Proceed With Caution:
This book contains a forced pregnancy and mentions of slavery and rape.
The Basics:
Angie's Gladiator starts two weeks after this group has been rescued, and slightly overlaps with the previous four books. You don't have to read those, but I'd highly recommend it because they're all great. Angie is one of the sixteen women in the stasis chambers and the heavily pregnant one. No one knows how long she's been pregnant or by whom or with what. Vordis doesn't care. He just wants her. But so does his twin. Or does he?
My Thoughts:
Of course my namesake has to have the weirdest setup in the series! Angie's Gladiator starts with a very pregnant Angie being watched over by the red twins, Vordis and Thrand. She isn't sure why they're always lingering about, but she does try to talk to them. Vordis is the one most receptive to her friendship and that is where the fun starts. Obviously, Angie and Vordis are going to end up together, but it was an interesting journey to go on. Much like with most of the couples on Not Hoth.
Angie's Gladiator has some interesting dynamics going on. Most notably between Vordis and Thrand. They're clones and are almost always together. We learn a lot about their species, but for our purposes, it can all be boiled down to them being used for a specific purpose and not having thoughts and lives of their own. This makes Vordis and Thrand highly competitive, which then leaks over into the other unmated men on the island. Meanwhile, Angie is basically a loner, as no one really knows how to talk to her. All she wants is someone to treat her like a person and not a baby vessel.
Vordis and Angie are super adorable together. I loved when she was trying to teach him about knock knock jokes! It's funny to see how ridiculous they are when you try to explain them to someone who has never heard one before. He's also super good with her baby, which melts Angie's heart. But that baby is super special. I hope we get to see more of her species in other books!
Angie's Gladiator was just sweet. There's no sexy times until the end because of course Angie has to give birth and heal up from that and then be ready for resonance. I didn't mind because there's a lot of good story going on here. There's plenty of peeks into the lives of the other beach residents, so we can slowly get to know each of them before their books pop up.