Saturday, November 19, 2011

Review: The Reckoning




The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Series: The Darkest Power #3 (final)
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Pages: 268 (Ereader)
Source: eLibrary - Overdrive

Quote:
“We had one gun
, one werewolf, one poltergeist, one supercharged spell-caster, one not-so-supercharged spell-caster, and one perfectly useless necromancer, though Liz was quick to remind me that she needed me to relay her words."

My Rating:


My Review:  It is extremely difficult to review the third book in a trilogy when you don't want to include spoilers so work with me here.



If you are interested in reading  this series, purchase the version that has all the books in one single book.  It truly reads like one single book that is broken in three portions based on a change in location.  I actually read all three in one setting (during Dewey's read-a-thon in October) and this worked really well.

In this installment, all the characters are in the picture and I was certainly loving it.  I realized after I finished the book that all the characters really grew on me and I was sad to see them go.  I especially connected with Chloe.  I realized, for the first time, that she had a back-bone and she had a nice teenage head on her shoulders.  Her struggles and decisions seemed realistic and I found myself really liking her here. I still really really loved Derek.  He isn't perfect by any means but he's just so loveable.  I just wanted to wrap him up and put him in my pocket, but I'm sure he wouldn't fit. I also ended up really liking Tori and I'm glad her character was consistent throughout the series.  She never changed into the "good" girl, you just kind of accepted her for who she was and appreciated what she could offer.

With the return of this amazing eclectic cast, comes a plot that is a tad disappointing.  I was interested from the beginning to the end but was dismayed to have so many unanswered questions.  It wasn't wrapped up in a bow-tie which is great.  I love that the reader knows that the crew will continue on more adventures, but I felt that the only real resolution involved the romance.  Now I don't want to be unclear here.  The conflict is wrapped up.  So there is no cliff hanger or anything.

But I wanted to know more about so many things: (1) Chloe's mom and the circumstances around her death; (2) the necklace;  (3) How Tori's parentage came about; (4) What's going to happen to Liz; (5) What are they going to do about the "traitors" (as I call them); (6) Ummm...did everyone forget that Chloe has this gift that she can't control...is she just going to continue to sleep with one eye open or what; (7) Chloe made her special deal at the end...what's up with that.  What was that really about anyway?

Ultimately, it was a very satisfying and enjoyable read.  I truly enjoyed the book from start to finish. However, it was not a satisfying end to a series. There were too many unanswered questions.

Honestly this book deserves a "good" rating like all the others, but the series rating should be a "good" with a little asterisk after it. Note to future readers.  Ms. Armstrong owes us another book.

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16 comments:

  1. It truly did. Honestly, I enjoyed my experience reading it. I always assumed the questions would be answered so I didn't worry about it. It didn't hit me that I had been left hanging until I turned the last page.

    You really don't think about it while you are reading because you just get caught up into everything.

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  2. Agreed. I'll wait till I hear about how it works out. I'm not committing until someone tells me I'll get some answers.

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  3. I certainly feel that way. Though I'm sure I'm not really that important :)

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  4. Well I'm hearing that her new series overlaps characters and topic with this series so maybe she did it on purpose. Either way, I have to wait for more reviews before I commit.

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  5. I'm definitely open and excited to read more books by this author. I'll look into the Otherworld series.

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  6. Yeah I think it can be frustrating when you've been waiting patiently for some answers and you never get them. Plus, authors love to tell you all these other small details you DON'T want to know. Luckily that really isn't the problem here. It's not till the end where you are like..."hey wait a minute...what about..."

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  7. I don't like to read incomplete trilogies so I'll wait to decide whether I want to read the Darkness Rising trilogy. Derek was seriously my favorite. All the hunky glam of most male leads is seriously overrated.

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  8. I didn't know that. I'm not sure an appearance is good enough for me. But I'll hold my judgment until I hear how it is.

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  9. Great review. I'm surprised you gave it a good review with so many lingering questions unanswered, so everything else must truly make up for it.

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  10. I agree with you - I loved this final book, BUT I also had so many unanswered questions. Supposedly Chloe and Co are coming back in Armstrong's newer YA trilogy, that starts with The Gathering? I think I heard they are going to be back in the third book, but I think Armstrong could have done a little bit better job at answering a few more questions in this book.

    And...Derek! <3

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  11. Juju at Tales of Whimsy.comJanuary 26, 2012 at 10:06 AM

    Nice review :) I like your note about another book being owed!

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  12. Agh! I think I'm gonna stay away from this series simply because of the unanswered questions. That's a major peeve of mine. I want to know everything. LOL

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  13. I know what you mean. I hate reviewing books in a trilogy because pretty much anything you say will be a spoiler to someone who hasn't read the first book yet. I absolutely adore Kelley Armstrong (her Women of the Otherworld series is beyond amazing). I haven't started her YA series yet but I'm sure I'll give it a go eventually.

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  14. That seems to be the running theme with the third book in a trilogy lately. I hate when there are so many questions left open to interpretation. On some things I really want a definitive answer. Despite that, your review has made me even more curious about this series. It's something I'll have to look into when I'm in the mood for a good paranormal.

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  15. I felt this way about the series too. I thought the characters were wonderful, but the plot about the science experiment and everything ended in an unsatisfying way for me. I understood ending it that way, though, because Armstrong's writing another series with a new group of characters but continuing the science experiment plot (the Darkness Rising series).

    Also, the characters from this book are supposed to make an appearance in the last book of the new trilogy and I'm really excited for that. I'm sure that not all of your questions about them will be answered then, but it'll be nice to see them again nonetheless and find out what they've been up to.

    The first book of Darkness Rising is already out, called The Gathering, and it has a different feel from the Darkest Powers. I think you'd enjoy it.

    -Kayla @ All the Things She Read

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  16. Derek! Everybody loved that underdog (including me, of course). This left so many unanswered questions but somehow, I was satisfied by how it ended. I read the first book in the Darkness Rising and I didn't like it as much as I did with Darkest Powers books. Though I choose to stick with it because I'm kind of hoping that I'd see DK characters in it.

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