Final Book In Series

The final book in Caroline Cooney's Janie Johnson series, Janie Face to Face, wraps up the storyline that began with The Face on the Milk Carton (a book that's now twenty years old!). Set five years in the future after Janie discovers that her parents aren't really her parents, and that she was kidnapped as a toddler, Janie's now going to college and attempting to leave behind all the turmoil that came with the media sensation. After Reeve's betrayal in The Voice on the Radio, Janie's trust issues no longer allow her to see him romantically, but her relationship with her birth family has improved to the point that Janie sees herself as a Spring. Still, she's torn between the Springs and the Johnsons, and still unsure of her place. Is it any wonder that she allows a good looking young man into her life, even though her friends are skeptical of him? There seems to be something off in his attentions, and as the story progresses, more clues to something devious start to come to light. It looks like Janie's life is about to get more complicated.

Meanwhile, we get glimpses into the mind/psyche of Janie's kidnapper, Hannah Javenson, who has been living in Colorado for years, subsisting on menial jobs and blaming her parents, society, and Janie for everything that went wrong with her life. Hannah, now in her late forties/early fifties, has never amounted to anything; she's stolen identities, money, and things in her sad existence. As she ages, she begins to find ways to spy on Janie and her now elderly parents and fixates on the idea that Janie somehow stole the life Hannah should have had (even though we experience the kidnapping from Hannah's point of view early on in this book). She decides the time has come to "fix" things, and in her delusional mind, she plots revenge.

I liked this final installment, finding it entirely believable in lots of ways, even down to the....

SPOILER ALERT....

...impromptu reunion of Janie and Reeve. I could see how Janie would need Reeve as a bit of stability in her life, and I felt that even the rather rushed wedding would come off. I liked the movement between various characters' points of view, even the annoying Kathleen (who ended up adding a good deal to the overall story, despite her neediness). I loved how Janie's siblings accepted her even though they were alternately happy and irritated by her behavior. I also loved that Janie still felt loyalty and love for the Johnsons who raised her, and that there was recognition that they were blameless in such a mess. There are also attempts by Cooney to pull the timeline of the original story forward so that this installment wouldn't find Janie in her mid-thirties (for example, the explanation of no cell phones earlier, the appearance of the phone booth Janie and Reeve used, and the way Janie just ignores social media and has for a long time). If there were a few issues, such as the convenience of having the FBI on speed dial, Reeve's undying devotion, and Hannah's ability to act upon her delusions, I could overlook it because Cooney's writing is very engaging and the pages just flew by. Janie comes across as normal as a girl could be in such an awful situation, and the glimpses of others' thoughts and actions filled out the story. This is a fitting conclusion to a series that could actually have happened. Not perfect, but still good.

~taminator40

Burn: The Final Pure Book

Burn finishes up the Pure trilogy, and like the other two, this one is well written and a page turner. This time we've got Pressia and her friends returning in the "borrowed" airship, only to find that their home is now burning and everything is coming to a head within the Dome, but they now have a possibility of bringing it all down. Partridge has returned to the Dome and is now in charge upon the death of his father, but he's confused and finding out that change isn't quite as easy as he'd thought it would be. Lyda's in the Dome as well, but there are still people in suspension, and Partridge discovers his father's left messages for him even after death. And there's so much more--El Capitan must deal with his feelings for Pressia, as must Bradwell, and people within the Dome aren't sure they even want to change. It's a page turning plot that made me realize how much I love these characters, flaws and all.

Biggest issue with Burn? The hanging plot threads that are never resolved. There are a lot of them, in fact. Not wanting to get spoilery, but a few plot points would be all right, but the amount of items left without resolution is pretty huge. I was surprised that we didn't get to see some big payoffs we'd been anticipating, and even more surprised when I got to the end and realized how many pages were actually spent on things that, in the end, didn't really matter all that much. As an aside, if there was ever a more irritating character than Iralene, I've yet to meet her.

Still, Burn is beautifully written and vivid. I totally love this awkward, warped, confused world and I would love for Ms. Baggott to consider more books in this setting. It's not a pretty book, but none of the three are. What it lacks in physical beauty, however, it more than makes up for in characterizations. When even a small black box can elicit emotional pangs from the reader, you know it's a special series.

~taminator40

Diva by Jillian Larkin

While I've known The Flappers series was light, gossipy fun, I still became attached to the characters and was looking forward to Diva, the final book in the trilogy. And Diva starts off well enough; Gloria is being released from prison (if she helps the cops), Clara is bereft without Marcus but still writing, and Lorraine has started college and is ready for love. So what happened? What went wrong and what went right?

What Went Right: Issues are resolved, and I'm basically pretty happy with them. Clara doesn't back down; she's absolutely the best character in the book and comes the furthest as far as character development. There's a huge, exciting climax with a major dramatic flair that really feeds a romanticist's dreams.

What Went Wrong: So, so much. This is going to be a bit spoilery, so consider yourselves forewarned.

Marcus? Really? He breaks up with the love of his life and then is actually marrying someone else he basically knows nothing about within a month? Nope. So ridiculous.
Forrest and Ruby? Just didn't care about either one, particularly a woman who so obviously uses men for her own ends. Got what you deserved. Still don't understand the whole bit with Forrest and his father. It just didn't make sense, no matter how it was explained.
Lorraine? Her character degenerated into ridiculous comic relief. I kept thinking she couldn't get any dumber and then...yep, it happened. Sort of a Lucille Ball, over-the-top airhead with no redeeming qualities at all. She never gets better, even when she finds love instantaneously with a boy whom she requires keep his glasses on so he'd look good.
Gloria and Jerome? I still don't buy that they sailed off into the sunset. Yes, I get that people still gave them a hard time as a mixed race couple in the 1920s, but I still don't see it. Maybe they did, but Gloria's immaturity and lack of foresight just seemed to make me feel that these two have more issues than race. Not feeling it.
Clothes? If I read one more description of clothing, down to the threads used, one more time...arrrrrrgh! I get that the author loves the period and knows her stuff. But it's self-indulgent to spend so much time describing costumes, not to mention it's just a filler for having nothing else to say.

I don't know...maybe my tolerance for superficial young women falling instantly and forever in love is low this week. Despite knowing that this would be fluff, I'm let down. Yes, it delivers what it should. Yes, I know it's young adult and therefore should be forgiven, perhaps, a little more than adult fiction. But then again, I don't think so. I expect a certain amount of believability in my fiction (unless I know in advance that it's fantasy), and I just feel shortchanged. I wanted to love this final book, and I just didn't. I didn't hate it, but it just fell short of what it could have been. I'll round up from 2.5 stars because I did enjoy the first two, so I'll give this one the benefit of my good feelings for those two.

~taminator40

So Disappointed

I usually try not to read too many reviews of a book before I write my own so as not to be influenced by others' opinions. This time, however, I couldn't help myself; I had to peek to see if other readers felt a distinct lack of emotion for this final installment into our beloved Sookie's tale. And while I won't go so far as to say this is the worst book ever written, I will agree with the reviews I've read: I am very disappointed overall.

There are some things I liked about Dead Ever After, so I will state them first. I liked the fact that I got to spend time with characters I've grown to know and love, including Mr. Cataliades, Diantha, Pam and Bill (despite his flaws). I liked that Sookie realized she has friends she can call on who will help her, no questions asked. I liked that there was resolution for Claude. Wait...I'm trying to think of more things. Oh, and despite my overall lack of enthusiasm, the story did move along fairly quickly and I kept turning the pages to see what would happen next. That's a positive, right?

But oh my gosh, the problems. This is going to be spoiler-y, so consider yourselves warned.

I'll start small. After being in financial straits for so long, suddenly Sookie receives a bequest from Claudine that will basically take care of her for life? Wow. How nice. Oh, that nasty break-up with Quinn? It's in the past and all's forgiven. That convoluted murder and arrest? Never would've happened, even if Alcee had not been under the influence of a voodoo object. Amelia's father wanting the cluviel for simply to control Amelia? Yeah, right. And where was Bubba?

But then...the Eric situation. It was handled so badly, even with the lead up from the last book, that it was unbelievable. These two loved each other madly, and yet Eric couldn't and wouldn't find a way to get out of the marriage with Freyda? I understand the problems with an ongoing relationship between an immortal vampire and a human, but there would have been something Eric would've done. For him to ride off into the sunset, even with his token gifts, was totally unacceptable, even if I did see it coming. And the non-chemistry between Sookie and Sam, no matter how much Sookie tried to make it sound wonderful, was anything but. Sookie would not, under any circumstances, have simply let go of Eric and moved on so quickly.

If I keep writing, I'm going to talk myself out of the three stars I'm giving this final novel. I wanted to love it, I was expecting closure, and hoping to at least like Sam and Sookie together, and got none of it. Let's just say I'll give it 2.5 stars and round it up for old times' sake.

~taminator40