Review: Review: Never Gonna Say Goodbye - 2.5 stars, C
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 23, 2013
My Rating: 2.5 stars: I liked parts, but I had issues (C)Originally posted at That's What I'm Talking AboutReview copy provided by publisherNever Gonna Say Goodbye is the third and final novella in a short sci-fi romance trilogy from Jessica E. Subject. The series follows the lives of individuals who work for a powerful company known as Planet Corp. We learned in the first two tales that Planet Corp is all-controlling, its leaders are malevolent, and several individuals have attempted to escape life with Planet Corp by joining The Underground. The third installment begins just after the "forbidden" weddings among those in The Underground, occurring at the conclusion of the second story. Our main hero, Will, is the leader of the resistance and his love is Tim. They are fighting for the freedom for all and for the right to love one another openly.The story moves extremely quickly, and if you haven't read the first two books in the series, you will probably have little interest in what is going on during Never Gonna Say Goodbye. All of the world building and most of the character development occurs during the first two stories. The story feels more like the final few chapters and epilogue from another book, rather than a stand alone story. There is relatively no time spent learning about Will and Tim; therefore, I felt little emotional attachment to the primary couple.From near the beginning, Tim makes some pretty huge decisions that have MAJOR impacts on The Underground, Planet Core, and several characters, to include ones I have come to know and like from the previous novellas. In addition, there was a huge accident in the book which kept the primary pair apart, so we didn't get much face time with Will and Tim as a couple. Instead of becoming emotionally invested, I felt like I was an outsider getting details about the going-ons.While I wasn't a fan of how Will and Tim's romance was written, the overall story arc had several engrossing and gripping moments. We learn the "final fate" of each of the characters from earlier books, which, for better or worse, is a good thing. Ms. Subject does a nice job of wrapping up the entire plot in a satisfactory manner.In the end, I feel that Never Gonna Say Goodbye is not bad, but not great. This final story in the trio of novellas was by far the simplest. Although there was loss, the reader never had time to mourn. The story was short and moved from scene to scene very quickly. With that, I do like the premise behind The Underground series. I just felt it was all rushed too much. It's a decent short story, with readers of the series having the most interest and satisfaction because we are privy to the final battle and aftermath of a war that began in the first book.