My enemies are too great. Too many. And I too weak.

When I hit the top of the wait-list and was notified by the library that this book was finally available, I was so excited that I actually took a screengrab and texted it to a friend.

And it doesn’t disappoint. I will admit that I was vaguely disappointed, but really only because this series has only ever broken new ground in my brain the once, and that was with the first book. A little disappointing, but totally understandable. And come on, if it had changed dramatically in tone or style from book to book, I would have declared it inconsistent and shady. It’s just that, you know, the first high is the best high, and the rest of the time you’re just chasing that first high, you know?

Morning Star is a great conclusion to the “Red Rising” series. There’s action, adventure, some new characters that are terrific additions to the group. Heart-felt loss. Very well-played twists. Fantastic call-backs. I had been worried that it would be repetitive. I mean, how many different ways can you fight a battle in space with a limited group of main characters? But I wasn’t able to telegraph anyone’s moves, and there was no satisfaction lost in the end.

This is really solid YA dystopia, treading mostly along the path already beaten by the “Hunger Games” series. But I think it does better (full disclosure: Mockingjay pissed me off) with the characterizations, the action, the stakes, and even the romance. There’s more complexity, and more specificity to this series than I would have predicted, and I’m so happy to have found it.