★☆ This book was previously titled The Heir and the Human.★☆Axton’s existence was a lonely one until his mother brought Sadie into his life. Now, she’s the center of his universe, and he’ll do everything in his power to protect her.But Griselda’s evil plans cast a dark shadow over their love, threatening the future he so desperately craves. With separation looming, Ax is preparing to sacrifice … is preparing to sacrifice everything for the girl he loves. It’s a high-stakes gamble, and he needs to stay ahead of the game if he’s to outsmart his conniving mother.
Sadie has been his savior.
Now it’s his turn to save her.
Note from the author:
This is a fully completed series.
This novella is an optional novella, however, I recommend reading it after Saven Defiance to maximize reading enjoyment.
This novella is narrated exclusively from Axton’s point of view and it details some of Ax and Sadie’s backstory. It also features some of the characters you have come to know and love from the main series.
This is not a standalone story and should only be read as part of the series.
★☆ Saven Series Reading Order ★☆
Saven Deception
Logan
Saven Disclosure
Saven Denial
Saven Defiance
Axton
Saven Deliverance
more
This little glimpse into Ax and Sadies past is as awesome as is is awful. It really brings a necessary light to his “insanity”. It makes it very easy to empathize with his situation. Epic and loss.
My favorite thing about Siobhan Davis is that we get these little back-story novellas to give all these extra details to the main story. When I read a book, I often end up wondering about the other characters and this novella is PERFECT for satisfying that curiosity! The Heir and the Human gives Ax a lot of depth and insight to his emotions that we don’t get in the main books.
A great addition to the series!
I was kind of dreading reading this one. I love this series. I love Sadie and Logan. This novella is all about Sadie’s time with Ax, when she loved him. I knew it would be heartbreaking. I knew I would fall in love with the idea of Sadie and Axton, because Siobhan Davis knows how to make you do that. But at the same time I’m in love with the idea of Sadie and Logan. Am I making sense?! It’s funny because Siobhan did a great job with Sadie’s character in this book. Sadie had a little bit of a different way about her, because she had a different life growing up than the life the Sadie Logan loves had. It made a difference in little things about their personality, but in the big things they were the same. You have to read it to understand what I mean. But, I knew this would be heartbreaking and I’m hoping in the last book of the Saven series things work out for Ax, he needs some happiness in his life. I highly recommend this novella though, it adds a lot to the series!! Which is now one of my all time favorite book series ever!!!
I received a free book from the author for an honest review.
I enjoyed that more than I thought I would. I skipped over some lovey Dovey parts because I’m not the biggest fan of him but it was enjoyable.
I’m glad we finally find out what happened to blade.
If you love Axton’s character or still feel on the fence about him, then this novella is a must.
As much as I hate her, I really love Griselda. Female villains seem exponentially more evil, and her behavior throughout this novella had my jaw dropping a number of times—especially the end! Wow. That ending. I had an idea about how this would end after reading Saven Defiance, but after getting further attached to Siobhan’s complex characters, I found myself feeling heartbroken all over again.
Like I said for my review of Saven Defiance, I want Ax to finally have some happiness in his life. Even when he was with Sadie, he was constantly worrying about Logan and her departure back to Earth. His mother has never given him the love he deserves, and after finding out who his father is in Saven Defiance, well nothing needs to be said there. Basically, I worry he is going to take a turn for the worse, and I wish he could somehow get his version of Sadie back.
*Spoilers for the previous books in this review*
My heart breaks for Ax! I’m so sad! Reading this and knowing things won’t turn out great for Ax’s plans was gut-wrenching! Also, poor Izzy! In the next book, I need for there to be some way for Ax to have his Sadie, while Logan can also have his Sadie. Like some type of weird time warp thing(twin Sadies!), and also while we are doing that, we can also pick up Blade too! I want everyone to be happy dang it! For our current Sadie, I still want her with Logan because the Sadie she is now, isn’t the Sadie she was with Ax, and there is a glimpse of Logan in this book, and Logan showed how strong, kind, and mature he is, and if everyone didn’t mess with his life, he would have been happy with Sadie, so I can’t root for Ax over Logan. This book definitely endeared Ax more to me, and it was great to see Sadie and him together, and to see how much they do love each other, and their wedding; so sweet! Ax tries so hard in this book to do right by Sadie, and it’s painful to see him crushed by her loss. I do wish Ax took a stronger approach towards his evil hag of a mother, but I understand where he is coming from, but it has been all his life, and I feel he should have stepped up. So, to recap, we need 2 Sadies because I don’t want to see Logan or Ax with anybody else, and we also need to get Blade along the way! I love Siobhan Davis’ writing, and the whole Saven series, and I can’t wait to read the upcoming novellas, and the upcoming conclusion to the Saven saga!
I just received and immediately read my ARC of Heir & the Human. If this was supposed to turn me from Team Ax to Team Logan, it completely failed. I fell MORE in love with Team Ax.
The story is told from Ax’s point of view. It starts with the period of time when Sadie is training and ends with her departure for Earth and her mission. You should read this book after Saven Denial. It can be read either before or after Saven Defiance – the novella does not spoil anything in Saven Defiance.
It gives good insight into Axon’s feeling about Logan, Sadie, and “the mission”. You also got a view of Axon’s relationship with the other heir’s i.e. Logan, Dali, and King Coryn. Ax is far from perfect. He makes serious mistakes which end up hurting some of the people that he cares about. On the other hand, Sadie clearly ADORES Ax. There is no question that she loves him with her whole heart. As Ax said in Saven Defiance, Sadie was his connect BEFORE she was Logan’s.
I am ONLY hope that Sadie ultimately will end up with Ax. I know it is a foolish hope, but I can still dream.
The Heir and the Human is an optional Saven short story, but if you enjoy Axton then I certainly recommend giving it a read. This story was so enlightening, giving much more than I had anticipated.
As we’ve worked through the books, I’ve come to enjoy the Saven series more and more. When Axton was introduced, I feared the worst – my mind screamed ‘love triangle’ and I hate those things. Fortunately, the story revolving around Axton and Sadie was a lot more grown up than I had expected it to be. There were a few moments where I wanted to shake some sense into Axton, moments where I wanted his character to slip out of the story, but over time he played a vital part and I came to enjoy his character. I knew quite quickly that he would never be a favourite character, but by the end of Defiance I did want to know more about him. I was willing to accept the role he has to play, and I’m more than interested to see what that role is and where it leads the story.
With this short story, I came to appreciate Axton a lot more. I came to understand his actions, why he did the things he did. If I’m being brutally honest, a part of me feared this short story. I feared it would be a lot of excuses. I feared it would try to make a love triangle something I should want. I feared it would try to leave me shipping Sadie with Axton instead of Logan. I mean, it took me long enough to start shipping Sadie and Logan, to have a short story try to change my mind so soon was not okay with me.
However, this short story was great.
Rather than giving the entirety of the history between Axton and Sadie, it merely gives the most relevant information. The short story tells us about the events leading up to Griselda sending Sadie back, tearing apart the love between the two. Of course, Axton is going to do something drastic. Of course, it does not work. We knew both of these things before going into the story – it’s all told in Defiance, hence why this should be read after book three – but it was great to have details.
Honestly, I could say so much, but I won’t. It’s short and sweet, giving you an insight into Axton as a character. If you like his character then I’m sure you will love this story. If, like me, you’re unsure of him then it is worth a read anyway. If nothing else, you see more of him and it may work to change your view. If nothing else, you will understand him better.
I would also like to add a small side note. Whilst reading Defiance I came to the conclusion that the Saven series would make a great television show. I’m not one to endorse such a thing – nine times out of ten the show or movie never does it justice – but occasionally there are times when I would like to see how the big screen would do something. Such is the case with the Saven series, and this short story merely works to highlight how much there is to work with. I can just imagine parts of this story working as flashback scenes, or as episodes into the past. Seriously, how cool do you think a Saven television series would be? I know I’d watch it.
As always, a great read. It is certainly worth reading if you’re a fan of the Saven series; whilst optional it does add a lot more than you would think for so few pages.
Finally, once again, I would like to thank the author for allowing me to advance read this. It’s much appreciated and I’m excited for the last book and the remaining short stories that are to come!
Wow, just when you thought you have your mind set on Logan, this background story with Ax changes your whole prospective.
I have to admit that Axton is not my favorite character in the series. That being said, he’s not my least favorite character either, and I truly did enjoy having a little insight as to what happened on his end and why he feels the way he does and acts the way he does. It was very enlightening and might help fans of the Saven series be a little more sympathetic to events in other novels in the series. While reading this optional novella, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Ax and begin to hate Griselda even more than I already did.
I personally love when an author goes back and tells us a bit of the story that we weren’t privy to, or a bit that we did read but from a different perspective. If that’s you, you’ll want to read this addition to the Saven series.
*I was offered an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.*