Taken to Kor by Elizabeth Stephens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deena
Rhork. He’s a space pirate. The bad kind. But he’s also been my only source of company for the past rotation that I’ve been held captive.

Halfway across the galaxy, I’m happy to have finally escaped and found more humans…well, I was.

But now, I’m not so sure that people are so much better than pirates. And I’m very sure that I’ll need Rhork’s help to get out of this. But Rhork thinks I’m a defective female because of my twisted leg. What if he’s not willing to give it?

Rhork
Communicating with the human female for almost a rotation was, in retrospect, a poor choice. Now, she seems to be the ever-present voice in my head, distracting me, making me want things I shouldn’t.

To make her a pirate.

To show her the universe.

And most of all, to keep her for myself.

Taken to Kor

Space pirates, need I say more?

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💜🩷💙💚
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌎
Character development: ☹️😍😋😤
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

The heroine: Deena – she lives with her grandmother in a colony with other humans. Her grandmother Matilda has always been abusive, but she did love her when she was young. When she was six, Matilda broke Deena’s leg and now it is covered in scars, it didn’t heal correctly, and her foot is twisted to the side. When Deena found out that Matilda was betraying the colony, Matilda locked her underground in her basement for a long time. Deena had stolen a communication token, and there was a space pirate named Rhork on the other end. He was her only company while being held captive.

The Hero: Rhork – he is a Niahhorru space pirate, a race with four-arms and spines on their backs. He was always listening to Deena, who went a little crazy during her captivity. He and his crew of 30 wanted to find a human female for Shekurr, a ritual where they all mate with the female. When it came time where Rhork was doing a deal with Matilda, he said that he didn’t want Deena because she was defective. What he didn’t say was that the reason he rejected Deena because he wanted her for himself, not to share with his crew and he hadn’t found a way to do that yet.

The Story: After hearing what Rhork said about her, Deena runs away and gets in the escape pod from Rhork’s ship. She launches herself and puts in the coordinates for a satellite where another group of humans live. She hopes to start a new life with other humans who will treat her better than her grandmother ever did. Though Rhork is still listening and talking to her, she refuses to tell him the coordinates because she thinks he will come and take the human females. She takes out her communicator and when she gets to the satellite, she boards, despite the rot that looks to be attached to it. She ends up in deep trouble and puts her communicator back in and asks Rhork to come save her. She says she will do the Shekurr, that she will do anything if they just come and rescue her.

Rhork immediately sets course for the satellite to come to her aid. He was in love with the eccentric woman and could do no less. This was a space opera with lots of action and danger. I didn’t like it at first because there were flashbacks to Deena’s time in captivity in the basement and in a glass box that her grandmother kept her in underground. Often when you are reading a book with a lot of flashbacks, they are called out in some way, like italics. So, you know what passages are in the present and what ones are in the past. However, in audiobooks, it is very hard to tell, and it makes the story seem disjointed and like it is jumping around willy nilly. It was hard to follow in the beginning. Though it wasn’t long before it started mostly being told in the present and that was when it started getting good. The shift to real-time storytelling, Deena and Rhork’s evolving connection, and perhaps the thrilling stakes once she reached the satellite really added dimension and clarity to the story.
It was an intriguing and layered story—Deena’s resilience really shines through; despite the trauma and hardship she faces. Her complicated relationship with Rhork adds a fascinating dynamic, especially with the secretive aspect of his feelings for her. The Shekurr ritual and the cultural nuances of the Niahhorru race are also unique touches that make this story stand out as a space opera. The only things I didn’t like was that it got a little boring when they were on Kor, and Deena’s low opinion of herself got on my nerves a bit. She was showing what a strong woman she was and what a warrior she could be, but she just couldn’t believe that Rhork really could love her.

Deena’s journey reflects themes of survival, trust, and reclaiming agency—perfect for an action-packed and emotionally engaging narrative. The flashbacks seem vital for understanding her inner struggles, though their presentation in the audiobook format initially felt disorienting. The audiobook is told in dual points of view in dual narration. Joy Beharie and Curtis Michael Holland narrated it. Neither of these narrators is on my list of favorites, but they both have good voices and do a fine job.

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