This was cute! It preserves everything I love about the characters and their interpersonal relationships, presented alongside a realistic but optimistic post-series finale view of the setting (the school); basically it’s the epitome of post-canon fluffy fic, except of course that it was written by the original author and is therefore canon (and not fic!) in its own right.

(Not marking with a finish date because it’s not long enough to count towards my Reading Challenge and I don’t want it tallied as such, but of course I read it in one sitting.)

Oh, I liked this very, very much. It’s quite short, which is more or less fine because honestly crossovers give me a bit of cognitive dissonance and I can never decide whether I like it — possibly because each set of protagonists exists so wholly separately in my mind, like superheroes (yes I know about the Justice League and the Avengers, but it’s different somehow). Anyway, whether Macey and Hale are so similar by coincidence or design is a moot point, since the fact remains that they are and that is why this story can exist and we have the privilege (see what I did there? :P) of reading it.

2.5 stars, probably.

I will say it kept me entertained throughout, and it was definitely fun to see a story told (mostly) in reverse chronological order. The characters didn’t seem very complex, though — pathological, possibly, but still pretty straightforward in terms of personality and motives — and the plot seemed more propped up on tropes than original.

2.5 stars

Roux was interesting, if a bit cliche. Jesse was cute, but also not all that special. Angelo, though - I adored him, his charisma and flair. The "twist" of having the organization they work for be corrupt and turn on them ... well, as a trope it's overdone, and not exceptionally executed here.

Decent for a middle grade novel, though the protagonist's age seems to suggest a slightly older target audience. Lots of action and intrigue developed with a memorable cast, although the romance was a little much.