Review: A sweet story, although a tad confusing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2013
While I didn't like this one as much as the previous two books in this series, I did enjoy it very much.The thing with this series, however, is that there is almost every conceivable conflict in it. Sickness, crime, secrets, betrayal... you name it, it probably has happened. It's not a bad thing but towards the end of this book, I was a little... exhausted. Then again, I had so many emotions throughout this series from anger to love to heartbreak that it's no wonder it pulled so much from me.Regardless of that, I still loved Skylar and Rafael. They're teenagers who are growing into men, their personalities are growing to the point where you can tell they are maturing, and while they still have their faults, they also bring out the best in each other. I adore the fact that no matter how much they are changing (and rightfully so) their love for each other hasn't lessened one bit. In fact, that love just keeps going deeper and deeper. They are so sweet together, beautiful to the point of blinding and I just loved that it is their greatest strength against all their problems. It's heart-wrenching at times but so amazing to read about. I loved the fact Rafael was so caring to Sky when they were just kids, it was probably the sweetest moment ever.This one is actually very sad in the way that Skylar gets sick. I know I shed a few tears (although I have this whole series) but this one is definitely the darkest of the trilogy. It deals with so much more than just his cancer, however, going even deeper into the troubles with the government, and the possibility of losing their homes, as well as, the ever present fight to keep Sky's dad out of jail. Even more things than that happens. We also got to see more of the Shoshone culture, which is part of the appeal of this series.However, while I really enjoyed this story, I was confused a lot like with how the Department of Transportation can own the rights to their houses if they own the land and such. It was such an insignificant detail but it felt like something that was thrown in just to create some conflict. I couldn't understand how the FBI were able to arrest Paul now but weren't able to before. None of that was explained very well, IMO. How could they evict him if he's still living on the property? My biggest issue, though, was the ending, I found that even more confusing and disconcerting. Mostly because I didn't understand what a water ghost was nor what that had to do with Danny. Does that mean he's dead?I just didn't understand so it left me with a lot more questions than I had before.Overall, this one definitely had more drama than the others but I still found it just as entertaining as the previous two. This series is just so wonderful with it's cast of characters, the threats of the government, and the workings of the reservations that even with my problems, I still really enjoyed it. I loved Skylar and Rafael and it was great to see them be forced through some situations that no kids or a couple should ever have to go through that young. I'd still definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a great emotional YA series.