#GEM Series 3

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Onyx by Freya Barker

GEM #3

This series could go on and on forever and I would read every one of the books BUT I have a feeling this could be the last book in the series, and I will have to think about the characters instead of reading about them in the future. I will miss them.

What I liked:

* Rajani “Raj” Agarwal: AKA Onyx, GEM operative-employee, difficult backstory that motivates her in her current job, young love lost impacted her greatly as did the trauma s he experienced at the hands of predators and abusers, strong, smart, survivor, lead on this case, closed off but intrigued by Jacob and Hamish

* Jacob Branch: owner and head of GEM, invested in saving missing and exploited youth, suffered more than one trauma in the past – physical and mental, strong, resilient, wealthy, intelligent, has many assets to work with, drawn to a woman and has loved her a long time, intriguing man

* Hamish Adrian: scars from burns suffered in a stable fire at a horse training facility, horse trainer, ex-military, brother-in-arms to Jacob, more to him than meets the eye

* The development of the relationship between Raj and the man she ends up with and how it unfolds – they so deserve to be together

* Bernie: a woman who has had Jacob’s back for many years

* Getting to see how Kate & Mitch and Janey & Fisher are doing

* The plot, pacing, and writing

* Being able to hate the evil characters

* Knowing that GEM and CARD managed to bring to justice some very evil predators and hopefully save some young people, too

* All of it except for…

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like – and there were quite a few to dislike

* Knowing that there are evil people in the world willing to harm others in the pursuit of their own horrific lusts and desires

Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I read more by this author? Definitely

Thank you to the author and Buoni Amici PR for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

BLURB

GEM: a privately-funded organization operating independently in the search for—and the rescue and recovery of—missing and exploited children. Although, at times working in conjunction with law enforcement, GEM aims to ensure the victims receive justice…by whatever means necessary. ____ Onyx; balanced, strong, a guardian She’s the voice of reason, advocates, and strategizes. Supporting the team from the background, Onyx rarely goes out in the field. However, when a widespread child exploitation ring is discovered, her particular skill set is needed to get close. Unfortunately, her boss—a man she’s never laid eyes on before—is dead set against her taking the lead. Outvoted, he finds a way to keep her in his sights, risking his own exposure. It’s only a matter of time before the final truth is revealed, and they’re forced to face the past and secure their future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hey all!

Just a few words from me!

First of all, thank you so much for your interest in my books.

I started writing January of 2014 without any idea what was going to come of it. That first book, Slim To None, released in August of that year.

It was only supposed to be a one-time thing, but I discovered I had more to say and my passion was born.

Writing is therapy for me, and through my stories I hope to share a little of what it has given me: HOPE.

My dream is for my readers to find that same ‘hope’ in my words. Not just for love and romance, but for a good, happy, satisfying life, regardless of current circumstances. To show through my characters that despite roadblocks thrown in our path—with an open mind—we can learn to see and move beyond our limitations. That we can stand strong in the face of adversity, and sometimes as a result of it.

Believe in yourself—in your worth.

I hope you enjoy my stories, and I hope you’re able to take something away from them.

Happy reading!

xox Freya

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories. 

With forty-plus books already published, she continues to create characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy. 

Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

[ollyolyoxenfree]

horse 3: horse fast horse furious part two || part four

[moomoorare]

click for better quality? tumblr loves to compress images worse than dudes repressing gay urges

Art I made for my second work in the Scales of Fate au (Blood In The Wine) featuring The Ocean Queen and her new knights Dame Gem, Lady Pearl and Earl Cleo 🌊💗

[ender1821]

living in blissful ignorance of everything that’s happened in session 6, have more shinyduo screenshots :]

[galedekarios]

🐱👑🧙‍♂️

[ratective]

pearl with a pearl earring: a possibly grotesque adaptation

[zellie-x]

Sketch dump of doodles that I’ll probably never finish

Featuring: The Life Ladies

Also noticed how much I love giving cute little earrings to funny charaters

[entityredacted]

So I got inspired by a comic I read to make a robotics au for the life series

The thought is that the whole life series is essentially a game show/tournament started by the Watchers Corporation. It has the same rules as the regular series, except that people can submit robots with sentient/semi-sentient engines and capable of fighting, talking, emoting etc without remote controls

There's lore for each member of the series but I'll talk about that another time

[galaxygermdraws]

So a Skizz enthusiast (me) and a Gem enthusiast (my partner) start session 3. We walk out horribly broken. Endergem exists now. This is how I get violently attached.

(reblogs with tags/comments are appreciated. thankyu)

[doodle-ink]

Progress update on this behemoth of a project! (roll of partially used duck tape for reference)

I already love it but know it’s gonna take me a WHILE because it requires both free time and motivation at the same time. So yeah

I’ll prolly end up posting more updates like this as it continues to end the little thing I call a social life :,D

(Og artist is @skimmeh from this lovely hellsite)

[astros-arts-inthestars]

✿GEMINITAY APPRECIATION WEEK✿

Day 4: Green Life Gem

She's Just Gem!

Absolutely adore her in Secret Life <3 Her and her bandmates wer elike the biggest thing in the WORLD. Like their loyalty and dedication to each other was absolutely INCREDIBLE! Was listening to Cottagecore while drawing this, and honestly? Gem and the Scotts song!!! For real!!!

Thing to appreciate about Green Life Gem: Honestly so impressive how well she adapted to the series! Jumping into the task head on, finding people to make an alliance with... Ohhh her and her bandmates!! Her protecting Scott and Impulse, solidifying their band, ALREADY MAKING HOUSES!! Well, of course, it's Gem! In a server known for builds not lasting too long or simply being practical or bit-orientated, hers was as Gem as it can be: pretty and perfect <3

✿Reblogs would be greatly appreciated!! Spread that Gem love!!✿

[feralglitch]

Something about Ren making his mission to build a chicken farm for the Heart Foundation.

Something about Ren's quest to redeem himself from his past as the Blood-crowned King leading him to become a defender, a follower, a homemaker, a hermit.

Something about Martyn not recognising Ren in Tango, despite several other players calling him by name.

Something about how you supposedly "can't take the Hand away from the King", but what if the King is long gone and the man left in his place is but a humble farmer, seeking only to provide for his friends in the dark days to come?

[fierrochase-falafel]

A 'The Lightning Thief' Musical Appreciation Post (and recommending a documentary-of-sorts)

Message to all you TLT: The Musical fans out there! Just watched the new documentary-of-sorts by Wait in the Wings about the production of TLT and its journey through from small 1-hour play for middle schools to (still underrated) Broadway production, and I cannot recommend it enough! It has interview excerpts from Joe Tracz, Rob Rokicki, Stephen Brackett and Kristin Stokes as well, and both Kristin Stokes and Chris McCarrell have praised it if that helps your expectations.

Always nice to see this musical appreciated online and elsewhere, in all its camp glory. To all the TLT musical fans out there who have also been here and treasured this show and the community surrounding it, perhaps the real lightning thief was the friends we made along the way. Always glad to have found this community :)

Quick message for Percy Jackson fans that haven't seen the musical yet: Well, you might be wondering what to do after you've watched the TV series and boy do I have the content for you. This is a great musical for anyone whose a fan of the books; having borne the brunt of negative expectations after the unspeakable movies came out, this musical still captured people with its fun charm and emotional core for good reason. The soundtrack is out everywhere pretty much, it might not be your kind of media but I'd still give it a shot (particularly if you're into musicals)! I know I haven't gone into much detail here about why this musical works, although I'd like to say more someday; if you want more information, plenty of people on Tumblr have said things about it and the video above does go into why this musical is/was so loved by fans of it. For now I'll just say that it is very genuine and heartwarming, taking the emotional core of the Lightning Thief novel and adapting it for the stage in a way that commemorates and stays true to the novel (even with references to the rest of the novels in there, such as a Bianca di Angelo cameo in the Lotus Casino!).

Anyways, quick post here, just another reminder to always appreciate the TLT musical. Cheers!

[the-wegg]

finally finishing art?!me!! wow..

(I have much art I haven’t posted yet but mayb I’ll post all of that tomorrow as just january art)

been a while since I made a big traditional doodle,so that plus redesigning my gem a little was fun :3

[lemon-bread-slice]

For the ask game!!

Gem: any or all of 1, 4, 14, 24? :D

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

The diversity! Elf, deer, other hybrids, and now pirate/sea creature, there’s so many interesting angles and aesthetics! Gem is also just super fun to write, whether she’s being sweet, sassy, threatening, anywhere in the Venn Diagram really. Amazingly well rounded character that i want to shake aggressively /aff

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Hmmmmmm, i gotta say, my media knowledge isn’t very broad. But i’mma go with Balder’s Gate 3. I haven’t played it personally, but from what I do know i think Gem would have a fucking blast. I mean, she basically lived playing D&D for a whole server anyways.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Lesbian. Ok but seriously, Gem is already cottagecore’d up to the nines, i think she’d enjoy the occasional flannel, pants with some actually decent sized pockets, and 👏 she 👏 deserves 👏 boots!

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Smiles and explodes- Deltarune: Noelle holiday I mean come on. Yes the deer link is easy, but also, kind, sweet, cute, but scarily powerful and capable of murder? (also very gay) All i’m saying is never ever let these two scheme together, their mutual enemy is doomed for one thousand years.

[whistlingstarlight]

That bit where despite all the pain and suffering Lucas has been through, despite how the world ripped apart his family, hurt his friends and utterly fucking broke him, Lucas still chooses to love the world despite everything that happens. And that he hopes our world is kinder to us