Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 stars4 spoiler free stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2017
Hmm. I find myself a bit torn on this book. Sometimes I thought I'd end up giving it three stars, sometimes five. The emotions in the latter half of the book were what edged me toward five, because the introduction of a new character and an appearance of an old one made my chest hurt (which is always a good thing as a reader). I'll be honest and say that I missed the romantic aspect of Carlotta's antics in this book as opposed to the earlier books in the series, which I recently read through again in preparation for this release. In my review for book 7, I admitted I was Team Jack, so anyone who's read that book knows why I was almost dreading book 8.
And that's where I almost moved this review to three stars. This book was short. I finished it in a couple hours (granted, I'm a fast reader, but it was still a very quick read for me). And the last 15-20% gave me whiplash Bc I felt like it was so rushed. I'm actually shocked that she's not considering this the end of the series with how it all wrapped up. Not that I'm sad, I really want Carlotta's relationships to be fleshed out and be able to see how they play out in a new reality that Ms. Bond has given us. But I think the rushed, almost frantically thrown-at-us plot of this book will temper my excitement a bit for book 9.
In the end, I give this four stars because I read it in one sitting, I laughed and got choked up. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. Maybe I shouldn't have read the earlier books leading up to this release, because all the main characters that we've grown to love feel a little flatter than they used to. But I hold out hope that book 9 will give a fresh twist to a series that I've been loving for years, and will continue reading as long as she writes it.
