Oh, where do I begin with this one? This is a perfect example of a story utterly and irreparably ruined because of the narrator. Lane sounded like a 12-year old instead of someone who was a senior in high school. And this was a major and unforgivable flaw considering this book is told in first person. And as a result, I just couldn't be drawn into the world that was so richly imagined by Kat Falls.
I did like that Lane did not dwell on the two guys every five minutes, and only did that every 50-60 pages or so, which is a vast improvement over most novels and MCs. The highlights of these books were the four guys in this book:
1. I loved Rafe's character, but again, it was drowned out because of Lane's childish ramblings. Of course Rafe is good looking, but more than that, he had a great backdrop story and his motivations/ actions made sense. I loved how he said "I am taking myself out of this triangle," though this was not the edge I wanted out of the dreaded love triangle which was surprisingly not that unpalatable.
2. Speaking of which, Everson was also a likable character. He was the privileged perfect that was everything Lane imagined, but he was also intelligent, had a mind of his own, and was resourceful (reminded me of Ander from the Marie Lu series, though I am not exactly sure why). He was also dedicated to the cause of finding the cure for the disease which turned humans into animals, and I liked that he didn't give up on his mission or became a love sick puppy who only followed Lane's commands. He had priorities, even if they seemed misaligned at times.
3. I liked the interactions between Everson and Rafe. They were hilarious together.
4. The story didn't really pick up till Cosmo came in, and that was a little past the halfway point, which as you can imagine, was too little too late. He reminded me of Cinder from the "Under the Never Sky" series, but overall, his story was different enough where I still identified with him as a unique character and felt for his loss/ separation from his mother, and his struggle for survival/ reuniting with his mother. And of course he had to be the one who died.
5. Chorda was a psycho, but an awesome psycho villain! And the twist of him being the king was definitely not one I saw coming. His interaction with the queen was blood curdling.
6. I loved how Lane was jealous of Rafe because of all the time her dad spent with him, and how Rafe always saw her as a beacon of hope through the stories her dad had shared with him: “I hung on every word,” Rafe continued, without so much as a glance at me. “Because if there really was a little girl who went out every day, looking for stray animals to save, I figured that someday she would find me. And she did.”
7. Definitely unexpected though totally deserved when Rafe killed Omar for brutally killing Comso.
8. Didn't think Rafe would turn into a hybrid. That was another unexpected twist.
But despite all these wonderful aspects of the book, and the extremely detailed world building (just imagine any human-animal hybrid), to the point where it became a bit tedious, I can't see beyond the annoyingness and frustration that was having a supposedly 18-year old character talk like she is no more than twelve. It completely broke the illusion. And perhaps equally unforgivable was that she chose the wrong guy in the end! So overall, 2.5 stars max.
yeag
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