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katyanaish's review
2.0
These are short books (around 200 pages each), and I read through them fast enough that I honestly am not sure where one book ends and the next starts, so I am writing the review for the trilogy on this book. That means a lot of the below is going to be in spoiler tags, but there are a couple general things I want to talk about first.
I didn't hate this series, and there were parts I liked a lot, but it was overall disappointing. The characters and their interactions didn't really have any forward momentum - I feel like I don't really know much more about any of them now than I did in the first half of the first book, and aside from gaining some trust (and the sex), their interactions haven't changed all that much either. This made for a bit of a 2-dimensional, fun and fluffy read. And look, that's okay ... sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered. But personally I'd like to have seen some growth in their dynamic. Like, even in this last book, Tylin still wasn't including Alexa in the planning - she was always flying blind, with no info about what he was doing, just like in the beginning when he didn't trust her. That was silly, and it grated. Especially when, any time she seemed to grow a spine and press about it, they threw sex at her like a comfort blanket, and all her objections went away. Yuck.
The characters are all a bit of an X-Men rip off. I figured that out fairly early on, and it was reinforced in book 2 when we met Jameson's sister Scarlett, who has Scarlet Witch's power. But that's not grating ... until the last book, where it got self-referential and they started talking about how they are X-Men, but better because they are real. *eyeroll*
The biggest problem with the series is that I feel like the authors never actually hammered out the deal with their powers. I kept waiting for some clarification, and the last book not only didn't give it, it made the whole thing even more confusing with the intro of Archer. I'm going to put this in spoiler tags, but honestly, I don't know if it is much of a spoiler because we never got any real info about it and the trilogy ended with zero understanding.
BUT.
We also have characters tell stories about using their power as children. Rory talks about how as a child he thought his power would kill him. Scarlett talks about giving some jock in high school a vision of his dick falling off because he was talking shit about her. These were all things that happened before they became assassins, obviously. Furthermore, the core of the story is about how Derek was trying to breed some super version of the powers ... and that's how Alexa was born. So what the fuck, guys? Are these powers things that they were born with, or things they were given? Archer says outright that he can take the powers away - he tells Alexa that he can take her powers away - but HOW if it is something they were born with? If it is something Alexa was bred for? Derek talks about how she inherited his ability to suck power from other people (think Rogue from X-Men). That makes it sound genetic, like they are mutants. And guys, it's a problem that the authors never made any of this consistent or make sense. It almost feels like each of these 2 authors (the book was co-written) had their own idea about how the powers came to be, and never got on the same page about it. Really, really frustrating.
Then, in this final book we get some weird bits of what seems like retconning. In the beginning of this one, she says she hasn't had sex with Rory - that he could be dickless for all she knows - but book 2 ended up with all 5 of them finally getting together. Additionally, Allison says she and Alexa "have the pleasure of sharing father of the year." But in book 2 we were told they DON'T have the same father - they are half sisters that have the same mother, and Allison is here partially because she wants revenge for how they abused her mother. Again, what the hell? And then on top of the random retconning (that didn't even serve a purpose, as far as I can tell), we have Alexa being REALLY stupid. Come on, seriously. What. The. Actual. Fuck?
And lastly, we've got a desperate need for a copyedit pass on this series. There are lots of wrong word choices, or sentences with an extra word thrown in. And sometimes it is particularly confusing ... like in one book, Derek tells Alexa she's destined to be his predecessor. Huh? I mean, is that the word you meant, and there's some weird time-warping ability here (and that's not a bullshit question, because Alexa has some ability to manipulate time)? Or did you mean successor? And honestly, there's a lot of it.
So heads up. I didn't hate the series, but it never lives up to its potential, and it never really gets its story straight.
I didn't hate this series, and there were parts I liked a lot, but it was overall disappointing. The characters and their interactions didn't really have any forward momentum - I feel like I don't really know much more about any of them now than I did in the first half of the first book, and aside from gaining some trust (and the sex), their interactions haven't changed all that much either. This made for a bit of a 2-dimensional, fun and fluffy read. And look, that's okay ... sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered. But personally I'd like to have seen some growth in their dynamic. Like, even in this last book, Tylin still wasn't including Alexa in the planning - she was always flying blind, with no info about what he was doing, just like in the beginning when he didn't trust her. That was silly, and it grated. Especially when, any time she seemed to grow a spine and press about it, they threw sex at her like a comfort blanket, and all her objections went away. Yuck.
The characters are all a bit of an X-Men rip off. I figured that out fairly early on, and it was reinforced in book 2 when we met Jameson's sister Scarlett, who has Scarlet Witch's power. But that's not grating ... until the last book, where it got self-referential and they started talking about how they are X-Men, but better because they are real. *eyeroll*
The biggest problem with the series is that I feel like the authors never actually hammered out the deal with their powers. I kept waiting for some clarification, and the last book not only didn't give it, it made the whole thing even more confusing with the intro of Archer. I'm going to put this in spoiler tags, but honestly, I don't know if it is much of a spoiler because we never got any real info about it and the trilogy ended with zero understanding.
Spoiler
Several times in the series, we're told (or it is implied) that they got their powers in some ceremony when they were inducted into the League. That's where the tattoo came from, and in this last book we meet Archer, who is the one who does that stuff (power-giving and tattooing). Okay. Seems straightforward.BUT.
We also have characters tell stories about using their power as children. Rory talks about how as a child he thought his power would kill him. Scarlett talks about giving some jock in high school a vision of his dick falling off because he was talking shit about her. These were all things that happened before they became assassins, obviously. Furthermore, the core of the story is about how Derek was trying to breed some super version of the powers ... and that's how Alexa was born. So what the fuck, guys? Are these powers things that they were born with, or things they were given? Archer says outright that he can take the powers away - he tells Alexa that he can take her powers away - but HOW if it is something they were born with? If it is something Alexa was bred for? Derek talks about how she inherited his ability to suck power from other people (think Rogue from X-Men). That makes it sound genetic, like they are mutants.
Then, in this final book we get some weird bits of what seems like retconning. In the beginning of this one, she says she hasn't had sex with Rory - that he could be dickless for all she knows - but book 2 ended up with all 5 of them finally getting together. Additionally, Allison says she and Alexa "have the pleasure of sharing father of the year." But in book 2 we were told they DON'T have the same father - they are half sisters that have the same mother, and Allison is here partially because she wants revenge for how they abused her mother. Again, what the hell? And then on top of the random retconning (that didn't even serve a purpose, as far as I can tell), we have Alexa being REALLY stupid. Come on, seriously.
Spoiler
It was so fucking obvious that Mars was evil, I just wanted to slap her. And the block she found in him when she tried to absorb his powers just put an exclamation point on it. None of them were TSTL in previous books, but it was astonishing how stupid they were in this final book. Were they really just letting assassins into their school with no vetting at all? When Derek mentions that to Alexa, she's like yeah, wow, we really should have been vetting them ... so it sure seems like they were really being that stupid. When they know that not everyone is on their side.And lastly, we've got a desperate need for a copyedit pass on this series. There are lots of wrong word choices, or sentences with an extra word thrown in. And sometimes it is particularly confusing ... like in one book, Derek tells Alexa she's destined to be his predecessor. Huh? I mean, is that the word you meant, and there's some weird time-warping ability here (and that's not a bullshit question, because Alexa has some ability to manipulate time)? Or did you mean successor? And honestly, there's a lot of it.
So heads up. I didn't hate the series, but it never lives up to its potential, and it never really gets its story straight.
shelovestoread81's review
4.0
I can't believe that they didn't notice the bad guy sooner. I was wondering if it was him but wasn't sure. I hope that this series continues.
cherylio's review
Got bored of it, tbh the ending of book 2 actually felt like the ending of a series so this book really just felt like an add-on.
jordan_ez's review
3.0
The plot was a bit dead and it's like the authors forgot information they'd already given us and changed it
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