A review by lynseyisreading
By a Thread by Jennifer Estep

3.0

I have a bit of a love/hate thing going on with this series right now. I used to absolutely adore Gin as a character, back when she was broken and vulnerable, a cold-blooded assassin that just wanted to be loved. She was such a dichotomy and her very existence as a "heroine" when she, you know, kills people for a living, I found very provocative and interesting to read. She was like a one woman moral dilemma. And I especially loved her ability to always triumph over every horrific trial thrown her way. When she pulled herself out of that collapsed underground cave system using just her own brute strength and determination, I was like, "you freaking well go, girlfriend! Hooyah!"

But for whatever reason, I seem to have fallen out of love with her in this book. What I once saw as a justified sense of achievement is starting to come across as arrogance and smugness. The return of the original source of her vulnerability, Donovan Douche-bag Caine, only served to highlight these changes in Gin. I admit my stomach did flip flops when he walked onto the page, and I did enjoy those scenes, but then he started annoying the crap out of me, too. Again. I also really didn't find his actions towards the end in keeping with his character at all. I found that whole thing totally unbelievable.

My favourite thing about this series at the moment, and for the last two or three books, is Owen Grayson. He is a fantastic character and I love the history of how he and Gin met. I wish more time was devoted to him and I think he was incredibly patient with Gin in this book.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy the storyline this time at all. I really couldn't have cared less about the bad guy or the damsels in distress, and I found the plot extremely slow and dull. And also very familiar. If it were me, I think I would have wrapped this baby up in the last book when that plot arc ran its course.

Another thing to note is that the repetitiveness is still there. Yes, the recapping has been lessened greatly due to the fact that the plot arc from the first 5 books is over so no need to go into all that again. But the actual writing is still repetitive. If I see the words "chicory coffee" or "sloppy, sloppy, sloppy" one more time, I may just throw a fit.

I don't think I will be buying any more of this series in the future. I'm going to go ahead and pretend it ended with Spider's Revenge, and I would still recommend those first five books to UF lovers, but for now, for me, it's bye bye Gin Blanco.

2.5 Stars ★★★