Review: Uneven...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 6, 2013
The action scenes in this novella read like a crazy rollercoaster ride. Human cyborgs, zombies, bitter exes with armed lackeys--this story has them all, complete with the threat of total destruction via military bombing--and the clock is ticking! To say it keeps you on the edge of your seat is an understatement.I like couples-with-a-history stories, and given the space limitations in a novella, couples with a prior relationship often feature prominently in them. Bring on the angst and drama! This story definitely delivers on it, though a bit too much of it is revealed through Ceri's internal dialogue, which definitely leans toward the melodramatic. Between it and the long stretches of bordering-on-soliloquy internal and external dialogue, readers are left with a bit of a "feast or famine" feeling. Over-the-top action! Long internal monologue. More action! Scene where Ceri reveals every single detail of her past eight years to Jason in a few short pages. More balance was definitely needed.For all that was going on here--or maybe because of it--parts of the resolution feel rushed. Larger-than-life antagonists are quickly dispatched. (I kept waiting for one of them in particular to show up later on, surviving against all odds much like the Twinkies in the Chevy Silverado Superbowl commercial. It didn't happen.) Seemingly insurmountable relationship hurdles suddenly smooth out. Ceri and Jason go from haven't-spoken-in-years to HEA in less than twenty-four hours; even during a possible zombie apocalypse, it's a bit much.In a nutshell: an entertaining read, but too uneven to be altogether satisfying. C.I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.