All the plot threads that made up the majority of this conclusion to the duology needed to be tied up but I think that this story would’ve been better served by a standalone through the elimination of some of the side characters and tangentially related plot events. This book felt rather different in tone than the first book. The villain also felt flat and generic in addition to the fact that the character who is revealed as the villain early on in the book, went from hiding in plain sight to acting as evil as story about villains can get. I want to keep the set together, so I will hold onto this book, but I wish that Eva’s story had come together differently.
Of the three interconnected books in this series, this one is by far my favorite. I felt nervous going into this read after the disappointment of the previous book. This book did not suffer from the limited number of characters in an isolated setting like the last book. I also really enjoyed how Durst wove the main character’s story through the events of the first two books and connected those characters. This connection will always endear a story to me. I did find the love interest a little lackluster at the beginning, but she gave him enough character growth to save my opinion of this character. I don’t know if Durst plans to continue in this world, but I will still pick up the books.
First, when I realized that this series had connections to a previous series by Kemmerer, I worried that it was her Defy the Night series which I DNF’d earlier this year. Thankfully, I figured out quickly that this series follows the series of her that I didn’t enjoy. That being said, when this book, towards the middle, had the two romantic pairings ramp up at nearly exactly the same time, I would have DNF’d if I did not also have this book and book two on my HRYED TBR. I did not dislike this book and actually enjoyed the plot and the set up with characters, figuring out where their loyalties should lie, but the romance felt incredibly juvenile and instant. Only the presence of book 2 on one of my TBRs will keep me continuing at least through that book in this series. It also serves to make it clear to me that I will likely not pick up more books from this author, unless they appear on the Goodreads Choice Awards YA fantasy list.
Kristen Hannah writes well and definitely plays on people‘s emotions. Out of the three books that I have read by her, this one does not surpass The Women as my favorite. Instead, it ties with The Great Alone. It is clear that and she knows her history and researches well to maintain accuracy. She also loves to throw in just about every bad thing that can happen to play with the readers emotions. Because of her skill in writing, as well as the fact that the plot flowed together well, I gave this book 4 stars. I did struggle to connect deeply with the characters, but that is likely because overly designed sob stories typically do not work well for me.
I finally read this very famous and popular take on the story by Agatha Christie. I have never read the original, after being turned off Christie’s books many years ago, so I cannot compare Ware’s take with Christie. I have always enjoyed the mystery genre, but have not really read widely in the genre over the years; I’ve just dipped my toes. For that reason, I have not figured out what works well for me in the genre and what doesn’t. I enjoyed this read and the way that Ware built the plot with the dual perspectives, even though I figured out a lot of the reveals a little before they actually happened. I will say though, that figuring out these reveals did not diminish my enjoyment of the novel. That’s the aspect of mysteries that I need to figure out. At what point does me being able to figure out where the plot is going affect my enjoyment?
Based on that title, I expected more of a narrative focused on middle school relationship drama. What this book actually contained was a narrative about a girl dealing with a potential friendship break up and her mother potentially marrying someone else when she, the main character, has always secretly hoped for reunification of her parents. This narrative was decent, but I think that the author spread the concerns of the main character a little too thin for the length that she allowed for her plot. This is not a bad book, but not one that will stick into my memory for long.
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