(January 29, 2022. After some website technical difficulties, this post has been given a much belated, and much needed update.)

Eros wakes up to find a knife at his throat. This turns out to be the best part of his day.

A few minutes later, Eros, a half-human half-alien (more on that in a minute) male, suddenly finds himself fleeing across the desert as his fellow nomadic humans are massacred or captured behind him.

This whirlwind start to Gabe Cole Novoa’s Beyond the Red is sustained for an impressive amount of time as the action always has a strong sense of movement and place. Eros is eventually captured and finds himself turned into a slave for the Sepharon, the indigenous population of the planet. (The humans, who arrived generations before to settle the planet and lost the ensuing battle are, technically, the aliens, depending on your point of view.)

In a brilliant sequence of world building, Novoa walks us through the steps the human captives go through to become slaves. They are given drugs to keep them calm, Nanites to keep them controlled, and, a pleasant bath that turns them pale white to distinguish them from the dark-skinned Sepharon. That last step is probably my favorite detail in the entire sequence.

At the same time, Princess Kora, the ruler of the Sepharon, is dealing with being the first female ruler of her people in countless generations. She is not liked by the people or by her younger (by a few minutes) twin brother. Partly as a way to please the people and show she’s tough, she is the one who allowed the massacre of Eros’ camp as part of a project to rid the planet of the pesky group of invading human pests.

Through a twist involving hormones and a lucky meeting, Eros becomes Kora’s personal slave and bodyguard and they start an odd relationship full of tender moments and sexual tension.

Because this is a Young Adult book, the relationship remains relatively chaste, although it does have its steamy moments. I like the banter and flirting that goes on between Kora and Eros. Eros’ struggle between checking out and lusting after Kora’s body (which he seems to do a lot) and remembering that she massacred his people is interesting but does get a little old when the book keeps coming back to it.

I also like that Eros and Kora are two characters who don’t fit in where they are. Eros is rejected by both humans and Sepharon for being a hybrid who should have been killed at birth whilst Kora is rejected by both Sepharon (for being female) and humans (for ordering their deaths or enslavement).  This connection helps take the relationship beyond simple teenage lust into something that explains why Eros doesn’t just kill Kora and as many of her family members as he can. It also takes Kora’s interest in Eros beyond an interest in his impressive body. (Which, it should be noted, she also notices a lot.)

Eventually there is a coup and a flight across the desert. Once again the action sequences are excellent and except for an “are they really going there now?” moment it all works.

The things that bothered me were small. Eros being called “Eros” annoyed me more than it should have (how many of you thought something kinky about the opening of this review) and at times the Sepharon seemed a little too human in the way they behaved. (Then again, that may explain why a Sepharon/Human hybrid is genetically possible.)

Also, a big reveal about the sexual preferences of one of the characters seemed tacked on for the sake of diversity. Except for generating some anger and resentment from the character, the sequence didn’t contribute much to the plot and did little more than produce some conversations between Kora and Eros before being dropped. Kora and Eros had, more or less, the same opinions on the matter which didn’t help matters. This all seemed to me to be a distraction from the main theme of the two outsiders finding comfort in each other. I wish it had been developed more or dropped. (Update: 1/29/22. This author did not realize at the time that this was going to be part of a trilogy.)

I haven’t read much YA fiction and this was an “oh, why not?” purchase to diversify my reading. I didn’t expect much, but in the end enjoyed it a lot. It could be argued that, for the most part, events happen exactly when you expect them to happen, but what happens isn’t always what you’re expecting and that kept me interested.

The ending did seem a bit abrupt. I’ve read that a sequel isn’t planned but that one is possible. If one does appear, I’ll be sure to buy it. (Update: 1/29/22. This author did not realize at the time that this was going to become part of a trilogy.)

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