[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by library addict

Not really, at least not in the way I think you mean, but maybe. The Psy/Changeling series does have both female and male characters who have had traumatic pasts, but it fits the storyline and much of the story wouldn't work without it.

Spoiler:

The premise of the first story arc is Silence. The world is made up of three races: Humans, Changelings (who shapeshift into various animals), and the Psy. The Psy have psychic abilities, but also high rates of insanity so 100 years ago (before the start of the series) they decided to condition all emotion out of their children. But the means by which this is done, particularly for those with deadly abilities, would be considered abusive and traumatic.

Plus some of the other characters have had their parents killed and other traumatic events in their childhoods.

But it's really both heroines and heroes equally. And it's such an integral part of the plot so it's not gratuitous.

I've only read one full-length book in the Guild Hunters series (I think it was book #8), so I can't really compare the two series.

I've actually seen a blog post or two (maybe over at DearAuthor.com) from people who felt the the trauma levels were too over the top on at least one or two of the books with Psy heroes and/or heroines.

Spoiler:

I think it was in Zaira and Aden's book, Shards of Hope - she felt like Nalini just kept going on and on and on about the child abuse in that book.

I have to admit, I skim/fast-forward through those parts when I do my re-reads.

Some of Singh's language can feel a bit....overblown?...if you read one book after another. No one's sad about something, they're devastated! They're not angry or annoyed, they're furious or enraged!

She's one of my auto-buy authors (at least for her paranormals), but I admit I have to be careful not to do too many in a row. Especially when it comes to the books that focus on the Changelings - the over use of the phrase "predatory changeling male" can make me a little bit crazy when I'm doing mass re-read/listens.

Oh, and I also waited a long time to try the Guild Hunter books because I don't care for the vamps so much. I pretty much skip Archangel's Blade with every re-read. But I am really glad I picked up the series, regardless. Archangel's Storm was my favorite, until Archangel's Legion.