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whitneykelley's review against another edition
5.0
Second read: WOW. If this isn’t a perfect book (for me) then it’s damn near close
- Kind, supportive hero with his own life and career. Who happens to be a badass.
- Heroine who was likable from the beginning but has way more going on to her than meets the eye
- Technically fake dating, but really forced proximity between two people who were attracted from the first moment and grow to respect and love each other
- Low number of sex scenes, but the ones that are there are sweet and steamy, really emphasizing their relationship
- Great action plot, wraps up series really well
- side characters are well developed and help flesh out main character’s lives
- great world building
Like seriously this book is basically perfect. Seriously, go read it. It’s worth getting through the “mostly alright” second book to get to this — I promise!
- Kind, supportive hero with his own life and career. Who happens to be a badass.
- Heroine who was likable from the beginning but has way more going on to her than meets the eye
- Technically fake dating, but really forced proximity between two people who were attracted from the first moment and grow to respect and love each other
- Low number of sex scenes, but the ones that are there are sweet and steamy, really emphasizing their relationship
- Great action plot, wraps up series really well
- side characters are well developed and help flesh out main character’s lives
- great world building
Like seriously this book is basically perfect. Seriously, go read it. It’s worth getting through the “mostly alright” second book to get to this — I promise!
katyanaish's review
5.0
Holy cow, this was so good. So good that I totally slacked off at work today between meetings to keep sneaking in reading time - I just couldn't put it down.
All the threads from previous books pulled together here and became a really compelling finale to the series. Plus, unlike in the last book, the lead couple was pretty great - Cat was great (though she could use a dose of self-confidence ... but I understand why struggles) and Alex was everything you'd want in a book boyfriend.
As with all the books in the series, the love happens pretty fast, but I buy it - the heightened emotions of life or death situations, blah blah. To be honest, I think that any kind of romance where the couple meets in the beginning and is in love by the end feels fast to me unless there's been a lot of time-jumping happening over the course of the book. So YMMV there, but for me, they felt solid as partners and as in love as pretty much any couple in a single book imo. I think it is the solid partnership that really sells it - that's the foundation they have to have if I'm going to believe they can go the distance by the end of a single book, and these two have it.
I'm sad the series is ending with just this trilogy, because there are so many more stories I want to hear in this world.
Show me Riccardo Silva in a body bag, and the rest of the Syndicate utterly crushed. I mean, there's a whole war that's gotta happen there. (Also, Bianca and Ian suck even more for not killing Riccardo like brainless jelly donuts - he seemed to be the main orchstrator of these events along with Hitoshi, and FFS most of it wouldn't have happened, or would have been at least scrambling, had they killed him like anyone with a brain would have done. I was pissed about it in the last book because it was dumb to leave a murderous mob boss who kidnapped and maimed - and as far as they knew at the time, killed - your brother the heir alive behind you to organize his revenge. So fucking stupid.)
And show me this family finally being comfortable enough to reveal their secrets to each other. They so completely love each other, but don't want to burden each other, which is dumb. This last book made it clear that they can utterly rely on each other, and be a stronger team if they know each other's secrets to utilize them effectively. There's no reason for Cat to chafe at her family sheltering her - let them know just how strong your shitty father's experiments made you, so they worry less for you. There's no reason for Bianca to hide her abilities, or her need to get shelter to escape them sometimes. And I suspect the others have secrets too, that they've kept buried like a wounded animal so that their father didn't use it against them. Be done with that, please.
I hope Mihalik revisits it somewhere down the road.
All the threads from previous books pulled together here and became a really compelling finale to the series. Plus, unlike in the last book, the lead couple was pretty great - Cat was great (though she could use a dose of self-confidence ... but I understand why struggles) and Alex was everything you'd want in a book boyfriend.
As with all the books in the series, the love happens pretty fast, but I buy it - the heightened emotions of life or death situations, blah blah. To be honest, I think that any kind of romance where the couple meets in the beginning and is in love by the end feels fast to me unless there's been a lot of time-jumping happening over the course of the book. So YMMV there, but for me, they felt solid as partners and as in love as pretty much any couple in a single book imo. I think it is the solid partnership that really sells it - that's the foundation they have to have if I'm going to believe they can go the distance by the end of a single book, and these two have it.
I'm sad the series is ending with just this trilogy, because there are so many more stories I want to hear in this world.
Spoiler
Like, show me Ferdinand and Evelyn, and how such a tremendously complicated relationship can unfold. Show me what happens with Hitoshi. Show me Veronica revealing that she had Hitoshi's son (and was held prisoner by him for years) - she deserves a connection with the good members of the family (Ying and Tae seem wonderful), and her son deserves it too. I want to see Benedict find a partner. I want to see Hannah recover and find her happiness, whether that's married or living her own life. I want to see Richard Rockhurst get punched in the face for not just what he did to Ada, but also for what he did on Fornax that created the situation with Loch and the rest of the Genesis Project survivors.Show me Riccardo Silva in a body bag, and the rest of the Syndicate utterly crushed. I mean, there's a whole war that's gotta happen there. (Also, Bianca and Ian suck even more for not killing Riccardo like brainless jelly donuts - he seemed to be the main orchstrator of these events along with Hitoshi, and FFS most of it wouldn't have happened, or would have been at least scrambling, had they killed him like anyone with a brain would have done. I was pissed about it in the last book because it was dumb to leave a murderous mob boss who kidnapped and maimed - and as far as they knew at the time, killed - your brother the heir alive behind you to organize his revenge. So fucking stupid.)
And show me this family finally being comfortable enough to reveal their secrets to each other. They so completely love each other, but don't want to burden each other, which is dumb. This last book made it clear that they can utterly rely on each other, and be a stronger team if they know each other's secrets to utilize them effectively. There's no reason for Cat to chafe at her family sheltering her - let them know just how strong your shitty father's experiments made you, so they worry less for you. There's no reason for Bianca to hide her abilities, or her need to get shelter to escape them sometimes. And I suspect the others have secrets too, that they've kept buried like a wounded animal so that their father didn't use it against them. Be done with that, please.
I hope Mihalik revisits it somewhere down the road.
chlcrc617's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
licensetoshelbs's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
steph01924's review against another edition
3.0
This series was a nice light diversion. After reading all three, I'd actually say they're fairly light on romance compared to what I would've expected. Like, yes, it's there, and some of the situations the characters are put in are pure romance contrived fun (oh, you'll have to pretend to be my boyfriend while we infiltrate this party for my protection) but the main characters actually keep the pining/ogling to a minimum (which, for the record, I don't mind because there's only so much "I got distracted by his rippling abs" that one person can stomach).
Much more focus is given to the technology and battle plans and the "how do we get out of this situation" minutiae that it may actually aggravate some romance readers. (I kinda found it...soothing? But there were definitely moments I was like, we are getting WAY too much play-by-play description of the hacking of this security system than is necessary.) After seeing in the author's profile that she was a computer science major and self-proclaimed nerd, this suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Another reason I feel it's lighter on the romance is because all three male leads are very stoic soldier/protector characters and while we learn the barest details of why they went on the run from the military, we learn literally nothing else about them over three books except they like to shoot things and fall in love with Von Hasenburg women. Like, honestly, do Alex and Cat ever have a conversation about anything personal besides her family and big secret? Do Aoife and Alex, supposed "siblings", ever even speak to each other beyond giving orders? It's all very situational focused exchanges. And since we never get a POV chapter from inside Alex/Ian/Loch's heads, they are the ultimate Mysterious Loner Dudes.
So, yay, you love all each other but...do you? DO you?
Much more focus is given to the technology and battle plans and the "how do we get out of this situation" minutiae that it may actually aggravate some romance readers. (I kinda found it...soothing? But there were definitely moments I was like, we are getting WAY too much play-by-play description of the hacking of this security system than is necessary.) After seeing in the author's profile that she was a computer science major and self-proclaimed nerd, this suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Another reason I feel it's lighter on the romance is because all three male leads are very stoic soldier/protector characters and while we learn the barest details of why they went on the run from the military, we learn literally nothing else about them over three books except they like to shoot things and fall in love with Von Hasenburg women. Like, honestly, do Alex and Cat ever have a conversation about anything personal besides her family and big secret? Do Aoife and Alex, supposed "siblings", ever even speak to each other beyond giving orders? It's all very situational focused exchanges. And since we never get a POV chapter from inside Alex/Ian/Loch's heads, they are the ultimate Mysterious Loner Dudes.
So, yay, you love all each other but...do you? DO you?
yonkeltron's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
whatsmacksaid's review against another edition
4.0
The whole trilogy is fantastic, and this makes for a very satisfying end.
amym84's review against another edition
4.0
As the youngest of House von Hasenberg Catarina has carefully cultivated a public persona based upon frivolities and superficiality. No one expects her to be sharp and cunning, but that's what she's going for. Being underestimated means that she's not scrutinized by High House rivals especially now after the kidnapping of her eldest brother - and House Heir. The von Hasenberg siblings are still looking for the link, the person behind the scenes and their ultimate goal. Cat's plan is to do what she does best, attend a party. Not just any party. A house party hosted by one of the Lower Houses that may have a link to everything that's been going wrong in the Consortium lately. But Cat can't go in alone, so enters Alex Sterling who will pose as Cat's companion for the duration of the party.
While trying to keep their attraction in check to get through with the plan, Cat is attacked and nearly killed. When they learn that the rest of the House heirs have been encountering the same situation, and that the Consortium is in utter chaos, they know that whoever is behind the scenes of the recent turmoil has upped their timeline. They need to act fast as everything they know and love is caught in the cross-hairs.
I've really enjoyed the surge in sci-fi romance and I feel like Jesse Mihalik's Consortium Rebellion series is one of the standouts.
So here we are at the end of the trilogy and I absolutely loved how everything has been crafted over the course of the three books. I love how Jesse Mihalik has built up the unrest within the Consortium sort of on the sly. Like, I didn't really expect it to go this direction when I had first started Polaris Rising. I especially found that I loved learning about how everything was twisted together. Who was deceiving whom and their ultimate goal. So I enjoyed the subterfuge that Cat has to undertake early on in the book, I could have gone more in-depth with those scenes. I also loved seeing Cat take charge and begin to believe in herself because while the way she's presented herself to the public has been a fabrication, she's played the part for so long that she's started to believe it herself. Couple that with the fact that she's the youngest of her protective siblings and their meddling in her plan only makes her feel as though they too find her incompetent. For a character that we're only now getting the full scope of their story, I thought that Jesse Mihalik did a great job of making sure that these aspects of Cat's character came through loud and clear.
Unfortunately, the romance was a bit too one dimensional for me. While we too saw Alex in the previous book so we were at least aware of him, there's really not much more built onto his character that we can't guess or we have already learned by proxy from the previous stories' heroes. I just wish there was more to his character, that there was more build up to their relationship. When Cat initially mentions seeing this mysterious someone around various places, my interest was piqued and I just wish that momentum could have been kept going for a bit throughout. That the clear tension that was there was played with just a bit before they fell into each other. I think it's because the story is only told from Cat's point of view. Had it switched I think Alex's character could have jumped off the page more like Cat's does.
Despite this, and overall, I really did enjoy this read and I've really enjoyed this series. As mentioned above it's a great example of the sci fi romance genre. I cannot wait to see what Jesse Mihalik does next. She's an autoread for me at this point.
While trying to keep their attraction in check to get through with the plan, Cat is attacked and nearly killed. When they learn that the rest of the House heirs have been encountering the same situation, and that the Consortium is in utter chaos, they know that whoever is behind the scenes of the recent turmoil has upped their timeline. They need to act fast as everything they know and love is caught in the cross-hairs.
I've really enjoyed the surge in sci-fi romance and I feel like Jesse Mihalik's Consortium Rebellion series is one of the standouts.
So here we are at the end of the trilogy and I absolutely loved how everything has been crafted over the course of the three books. I love how Jesse Mihalik has built up the unrest within the Consortium sort of on the sly. Like, I didn't really expect it to go this direction when I had first started Polaris Rising. I especially found that I loved learning about how everything was twisted together. Who was deceiving whom and their ultimate goal. So I enjoyed the subterfuge that Cat has to undertake early on in the book, I could have gone more in-depth with those scenes. I also loved seeing Cat take charge and begin to believe in herself because while the way she's presented herself to the public has been a fabrication, she's played the part for so long that she's started to believe it herself. Couple that with the fact that she's the youngest of her protective siblings and their meddling in her plan only makes her feel as though they too find her incompetent. For a character that we're only now getting the full scope of their story, I thought that Jesse Mihalik did a great job of making sure that these aspects of Cat's character came through loud and clear.
Unfortunately, the romance was a bit too one dimensional for me. While we too saw Alex in the previous book so we were at least aware of him, there's really not much more built onto his character that we can't guess or we have already learned by proxy from the previous stories' heroes. I just wish there was more to his character, that there was more build up to their relationship. When Cat initially mentions seeing this mysterious someone around various places, my interest was piqued and I just wish that momentum could have been kept going for a bit throughout. That the clear tension that was there was played with just a bit before they fell into each other. I think it's because the story is only told from Cat's point of view. Had it switched I think Alex's character could have jumped off the page more like Cat's does.
Despite this, and overall, I really did enjoy this read and I've really enjoyed this series. As mentioned above it's a great example of the sci fi romance genre. I cannot wait to see what Jesse Mihalik does next. She's an autoread for me at this point.
amym84's review against another edition
4.0
As the youngest of House von Hasenberg Catarina has carefully cultivated a public persona based upon frivolities and superficiality. No one expects her to be sharp and cunning, but that's what she's going for. Being underestimated means that she's not scrutinized by High House rivals especially now after the kidnapping of her eldest brother - and House Heir. The von Hasenberg siblings are still looking for the link, the person behind the scenes and their ultimate goal. Cat's plan is to do what she does best, attend a party. Not just any party. A house party hosted by one of the Lower Houses that may have a link to everything that's been going wrong in the Consortium lately. But Cat can't go in alone, so enters Alex Sterling who will pose as Cat's companion for the duration of the party.
While trying to keep their attraction in check to get through with the plan, Cat is attacked and nearly killed. When they learn that the rest of the House heirs have been encountering the same situation, and that the Consortium is in utter chaos, they know that whoever is behind the scenes of the recent turmoil has upped their timeline. They need to act fast as everything they know and love is caught in the cross-hairs.
I've really enjoyed the surge in sci-fi romance and I feel like Jesse Mihalik's Consortium Rebellion series is one of the standouts.
So here we are at the end of the trilogy and I absolutely loved how everything has been crafted over the course of the three books. I love how Jesse Mihalik has built up the unrest within the Consortium sort of on the sly. Like, I didn't really expect it to go this direction when I had first started [b:Polaris Rising|35662096|Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)|Jessie Mihalik|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531765966l/35662096._SY75_.jpg|57118122]. I especially found that I loved learning about how everything was twisted together. Who was deceiving whom and their ultimate goal. So I enjoyed the subterfuge that Cat has to undertake early on in the book, I could have gone more in-depth with those scenes. I also loved seeing Cat take charge and begin to believe in herself because while the way she's presented herself to the public has been a fabrication, she's played the part for so long that she's started to believe it herself. Couple that with the fact that she's the youngest of her protective siblings and their meddling in her plan only makes her feel as though they too find her incompetent. For a character that we're only now getting the full scope of their story, I thought that Jesse Mihalik did a great job of making sure that these aspects of Cat's character came through loud and clear.
Unfortunately, the romance was a bit too one dimensional for me. While we too saw Alex in the previous book so we were at least aware of him, there's really not much more built onto his character that we can't guess or we have already learned by proxy from the previous stories' heroes. I just wish there was more to his character, that there was more build up to their relationship. When Cat initially mentions seeing this mysterious someone around various places, my interest was piqued and I just wish that momentum could have been kept going for a bit throughout. That the clear tension that was there was played with just a bit before they fell into each other. I think it's because the story is only told from Cat's point of view. Had it switched I think Alex's character could have jumped off the page more like Cat's does.
Despite this, and overall, I really did enjoy this read and I've really enjoyed this series. As mentioned above it's a great example of the sci fi romance genre. I cannot wait to see what Jesse Mihalik does next. She's an autoread for me at this point.
*ARC provided by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
While trying to keep their attraction in check to get through with the plan, Cat is attacked and nearly killed. When they learn that the rest of the House heirs have been encountering the same situation, and that the Consortium is in utter chaos, they know that whoever is behind the scenes of the recent turmoil has upped their timeline. They need to act fast as everything they know and love is caught in the cross-hairs.
I've really enjoyed the surge in sci-fi romance and I feel like Jesse Mihalik's Consortium Rebellion series is one of the standouts.
So here we are at the end of the trilogy and I absolutely loved how everything has been crafted over the course of the three books. I love how Jesse Mihalik has built up the unrest within the Consortium sort of on the sly. Like, I didn't really expect it to go this direction when I had first started [b:Polaris Rising|35662096|Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)|Jessie Mihalik|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531765966l/35662096._SY75_.jpg|57118122]. I especially found that I loved learning about how everything was twisted together. Who was deceiving whom and their ultimate goal. So I enjoyed the subterfuge that Cat has to undertake early on in the book, I could have gone more in-depth with those scenes. I also loved seeing Cat take charge and begin to believe in herself because while the way she's presented herself to the public has been a fabrication, she's played the part for so long that she's started to believe it herself. Couple that with the fact that she's the youngest of her protective siblings and their meddling in her plan only makes her feel as though they too find her incompetent. For a character that we're only now getting the full scope of their story, I thought that Jesse Mihalik did a great job of making sure that these aspects of Cat's character came through loud and clear.
Unfortunately, the romance was a bit too one dimensional for me. While we too saw Alex in the previous book so we were at least aware of him, there's really not much more built onto his character that we can't guess or we have already learned by proxy from the previous stories' heroes. I just wish there was more to his character, that there was more build up to their relationship. When Cat initially mentions seeing this mysterious someone around various places, my interest was piqued and I just wish that momentum could have been kept going for a bit throughout. That the clear tension that was there was played with just a bit before they fell into each other. I think it's because the story is only told from Cat's point of view. Had it switched I think Alex's character could have jumped off the page more like Cat's does.
Despite this, and overall, I really did enjoy this read and I've really enjoyed this series. As mentioned above it's a great example of the sci fi romance genre. I cannot wait to see what Jesse Mihalik does next. She's an autoread for me at this point.
*ARC provided by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.