Review: Slow to start - but BREATHTAKING finish
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2014
OK, WOW.  The last half of this book just blew me away.  And thus has made it sooooo hard to decide how to rate it.  B/C the run to the end was solid 5 stars for me.  But my problem comes in that for giant chunks of the first half, I was kind of bored.  I think it was a personal taste thing.  There's a lot of time spent in Ivy's head while she describes her emptiness, or her love, or her rage, or well, just about everything.  But it got to be too much for me, and a bit repetitive, so it kind of lost its magic there.  I think I was kind of influenced too b/c on a re-read of The Rush I felt the same thing (lots of beautiful prose, but that's never been a huge draw for me in writing, especially if it feels repetitive).  But I have to caution readers that feel similarly to me -- KEEP READING!!!  B/C once it picks up, OMG you will be so glad you hung on for the ride.I love how the story picks up a quite a few months after The Rush.  In other series that might have bothered me, but I felt it was all very seamless and didn't feel that I missed out on anything, just got to advance to the next big hurrah kind of thing....if that makes sense.  And seeing the "platonic like" (yeah right) friendship that had developed between Ivy and Ryder was just dream come true territory.  They have SUCH amazing chemistry, and while Ivy's struggles over whether she can't live without him, or if she's a horrible influence on him got to be kind of tiring, I *really* felt their connection in this book so that balanced it off.  It was so nice to be given so many moments of pure happy to balance all the crap going on in Ivy's life.There is a LOT more paranormal in this book than The Rush, and I really LOVED all the little tidbits of Greek mythology that was mixed in.  And so many of them were a huge surprise.  Of course, that does also mean that I was left with a bit of confusion and lots and lots of questions that I hope will be answered in The Heart.  I did find that the number of new Greek characters and information could be a bit overwhelming at times, but that was really only in this one party part, so it didn't last long.LOVED the Fates.  And by loved I mean Hated with a fiery passion.  Like seriously, creepy much?  But yeah, they were a great new addition.LOVED the development with Ava, and while I could see that things were being hinted here and there, I did NOT see that coming.  I really enjoyed that twist.LOVED (in a horrific kind of way) the storyline with Ana and Eva.  I think more than anything else, that just ripped my guts out.  I had a feeling how that was going to go, and I wasn't wrong, but it was just laid out beautifully.  (on a side note, LOVED the craziness during Ivy's distraction....makes me want to know more about why that all is, etc).LOVED Exie and Phoenix and the fact that they all had been hanging out with each other for the past few months....so glad that those girls got some normal in their lives.Didn't think I could hate Nix more than The Rush, but oh holy hell do I want him to die a fiery death full of torture and badness....give me that god-killer, I'll do it.  He really did turn from human nightmare into paranormal nightmare supreme (now available at taco bell).And the climax battle....so epic.  I still felt really confused about Ivy's powers...or whatever that was...but the things Ryder said....the...Ohhhhh....perfect...heartbreaking, but perfect. (and yes, I know that that didn't make any sense)And the ending just left me feeling hope, letting me breathe and anticipate the dramatic conclusion.  Oh November 2014....you are so far away.So yeah.  5 star epic 2nd half -- such a refreshing addition to the paranormal series out today.