3 Stars

Keeping in line with the main theme of Enhanced humans fighting for basic rights, this continues with the horrible hatred and bigotry and the brave men who try to make a difference against such.

What this doesn’t continue with is the high caliber story telling. I hate to say it, but the wording and sentence structure made for a bumpy confusing reading experience, markedly decreasing my enjoyment. Throw in a romantic progression that was frustrating, leaving me wanting for more development, personal growth, and definitely sexy times - all of which were significantly lacking in comparison to the previous books. WTH Ms. Sue? WTH?

However, despite my complaints, Vance is seriously one of the most endearing heartfelt gentle giants EVER. He was this close to overtaking my most favorite teddy bear Ethan Hobbes, and gave him a run for his money. Vance’s sensitivity, kindness, and innate goodness were the best parts of this book, and his hurt and longing slayed me. Unfortunately, I felt like I never got a clear picture as to why Vance wanted and cared for Sam so much, and Sam’s harsh handling of him did not endear me to these two further. It didn’t help that the ending felt anticlimactic, and Vance and Sam’s love resolution was way too quick and easy after the hell we were put through in the prior 200 pages.

I will say that I continue to be significantly and emotionally affected by the terrible things wrought on the Enhanced population, especially the children. This succeeds in the small victories regarding the connected storylines involving the multitude of kids that the team has started to make changes for, slowly gaining progress for those who have no champion.

Obviously, not my favorite on many fronts…. but this potentially sets up possibly the most intriguing and probably the most painful story arc to come if it involves Eli and Vance’s brother Daniel. Though I dread the hurt that lays ahead, I so look forward to being moved by some intense feels. I only hope this author takes a step back, takes her time in bringing out a more thoughtful story, as this seemed hella rushed. I'm so willing to wait a long time for something better (pretty sure that many others feel the same way) because I know fully well what Sue is capable of, and I hope she brings it the next time around. ( )