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A review by mspilesofpaper
A Polar Expedition: and Other Stimulating Research Opportunities by Kass O'Shire
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Sirin is a scientist and wants to find out the source of their magic. The guild is against it but nothing can stop her: not expulsion nor their warnings about lost expeditions in the last decades. And the polar bear stalking her through the arctic tundra won't stop her either. Berne is, in the meanwhile, a simple shapeshifter who works as a ranger to keep people like Sirin away from his home. Unfortunately for him, Sirin might be just what he was looking for: his mate.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
A Polar Expedition and Other Stimulating Research Opportunities is a paranormal romance set in a fantasy world and is the first in a series. Each book is a finished story but introduces characters for the following books.
The world is very much gaslight/steampunk-inspired and while the author offers some explanation for the world, it feels very ... off. It could have benefitted from more world-building information because I have several questions about the overall world (Who/what is the Empire? What is the second kingdom? Why is it that no one knows about the other one? Where do the non-humans come from? What is up with the magic?). It feels like the main idea for the book was romance, and world-building came second, which would have been okay if the world-building had made sense.
Concerning the characters, I have beef with Sirin's characterisation. First of all, she is described as a plus-size woman in the book's summary but there's nothing in the story itself that says "she is a plus-size woman". When Sirin and Berne have sex, the softness of her stomach and her thighs are described but those body parts tend to be soft on anyone who isn't a bodybuilder. I would have liked to see some actual mention of her bigger body. The cover art is giving me more "curvy woman" instead of a plus-size woman. Secondly, the author attempted to write Sirin as a neurodivergent woman working in STEM. It would have been a good representation if the author hadn't created a stereotypical portrayal of a neurodivergent person because Sirin falls into the stereotype that "all neurodivergent people are child-like/childish and cannot be taken seriously". Furthermore, Sirin's character is so inconsistent. In the first chapter, Sirin is described as meticulous and detail-oriented and who has spent a decade preparing for this research mission. The research is her life. Unfortunately, afterwards Sirin just completely ignores everything and dismisses any information that doesn't fit into her pre-determined conclusion. After the first few chapters, she is reckless and completely ignores any potential danger that she's in. Unknown bear species following her? Let's ignore him or start to feel a connection with the animal. Camping in the middle of nowhere? Let's masturbate because the polar bear and the glimpse of Berne as a human in a previous scene is enough to make her horny.
Meanwhile, Berne is equally one-dimensional and just focused on finding a mate/protecting Sirin.
Their entire romance is very much instant lust/love as they are mates. There's no development in their feelings for each other. There's certainly no explanation for why Berne wants her as a mate aside from "she is weirdly cute and smells nice". In general, their romance is (aside from the instant lust/love due to mating bond) very much the "female main character is willful and stubborn, so she does stupid shit without a thought for the consequences or her own life and ultimately needs saving from the male love interest", which I just hate. To be honest: the book feels like the author read "A Golden Compass" and was horny for the polar bear.
The book is narrated through Berne's POV and Sirin's POV, which would have been fine if Sirin's POV hadn't been in 3rd person with 1st person footnotes. (Yes, the story has footnotes. A nightmare if you read it on an eReader.) The idea behind the footnotes is likely that the story is told as a book, in the future, and Sirin annotated what happened. Those annotations as footnotes would be ok if they had happened only in Berne's chapters to give the reader the feeling of "I read my husband's chapters and had my own thoughts, so I annotated them". On her own chapters though? Those footnotes make no sense.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
TWs & CWs: oral and vaginal sex, FMC being injured, death threats, knotting, breeding kink, mentions of sex between human and shapeshifter in shifted form
Trope(s): marriage of convenience, shifter romance
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Historical Fantasy (Gaslight Fantasy)
Heat/Spice: 2 - 3 🌶️ (depending on the scene)
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
A Polar Expedition and Other Stimulating Research Opportunities is a paranormal romance set in a fantasy world and is the first in a series. Each book is a finished story but introduces characters for the following books.
The world is very much gaslight/steampunk-inspired and while the author offers some explanation for the world, it feels very ... off. It could have benefitted from more world-building information because I have several questions about the overall world (Who/what is the Empire? What is the second kingdom? Why is it that no one knows about the other one? Where do the non-humans come from? What is up with the magic?). It feels like the main idea for the book was romance, and world-building came second, which would have been okay if the world-building had made sense.
Concerning the characters, I have beef with Sirin's characterisation. First of all, she is described as a plus-size woman in the book's summary but there's nothing in the story itself that says "she is a plus-size woman". When Sirin and Berne have sex, the softness of her stomach and her thighs are described but those body parts tend to be soft on anyone who isn't a bodybuilder. I would have liked to see some actual mention of her bigger body. The cover art is giving me more "curvy woman" instead of a plus-size woman. Secondly, the author attempted to write Sirin as a neurodivergent woman working in STEM. It would have been a good representation if the author hadn't created a stereotypical portrayal of a neurodivergent person because Sirin falls into the stereotype that "all neurodivergent people are child-like/childish and cannot be taken seriously". Furthermore, Sirin's character is so inconsistent. In the first chapter, Sirin is described as meticulous and detail-oriented and who has spent a decade preparing for this research mission. The research is her life. Unfortunately, afterwards Sirin just completely ignores everything and dismisses any information that doesn't fit into her pre-determined conclusion. After the first few chapters, she is reckless and completely ignores any potential danger that she's in. Unknown bear species following her? Let's ignore him or start to feel a connection with the animal. Camping in the middle of nowhere? Let's masturbate because the polar bear and the glimpse of Berne as a human in a previous scene is enough to make her horny.
Meanwhile, Berne is equally one-dimensional and just focused on finding a mate/protecting Sirin.
Their entire romance is very much instant lust/love as they are mates. There's no development in their feelings for each other. There's certainly no explanation for why Berne wants her as a mate aside from "she is weirdly cute and smells nice". In general, their romance is (aside from the instant lust/love due to mating bond) very much the "female main character is willful and stubborn, so she does stupid shit without a thought for the consequences or her own life and ultimately needs saving from the male love interest", which I just hate. To be honest: the book feels like the author read "A Golden Compass" and was horny for the polar bear.
The book is narrated through Berne's POV and Sirin's POV, which would have been fine if Sirin's POV hadn't been in 3rd person with 1st person footnotes. (Yes, the story has footnotes. A nightmare if you read it on an eReader.) The idea behind the footnotes is likely that the story is told as a book, in the future, and Sirin annotated what happened. Those annotations as footnotes would be ok if they had happened only in Berne's chapters to give the reader the feeling of "I read my husband's chapters and had my own thoughts, so I annotated them". On her own chapters though? Those footnotes make no sense.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
TWs & CWs: oral and vaginal sex, FMC being injured, death threats, knotting, breeding kink, mentions of sex between human and shapeshifter in shifted form
Trope(s): marriage of convenience, shifter romance
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Historical Fantasy (Gaslight Fantasy)
Heat/Spice: 2 - 3 🌶️ (depending on the scene)