Review: Outstanding Sequel!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 29, 2012
Murr! May I just say that I am absolutely in love with this series?! Kreitzer's books are truly a joy to read. Forsaken Harbor holds the same amount of mystery, suspense, romance, and action as the first book in the series did. The characters have continued to grow and the world in which the story takes place is brilliantly well written and rich in imagery. It's definitely a book which will appeal to readers of all ages.The first thing I was looking for when I began reading this book was just how much of the back story Kreitzer would give. Seeing as this is the second book of the series and a lot occurred in the first book, I was curious how she would handle things. I was pleased to see that Kreitzer chose to give plenty of background information about events in Phantom Universe. Any reader coming to Forsaken Harbor would have no problems diving into the book and understanding what happened in the previous one. I'm not saying you can get away without reading the first book, why anyone would want to limit their exposure to just the one novel is beyond me, but there's enough back story to make this a stand alone if you so desired...Though I will warn you that it ends on a cliff hanger, so there's a good chance you'll want to read the rest of the books in the series as they become available.Back story aside, I was really impressed with how much Summer grew as a character in this story. She is really coming into her own as a strong leading character! It was fun to watch her go from being quiet and always letting others do the talking for her, to being an outspoken and confident young woman. I don't want to say that Summer struck me as being very childish in the first book, but she definitely didn't seem like a sixteen year old. Now, however, she's acting her true age and I find that very refreshing.Likewise it was nice to see more of Gage and Landon this time around. I've always liked Landon, so seeing him continue to stand up for Summer and yet also allow her be independent was great. Plus seeing him get his own chance to romance was fun too. Murr! In contrast, Gage has been an interesting character to me. I had mixed feelings for him in the first book and I think that was because I didn't feel like he was around much. A part of me felt like he was too good to e true and just a tad too perfect a boyfriend. But now I can say with confidence that I really enjoy him. He's got Summer's best interests at heart, even if he takes the whole protection bit too far at times. Watching him deal with his jealousy towards Julian showed that he's got his faults just like everyone else. I guess what I'm trying to say is he felt much more real in this book than he did in the first.I loved, loved, LOVED the scene in which Summer learns to control her power! There was so much attention to detail that I actually had to read the scene twice because I found it so fascinating. The description of the nanomites and how they work to allow Summer to manipulate time was truly a well conceived idea! Is it wrong that I found myself itching to study Summer's DNA and run my own tests in order to learn more? Yeah, this feline got caught up in the moment. Murr!I also enjoyed the Recordings that Kreitzer interspersed in the story. These recording scenes help create a sense of mystery because as you read each one, more details concerning who is making them and why come to light. There are some surprising moments and while some questions get answered, other questions are created. They are the prefect lead up to the third book of the series, Burning Falls, which is sadly won't be out until the end of the year. You can bet though that this feline will be keeping an eye out for news of its release. Murr! After everything that happened in this book, I'm now anxious to get my paws on the next one. =^-^=