards the end, with the second prisoner federation man following a very similar thought trajectory as the doctor.
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