The novellas in the Systema Paradoxa series are not great literature but they are fun. This one is about sand worms in the Gobi desert. It doesn't hang together as well as it should but it's ok for a quick read.

Another great book in the Systema Paradoxa series. So far, I've enjoyed everyone that I have read. They have great characters, great stories, and great pacing. And of course cryptids. Can't wait to read the next one. #SandandSecrets #NetGalley

I received this from NetGally as an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I would have given this a 2.5 stars if available. The premise was interesting and could have made for a good story if more time was taken and more pages added. What we got instead was one dimensional characters, lot's meandering and complaining, and even "moments of action" felt flat and a little boring.

The Characters: Ella's and Rodion's were supposed to be falling in love or at least like, and all Ella did was talk about him being all chest thumping and caveman like but then turning around and shrugging it off. He seemed more into her than she into him. The beginning of the book is their meeting and subsequent courting, followed by their physical relationship. There really seemed to be little to no chemistry between the two probably because there was a lot of telling and no showing how into each other they were. By Ella's own words it felt like he was just something to fill time one minute and the next forgetting all her complaints and thinking about him long term. Even at the end it was more about her and what she lost and not about what Rodion lost.

The setting: We are told about Russia and very little look at the museum where Ella and Rodion intern. We know they are going to the Gobi Desert but we get no descriptions and nothing that would put us in the scene other than saying it's hot and sandy. Wow who would have thunk? A desert hot and sandy... really thanks for building that flimsy mental image.

The premise: Hunting a cryptid, this is something I could get behind, but even this was flimsily built. There was literarily little rise in action, just a boring staccato beat while having all that action happen off page. The ending did finally provide some action but the foreshadowing was so heavy handed that it was easy to see where this would go. The ending too was predictable.

This had so much promise and I kept reading hoping it would get better. It is only 110 pages and while this might have been too much to try and fit into that slim page count, it could have been written so much better just by engaging the reader and allowing us to connect to the characters. This is not something I would recommend to anyone I know, even those who get excited about cryptid stories.

I am so disappointed in this book. I don’t think I have read something this bad since I was peer editing papers in my freshman year of college. I feel almost betrayed by the description it was not representative of this AT ALL.

The whole premise of the novella (because it was not long enough to be considered a novel) was looking for this worm in the desert and then of course, predictably they find the worm, people die, and then the main character is held prisoner in Russia and oh, she’s pregnant by one of the guys who died. So not what I signed up for when I wanted to read this.

I read this as an ARC and also not having read anything else in the series. I wonder if I had read something from the rest for the series if that would have made a difference. I did look into the series before hand and saw that everything was by a different author, and decided I didn’t have to read the first 16 books to get this one…and honestly, I feel like I was right, but this one was just awful.