Review: more struggles and hope for these characters
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 27, 2014
So I've read some reviews for this book that complain there's no romance, there's not much page time where Quinton and Nova are together, there's no grand happily-ever-after that warms their heart and makes all of the depressing and difficult stuff in this series have some sort of payoff.Well, that's all true. But what we get here with this series and with this third installment, is a more accurate depiction of real life in the face of drug addiction, which has always been the draw to this series for me.Quinton is home in Seattle now, living with his father at least until his dad makes a decision that has potential to derail his recovery. Quinton struggles with it all, just like he did before, but now he works at getting better with the help of others. Nova continues to be a big motivating part of his recovery, even if its just over the phone. I liked that he didn't immediately run to her, but wanted to stand on his own before he could be with her. I thought his struggles were depicted very well, along with his reluctance to move out of his comfort zone of guilt.As for Nova, she really seemed to be the one who needed help, as far I was concerned. Her incessant need to help and the guilt she takes on when things go south for others seemed to be very misplaced at times and I'm not sure she's in any better place than Tristan or Quinton. Just a different one. I think there is potential for more story about her, because some her her behaviors just didn't seem healthy to me. I did love that she followed her film-making dream and found a creative outlet for her need to help.Tristan continues to be an interesting character to me. I do think that Nova could have handled him better and the fine line she rode with Tristan seemed headed for disaster for most of the book. I thought his struggle was also well-written and portrayed and I'm eager to read more about him in his upcoming book.So overall, while this book doesn't have the intensity of the first two books in the series, it was still a very satisfying ending, although I felt it left some doors open for more books about Nova and Quinton.