I've got some mixed feelings on this one. Mostly, I'm just sad that the ride is finally over.

This book does suffer some from the ten year time gap since [b:Champion|14290364|Champion (Legend, #3)|Marie Lu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382652310l/14290364._SY75_.jpg|19931517]. It also suffers from being a single book, or a late addition to a trilogy - however you'd like to think of it. Where we had three books to get to know Day and June (and all the other characters, like Kaede and Tess and the villains too), now we only have one book to get to know how Day and June and Eden have changed and who the new characters like Haan and Pressa truly are. We don't get the same level of build up about Ross City as we did the Republic. These factors made this book a little harder for me to get into, or perhaps a little harder for me to enjoy. I didn't lose myself in this story as much as I did its predecessors.

Now, that's not saying this story wasn't good.

Because.
It.
Definitely.
Was.
Good.

There are enough connections to the original trilogy to keep long time fans happy and enough new content to keep us on our toes. Even if the swimming pool of morally gray areas didn't feel as deep, this book still examines social structures, family relationships, possessiveness in our relationships, and how we heal after trauma. Those are a number of daunting issues to tackle and Marie Lu succeeds in giving enough delicate attention to them all.

I can definitely see why the author had to write and think her way through the Warcross stories before writing Rebel. Ross City definitely has echoes of the early society in which Warcross could eventually be created. It made for an interesting, sometimes awkward juxtaposition with the world Daniel and Eden left in the Republic. I enjoyed that tension in the story.

This was an enjoyable read. As always, Daniel ruins young girl's expectations of men.

To all the would-be-Junes out there, don't settle for anyone less than your Day. Or your Eden. :)