Fleeing Fate: Lunar Eclipse Book One

Book: Fleeing Fate by Fiona Rowan

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 4/5

๐Ÿ…ฝ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…พ๏ธŽ ๐Ÿ†‚๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…พ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ธ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ป๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ด๏ธŽ๐Ÿ†๏ธŽ๐Ÿ†‚๏ธŽ
๐”ป๐•–๐•ฅ๐•’๐•š๐•๐•–๐•• ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•–๐•จ ๐• ๐•—- Fleeing Fate by Fiona Rowan
NOT A YA!!!!! THE VIOLENCE ALONE RATES IT AS ADULT BUT WITH THIS KIND OF SPICEโ€ฆ DO NOT GIVE THIS TO A TEENAGER!!

โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค-
๐Ÿ—ฃ (out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
๐Ÿ“š ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5/ 5
๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ/ 5
โ™Ÿ๏ธ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น- >>>๐Ÿ’€<<<
๐ŸŽƒ: ๐ถ๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐ŸŒ‘: ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฆ โš”๏ธ: แต’แต’แต’สฐสฐสฐ หขแต—แตƒแต‡แต‡สธ แต–แต‰แต’แต–หกแต‰โ€ขโ€ขโ€ข ๐Ÿ’€: ๐‘…๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ MฬถEฬถNฬถUฬถ ๐Ÿ˜ณ -๐‘– ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘‡๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Š๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘ !!
โ˜ ๏ธ: PอŸIอŸTอŸCอŸHอŸ FอŸCอŸuอŸKอŸIอŸNอŸGอŸ BอŸLอŸAอŸCอŸKอŸ!

๐•‚๐•–๐•ช ๐•€๐•Ÿ๐•—๐• :
โ€ข๐Ÿ“–# 338 ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€
โ€ข๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜? DEVOURED IN 1 DAY!
โ€ขDUAL ๐—ฃ๐—ข๐—ฉ
โ€ข๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ- 27 June 2025
โ€ข๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ or ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ driven? CHARACTER
โ€ข๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ & ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ- BOOK 1 OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE
โ€ข๐—”๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ on ๐—ž๐—จ? โœ…
โ€ข๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ- MEDIUM
โ€ข๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ? YES โœ…
โ€ข๐—”๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป? (Disability, plus size, mental health etc...) โœ… yes, mental health!
โ€ข๐— ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€; ๐‘จ๐’…๐’—๐’†๐’๐’•๐’–๐’“๐’๐’–๐’”, ๐‘บ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž๐’š, ๐‘ฌ๐’Ž๐’๐’•๐‘–๐’๐’๐’‚๐’, ๐‘บ๐’‚๐’…, ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’š, ๐‘ด๐’š๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’“๐’Š๐’๐’–๐’”, ๐‘ช๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ, ๐‘ฏ๐’‚๐’–๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ, ๐‘ซ๐’‚๐’“๐’Œ, ๐‘ป๐’†๐’๐’”๐’†, ๐‘ญ๐’๐’“๐’†๐’ƒ๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ

๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿ…ฒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ท๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ด๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ฒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…บ๏ธŽ ๐Ÿ†ƒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ท๏ธŽ๐Ÿ…ด๏ธŽ ๐Ÿ†ƒ๏ธŽ๐Ÿ††๏ธŽ!๐Ÿšจ

โ—๐•‹โ„๐•†โ„™๐”ผ๐•Š
๐Ÿ˜ˆ๐•Š๐•–๐•”๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ค & ๐”น๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ฃ๐•’๐•ช๐•’๐•๐•ค
๐ŸชงPแดสŸษชแด›ษชแด„แด€สŸ Iษดแด›ส€ษชษขแดœแด‡
๐Ÿชฆ๐•ณ๐–”๐–—๐–—๐–”๐–— ๐•ฐ๐–‘๐–Š๐–’๐–Š๐–“๐–™๐–˜
๐Ÿงธ๐น๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘–๐‘™๐‘ฆ
๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿ‘จ๐™ต๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐™ผ๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐šœ
๐Ÿ™… ๐•ฝ๐–Š๐–๐–Š๐–ˆ๐–™๐–Š๐–‰ ๐•ธ๐–†๐–™๐–Š๐–˜
๐Ÿ”ฅ๐’๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง
๐ŸŒก๐•๐•–๐•’๐•ฃ๐•Ÿ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐”ธ๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค๐•ฅ, ๐•‹๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•ค๐•š๐• ๐•Ÿ
๐Ÿ’˜๐ป๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก
๐Ÿงฉ๐‘ญ๐’๐’“๐’„๐’†๐’… ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’™๐’Š๐’Ž๐’Š๐’•๐’š
โ”Wสœแด แด…ษชแด… แด›สœษชs แด›แด สแดแดœ?!
๐Ÿ’ˆ แ—ทแ—ฉแ‘ŽTแ—ดแ–‡
โ˜ ๏ธ๐•‹๐• ๐•ฆ๐•”๐•™ ๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ ๐•’๐•Ÿ๐••...
๐Ÿงจ๐•Š๐•’๐•ค๐•ค๐•ช ๐”ฝ๐•„โ„‚
โณ๐ƒ๐š๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ
๐Ÿ’ช๐’œ๐“๐“…๐’ฝ๐’ถ โ„‹โ„ฏ๐“‡โ„ด
๐ŸŒ•๐‘Š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘“ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ 

๐ŸŒ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฃ๐•๐•• ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•š๐•๐••๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐•จ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•’๐•Ÿ๐•• ๐•ก๐•’๐•”๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜:
This book covered, or better yet- uncovered, some exponentially horrific acts that โ€˜loved onesโ€™ commit. Our FMC Emily reaches her breaking point and plans her escape, but then has to recover and allow herself to recover. Given her complex ptsd the scenes move steadily and incorporate healing, fear, relapse, and therapy but, although this is all pivotal to both the story and the reading experience, I do wish there was a little something more going on for the reader to bite into. I loved watching her learn the ways of normal communication, human touch, non vocal cues and simple etiquette especially during more hands on moments like self defense training or out in the world at a social gathering. These moments made me feel so much, seconds ticked by where Emily watched female sass a male and not get punished for it, she learned that public humiliation wasnโ€™t normal or common or even used as a punishmentโ€ฆ those mere seconds in her head were wonderfully emotional to witness, and I wanted more.

The world-building sadly was minimal. There wasn't really any new lore added and the story used pretty widely used elements, like biting to seal a mate bond, going into heat, having the wolf community run alongside but not with humans. The new pack did send some of their own to human schools and workplaces although we never get to know anything more about them or how/where this is done. This is a fully character led plot and the world building fell behind in this respect BUT YOU Donโ€™t NOTICE IT at all while reading because the story is so strong. It wasnโ€™t until I finished the book that I realised I had questions and thoughts about the wider community.

The pacing was spot on. It was steady throughout and didnโ€™t slow when dealing with Emilyโ€™s trauma (in almost EVERY OTHER trauma book I have read the pace always drops out and you get boring inner monologues or sympathy moments), this book remained medium to fast paced but allowed plenty of quiet moments to rest before the action picked up again. The spice was fantastic too, it worked perfectly with the story but also contained a multitude of passions and steam and filthy but beautiful connections as Jacksonโ€™s touch replaced every hurt, every pain and every bad memory.

Given the simplicity of the plot and world-building, youโ€™d think this would be a simple read but it just wasnโ€™t, it was pure pleasure to be destroyed and then rebuilt along with Emily, to witness the emotions and the heartache in such soul destroying depth was an honour.

๐Ÿงโ€โ™‚๏ธ โ„‚๐•™๐•’๐•ฃ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ฃ๐•ค:

Emily had a wide variety of mental health problems caused by years of being tortured, assaulted and having only an abused existence her whole life. - first by her father and then rather than being rescued by her โ€˜mateโ€™, he carried it on and made it worse. She was self-deprecating in almost the whole book and watching her battle to change these intrusive thoughts was a wonder to behold. Every kind of abuse that you can think of has happened to our FMC. She almost died during it and then again trying to escape it.
I am in awe of Emily and her resilience. Reading this brought so many emotions to me, the fear, the shame, the utter hopelessness of her situation. Sheโ€™s a true inspiration. Her trauma was written and portrayed extremely well, with care and truth and sensitivity, and her healing journey is just absolutely amazing as it wasnโ€™t written as a hea, instead it continued to have scary moments and challenges.

Jackson Clark. Wow. What a man. He is everything, and also has his own trauma which is of course a bonus. Right from the start however, he sexualised Emily and every time he looked at her all he could think about were her physical attributes, which started to grate on me- but then he went through his own moments of healing where he allowed himself to step into her โ€˜shoesโ€™ and feel what she might b fling, see things how she must see them and think how she is probably thinking. Having another character understand this nd openly accept how vulnerable yet strong she is was a great bit of writing! Especially as regular shifter readers will know that they CAN NOT control their impulses once there wolf s involve, so to have Jackson able to do so was a huge win for him as a person and potential true mate.

Sofia was a great character. She was such a girls girl, at the start I was expecting her to be b1tchy behind Emilyโ€™s back or for this friendship to be some kind of trick because generally us girls are just not nice to each other- in real life or books! So to read about Sofia providing a safe space for Emily to open up about her experiences and emotions, and encouraging her to seek therapy alongside friendship in order to further heal and move on was wonderful. I cannot wait to read more about her in the next book! I really wish we got more of her story, her childhood and her history in this book as although she was a side character she was really strong and portrayed everything a best friend, leader and female should aspire to be!

๐Ÿ˜ฅ ๐•Ž๐•™๐•ช ๐•Ÿ๐•  ๐•—๐•š๐•ง๐•– ๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•’๐•ฃ๐•ค?
I found that there was a lot of repetition in the words used at the start of the story mainly, but also in some inner monologues like when Jackson describes Emily he says she is โ€œperfect". I understand that for him she may well be and he wanted her to know it but I wish a variety of words were used to convey it.

โณ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฆ๐•๐•• ๐•š ๐•ฃ๐•–-๐•ฃ๐•–๐•’๐•• ๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•”๐• ๐•ž๐•ž๐•–๐•Ÿ๐••?
Shifter girlies who want trauma, passion, get your own back on your ex-read this one/as it is calling your name. Every moment was a lesson in taking time to mend all those broken experiences, about letting go of resentments and pardoning yourself from the occasional trauma response. So if thatโ€™s you then get this read! And YES, I WILL re-read this over and over again! Sadly there is no knotting in this one.

๐Ÿชง๐”ฝ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• ๐•ฅ๐•™๐• ๐•ฆ๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ๐•ค:
Fleeing Fate by Fiona Rowan is very dark, spicy, and deeply emotionalโ€”a powerful blend of paranormal romance, fight and yearning, trauma and learning to trust yourself and others.
Emilyโ€™s journey through abuse and into healing is raw, powerful, and beautifully told.
This is one of those books that isnโ€™t 5 stars but will stay with me longer, and is going to haunt me for a long time to come.
Despite the dark context, I found this to be really loving and wholesome. Another reviewer said this-The author is showing us an image of the peace we are all looking for and we love to see healthy queens thrive. And I couldnโ€™t say it better myself.

๐น๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ;

๐•‹๐•š๐•œ๐•‹๐• ๐•œ
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๐•„๐•ช โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•Š๐•ช๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ž๐•ค:
โญ๏ธ DNF

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

๐Ÿ”ฅโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐Ÿ”ฅ
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!

SPICE SCALE:
๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ segsual language and a little on-page action

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.
may

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