Rating: 
Summary: not even worth it
Review: This is one of the worst romance books I have ever read. I could barely get through the first couple chapters because the whole premise is so ridiculous, don't get me wrong I always love a strong and powerful female character but this book was so stupid that I want to call up the publisher and ask for my money back.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible Imagination Run-in with Gender Roles Reversed
Review: Personally, the thought of reversing gender roles was a new and wonderful idea. I cannot, off the top of my head, remember reading anywhere where the author had managed to reverse the roles so well; which is the problem. While the idea was wonderful, the story was your normal, average, boring lemon(romance for all you non-fic readers) book with reversed roles. Instead of the males saying "Oh, hahaha~! I shall protect you and I am perfect and male, hear me roar~!" with the females swooning and jumping them begging "Oooo... I want to have your babies~!"; it was the complete opposite, and very boring. Sad too. All the females acted like tough she-men like the males of your norm love story and the men saying "ooo, I shall love you forever and I want to give you my babies~!". It was aggravating too. I am a feminist at heart, and it was so very, very sad to read this. How many years, HUNDRED of YEARS did women fight for EQUALITY??? It was just so depressing to see it happening again. I know it is fantasy, and I know it is just a story; but it is sad just the same. I had just begun to read Joy's other works and loved them, so when I picked up this book, it was a miserable let-down. As for the new words and experinces and such, I liked that^.^ Reminded me of Clockwork Orange, but it was much, much easier to guess/understand the means of new things in this book then Clockwork Orange. Yay. Another problem is the one-dimensional "bad-guy"s, or, excuse me, girls. Sorry to sound repetitive but: I mean, how boring does it get? No one is that inheritably "evil", the witch (... was not even "evil"; just jealous and greedy. Just like your oh-hum "bad" guys in the norm love story when something stupid happens, like the girl gets kidnapped or leered at or stolen, and her love-at-first-sight soon-to-ovbviously-be-husband comes to the rescue. I have a sunburn. I think I am done ranting now. It really was not THAT BAD, and for a lemon book, it was pretty good, which is why I gave it a two. Sorry Ms. Joy, while I thought your other books were to die for, this one just did not cut it.
Rating:
Summary: Not My Cup Of Tea
Review: I have read several of Dara Joy's books (Tonight or Never, High Energy, High Intensity) and have always found them fun to read and very entertaining. I must admit that I am really not a sci-fi fan and this was my first foray into this genre and I only did that due to the name of the author on the cover. I loved the concept of the role reversal in this book but just was not able to let myself go and enjoy. If you love sci-fi fantasy then this is probably just the book for you. If you are not a huge fan of this genre pick up something else from this author. She is very talented and worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books I have read in years.
Review: Ritual of Proof went beyond my expectations from what I heard Ms. Joy have given her readers before. This book is one of the top books I have read in science fiction/fantasy/romance in years. I see this as a sign of Ms. Joy's career and feel space is the only limit if any for her. I wait to read more stories from Dara Joy for this is my first time to read a Dara Joy book.
Rating:
Summary: All I can say is WOW
Review: Ritual of Proof is simply amazing. I loved the characters, I loved the world, I loved the Kloo and Klee, and most of all I want to see River and that he have his own story. Move over Traed, hehe.
Rating:
Summary: This book Rocks!!!
Review: Love this book. I am a hardcore fan of her Matrix Series and HE/HI Series, and now of the Forus series. This book blew me away just as KOATS did when I first read it. You only get that feeling when a book written so magnificant from beginning to the ending. This book left me craving for more and more of what Dara writes.
Rating:
Summary: What a world Forus is!!!!
Review: This world of Forus rivals if not surpasses the Matrix worlds in my view. There is such a lushness and warmth of the land along with a hint of danger. The animals of Forus have a unique sense of personality that you will only find in a Dara Joy book. And the fire she creates between Jorlan and Green is what you expect of a Novel from Ms. Joy and then some. I have read this book over and over and still find things that surprise me.
Rating:
Summary: Green and Jorlan
Review: Jorlan is a strong male when most males of the society do not have the strength and Green is a woman willing to risk her own, unlike the other she-lords, to save the strength she sees in Jorlan and among other things that grow between them. This book and the way it was created, is unlike no other I have read before. I love the glossary in the back, even though for the most part, you don't need it.
Rating:
Summary: Love it or Hate it...Depends
Review: I give Ms. Joy credit for creativity. I certainly never would have thought to write a book that's a mix of Regency England and Amazon-women. In the end, it's an interesting but hard-to-maintain role-reversal concept that lacks believability (But, hey, it's fiction, right? So, 2 stars it is.) I like strong heroines, who give as good as they get. Nothing bothers me more than a woman who lets a man run all over her just because she "loves" him. But to think of women TOTALLY controlling everything ON BEHALF of men? (Women running all over the men... Even in the reverse, it still bothers me.) Women being the bread-winners? (OK, maybe :) ...) Women as THE protectors of men, despite being the physically weaker sex... (I'm talking physically, not intellectually, here)... and the men actually allowing that... (Not hardly!) It was a good try, and I give her an E for effort, but even Ms. Joy backs down at the end, and the role-reversal concept flip-flops back to "HERO - not Heroine - SAVES THE DAY." I mean despite all the heroine's claims of how her role is to take care of and protect her hero, it's not Ms. Joy's heroine who meets her (female) antagonist on the field of battle! Personally, I prefer her Matrix books, and hope the next will be a continuation of that series and not a sequel to this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ritual of Proof shows Joy's uncompromising talent
Review: Quite possibly Dara Joy's most imaginative work to date, Ritual of Proof reverses the social role of men and women in the planet Forus. In the surreal realm of the book, it describes how Marquelle Tamryn Green as the formidable She-Lord meets her fated soul-mate Jorlan Reynard who is against the convention of the submission of males. When Anya Reynard is threatened by Claudine, a powerful and possessive She-Lord who is jealous of Green to submit Jorlan over to her, Green has no choice but to marry Jorlan to save him from her clutches. Yet Jorlan has no wish to be bonded but when their passion rises with the differences in their social role, they are forced to compromise or let the evil plots of Claudine ruin their tenuous relationhip. Dara Joy has outdone herself with the complexity of the novel to examine social status and gender roles. The drama unfurls imaginatively with strange elements; of meteor blades, of Septibunal which is the governing council, of aristocracy, of pleasurer and of the planet Forus. It is a fascinating platform to dissect our human civilization - and as an erotic novel, the passion between Jorlan and Green sizzles with their unorthodox coupling. Ritual of Proof no doubt engages with Jorlan's triumph to do away with social convention - and his search for freedom and equality. Ritual of Proof is part fantasy and part romance which is exceptionally well crafted by Joy - and with this book she has proven herself a talent who shows uncompromising dimensions.
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