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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i think that this is the real turning point for Suze and Jesse's relationship, especially when Jesse's very existence is in jeopardy.
Original rating: 4 stars
7/2020 reread: 4.5 stars
--
And extreme buildup necessitates extreme catharsis--or at least, a tense and emotional revelation. So the question becomes, did the book deliver?
Hoo. Well. Let's see.
The book opens with Suze working away her summer at a resort for rich tourists. She's a particular favorite of the Slaters because their agoraphobic youngest son, Jack, seems to prefer her above the other sitters. The root of this agoraphobia is, as we immediately discover, that Jack is a mediator. Terrified of the specters that he alone can see, and traumatized by years of therapy forced on him by his unbelieving family, Jack opts to stay inside as often as possible to avoid run-ins with ghouls of any persuasion. Suze soon takes this young boy (reluctantly) under her wing, which immediately and inadvertently places her in the sights of Paul Slater, arguably the series antagonist.
While Suze is getting her mentor on, her stepfather and stepbrother tackle a long-planned household project mentioned in previous books: the digging of a hole for the eventual installation of a hot tub in their backyard. Why is the hot tub hole storyline pertinent?
Well because, as the recently-disturbed ghost of 1850s belle Maria de Silva soon informs Suze via knife-to-the-throat, there's somebody buried outside who she would very much prefer remained unearthed.
There's never any doubt who is buried, of course, and the narrative doesn't pretend for an instant that there is. Suze realizes right away that the soon-to-be-discovered body belongs to Jesse.
Adding insult to injury is the secondary plot, in which Suze realizes that Jesse's disappearance at the time of the body's exhumation isn't the result of his spirit passing on naturally but a fucking exorcism orchestrated by Maria de Silva, Paul Slater, and Jack Slater. That's right, folks: Not only was Jesse murdered in cold blood for daring to break off a marriage with Maria, but this bitch comes back from the grave to rip him from his life again.
And Jesse, not knowing of Jack's existence, thinks Suze did it. The scene between them in the shadowlands, where Suze seeks to pull Jesse's soul back to the realm of the living before he is forced to cross over, was really well done. There's so much respect in their relationship, so much love. I mean Suze really exorcizes herself just to give him the option of coming back, if he wants to. While insisting, multiple times and with great sincerity, that he should take the opportunity to end his purgatorial existence on Earth if he believes that will bring him peace.
Now, as for execution: I thought it was a slight step backward from book three. The pacing of the book is rushed, kind of reminiscent of the first installment--I believe due to the heightened emotions Suze displays--and the dialogue was a bit flat in the first half, though this improves dramatically once the "save Jesse" plot commences.
My biggest beef with book four is Paul Slater, to be honest. Again, I started with Haunted, so I knew Paul's character going into Darkest Hour. I remember that even the first time I read the series sequentially, I was disappointed by his first appearance. It's just kind of anticlimactic? His lines are mostly cringey or else blatantly manipulative, and the reveal that he's a mediator and can walk freely between the realm of the living and the dead comes out of left field, but not in a good way. Not in a "a-ha, nice foreshadowing" way but a "sorry, did I miss something?" way. Reading Haunted again, now, I can recognize that Paul's character in general has never been as strong as I once believed it to be, nor the interactions between he and Suze as riddled with tension as they presumably should and could have been, given that he is the first person her own age who shares her gift (and then some).
Anyway, moving on! I'm getting so close to reading new Mediator content!!
7/2020 reread: 4.5 stars
--
I was flattered. I truly was. No one had ever called me loathsome before.In the fourth book of The Mediator series, readers finally learn the full details surrounding Jesse de Silva's death. Considering that Jesse is both one of the series' main characters and Suze's main love interest, not to mention an all-around cool dude you hate to imagine being murdered at twenty, the buildup to the events in this novel can be considered, um, "extreme." To say the least.
And extreme buildup necessitates extreme catharsis--or at least, a tense and emotional revelation. So the question becomes, did the book deliver?
Hoo. Well. Let's see.
The book opens with Suze working away her summer at a resort for rich tourists. She's a particular favorite of the Slaters because their agoraphobic youngest son, Jack, seems to prefer her above the other sitters. The root of this agoraphobia is, as we immediately discover, that Jack is a mediator. Terrified of the specters that he alone can see, and traumatized by years of therapy forced on him by his unbelieving family, Jack opts to stay inside as often as possible to avoid run-ins with ghouls of any persuasion. Suze soon takes this young boy (reluctantly) under her wing, which immediately and inadvertently places her in the sights of Paul Slater, arguably the series antagonist.
While Suze is getting her mentor on, her stepfather and stepbrother tackle a long-planned household project mentioned in previous books: the digging of a hole for the eventual installation of a hot tub in their backyard. Why is the hot tub hole storyline pertinent?
Well because, as the recently-disturbed ghost of 1850s belle Maria de Silva soon informs Suze via knife-to-the-throat, there's somebody buried outside who she would very much prefer remained unearthed.
There's never any doubt who is buried, of course, and the narrative doesn't pretend for an instant that there is. Suze realizes right away that the soon-to-be-discovered body belongs to Jesse.
Maybe he's busy. I mean, that was his skeleton down there. Maybe he's following it to wherever they're taking it. To the morgue or whatever. It's probably very traumatic, watching people dig up your body. Jesse didn't know anything about Hinduism and karma. At least, that I knew of. To him, his body had probably been a lot more than just a vessel for his soul.Like, what the fuck?? Not only does Suze witness the exhumation of one of her best friends' (and love's) skeleton, but Brad accidentally spears his shovel through Jesse's skull while it's happening. I truly believe Meg Cabot exhausted every drop of savagery on this plotline because let me tell you that there has been nothing in her work since then that has even come close to this level of wild ass emotional horror.
That's where he was. The morgue. Watching what they did with his remains.
Adding insult to injury is the secondary plot, in which Suze realizes that Jesse's disappearance at the time of the body's exhumation isn't the result of his spirit passing on naturally but a fucking exorcism orchestrated by Maria de Silva, Paul Slater, and Jack Slater. That's right, folks: Not only was Jesse murdered in cold blood for daring to break off a marriage with Maria, but this bitch comes back from the grave to rip him from his life again.
And Jesse, not knowing of Jack's existence, thinks Suze did it. The scene between them in the shadowlands, where Suze seeks to pull Jesse's soul back to the realm of the living before he is forced to cross over, was really well done. There's so much respect in their relationship, so much love. I mean Suze really exorcizes herself just to give him the option of coming back, if he wants to. While insisting, multiple times and with great sincerity, that he should take the opportunity to end his purgatorial existence on Earth if he believes that will bring him peace.
Now, as for execution: I thought it was a slight step backward from book three. The pacing of the book is rushed, kind of reminiscent of the first installment--I believe due to the heightened emotions Suze displays--and the dialogue was a bit flat in the first half, though this improves dramatically once the "save Jesse" plot commences.
My biggest beef with book four is Paul Slater, to be honest. Again, I started with Haunted, so I knew Paul's character going into Darkest Hour. I remember that even the first time I read the series sequentially, I was disappointed by his first appearance. It's just kind of anticlimactic? His lines are mostly cringey or else blatantly manipulative, and the reveal that he's a mediator and can walk freely between the realm of the living and the dead comes out of left field, but not in a good way. Not in a "a-ha, nice foreshadowing" way but a "sorry, did I miss something?" way. Reading Haunted again, now, I can recognize that Paul's character in general has never been as strong as I once believed it to be, nor the interactions between he and Suze as riddled with tension as they presumably should and could have been, given that he is the first person her own age who shares her gift (and then some).
Anyway, moving on! I'm getting so close to reading new Mediator content!!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Those last few sentences 🥰🤭
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good. We meet another character who i have a feeling become an important part in the next book, because i think is going to throw off whatever type of relationship that Jesse and Susannah Have with each other.