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A review by mastersal
Last Stand by Rachel E. Carter
3.0
A good end to the series but the plot didn’t build up for me. The twist you learn at the end of book 2 is fine and all but Riyah accepts it too easily. The logic was too strained for me. The majority of the book is spent with her not doing too much while she is looking for clues. The action exploded in the last bird of the book but it was too late for me. The first person narrative made this book more teenage romance than epic fight.
However, overall as a fantasy for younger readers - which I am unfortunately not - this does work. The ending made me smile if it was a little odd mix of dark but still ended up being happy. I won’t give away too much but despite all the talk of consequences there didn’t seem to be too many. Consequence and sacrifice is expressed in terms of pain and blood here which I can see working for some but not for me. It was a little too simplistic. Riyah’s obsession with Darren got a bit much and her focus on his garnet eyes made me roll mine.
His constant screaming at her grated. Do you trust her or not? The lack of his POV made his character seem inconsistent as heck and Riyah came across as naive. The author bounces between the “good of the nation” trope and “nothing is greater than my love for you” syndrome. It gave me a headache since neither felt real after a while.
Why a 3 stars then? Because I finished it as soon as I got to the 2nd half. The plot picks up then and redeems the facile attempt at political intrigue. Action is where the author shines. I don’t regret reading it. I also gave it a little bit of a pass since it’s target reader is not me. I’ve read this plot before - read it better done by stronger authors. However, in those cases the books have tended towards fantasy more than this. This comes across as an amalgam of romance and fantasy. The entire series is like this so if you liked the earlier books this one will be great. My ambivalence continues though.
On to the next.
PS. I read this one with the revised cover - the blue one with on Riyah on it. So much better. Thank god they redesigned the covers!
However, overall as a fantasy for younger readers - which I am unfortunately not - this does work. The ending made me smile if it was a little odd mix of dark but still ended up being happy. I won’t give away too much but despite all the talk of consequences there didn’t seem to be too many. Consequence and sacrifice is expressed in terms of pain and blood here which I can see working for some but not for me. It was a little too simplistic. Riyah’s obsession with Darren got a bit much and her focus on his garnet eyes made me roll mine.
His constant screaming at her grated. Do you trust her or not? The lack of his POV made his character seem inconsistent as heck and Riyah came across as naive. The author bounces between the “good of the nation” trope and “nothing is greater than my love for you” syndrome. It gave me a headache since neither felt real after a while.
Why a 3 stars then? Because I finished it as soon as I got to the 2nd half. The plot picks up then and redeems the facile attempt at political intrigue. Action is where the author shines. I don’t regret reading it. I also gave it a little bit of a pass since it’s target reader is not me. I’ve read this plot before - read it better done by stronger authors. However, in those cases the books have tended towards fantasy more than this. This comes across as an amalgam of romance and fantasy. The entire series is like this so if you liked the earlier books this one will be great. My ambivalence continues though.
On to the next.
PS. I read this one with the revised cover - the blue one with on Riyah on it. So much better. Thank god they redesigned the covers!