Unbelievably, Million Miles Away, book one of this series, was one of my favourite releases of 2019. I had so much fun reading it. The twists caught me by genuine surprise. And then that cliffhanger left me wanting more.

Unfortunately Million Miles Off did not live up to the hype I had in my head for this book by any means. It actually made no sense whatsoever. Where Million Miles Away had a direction and purpose to the book, even if it was bananas, the opposite is true of Million Miles off. Nothing had a direction. Things just kept happening with no real reasoning behind them. Things were disconnected and disjointed. I felt like Alice Bane tried to recreate the shock of the previous book here, but it didn't land well.

The entire book Natalia spent locked away in some weird government facility. Weird things were happening. She's worried for herself and for her baby. Especially since she is being experimented on. And being forced to do things, translate things. Also there is one point in the book where I thought Natalia was the dumbest being alive, because she was so shocked something happened when really you could have seen it coming a mile away.

I'm also not a fan of the way the book ends. This is genuinely the type of series I tend to avoid because I know I'll dislike more things than I like. I was just succkered in by the absolute amazing nonsense that was Million Miles away and was hoping the author would continue that up. This really did just fall flat for me. There is always a chance that book three in the series would reignite my interest. This book was very boring because it was an essentially one trick pony the author backed herself into by the ending that was book one. Unfortunately, there is still no news of a third book two years after the publishing of this one. So I have my doubts.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It was a great sci-fi read and I haven't been reading too many of those lately. It was also about personal development and finding your inner strength and I appreciated that.

The new beginning of Natalia’s life became a nightmare. With Korin gone, she wakes up in an unknown place where she was imprisoned. It could not get worst, right? Well, it all was planned by her ex-boyfriend Nathan, who was the reason for all her problems in life. Now, she is under his control once again without any way out. In this high-secure facility, she is forced to endure the impossible tasks that could kill her. She fights her way through for her baby. She’s running out of time, but she is sure she will find her moment to escape.

Besides her basic activities, she’s also forced by Nathan to translate the documents received from the Miezen community. She doesn’t know how much damage will bring her help. She learns things that she would never expect. Now, she needs to decide what’s more important for her, keeping her daughter safe or saving humanity from SSC.

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the Sci-Fi. Last year I read only one book in this genre, and it was the first book in this series. This year I only read the second book in the series so I can’t really compare it to any other science fiction book. It wasn’t a bad book though. I enjoyed the first part more, however, this part wasn’t bad.

I feel like the growth of Natalia was very visible in this part. Before she was always depending on someone. She was living in a bubble where people were always taking care of her. However, in this book, she found herself in a situation where she is alone. She needs to find the strength to protect her baby and find a way out to safety, where no one is able to hurt them. She also discovers that together with her transformation into Miezen woman, she also received new skills like reading people’s minds. Moreover, she also gained much more strength than she had before, which made her very confident.

I was a little bit disappointed that we got only a few scenes with Korin in this book. Especially, that most of the scenes consisted of Natalia being jealous without any specific reason (her annoying part is back). I still don’t understand her point. He was trying to do everything to get her out of there and take her home and the only thing she could hear is the name of his female friend? It was very irrational.

Another person that was very annoying in this book is Nathan. He wasn’t annoying in a normal way but a psychotic way. There is something wrong with this guy and I have no idea how anyone could hire a guy like this. The only thing I enjoyed in scenes with him that he was scared of Natalia after her transition. It wasn’t visible at the beginning because he was obsessed with getting under her skin and abusing her in every way possible but by the end, he didn’t have any power over her.

The whole place Natalia was sent to, from the very beginning felt very sketchy and wrong. Later, I found out that I was correct. Especially the reason for all the experiments and training. Every time I see how people are treated in this place; I want to close this book. It’s unbelievable.

The last part I enjoyed in this book was the plot twist with Laura’s involvement. I don’t want to tell you too much about it because it was the only thing that surprised me. I enjoyed it though so just keep your eyes open for this one.

Overall, I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. It wasn’t the best book I ever read but it also wasn’t the worst one. I would like to thank Alice Bane, VisualBee Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with this book. I was very happy to continue reading this series. nue reading this series.

I vaguely remember book 1.. I last read it in October 2019. A year ago. I had a hard time remembering some details. I wish their was some nuggets. I finally pieced some parts together. I had really enjoyed the story. It was very angsty. The heroine was once again so naive and yes stupid. Their was so many disheartening failures that made me want to crawl in a corner and suck my thumb. She was fascinating as she developed. I feel like she’s a Sarah Connor. I loved that movie. I was somewhat unhappy with the ending. Right when it was REALLY getting good it ends on a unfinished ending. Not a cliffhanger. I guess. I hope it doesn’t take this long next time. I may not want to read it then. I’m trying not to spoil. I’m still interested in what happens but I have no patience for these long wait times. Sometimes I don’t finish books on principal.

3.5 STARS

In this second book of the series, Natalia has been remanded to a high security, underground secret government facility by her whack job ex-boyfriend, Nathan. Her alien lover, Korin, is imprisoned on one of his government’s spaceship currently orbiting Earth. Natalia is subjected to experiments, abuse, neglect, and a whole lot of new information about her situation. Korin had changed her DNA to transform Natalia so she could go live on his home planet before their plans were thwarted by both administrations.

Now, Natalia is determined to escape and get back to Korin. They have found a way to communicate; however, in this story, their interactions are limited. Natalia discovers what she thought she knew about her parents and close friends has been a combination of lies, cover-ups and misrepresentations. As she learns to get along in her new prison environment and develop some nascent alien powers, Natalia reassess her whole life and goals. She still loves Korin who promises he has a plan; however, Natalie learns she need to be the heroine of her own story especially since she is near to giving birth of her alien baby.

Readers of the first book, Million Miles Away, will be interested to see how Natalia is fairing with all the physical changes as well as her strategies for surviving this new paradigm. This book is mostly about Natalia’s personal development and less about her relationship with Korin. There quite a few ups and downs as well as rounds of emotional angst as Natalia learns to understand her new body and abilities. Fans of the series are in for a rocky ride.

As I thought the first book was fine, I decided to give the sequel a go. The language is a bit much for me, and I wasn't as keen on the astral projection elements of the book, but for most sci-fi fans, this probably won't be a problem. Other than those concerns, not a bad story (and the surprise at the end is rather nice).

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of MILLION MILES OFF (Book 2 of the Million Miles Series) by Alice Bane in exchange for an honest review. This story picks up where MILLION MILES AWAY ended. Natalia and her alien lover Korin have been arrested and separated. Natalia is being held, tested, and tortured in an underground facility run by her evil ex-boyfriend Nathan while Korin is being held and is awaiting trial in space by his own people. All of their hopes for the future have been dashed. The longer Natalia is held in the secret government facility the more worried she becomes for the future of the life she carries. Natalia yearns for Korin. Korin, himself, begins working toward freeing Natalia, but his plans are moving too slowly. Natalia must leave before the baby’s birth; she may not be able to wait for Korin.

I liked this story. I thought Natalia’s character showed true growth as she learns self-reliance. I recommend this book to fans of sci-fi romance featuring aliens, prison, internment camps, and conscription.

#MillionMilesOff #NetGalley