Review: Where to begin...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 4, 2014
*WARNING- CONTAINS SPOILERS!*I'll start off with saying that I actually really like this series. Alexis is a likeable and relatable character and I love all the characters in the books.  In the first book, at times Alexis pissed me off a bit because of how full of herself she was, however over time throughout the book she matures a little and realizes she is not the best at everything and isn't as good as she likes to think she is. The second book I found was much the same as the first, however some of the maturity that Alexis had gained by the end of the first book and beginning of the second seemed to be disappearing. This series' plotline is also sometimes a little unbelievable- for example, in book two when Mr. Blue is training her how to shoot. She proclaims that she is a better shot than him. Seriously? Somehow, someone with very little gun training is instantly better than a trained professional ex-army assassin? It's not very believable.  I have seen other reviewers also note in this series that the characters are like cardboard, with no personalities or development.  I have to be inclined to agree with them now. One thing that kind of annoys me is that in the first book, all the male characters, in particular Black, are all described as being very attractive men, though White is the most attractive of the lot. However by the second book, Black's physical appearance in particular has gone from being described as pretty hot in the first book to basically not sounding like much at all in the second and third- though his chivalrous and caring attitude towards Grey has not changed. Same for the rest of the male characters, they all feel the same and there here has only been a little character advancement.  Now it just feels like all the other men are her brothers with the exception of White. I don't know if Phelps has done this to develop White and Grey's relationship, but to me it's a bit of a buzzkill.Moving onto the review for the this book, I have to say that I liked the first two better. The story drags on far too much (in particular her touring of the compounds to recruit soldiers for Team Grey) and the last quarter of the book the writing seems rushed. For the first time with this series I found myself becoming bored with the storyline and tempted to skip pages. I have seen other reviewers complain about the lack of romance in this series- it never bothered me a lot until the end of this book. The 'embrace' between White and Grey is perhaps one of the worst written romantic scene I have ever read in a book. In fact, they actually kiss at the end of the book but I didn't even know it was a kiss until it was over since it is written as 'he embraces me' and I didn't know it was kiss until 'when his lips finally leave mine'. I have never seen a kiss written as an 'embrace' in any book- I had thought they were just hugging. Phelps could have written this a lot better. I also don't know if I like Alex becoming Penumbra- it just seems a bit blah to me. Alex's entire life has been basically planned out and somewhat controlled by her parents, and now it seems she is now basically just an assassin. I don't know, maybe its just me but I  think the storyline could have been better. I hope that in the fourth instalment and in future this series develops and gets better, because it has a lot of potential.