Shards of Hope (Psy/Changeling, #14)

by Nalini Singh

"The "smoldering heat, epic romance, and awesome action"* of Nalini Singh's New York Times bestselling series continues as two Arrows find themselves caught in a chilling conspiracy that spans all three races. Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn't welcome outsiders. And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she's too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what. This time, even Aden's passionate determination may not be enough because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken like Zaira"--

• ISBN10: 1101605219
• ISBN13: 9781101605219
• Publish Date: 2 June 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Penguin Publishing Group
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 496
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

This series just keeps getting better and better! Each book seems to be better than the last, at least with these last 3 or 4 books. This book was very exciting and showed some incredible development for the Arrows. I buddy read with Anne and we both loved it - giving it 5 stars each.

This book starts very intensely and with lots of action. I was immediately gripped. I think it helps that I'm already very attached to both of these characters, which only intensified as the book progressed. Aiden is such a complex character, such an amazing leader, and I love that he's clearly never been silent yet appeared fiercely so. I most love the way Aiden refuses to give up on Zaira. Zaira has so many issues from her childhood that make her feel that she cannot leave silence and Aiden won't give up on her or push her beyond what she can handle. They are one of my favorite couples.

The other thing that makes this book so great for me is the emphasis on children - you have the cruelty with which Aiden and Zaira (and many Psy children) have been raised/conditioned, the way that Changelings care for and raise their children, and the way Arrows will raise family groups moving forward without silence. In this last area especially, I fell in love with Zaira. She thinks she's so brutal and yet her fierce protectiveness of children and her maternal instincts are clearly not at all diminished by her life in silence.

As this book ends, I'm seriously starting to wonder how she wraps this series up with just 1 more book... but I guess the answer is that she doesn't exactly, with the spin off Trinity series - which we also saw the foundation for in this book. I'm excited to read the final book and I will definitely be reading the spin off Trinity series as well.

I've been listening to the series, and as always I love Angela Dawe's narration. She really does a great job with all the children's voices, furthering my enjoyment of that part of the book.

Qualifies for COYER Fall Scavenger Hunt Item #8 - read a book for Psychangling readalong.

[wyvernfriend]

I found it hard to put down, even if sometimes the story didn't flow as well as I might like, but this story of two Arrows was interesting. Yes, the wondering about whether or not Zaira was capable of love sometimes felt like it was the lady doth protest too much. Still, if you've never experienced love or emotional attachment to people and suddenly you're allowed and you're feeling it for your commander, it's hard to sort out what exact emotion you're dealing with here. Singh deals well with people of various ages deciding to use their emotions and how they're going to go on with their lives in this new world.

I found it interesting, loved the romance and enjoyed the read.

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of the audiobook of Shards of Hope from Tantor Media in exchange of an honest and unbiased review*

Amazing. That is all!

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

[EBookObsessed]

I always love a Nalini Singh story but the last three in this series have topped the charts. She has brought major changes to the series and in this story she shows us that not everyone is hoping that the psynet finds stability.

The psy people and the world around them are still recovering from the fall of Silence, the near collapse of the psynet and the infection that was killing so many. Former counselors, Kaleb Krychek, Nakita Duncan, and Anthony Kyriakus along with the Arrows, led by Aden Kai, have been trying to stabilize the net and the people who have not been allowed to show any emotion for more than 100 years. But someone powerful is hoping to keep the psy people off balance and fracture the fragile lines of friendship which have been building between the pys, humans and changelings since the recent turmoils.

A group calling themselves the Consortium are hoping to break the backbone of the new Ruling Coalition by showing that the most dangerous protectors, the Arrows, can’t protect their own leader. Killing Aden Kai would destroy the Arrows, who are struggling the hardest with the fall of Silence, and put the public in a panic. If the head of the deadly Arrows is vulnerable, then who is safe.

Aden and one is his Commander, Zaira Neve, have been captured by this new enemy. The plan is to use Aden’s desire to protect his Arrows against him. They have implanted a device into Aden and Zaira’s brains to disconnect them from the psynet and from their own abilities. Their captors believe that in torturing Zaira they will break Aden and get confidential information about the Arrows and the Ruling Coalition which they will use to their best advantage. But Zaira isn’t one of the Arrows’ Commanders for nothing. Her strongest asset is that her petite size always fools her enemies into believing she is week, but this dainty creature is deadlier than any changeling, and their captors will learn the very painful truth that Arrows are truly as dangerous as the rumors indicate.

Escaping their captors is only the first step. Already sustaining severe wounds during their capture, Aden and Zaira find themselves free and surrounded by mountains and forest as far as the eye can see. Since they cannot psychically call to Vasic or any of the teleporters, Zaira and Aden need to find civilization to call for help. If it was not for a small clan of changelings who take them in and give them medical care, the Consortium would have succeeded in their plan to kill the Arrow leader.

But getting home does not equal safety, it just puts Aden back into play and knowing that they lost all hope of getting information from him, they will settle for just a very public and violent execution of the Arrow leader.

Destroying the Arrows is just the beginning for the Consortium. Unlike the fanatics in Pure Psy, they are being led by someone very smart and very strategic. They have been working behind the scenes to pit humans against changelings and changelings against psy. Interfering in psy business transactions and buying up changeling lands under the names of past enemies to cause mistrust among the new allies. It is only by reaching out to these new friends instead of simply reacting, that the whole systems has kept from collapsing like a house of cards.

While trying to keep the world safe, Aden is also trying to keep his people sane. The psy have all felt the pressure of the downfall of Silence, but years and decades of training have made acclimating all but impossible for the oldest Arrows. They all had emotions beaten, tortured or in some cases dissonance was used to rob them of all emotions. Now being told they can have a life and happiness like everyone else around them feels impossible. Two of their own, Judd Laurens and Vasic Duvnjak have dropped their Silence and have found love and a life beyond the squad. While Aden tells the squad to look to Vasic as an example, it is Vasic that explains to Aden that it is he who needs to lead the squad into the future. It is Aden who needs to find a life outside of the squad and Silence.

Aden knows that the Consortium had one thing right, of all his fellow Arrows, it is Zaira who means the most to him on a personal level. Aden wants to find that future with Zaira at his side, but it is Zaira who considers herself one of those who is too broken to survive without Silence. Her parents were sadistic. They kept her caged and tried to beat her into controlling her TK abilities. She killed them and the planning and control she exhibited were almost a death sentence since what seven year old should be able to kill in cold blood.

Zaira would give everything to Aden, both as a leader and as a man. Yet there is a darkness and the rage that lives inside of her. That rage that kept her alive while her parents tortured her is very possessive of Aden. That dark part that wants to listen to him and wants keep Aden all to herself, but she fears that opening herself up to love might let loose the darkness that she has caged so long.

Aden refuses to give up on Zaira. He wants Zaira as his partner. He is an Arrow on a mission and an Arrow never fails.

THOUGHTS:
Wow! After the fall of Silence and the saving of the psynet in the last two stories, I wasn’t sure where she would take us in this latest novel. There is a new enemy working against the world in general. They want chaos to rule so they can step in as the new world order. They have been working since before the fall of Silence, lining up their pieces and their first move is to show the world that even the deadly Arrows can’t keep their own leader safe. They believe that killing Aden will cause enough chaos and fear to spiral the world out of control and their planning is meticulous. Any information the Arrows find lead to dead ends or those with no more knowledge than their small piece of the plot. The head of this serpent isn’t going to be easy to find and the list of possible leaders is very long.

Like in Heart of Obsidian, the relationship between Zaira and Aden goes back to their childhood, when the broken Zaira is brought to the Arrows to be reconditioned and trained to control her TK abilities. Oddly, she uses more of her hand-to-hand combat training in the story than her psy abilities. It is Aden’s treatment of the broken child that cements Zaira’s loyalty and his treatment of the Squad in general that makes Aden their leader. Where Ming felt the flawed or used up Arrows were disposable, Aden’s belief is more “no Arrow is to be left behind.”

Not only are Aden, Zaira and Vasik working to save their Arrows from self-destructing after the fall of Silence, they have to figure out how to train the next generation of Arrows. Children sent to become Arrows have immense powers and it is important to teach them to control these powers because they could maim or kill with just a thought. While in the past pain and punishment were used, they need to find a way to help the children balance their emerging emotions and still control their powers.

This is unfamiliar territory to the formerly cold psy and they look to the changelings for help creating a safe environment for the children that is both controlled and still nurturing.

I liked that although Zaira originally wants Aden to find a life partner who would be sweet to him, she eventually comes to realize that Aden needs someone strong by his side not just as a show of power, but as someone who can force Aden to think about himself and who can protect him while he protects the rest of the Squad.

I did a combo listening/reading like I did on my last Nalini Singh story because I just couldn’t wait until the next time I was in my car to see what was going to happen next. The narrator, Angela Dawe, is not one of my top favorite narrators. Her conversations flow naturally, but her narration is very stiff and formal. She did narrate the whole Psy-Changeling series so I was used to her storytelling, but there are so many characters who appear in this story that finding unique and separate voices for each is impossible.

I have no idea whose story could possible be next, but I can’t wait to see where she takes us.

Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com

[Melanie]

4.5 stars

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

After listening the previous book, Shield of Winter, which featured one of the upper echelon of the Arrows squad, I was very excited to listen to Shards of Hope, which features Vasic’s best friend and leader of the Arrows, Aden. If you aren’t familiar with this series, the Arrows are an elite squad of soldiers who are part of the Psy race. Not only are they great soldiers in a physical capacity, they also have great psychic powers. All the Psy have lived their lives under a strict code of Silence, where they bottle up all their emotions to help the race control their powers.

Shards of Hope starts not long after the previous book. Silence has fallen and not all of the Psy are dealing well with it. The Arrows have it really tough because they usually had very powerful psychic powers, they needed Silence more than most to help control their powers. Most have been in a strict military setting since they were as young as three. It is hard for some of the older Arrows to start to show their feelings. The Arrows start working to build a more family and community for them to live and train in, instead of barracks and compounds.

Early in the book, Aden and Zaira, who has been close to Aden since they were children and is now one of his best Arrows, are captured by a group of humans, Psy and Changelings. They do escape and end up with a Changeling group that we haven’t met before. Aden gets a chance to see how the Alpha leads, teaches and interacts with those in his pack.

I loved watching Aden learn how to lead the Arrows in this new family environment. He has to learn how to teach the kids to play. There is also dealing with teenagers that are now allowed to react to their hormones. He is also trying to create family units with children living with older Arrows.

While this series is a paranormal romance, it reads almost more like an urban fantasy to me especially when both characters are Psy as they have a much slower built toward romance. There is a new couple in every book, but it has a very strong series arc. I’ve read several romance series where you can come into the series in the middle and not have any issues with the overall story. I wouldn’t recommend coming into this series in the middle of the series. I think the overall story would be lost.

Narration
I still enjoy Angela Dawe’s narration. She doesn’t blow me out of the water the way some other narrators do, but I think she does a great job. I also think she is perfect for this series. She does a great job going between the feelings of Changelings and humans to the coldness of the Psy. You can even feel the Psy warming throughout, not just the each story as the romance builds between the characters, but also I think the warmness of the Psy is increasing book to book as Silence falls.

I like to thanks Tantor Media for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.