jesstheaudiobookworm
Written on Mar 12, 2016
4 ★ Audiobook⎮ After a few nights of deliberation, I have decided I am finally ready to write this review. Basically, I'm just going to pretend that the ending never happened. I reject it. I'm going to pretend like the book ended at around 75%, the same way I pretend that Grey's Anatomy ended after season five. Because I cannot for the life of me understand why the author would bastardize his absolutely incredible series with an "It was all a dream"-type ending. I just can't. In my review for the previous installment, I credited J.D. Horn with being very in tune with his fans and anticipating their needs. In this review, I am crediting J.D. Horn with making me an eater of words. I simply cannot believe that he began this series intending to end it this way, because the final 25% felt like it was written by someone else. More than that, it felt like it didn't even belong with this series. I don't even know how to describe it other than to say that it just felt wrong. As someone who has become a diehard fan of the series, I feel completely robbed and even a little disrespected. I was so into this series and now I'm worried that the ending has tainted it for me. I've calmed down now, but the night I finished this I was absolutely fuming. Which is why I've decided to live in denial. The ending never happened, Mercy and Emmet raised baby Colin, and all those characters that no one even cared about stayed dead. That's what should have happened. That is how to keep fans. Because honestly, having someone undo everything in the last few pages that you've spent more then 2.5 books becoming invested in is incredibly disconcerting and not something that makes me want to read this author again. Sure, I love his writing. His character and world building skills are amazing. But I don't trust him as an author. Not anymore. Why would I want to read another one of his series just to be this disappointed again in the end? I don't even think I'm being irrational here because I know that you don't have to agree with an ending in order to understand it. With Gone with the Wind or Me Before You, I understood why the author chose to end things the way they did. In those cases, it made sense to me after a while, even if it wasn't exactly what the majority of fans wanted. But again, I cannot fathom why Mr. Horn would flip his readers on their heads in the closing pages. That just doesn't seem like the way to treat readers who have been so loyal to the series. Another thing that makes me so certain of my opinion is that it is shared by almost every other reviewer I've found. That is not a good sign (for the series).
My distaste for the ending aside, the primary reason I'm giving this four stars is because it was confusing as hell. There were a lot more information dumps and Horn did not do the best job of making this installment as "reader-friendly" as the previous two had been. Maybe the writing of this installment was rushed or... I don't know. It just felt more foreign, especially the last half, like it was written by another author or as part of another series. The way Scarlett feels in comparison to Gone with the Wind. As a whole, I still really enjoyed the majority of this series. I had all but included it as one of my favorite series ever, until this reading last installment. I think it is such a shame that the ending of this installment was able to tarnish my opinion of the entire series, because I loved it so much. My initial anger gave way to sorrow and then to indifference. The series doesn't hold a special place in my heart like it should have. There is another installment (or mini-installment?) coming next month surrounding my favorite character from the series, Mother Jilo. Despite my severe disappointment with this installment, I will more likely than not still be picking that up as soon as it comes out. But I'll also be crossing my fingers, toes, and eyeballs that the next book more closely resembles the first two than the third. Until then, I'll just be over here trying to wipe my memory of the last installment. Wish me luck.
Narration review: Shannon McManus is quite possibly the best thing to come out of this series for me. I enjoyed her narration more than I can say. This is the first series in which I have heard her narrating abilities, but she made a very strong impression. She certainly is one of the best narrators, if not the best narrator I have ever heard. ♣︎