Review: Disappointing end to a really good series
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 5, 2014
This is the 4th and last book in the Rae Wilder series. I bought the first three books at the same time and read them pretty quickly. I didn't realize there would be a 4th book, otherwise I would have waited and read them all together. I really hate reading most of a series and having to wait a year or longer for the end. And for this series, the third book ends with a huge cliff hanger.My problem with waiting for the last book is not that I'm disconnected from the story once it finally comes out. I always go back and re-read the other books before I read the new one. The problem is that by the time it comes out, I've hyped everything up in my mind so that the last book almost always disappoints. And although I liked Summon, I didn't love it like I did the other three books in the series.I think my main issue was that there wasn't enough Rae and Breandan in this one for me. On top of that, Breandan wasn't the same Breandan that I loved in the other books. While I understand him getting frustrated with Rae and saying the things he did before she left, that just isn't the Breandan we knew from the other books. He fights for what he wants. He doesn't just let her leave with Tomas...ANYONE else, maybe, but not Tomas.I also felt like the ending was rushed. Granted, I thought I had over 100 (nook) pages left to read when the story ended and that ticked me off. I didn't realize the last 100 (nook) pages of the book were a preview of a different series. So, I quit reading the night before thinking I had plenty to read and finish last night. When I discovered I left off within 20 pages or so of the actual ending of the book, I almost threw my nook across the room. I will definitely check for book previews with every book I read for the rest of my life!Anyway, back to the rushed ending. I would have liked a little more. Yes, I know Rae, Breandan, and a few others will live HEA. But I needed some resolution with the relationship of Cael with Ana and Connell. There were so many people groups in this series, but the end gave a resolution to only a few of them and left everyone else hanging.Finally, I have to mention the editing. I hardly ever mention editing and can overlook a lot if the story is good enough. However, this last book had all the grammatical problems of the first three and then some. It was the "and then some" that I couldn't deal with. As others have mentioned, there were entire sections that were repeated. Those sections were actually easier to deal with than the ones where it was just a sentence or two that was repeated. This type of thing takes you completely out of the story.I do still recommend the series. The first three books are fast paced and take place over a couple of days. But I bought into it because it worked for me. I actually understood the triangle in the first book BECAUSE this story takes place in a couple of days. Any other time, I would despise the triangle storyline. Anyway, if you can overlook the lack of editing in the first three books, know going into the last one that it gets worse, and make sure to look at the last page of the actual story so you know when you are truly close to the end, I think you'll like the series.