While I enjoyed this quite a bit, the world building & pace were a little too fast for me. And, personally, I would have loved it a lot more if we hadn't just been thrown into a semi-established relationship. That way, it was a lot harder for me to get properly invested in it.

I love an MM romance and this was no exception!! Im new to the sci-fi genre but this was such a good book!! Watching their romance grow was great but i dont feel like the romance overran the plot which was nice to see!!

I loved the premise of this book and the nod to Romeo and Juliet being done in such a fantastical way. The writing flowed well and had a lot of really good ideas. The discussions surrounding relationships and addiction were extremely well handled. The book showed a lot of care for addiction recovery and the mentality that a person may have while cleansing.

However, I had issues with the world-building and the relationships within the story. The book was extremely fast-paced, throwing you in with our main characters already in love. While this can be done well, I felt the lack of watching their relationship grow was to the detriment of the story down the line. I didn't have enough information to truly feel like Ambrose's reactions in the last third of the story were genuine because we didn't get to see enough of their relationship developing. Additionally, the pacing in the beginning was so quick that we did not get to understand the world. Why was the city like it in the first place? Where did the powers come from? These questions go unanswered and took away from the overall experience following the plot given in the description. Then the last third of the book completely changes focus and pace, and without some of the world building I didn't care until the real discussions about recovery truly came in. Finally, Atlas and Ambrose's relationship felt so surface-level because Atlas felt underdeveloped, so I didn't feel the tension as much as I could have.

Ultimately, the book was a good read with a great story foundation and good writing, but suffered from a weak foundation and a lack of details for the romance.

Blind Spot had some interesting sci-fi world-building and a slow-burn connection between the characters, but the romance was just not for me—I’m not a fan of romance-heavy stories. The plot dragged in romance-focused scenes, which overshadowed the sci-fi elements I was more interested in. If you're into heartfelt M/M romance set against a futuristic backdrop, it might work—but for me, the balance felt off.

💫🩵 Blind Spot ARC Review 🩵💫

Thank you so much to Kate Peters and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

Blind Spot is a standalone sci-fi queer novel. In a world where drugs give people power boosts, Ambrose is the son of a drug lord and in a secret relationship with Cai, the son of the rival gang. When addiction threatens to end everything Ambrose holds dear, can he reclaim his life before it’s too late??

This was an interesting read and not what I expected when I picked it up. As always no spoilers but the primary plot points didn’t really revolve around building the romance between the main characters. Story wise I found that the pacing felt slow in some places & it took a little while to get going. This was definitely more plot driven than character driven, and romance was not one of the major themes in this novel. While I liked Ambrose, I found myself wanting to know more of Cai’s perspective as I was reading

Overall this was a three star read. In general this was an interesting story with creative world building, but not quite what I expected it to be based on the blurb. This book does have some potential triggers, so please check if you’re sensitive. This book did have a few spicy scenes in the first half so overall two flames for spice

If you’re a fan of queer stories with interesting world building, mental health/addiction rep, and unexpected twists, then pick this one up!

I really loved the beginning of the novel and how things were set up. It was a very interesting concept with people having powers and being addicted to a drug that enhances them. I was also pulled into the novel with the forbidden love aspect with the two leads belonging to rival gangs. I did find their relationship sweet and I wish we got more of them in the book. But the second half of the book did not contain the two of them together whatsoever.

One gripe I had with this book was that I felt that the characters were not acting their age. At times it felt like they were teenagers but in actuality they were 30 years old. It also got confusing at times when the chapters abruptly went into flashbacks, but it wasn't so obvious it was a flashback until a few pages into the new chapter. I also had a big problem with the last part of the plot/second half of the book. SPOILERS AHEAD: I did not really like going into the alternate timeline for so long, and then for it to be resolved within the last 10 pages when we finally see Cai again? Like it felt too easy that both Suyin and Ambrose found their lovers and get to live a happy ever after. It just felt so rushed after Ambrose was struggling doing tasks for Suyin to convince her to give him back his powers, and then all of a sudden it was all resolved.

Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC!

Firstly, thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC.

It was both the premise of this book and its gorgeous front cover that drew me to this story. A dystopian world where everyone is born with powers after some big apocalyptic event, sounds amazing!

The powers in this book were all very interesting, I enjoyed seeing the wide range of powers everyone had and their differing levels of strength. A really interesting concept that kept me reading, however, I would have loved to learn more about the history of these powers and what occurred in the world to start this process of humans being born each with a unique power. I feel this book as a whole would benefit from the inclusion of the worlds history and how we got to where we are now. We don't find out what apocalyptic event brought us to this point, which I can forgive as we don't necessarily need to know that as readers, but more lore and history on the city the main character Ambrose lives in throughout the book would have benefitted the stakes of this book greatly. We know that Ambrose and his partner Cai are in rivalling gangs that have a history, we don't ever find out how these gangs formed or much about their previous fights, we're not told much about the gang Cai is in at all, which makes the gang rivalry feel very low stakes.

As for the pace of the story it did take a while to get to the main plot points, this didn't impact my enjoyment of the story however, as I really liked reading about the relationship between Ambrose and Cai, I loved going into this book with their romantic relationship already developed and strong, this made it stand out over other stories with romance plots.

Overall, this book maybe would have benefitted from including a little more history for the characters and the city they live in, but I still found this enjoyable and easy to read.

The beginning is very very spicy. I’m loving the writing style.

As this book has already been archived I’m leaving a review for the portion I have finished so far.

Good banter. Fun concept. Good writing style.

And content warnings are included!

Thank you for this ARC. I am leaving honest feedback voluntarily.

Yes queer space drama! My favorite things all in one! I really enjoyed the characters and the dialogue was realistic, which is something I am really critical of. Love!

The book takes place after an apocalyptic event causes everyone to develop a power. Ambrose and Cai are part of two rival gangs and they have to keep their relationship a secret. Ambrose attempts a high risk mission for the sake of a better future for Cai and himself.

What drew me to this book was the element of the story of people having develop powers after an apocolypse and thus changing how the world/society works. While we did get some bits of people using their powers, I felt like that aspect and worldbuilding could have been developed more.

The relationship between the two main characters, Ambrose and Cai, was sweet. I liked that they were already in a stable relationship and showing how they maintain it and always show up for each other.
I think they were supposed to be the sunshine/grumpy kind of couple but Ambrose was too grumpypants for me.

I would recommend this book to other readers.

Thank you to netgalley and publisher for a copy of the book to review.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The premise on this one really had me sold. I love a dystopian world and society, and the idea behind this one was really great. I wish we had delved deeper into the world building, but I enjoyed the bits of lore as they dropped.

I also liked the idea of the romance being about an already established relationship. Leaving the romance aspect to be about them getting through obstacles and life together, and growing closer. I didn't really connect with either of the characters super much, but more connected to their dynamic with each other.

My biggest hurdle for this book was the pacing. I felt like the plot didn't really begin until 50% into the book. It left me finding it difficult to be motivated to read for the first full half. Then, once the plot did escalate, it was enthralling. But sadly felt pretty rushed due to everything having to be squeezed into the second half of the book.

Overall, I would say this was fairly enjoyable.

📚ARC REVIEW📚

Blind Spot by Kate Peters
Publication Date: 15 July 2025
Rating: 4 ✨

When I saw this one on Netgalley I immediately knew I wanted to read it. Especially with Pride month coming up I was really looking forward to some LGBT representation, that wasn't a contemporary romance. It took me a little bit to get into this book, the way it starts of is interesting to say the least. The worldbuilding took some time, but once I was in, I was in. Near the end I thought there would be a very intriguing but also slightly disappointing twist, which did not end up being true. I was satisfied with the ending. I just feel like some parts were a little rushed, which caused some confusion (I don't read too much Sci-fi, so that might play a part). Overall this is a really good book, that I would definitely recommend. After looking back I will actually give this a solid four stars. It's a really interesting story and not really like anything I've read before.

I would definitely consider reading Kate Peters other book at some point.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC

The first page was shocking, but finding out they were 30 threw me off more.

I often struggle to comprehend sci-fi books and greatly appreciated how easy this world was to understand. Their powers kept me entertained and guessing. The more I learned about Ambrose’s powers, the more badass he became. Had some elements that remind me of the Grishaverse, specifically Jurda Parem. It accurately represents how addiction never really leaves you.

This book has an established relationship while still getting to see their relationship develop through flashbacks. I wish Cai was a little more of a character outside of his relationship with Ambrose. Cai is so sassy and, in my opinion, the more interesting character. Their relationship was cute, though, so I’m not complaining. They are so sweet together, and there is so much understanding and love between them.

The second half of this book felt like a fanfiction of the first. At times it seemed like a whole other book. However, receiving random lore drops and Bo collecting lesbians was so funny.

This was such an interesting book. The sci-fi elements were great and added a whole level of mystery to the underlying themes in the story. Ambrose and Cai were perfect for each other and that ending was so good. Now I want to know what happens next and honestly how their powers all came to be before. I feel like this book unleashed a whole world to explore.

I loved Cai so much. Ambrose was sweet at times until he wasn’t. He was very sour . I loved the forbidden love/ rival gangs trope.
The end was so cute and sweet.
I get the titles meaning blind spot with Ambrose suddenly not existing in certain parts of Cai,s world.

I’d definitely read more from this author.

Aside from having a drop-dead gorgeous cover, "Blind Spot" by Kate Peters is a novel with quite an interesting premise to offer. What would a world in which people are born with a magical ability look like? How would it resemble ours, and how would it differ? Perhaps more importantly, though... What would people do to keep them, and how much would they be willing to sacrifice for more power?

I would like to clarify that I enjoyed the book, since I found the setting to be quite interesting and was really intrigued about the snippets of lore that were slowly offered up to me as a reader. Dystopian societies have always fascinated me, since they are an exploration of what our world COULD be and often betray our current societies' troubles and biggest fears—throw in magic of any kind, and I'm in! This was something that pulled me in from the get-go, though at the same time I wish there had been a deeper dive into this world and how it works. Considering how fascinating it sounded, I would've liked to understand a bit better everything that was mentioned in the passing. How is this society that Ambrose and Cai belong to structured? How did it come to be? What keeps it from utter chaos, how is it politically organised? What is the relevance of both families within said society? Does everyone have powers, or is this something only a few are born with? How have these magic abilities impacted the way society works? Etcetera.

Regarding the two main characters, Ambrose and Cai, I quite liked that the book explored how they stay in love, rather than merely how they fall for each other. Many times romance is limited to the journey from enemies, or friends, or strangers, or whatever, to lovers who decide to become a couple. In this sense, it was quite refreshing to have an already established couple be the focus of interest, since it offered a lot of fun scenes and lovely subplots. Something I particularly enjoyed were the little details, here and there, through which we glimpse at how much Cai and Ambrose have been through together. There was a comforting routine to their bond that felt very much like a warm hug, which I enjoyed immensely, and they were far from boring or insipid.

Perhaps the plot was, to me, what might've benefitted the most from a round of developmental edits focused particularly on the pacing. Even though I don't think that the blurb is misleading in any way, I did feel like I didn't know what the main plot was meant to be due to, precisely, the pacing. It took over half of the book for the main conflict to happen, which at the same time disrupted my investment because it came in too "late" and, as a consequence, I wasn't really sold on the idea of it being as relevant as I knew it was meant to be. Another thing I did not enjoy as much as I wish I had was the resolution, since it felt rushed (precisely because it all happened when the story was over 50% along) and there was a lot of information being dumped that seemed to be blurted out just for the sake of justifying how things played out. I didn't really feel like I was reading a sci-fi novel for most of it, because there was nothing that suggested that science and technology were relevant at all or, at least, as relevant as magical abilities. "Urban Fantasy" might be a better fit in terms of literary subgenres, since magical abilities are so prominent in the worldbuilding.

All things considered, this book offers quite an interesting premise and has a lot of potential. I don't regret giving it a chance, since there was quite a solid core concept. Will be watching out for this author's next release!

Blind spot was an immediate grab, and from that moment on, I was utterly captivated. The dynamic between the characters, especially Ambrose and Cai, is simply adorable. Their exchanges are cute, playful, and sexy, especially with that bad-boy vibe. The little gestures, like wrapping arms around each other from behind and pressing noses into necks? Pure, unadulterated romance. It's almost too much to handle.

And can we talk about Ambrose's power to freeze time? Such an imaginative concept; the way they're woven into the story and used to create both tension and tenderness is masterful.

Beyond the romance, I appreciated the book's exploration of addiction. Fictionalizing addiction can be tricky, but this story navigated it in a way that felt nuanced. By showcasing the perspectives of users, non-users, and those in recovery, the author really played with the complexities and far-reaching impact of addiction.

I also loved how limited the world-building was. Instead of getting bogged down in excessive details, the focus remained on the core themes: addiction, love, and complex family dynamics. The dystopian context and Suyin’s home also felt symbolic of the characters' brokenness and process to rehabilitate.

That ending though, I'm sorry, but it was unacceptable! The book was way too good to end like that. It felt abrupt.

Thank you NetGalley and Katie Peters for letting me read this beautiful book early! It was an incredible read. My heart was ripped from my chest but then sewn back in. It was such a beautiful read and I fell in love with Ambrose and Cai

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All thoughts are my own.

This was a super unique book in a very good way. The world was fascinating and the powers that everyone had were super cool. The drug was interesting and had me curious. I loved Ambrose as a character and felt all of the pain he went through. The ending had me crying, so beautiful.