Assembly (The Feral Souls Trilogy - Book 2)

First, let me say that overall, I enjoyed Assembly, reading it into the wee hours of the morning while masterfully pretending to be asleep every time it seemed like my boyfriend might wake up and catch me.That being said you do have to prepare yourself for a few things: 1) The pacing. For a 700+ page book, very little time actually passes, so it feels a bit like the Drums of Autumn book in Outlander where you're spending so much time in this world, but you find it's barely been a week. 2) The will she/won't she continues for most of the book. Hope is traumatized, blames herself, and has a mix of a white knight complex (wanting to keep the guys safe) and that dangerous guilt whispering that she doesn't deserve the life her pack wants to give her. Because of this, and some of the guys own issues, we are still in that holding phase where (this isn't what I'd call a spoiler, but I'll warn you that I'm about to say something specific about the plot) she doesn't clue the guys into her backstory until about the last forty (that's an approximation) pages of the book. Do I think that hesitance fits Hope's character and the narrative that Woods has been creating? Mostly, yes. Does it also irritate me a tiny bit that there are so many festering secrets for most of such a huge book? Yes. You need to go into this with that patience of knowing that yes, there will be drama. Yes, there are still MANY secrets, and yes, there is 1000000% a link between the two. 3) Although we're at the Assembly, we don't actually finish the assembly. This event will continue in book three, and there's a lot still to come. One thing that Woods does very nicely in Assembly is her focus on the relationships. Hope has moments with each of the members of her pack, and although we do have a bunch of different events going on throughout the plot, I think that this book is more about getting them to the emotional places and relationship goals they needed to reach to handle some of the bigger events that are to come.All of that being said, now that you are forearmed, here's what I thought.There's some interesting character growth, and the benefit of the pack's POVs is definitely felt very strongly. While Ruarc is very steady (for all that he's also a reactive alpha mess lol) and Jason is still a bit hesitant, self-deprecating, and not ready to dig into all of the darkness in his own life, Ash and Lucien are taken to task in book two. Both of them are forced to confront some aspects of themselves, and we get to see more vulnerable sides to each of them through the peeks into their minds, with Hope as the catalyst.We get to learn more about what Ash is and why he's different from the others, get to "see" him smile a lot more, and as the distance between him and Hope diminishes, we get to really understand even more why he's the respected alpha of their pack and swoon-worthy in his own right.Now... Lucien. He earns the hot mess express award FOR REAL. He's up, he's down, he's hot, he's cold, he's vicious, he's vulnerable, he's a total dom, and he's all torn up inside. After book one, I knew the man had a lot of feelings, but dear god, he goes through the wringer possibly more than even Hope does because feelings and vulnerability are just so darn alien to him that he doesn't understand how to healthily process. Prepare for a lot of push and pull with him, but by the end, I think that Assembly will be marked as his turning point where we can start to more consistently see the better side of his nature and how he can be a real partner to Hope instead of changing his feelings fast enough to give her [us] whiplash. There's something that's almost adorable in his total puppy dog confusion over how he reacts/how she interprets his words and actions, though there's no excusing the fact that he has a great deal of a$$hole moments in 700+ pages.Hope is slowly taking steps to healing. Really, we've still got a very long journey there because the poison that she's been dealing with alone isn't purged until the very end, so even though we are seeing some of her confidence and self-image being slowly repaired in the little moments where Jason, Ruarc, and Ash show her what she means to them, she still a wholly fragile being. I do like her, and Woods does a nice job of making me want to both empathize and sympathize with her, but her strength is definitely a quiet one that she's not yet quite unearthed at this point.A big change up from book one is definitely the steam level. We've got one-on-one scenes, sharing scenes, a little bossy bedroom antics, and moments for each of the guys to have their own intimacy with her at whatever level they're ready for. So, even though there are a lot of other ways that their relationships are very slowly moving along, the physical aspect kind of ignited and took off. I'm not mad about it, and the scenes were well-written and enjoyable to read, but I was surprised at the contrast of the pacing here compared to book one.Though Assembly was not without its faults or aspects that might not be 100% my taste (because I wouldn't say that Woods has done anything wrong. The nature of a review is not so black and white as that, right?), I think that Woods did a lot of good character work, some great relationship building and recovery, and I'm looking forward to seeing if book three picks up the pacing since we've got some of the secrets out of the way and an unexpected appearance at the end of Assembly that promises more drama to quickly come.

Loved everything about this book! The suspense, the secrets, and the love. It's just so beautiful. Thank you, Erica Woods!

These books! I love them. I was immediately hooked when I started reading Hunted and Assembly had the same appeal. Sometimes it gets a little confusing keeping track of the dialog when there's more than 2 people in the conversation but it was so well written otherwise. I can't wait for the 3rd book's release.

So, overall the book was great. Woods will, I think, be known for her deep, emotional connections between characters and the great characters themselves. She has done a great job of building a fanbase already and that is no small feat considering she only just published her second book. A few notes that made me give this 4 stars:-The endless and repetitive descriptions of the characters’ emotions and actions...Lucien always “ice” and “frozen” and on and on. Ruarc, a fan favorite, constantly grunting and growling and hitting people. Hope’s smell, kindness, beauty, etc. described over and over (bit of an eye roll here). You get the point. I love that they feel so deeply and we can witness it but sometimes, it’s too much and it’s bogging down the story. Speaking of that...-The story is going slooooowly. Now, keep in mind that the first book was over 600 pages and this one is over 700 and maybe 3-4 weeks has passed? And I get that we have in-depth descriptions of everything that has happened, which can be really positive for a story, but in my opinion, it’s hurting the storyline at this point. Because of this, we are seeing extremely slow character growth (I mean, years of trauma can’t be reversed in a month or less, right?) and speaking of character growth...-Hope is officially at risk of seeming like a weak and somewhat dumb character instead of a strong, intelligent woman we can admire. She fluctuates between self-flagellation, occasionally a burst of independence and apologizing for making dumb choices. I get it, she had no choices for years, but when people she trusts constantly tell her, “Don’t do this for your own safety,” and she just ignores them and ends up getting hurt, well, it doesn’t look good. And in my opinion, the big secret about her brother dying was the worst part of the book. (If there was a Reddit post about her actions, everyone would unanimously say, “NTA, OBVIOUSLY!”) It was made to be a big, awful thing and in the end, it wasn’t (sad, yes, but not what was indicated).Lucien finally had great character growth (well done, Woods👏), Ash is more intriguing than ever, Jason is pretty much the same but Ruarc has now been moved to caveman status. I just can’t with the hitting everything and everyone and snarling and incomplete sentences. Please, please, let him get smarter! He has fallen into the stereotypical “big and dumb” role and he’s too great of a character for that.-Monster? What monster? Never heard of it. But seriously, when is the big reveal? I was so disappointed that we didn’t get to see Hope shift and there are only a few brief mentions of the monster. It would really help move this story along to see exactly what she is (though I am pretty sure I know) as this seems to be a pivotal part of the plot.-Length between novels. Before you protest or try to defend Woods, let me explain. She indicated the book was already written and only needed editing and some added words and that took a year. Maybe not uncommon and to be fair, the book was long but a year is a long time to wait for a new author to prove herself with a second book (its true, the second book in a series is crucial to an author). Now, Woods successfully built a fanbase and good for her but how long before the third book? Presumably it hasn’t been written yet and that could mean a very long wait. After seeing how slowly the storyline is going, I think that may cut down some of the excitement for the next one.So overall, I really did like the story, am a fan of the author and will read the next one. The fact that all the things I mentioned only cut down one star should tell you how great this book is.

Looking forward to the release of book 3! Hope it becomes available soon!

Very good. I wish the MFC had some more moxy we could have shaved off a few hours…character development is excellent and world building is good. Now to wait for the final book. I hope it’s ahead of schedule. By the time this one came out I had to reread the first one…

Well written and grammatically perfect. These 2 huge novels painstakingly tell a story that is captivating. This is not your typical rh bully book. These are closer to a classic epic. The only other books I have to compare it to are by the master, Auryn Hadley. If this is truly the author's first work, we are in for another great career. I usually refuse to start a trilogy before it's complete, but I was desperate for a good series. I definitely found it. Please present book 3 soon.

The pages just kept turning.The plot gets better.Well done with all the intriguing bits and pieces.I can't wait for the next book hopefully it won't be a long wait.

Pense num livro viciante e numa história totalmente envolvente e maravilhosa... Então, essa trilogia é tudo isso e muito mais. Cada cena descrita te envolve de uma forma que eu raramente vejo por aí... O coração da gente se envolve junto e se emociona e se empolga. Meu deus, preciso muito ler o último livro dessa trilogia simplesmente sensacional.

Eu li esse livro em dois dias e com câimbras na barriga. Fiquei tensa o tempo toda e hora nenhuma eu quis largar.Que escrita maravilhosa!

Sabe quando você começa a ler devagar porque não quer se despedir de uma história e de seus personagens do coração? Assembly foi esse tipo de continuação para mim! Triste que preciso esperar pela conclusão, mas muito feliz por ter lido esse livro!

Loved number 1, loved number 2 even more. cant wait for the next one. I love all the guys and their personalities. So yummy

I can‘t believe that I already finished this book. It was a journey unlike anything before! A rollercoaster of emotions, up and down and my heart beat so fast! Hope is such a wonderful Charakter. Even though all of that happened to her, her heart is wide and welcoming! I love all of her guys, how protective they are of her and how they shower her with so mich needed attention. It hurts me so much that I have to wait for the third book! Please, please write faster! I want to know what will happen!