Overall Rating: 3 stars
Date Finished: December 15, 2016
I have mentioned this before when rating books that are a part of a series, but it gets very hard to rate books in the series the farther you get because you can't rate a book exclusively based on that installment, the rest of the series is inherently a part of the book you are reading and thus changes the way you would rate it. Sometimes your nostalgia or enjoyment for the series as a whole may raise the rating of what separately would be just a mediocre book.
That was the case with this book. I feel that if I had read this book on its own, it wouldn't have garnered much of a rating from me, but there is a lot of history here. We have seen Shadow Falls from the perspective of Kylie and then Della and now we finally have Miranda. And the hardest thing is that this is just one book. Della at least got three books and the series as a whole can somewhat make up for issues with any one book. But since Miranda only gets one book there is a lot of expectation riding on that one book which makes it almost impossible for the book to liv
While I was exce up to it. And not only is it the only Miranda book, but it is also the last Shadow Falls book ever, which adds an additional pressure to make sure everything wraps up in a satisfying way.
One of the issues with this book is that is basically wraps up the love triangle that took three books for the other characters and pushes it into one book. Yes, we got glimpses at that in other books but this is really our first time viewing it from their perspective (I say "their" because we get Perry's POV as well). And it really wasn't much of a love triangle since it was very clear from the beginning that she still in love with Perry.
And speaking of Perry, his role in this series was very frustrating. He spends the whole book doing stupid things because he feels like he has to prove something. He almost sacrifices his relationship with Miranda and the trusts of everyone that matters to him. And it seems to be building into this showdown with his big bad brother, which never actually happens. They arrest him, there's no showdown, no fight, and Perry's big comeback is 'hey, I was really holding back.' Wow, Perry. So impressed.
Compared to previous books there was not much of a mystery and there was no suspense. We knew who was behind it all pretty quickly, it was a lot of waiting to get more info. All of the fights were over quickly. Add to that the fact that there was no showdown between Jax and Perry, and it was quite underwhelming.
And then you have Miranda. [sigh]. All of the sudden Miranda is this amazing witch with mystic powers that are the envy of all witches. And yet, there is no clear indication of how it all really happens. It starts with a tattoo that keeps growing. The tattoo is something all mystic like her have, so then why didn't she have it before? What about the reading she was doing triggered the powers? Why would there have been no indication earlier in her life? Especially considering the only living person she knows who is like her has had it her whole life. And even with the showdown at the very end with the witches, there is no real danger, no real fight, no real suspense. And why must they all have super strength? First Kylie gets it as a protector. Della gets it when she is reborn (beyond that of a normal vampire). And now Miranda's mystic powers just happen to give her super strength? What does the tattoo and powers have to do with super strength? Why can't super witch powers be enough? It just all seems to convenient and unexplained. And as I look back, maybe this whole series has been pretty convenient and unexplained but the culmination of it all just made it stand out more.
And beyond all of that, this book was really cheesy. You can only find your powers when you find your true love? So all the previous years with Perry didn't count? There was just so much that was utterly cheesy that I almost had to roll my eyes.
I liked both Shadow Falls series, and there has always been a bit of cheesy in there, but this book just didn't quite live up to the others, and I was expecting it to be better than all the other since it was the last book.
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