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kzimm2024's review against another edition
5.0
RE-Read Sept 2023, 5 stars this time as well as the 1st read in 2018. This is just precious, the relationship between Meg and Simon and Meg and the terra indigene that have brought her in as Pack. I was left smiling at the gentle ending of this one as well as the last one.
After the Lakeside Courtyard is recovering from the storm that wiped out Toland and across the ocean, we get introduced to Cyrus as the new trouble maker. He is Lt. Montgomery's younger brother and is horrible. Total bad egg, with wife and 2 kids.
The courtyard is forced to allow them to stay even though they know they are trouble so that the Elders staying there can observe and see how to differentiate between "bad" or "good" humans. Not that anyone can "see" the Elders, but they can feel it.
The Elders realize:
"The sweet blood, the howling not-Wolf, had changed things in the Lakeside Courtyard—had even changed some of the terra indigene living in that Courtyard. She was not like the human enemies. She was not prey. She and her kind were Namid’s creation, wondrous and terrible."
Reading this series again helps me understand why this happened and it is a vital part in the Elders allowing humanity to exist.
But the best parts are the humorous touches throughout.
We get this update from the people settling into Bennett:
"With so many pets, as she calls them, needing new homes—or at least new caretakers—she suggested giving a dog, cat, or bird to every new resident as a welcome gift.
I am trying to discourage this idea without telling her that new terra indigene residents might think she was giving them an easy dinner."
Simon, as always:
“One young woman is hardly an invasion.”
“The female pack was the invasion,” Simon grumbled. “Exploding fluffballs. Bunnies with teeth.”
So the story is basically logistics at this point, who gets what food and resources (apocalyptical) as supplies become tight and how to share food with the humans that are now the Others' responsibility. Cyrus and his family stir up trouble in town as the Others are just trying to get on with life and helping the humans. Although he does provide an opportunity for "special meat" lol.
And Spoilers- then Meg is kidnapped and all hell breaks loose.
Meg- straight up creepy:
“I don’t remember most of what I see, but I remember one thing, Cyrus Montgomery. The Crows are going to eat your eyes.”
--------
And after she makes her escape:
"But she was part of the Wolfgard pack at Lakeside. Just because she was alone, she wouldn’t turn into some blubbering human. She would . . .
“Arroo! Arroo!” I am here. I am here, Simon. Come find me.
“Ar-r-rooo!” Please find me.
Then she turned into a blubbering human after all."
----------
Then Simon stopped, his ears pricked. Was it . . . ?
“Arroo!” They were barely in range of that howl, but it filled him with joy. “Arroo!”
“Arroo! Arroo!” Found you. He ran toward the sound. (awwww)
---------
Blair moved away to inspect the body. Simon just hugged her.
“There’s an Elder here,” she whispered in his ear.
“I know,” he whispered back.
“It laughed at me when I howled to tell you I was here.”
She could feel his smile.
And FINALLY- at the VERY END:
“Before we tell anyone about our decision, I think we should kiss,” Meg said suddenly. “To see if we like it.”
----------
“I think we like it,” Meg breathed. “I think we should try it again. Just to be sure.”
They tried it several more times, just to be sure, and eventually decided that they did like kissing.
They liked it a lot.
The End, Simon and Meg forever.
After the Lakeside Courtyard is recovering from the storm that wiped out Toland and across the ocean, we get introduced to Cyrus as the new trouble maker. He is Lt. Montgomery's younger brother and is horrible. Total bad egg, with wife and 2 kids.
The courtyard is forced to allow them to stay even though they know they are trouble so that the Elders staying there can observe and see how to differentiate between "bad" or "good" humans. Not that anyone can "see" the Elders, but they can feel it.
The Elders realize:
"The sweet blood, the howling not-Wolf, had changed things in the Lakeside Courtyard—had even changed some of the terra indigene living in that Courtyard. She was not like the human enemies. She was not prey. She and her kind were Namid’s creation, wondrous and terrible."
Reading this series again helps me understand why this happened and it is a vital part in the Elders allowing humanity to exist.
But the best parts are the humorous touches throughout.
We get this update from the people settling into Bennett:
"With so many pets, as she calls them, needing new homes—or at least new caretakers—she suggested giving a dog, cat, or bird to every new resident as a welcome gift.
I am trying to discourage this idea without telling her that new terra indigene residents might think she was giving them an easy dinner."
Simon, as always:
“One young woman is hardly an invasion.”
“The female pack was the invasion,” Simon grumbled. “Exploding fluffballs. Bunnies with teeth.”
So the story is basically logistics at this point, who gets what food and resources (apocalyptical) as supplies become tight and how to share food with the humans that are now the Others' responsibility. Cyrus and his family stir up trouble in town as the Others are just trying to get on with life and helping the humans. Although he does provide an opportunity for "special meat" lol.
And Spoilers- then Meg is kidnapped and all hell breaks loose.
Meg- straight up creepy:
“I don’t remember most of what I see, but I remember one thing, Cyrus Montgomery. The Crows are going to eat your eyes.”
--------
And after she makes her escape:
"But she was part of the Wolfgard pack at Lakeside. Just because she was alone, she wouldn’t turn into some blubbering human. She would . . .
“Arroo! Arroo!” I am here. I am here, Simon. Come find me.
“Ar-r-rooo!” Please find me.
Then she turned into a blubbering human after all."
----------
Then Simon stopped, his ears pricked. Was it . . . ?
“Arroo!” They were barely in range of that howl, but it filled him with joy. “Arroo!”
“Arroo! Arroo!” Found you. He ran toward the sound. (awwww)
---------
Blair moved away to inspect the body. Simon just hugged her.
“There’s an Elder here,” she whispered in his ear.
“I know,” he whispered back.
“It laughed at me when I howled to tell you I was here.”
She could feel his smile.
And FINALLY- at the VERY END:
“Before we tell anyone about our decision, I think we should kiss,” Meg said suddenly. “To see if we like it.”
----------
“I think we like it,” Meg breathed. “I think we should try it again. Just to be sure.”
They tried it several more times, just to be sure, and eventually decided that they did like kissing.
They liked it a lot.
The End, Simon and Meg forever.
nutmeginnz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
brianne_k's review against another edition
5.0
*5/5*
This series is always a constant for me.. I love it so very much.
This book brought a new predator to the Lakeside courtyard, and sadly it is a predator like we have today, in our own cities. Jimmy was despicable. I hated reading from his perspective. And part of that is because he was so excellently written. So loathsome. So ugly.
Meg and Simon are still my OTP. The ultimate slow burn.
I know the next book doesn't take place in this courtyard that holds my heart, but I hope I love it just the same.
This series is always a constant for me.. I love it so very much.
This book brought a new predator to the Lakeside courtyard, and sadly it is a predator like we have today, in our own cities. Jimmy was despicable. I hated reading from his perspective. And part of that is because he was so excellently written. So loathsome. So ugly.
Meg and Simon are still my OTP. The ultimate slow burn.
I know the next book doesn't take place in this courtyard that holds my heart, but I hope I love it just the same.
tessa_b's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
morganhagerperry's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
shawniebooks's review against another edition
4.0
I'm giving this a 4 because it is still among the top 5 of my all-time favorite series to date, but I experienced disappointment with this installment. It was so slow and drawn out. I'm also disappointed with the lack of relationship building in this one. Though still it's one of my favorite series.
skycrane's review against another edition
1.0
Unfortunately, I didn't like the book very much at all. I like long books that spend a lot of time with the characters, so I thought I'd enjoy this one, since it mostly takes place after all the excitement of the previous novels in the series. There's no major threat, everyone's just trying to put together the pieces and figure out how they're going to live together in this new world. But it's still written as if there's this overbearing tension and danger, even though there's basically no threat whatsoever. There's still a lot of focus on where each character is at every moment, how they react to the relatively minor upsets that occur in their neighborhood, who's watching Meg at all times. But the antagonist is just some guy. And that's it. Some asshole shows up, and then everyone repeatedly freaks out for no reason. The mayor and the chief of police are consulted on this crisis, the Others set up a round-the-clock watch on his apartment, there are cops following his every move. Most of the book is spent establishing just how unpleasant Jimmy is, but it's all completely pointless.
I cannot recommend this book. I only finished it because I thought there'd be another in the series, but I wish I had just skipped it.
I cannot recommend this book. I only finished it because I thought there'd be another in the series, but I wish I had just skipped it.
katyanaish's review against another edition
3.0
I love this series, this world, this entire cast of characters.
And I love that this book focused much more on Simon, Meg and the Lakeside characters (where in previous books, they felt somewhat secondary to the plot).
In the end, though, this was a transition book. Lots of major plot happened in the previous book, and the world was dramatically changed. This book is about how our beloved characters adjust to this new world. I loved being able to revisit them, and I loved their relationships with each other, and how much they've become a team. But overall, not a whole lot happened.
Or maybe it just felt that way because Cyrus is pretty small potatoes.
In any case, I enjoyed it very much because I love this series and these characters.
Edit to add: Okay, looking over other reviews, people are indicating that this is the end of Meg/Simon/Lakeside story. If that's the case, I'm significantly less impressed. That means this isn't a transition book, it is basically one massive epilogue. And I don't feel like it really resolves the story. It means that overall, I feel like the series gave too much time away to the massive, world-spanning plot, and took away time from the character arcs, because now we're at an end and it feels like a weird anti-climax. I mean, I guess we know Meg and Simon will be okay, but does anything actually feel resolved? Or is it just me who feels that way?
Edit to add, #2: The more space I get from it, the less happy I am with it. I revised the rating to a 3. The series as a whole gets a high 4. This book as a stand-alone gets a 2.
And I love that this book focused much more on Simon, Meg and the Lakeside characters (where in previous books, they felt somewhat secondary to the plot).
In the end, though, this was a transition book. Lots of major plot happened in the previous book, and the world was dramatically changed. This book is about how our beloved characters adjust to this new world. I loved being able to revisit them, and I loved their relationships with each other, and how much they've become a team. But overall, not a whole lot happened.
Or maybe it just felt that way because Cyrus is pretty small potatoes.
In any case, I enjoyed it very much because I love this series and these characters.
Edit to add: Okay, looking over other reviews, people are indicating that this is the end of Meg/Simon/Lakeside story. If that's the case, I'm significantly less impressed. That means this isn't a transition book, it is basically one massive epilogue. And I don't feel like it really resolves the story. It means that overall, I feel like the series gave too much time away to the massive, world-spanning plot, and took away time from the character arcs, because now we're at an end and it feels like a weird anti-climax. I mean, I guess we know Meg and Simon will be okay, but does anything actually feel resolved? Or is it just me who feels that way?
Edit to add, #2: The more space I get from it, the less happy I am with it. I revised the rating to a 3. The series as a whole gets a high 4. This book as a stand-alone gets a 2.
karenreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
⭐️ bad, ⭐️ ⭐️ ok, ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ good, ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ very good, ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ something special
[***The following rambling notes are for me. They may contain spoilers or no information at all.***]
Silly, but love the series. This is my least favorite book of The Others because I find some of the characters so frustrating. Also, after five books, all we get from Meg and Simon is them finally articulating that they might like each other in the final moment of the book.
momosaurus's review against another edition
2.0
NOTE: Very slow development with problems that shouldn't even existed in the first place and some plot holes, feels inconclusive.
This is a let down for me. After the cliffhanger about Simon's and Meg's relationship from the previous books, I expected that to be focus of this book, but alas it was not and only thrown in from time to time and finally rushed through for the finale. Pretty underwhelming for the end of a five-book series, romance and action wise. Saw there was another book after this but it's a new story, I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand a continuation of this world (yay), on the other hand, no more Meg and Simon or Sam and Skippy (boo)
This is a let down for me. After the cliffhanger about Simon's and Meg's relationship from the previous books, I expected that to be focus of this book, but alas it was not and only thrown in from time to time and finally rushed through for the finale. Pretty underwhelming for the end of a five-book series, romance and action wise. Saw there was another book after this but it's a new story, I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand a continuation of this world (yay), on the other hand, no more Meg and Simon or Sam and Skippy (boo)