Smoked (Scorched, #3)

by Mari Mancusi

[ladygrey]

There are parts of this book that are absolutely no fun to read. And they are parts that aren’t so bad.

This story didn’t need a villain because they were all their own worst enemies. Scarlet was consistently a dumbass—like that was her entire role in the story. There were moments when she was almost redeemed and then she’d fly off again ruining it. Trinity wasn’t bad unless everything wasn’t going her way and then she was just petty and mean to everyone. Connor was supposed to be the hero but he was obtusely close-minded. And Caleb actually wasn’t bad for the most part and yet he’s the one everyone kept tearing down.

And when you get to the end and that’s the point that they are their own worst enemies and they keep starting the apocalypse it’s not clever. It’s annoying because as readers we had to endure all that idiocy. And there isn’t recompense at the end—they talk about how they all get happy ending but it’s all just talk and there’s zero experiencing even a little of that as a reader. I almost put this book down half a dozen times except it was the third book in the series and I wanted to finish it. If it had been the first book I’d have dnf’d in a heartbeat. Because the characters and the story are aggravating more than anything else.

And it’s a bummer because the world has the potential for so much more. The spark is interesting and underused in later books. The characters wouldn’t be bad if they listened a little and didn’t all try to control everything. The idea with dragons and a touch of time travel could be fun. Except that it’s not.

But I’m done with the series more so, there’s that.