WHERE DO I BEGIN WITH THIS?

Let's fast forward to the end. THAT one was killer strong, and had me sitting on the edge of my chair (or couch) most of the time. (Seriously, my back hurts from hunching over the book. Anyone up for a massage?) I just saw myself flipping page after page, devouring chapter after chapter until the very last one that TRULY was EPIC writing wise. Reminding me of those epic movie scenes where you see tiny seconds of different moments overlapping with other moments. Everything happening so fast but still owning that slow-motion feel! DAMN. GLORIOUS!

But until we reach that point (and cause for my back pain), I found myself not as invested in the story as I should have been. Most of the plot was just watching the squad reach one stop to depart for another, and while Amie and Jay knew how to hide perfect plot points along their journey, I felt that everything beside those was not interesting enough. The plot didn't grip me, didn't make me flip those pages like a lunatic, didn't do anything to me except for hoping that maybe one of those mentioned plot points might finally be picked up.

Look, I know the purpose of sequels is not only to move the story and plot faster forward in order to reach the end in the upcoming books. They are mostly about the journey and the effects that come with it - especially for the characters. And we got that. But before I talk about the characters, let me dwell a second longer on the topic of the plot. Because that's exactly what the plot did. Dwell in that big void of the galaxy, and not really deliver anything I can work with. Yes, secrets were unveiled, more questions have come up, revelations have been made. But non of them lasted long enough for me to actually get a better understanding of the journey. I still found myself asking "Are we here yet?" or "Is something finally happening?" for the most part of the book.

It was not until shit got real for the characters that I started to feel their impact, and therefore started to get invested in the story. Because despite their famously sarcastic remarks and witty dialogues, I couldn't connect as easily to them as I did in the first book.

However, when things started to become more serious. That's when the back pain started to kick in. I quickly got from a just lying lazy on my bed to a very unhealthy hunched-over-the-book-position, soaking everything in, and whispering "nononononono" (or in a less PG13 version "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck"). And THAT was all I was here for.

I got invested in the characters again. Feared for their well-being, wanted them all cuddled up and secure, and even the romance started to feel interesting enough for me. And that's where the mindfucks started to kick in, and where the story really really started to kill me.

And that's where we get back to the starting point of this review: the end. PERFECTION! Just the way I like my books. Painful, painful, painful - but full of everything a brilliant book needs! Action, revealing plotlines, characters I can connect to, amazing writing, and that hint that this story is taking us to a whole different level than we could have anticipated!

Overall, this book is a great sequel to the amazing Aurora Rising , and I can definitely say that the characters (despite my personal difficulties to connect to them quickly) saved even the very slow and uneventful parts of the book, and proved yet another time that Squad 312 came to not only give us this story, but stay with us forever. The most suprising character? Zila. Damn. While I cared for her enough in AR, she never was my focus of the story. But damn. She did steal the show a couple of times. And she stole my heart.

#Finianstaysmyhero