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myhandmadehell's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Solid four stars. In terms of content, it’s much of the same as the first two books: a continuation of the drama and war around the Royal Consortium, specifically focusing on a member of House von Hasenberg. In this case, it was the baby of the family, Catarina, whose story had a very fun beginning (focused more on sort of social engineering and parties-as-espionage) before returning to the tried and tested “using really cool gadgets and an incredible ability to remember everything she’s ever heard” story beats that we saw in Polaris Rising and Aurora Blazing.
I will say while I assumed Alexander was also a Genesis Project super soldier, I was both a little disappointed that we had that story beat again, and also very excited thatCatarina was also a sort of prototype super soldier herself!
I kinda wish that Alex had been a little more flawed, maybe a little angrier at the Consortium. Some conflict between him and Cat would have been fun and heightened the romantic tension between them, but instead he was pretty much gone for her and fully backing her play from the get go. Which was super sweet but also made him a touch boring. I didn’t really get the sense that any real emotional connection was brewing between them. It felt more like two people misinterpreting lust for love.
However - criticisms aside - Mihalik writes science fiction romance books that feel like they are science fiction first, which I super super super appreciate and love. I found myself savoring the world building, the tech, and the politics of the world just as much as the little sexy parts between our leads - or more so!
Fabulous trilogy, one of my favorite stories ever!
I will say while I assumed Alexander was also a Genesis Project super soldier, I was both a little disappointed that we had that story beat again, and also very excited that
I kinda wish that Alex had been a little more flawed, maybe a little angrier at the Consortium. Some conflict between him and Cat would have been fun and heightened the romantic tension between them, but instead he was pretty much gone for her and fully backing her play from the get go. Which was super sweet but also made him a touch boring. I didn’t really get the sense that any real emotional connection was brewing between them. It felt more like two people misinterpreting lust for love.
However - criticisms aside - Mihalik writes science fiction romance books that feel like they are science fiction first, which I super super super appreciate and love. I found myself savoring the world building, the tech, and the politics of the world just as much as the little sexy parts between our leads - or more so!
Fabulous trilogy, one of my favorite stories ever!
stacieh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
manda_kaye's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
leekleek's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately I didn’t love the main characters in this one as much. Cat was lacking in self confidence and personally I have a difficult time reading about characters with that flaw.
jasonmark's review against another edition
4.0
Has a lot of the same tired subplots that they were used from the first two books. Specifically about oh my gosh, I can’t tell the secrets and the same hunky guys that mix it up some and a little more interesting.
whitneykelley's review against another edition
5.0
Second read: WOW. If this isn’t a perfect book (for me) then it’s damn near close
- Kind, supportive hero with his own life and career. Who happens to be a badass.
- Heroine who was likable from the beginning but has way more going on to her than meets the eye
- Technically fake dating, but really forced proximity between two people who were attracted from the first moment and grow to respect and love each other
- Low number of sex scenes, but the ones that are there are sweet and steamy, really emphasizing their relationship
- Great action plot, wraps up series really well
- side characters are well developed and help flesh out main character’s lives
- great world building
Like seriously this book is basically perfect. Seriously, go read it. It’s worth getting through the “mostly alright” second book to get to this — I promise!
- Kind, supportive hero with his own life and career. Who happens to be a badass.
- Heroine who was likable from the beginning but has way more going on to her than meets the eye
- Technically fake dating, but really forced proximity between two people who were attracted from the first moment and grow to respect and love each other
- Low number of sex scenes, but the ones that are there are sweet and steamy, really emphasizing their relationship
- Great action plot, wraps up series really well
- side characters are well developed and help flesh out main character’s lives
- great world building
Like seriously this book is basically perfect. Seriously, go read it. It’s worth getting through the “mostly alright” second book to get to this — I promise!
katyanaish's review against another edition
5.0
Holy cow, this was so good. So good that I totally slacked off at work today between meetings to keep sneaking in reading time - I just couldn't put it down.
All the threads from previous books pulled together here and became a really compelling finale to the series. Plus, unlike in the last book, the lead couple was pretty great - Cat was great (though she could use a dose of self-confidence ... but I understand why struggles) and Alex was everything you'd want in a book boyfriend.
As with all the books in the series, the love happens pretty fast, but I buy it - the heightened emotions of life or death situations, blah blah. To be honest, I think that any kind of romance where the couple meets in the beginning and is in love by the end feels fast to me unless there's been a lot of time-jumping happening over the course of the book. So YMMV there, but for me, they felt solid as partners and as in love as pretty much any couple in a single book imo. I think it is the solid partnership that really sells it - that's the foundation they have to have if I'm going to believe they can go the distance by the end of a single book, and these two have it.
I'm sad the series is ending with just this trilogy, because there are so many more stories I want to hear in this world.
Show me Riccardo Silva in a body bag, and the rest of the Syndicate utterly crushed. I mean, there's a whole war that's gotta happen there. (Also, Bianca and Ian suck even more for not killing Riccardo like brainless jelly donuts - he seemed to be the main orchstrator of these events along with Hitoshi, and FFS most of it wouldn't have happened, or would have been at least scrambling, had they killed him like anyone with a brain would have done. I was pissed about it in the last book because it was dumb to leave a murderous mob boss who kidnapped and maimed - and as far as they knew at the time, killed - your brother the heir alive behind you to organize his revenge. So fucking stupid.)
And show me this family finally being comfortable enough to reveal their secrets to each other. They so completely love each other, but don't want to burden each other, which is dumb. This last book made it clear that they can utterly rely on each other, and be a stronger team if they know each other's secrets to utilize them effectively. There's no reason for Cat to chafe at her family sheltering her - let them know just how strong your shitty father's experiments made you, so they worry less for you. There's no reason for Bianca to hide her abilities, or her need to get shelter to escape them sometimes. And I suspect the others have secrets too, that they've kept buried like a wounded animal so that their father didn't use it against them. Be done with that, please.
I hope Mihalik revisits it somewhere down the road.
All the threads from previous books pulled together here and became a really compelling finale to the series. Plus, unlike in the last book, the lead couple was pretty great - Cat was great (though she could use a dose of self-confidence ... but I understand why struggles) and Alex was everything you'd want in a book boyfriend.
As with all the books in the series, the love happens pretty fast, but I buy it - the heightened emotions of life or death situations, blah blah. To be honest, I think that any kind of romance where the couple meets in the beginning and is in love by the end feels fast to me unless there's been a lot of time-jumping happening over the course of the book. So YMMV there, but for me, they felt solid as partners and as in love as pretty much any couple in a single book imo. I think it is the solid partnership that really sells it - that's the foundation they have to have if I'm going to believe they can go the distance by the end of a single book, and these two have it.
I'm sad the series is ending with just this trilogy, because there are so many more stories I want to hear in this world.
Spoiler
Like, show me Ferdinand and Evelyn, and how such a tremendously complicated relationship can unfold. Show me what happens with Hitoshi. Show me Veronica revealing that she had Hitoshi's son (and was held prisoner by him for years) - she deserves a connection with the good members of the family (Ying and Tae seem wonderful), and her son deserves it too. I want to see Benedict find a partner. I want to see Hannah recover and find her happiness, whether that's married or living her own life. I want to see Richard Rockhurst get punched in the face for not just what he did to Ada, but also for what he did on Fornax that created the situation with Loch and the rest of the Genesis Project survivors.Show me Riccardo Silva in a body bag, and the rest of the Syndicate utterly crushed. I mean, there's a whole war that's gotta happen there. (Also, Bianca and Ian suck even more for not killing Riccardo like brainless jelly donuts - he seemed to be the main orchstrator of these events along with Hitoshi, and FFS most of it wouldn't have happened, or would have been at least scrambling, had they killed him like anyone with a brain would have done. I was pissed about it in the last book because it was dumb to leave a murderous mob boss who kidnapped and maimed - and as far as they knew at the time, killed - your brother the heir alive behind you to organize his revenge. So fucking stupid.)
And show me this family finally being comfortable enough to reveal their secrets to each other. They so completely love each other, but don't want to burden each other, which is dumb. This last book made it clear that they can utterly rely on each other, and be a stronger team if they know each other's secrets to utilize them effectively. There's no reason for Cat to chafe at her family sheltering her - let them know just how strong your shitty father's experiments made you, so they worry less for you. There's no reason for Bianca to hide her abilities, or her need to get shelter to escape them sometimes. And I suspect the others have secrets too, that they've kept buried like a wounded animal so that their father didn't use it against them. Be done with that, please.
I hope Mihalik revisits it somewhere down the road.
chlcrc617's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
licensetoshelbs's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0