This was a disappointment and a good example of why a trilogy should sometimes stay a trilogy when the story resolves itself.

Despite the first three books being YA, they easily crossed over to adult readers, because the concept, characters, nuance, etc. were all there. This one feels like a YA novel, and a poorly written one at that.

I hate that I'm saying this about part of this series, and it in no way changes my opinion of the first three books, which I loved.

For me, it feels like the magic is gone. Characters have regressed in caricatures, despite the immense character growth we’d previously seen.

In addition, these children aren’t children. They have lived multiple lifetimes, and despite being sheltered in their loop, are not so stunted that they should come across as actual children. Sure, the modern world is big and scary and weird and strange. A child-like wonder, even for an adult - I'd buy that. But these characters were reduced to their base traits, and it doesn’t work.

The love story between Emma and Jacob has always bothered me. If the roles were reversed, and he was an adult man hidden in a child's body, having a romantic affair with an actual teenager? Seems more lecherous, doesn't it? It's no less creepy because she's a chick. [I do know this whole relationship thing changes for the better in book 5, which I won't be reading, because this book killed the series for me].

New characters were mostly forgettable, with one-dimensional cardboard cutout personalities, or personality that was not written to its potential. Fleeting moments, which felt like where the action and story should have been, were done in passing, nothing more than a hand wave of "oh, yeah, that's a thing."

I don't want to say Riggs was being lazy, because I think that is unfair to the author. I don't think he phoned it in. I think this new section of story doesn't have the actual underpinnings of the first trilogy. So, no, I don't think the writing is lazy, I think the writing is forced.

I still very much recommend books 1-3.

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Created Feb 29, 2024 at 7:38pm • Submit your own review...