A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy

This is book #3 in a trilogy, so if you want to take a look at my thoughts on the first and second books you can go here and here. Obviously, SPOILERS AHEAD.

 

We pick up with Ruby and the gang a few weeks after the bombings in L.A. Pretty much everyone is still trying to use the kids for their own gain, so Ruby and co. hatch a plan to get to the safe house and ditch their Children’s League companions who seem to have less than noble intentions. Once this is accomplished, Ruby and Cole band together in alliance, which causes a rift between Ruby and her friends (particularly Liam). As the group works to figure out how to proceed, they come across a plan to close all the camps housing the IANN kids, which will like mean the extermination of all those kids. The group shifts their attention to the camps, hoping to destroy their control and free themselves from the oppressive forces all around them in one fell swoop. Of course, those with power don’t give it up easily, and the target on Ruby and her friends’ backs grows exponentially.

For life reasons, I picked this book up and put it back down several times, so my full reading of it was rather disjointed, which I always find makes for a difficult review. I can tell you this for sure though – the first half and the second half of this book felt like two distinctly different entities. The first half features quite a bit of angst and Ruby and Liam kind of being assholes to each other for no good reason. I got worried that we might be headed in to Allegiant territory. I should have had faith though, as the second resumed the tone and content that ran throughout the first two books. Ruby continues to just be awesome, she and Liam get their shit together and make a great team. Chubs and Vida continue to make me wish they were real people and delight me pretty much every time they are present in the story. If you’ve made it this far in the series, this is a very satisfying end to a story of special kids trying to cope with special abilities, and also coming to terms with the normal pitfalls of becoming an adult. Really well done, and a really enjoyable read.