I received an eARC of this book from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

What an end to a pulse-pounding series! Annihilation by Michelle Bryan is the final book in the New Bloods Trilogy and I have to say I’m sad to see it end. I love this series so much! Picking up just a few weeks after the end of [b:Ascension|37839304|Ascension (New Bloods Trilogy #2)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234038s/37839304.jpg|47242808], Tara is training like she never has before. Learning to use her New Blood abilities Tara is ready to put an end to the Prezedant’s rule once and for all.

I loved Tara in this book! She has come so far as a character since [b:Awaken|37839321|Awaken (New Bloods, #1)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234266s/37839321.jpg|40206664]. In the first book, Tara was determined to find her family and return to the sand lands. Now she’s determined to protect her family and friends no matter the cost. She was untrusting of outsiders and now she’s become a symbol of hope. She is still unconfident and I find that endearing. After everything she has done and survived, she still doubts herself and her abilities. It’s learning to trust her friends that helps to build her confidence. This gradual progression is done wonderfully thought out the series and I loved seeing it culminate here.

Jax ♥︎ Oh Jax! Before I started this book, I decided to reread the previous two and I have to say I’d forgotten just how antagonistic he was towards Tara in the beginning. But it is so easy to recognize his antagonism for what it is: a crush. He would follow her to the ends of the earth and I love how easy that is to pick up for the reader yet so hard for Tara to see. He pushes her and makes her a better person. Isn’t that what we all want in our significant other and friends?

Then there’s Max, the Prezedant. I honestly loved how he is portrayed. He was the big bad throughout the series, never really encountered until the end of the last book. And now he is present, the ever-looming threat above Tara and her friends. He creates a rather intriguing sense of impending doom just at the mention of his name. But he is just a man, albeit a powerful man. I loved how he is brought into the story and such a big driving force of the plot.

The plot of the book is actually fairly simple: kill the prezedant. The playing out of the plot however takes Tara and her friends all over her small corner of the world. I loved it! I loved the answers to all the questions that have been plaguing me since the series began: what happened to the world? what/who created New Bloods? how did the prezedant come into power? It’s all answered and I was left with no questions by the end. I wanted more but that’s just because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters.

Overall I loved Annihilation. I wasn’t ready to see these characters’ ending but it is fantastic and well done. Michelle Bryan has created an unputdownable story in her New Bloods Trilogy. Tara and Jax, Finn, Ben, Tater, all of them have become so dear that I read with bated breath afraid at every turn of the page that I’d be forced to say goodbye. It was perfection! I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoy YA dystopias, however if you haven’t started the series, it is a must that you read these in order. Otherwise you will be lost. Start with [b:Awaken|37839321|Awaken (New Bloods, #1)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234266s/37839321.jpg|40206664], continue with [b:Ascension|37839304|Ascension (New Bloods Trilogy #2)|Michelle Bryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515234038s/37839304.jpg|47242808], and finish with Annihilation. It will not disappoint!