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Fins Trilogy #3
Forever
Her powers as The Link mastered, Morgan begins her marriage to Thayde with all the high hopes and expectations of any new bride. But happily ever after is just a phrase and her idyllic life is quickly interrupted by terrifying creatures, inconsolable loss, and relentless adversaries. Forced to decide the fate of the entire merpeople species, Morgan must make the ultimate choice. Everything she has learned has brought her to this point, but is it worth sacrificing everything for everyone? Welcome to the finale of The FINS Trilogy.
180 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 2012
5 people are currently reading
431 people want to read
About the author
Ashley L. Knight
7 books60 followersTwo events of significance occurred during of the birth of Ashley Lorenzi Knight in 1977. One was the VC10 jet flight time record from London to Bahrain was smashed by her father in his determination to be by her side and the appearance of brilliant meteor showers over the desert island that was witnessed by her godmother.
Moving away from the gathering war storms of the Middle East conflict, her family settled in mountainous Idaho, USA, to the seasonal rhythms of ranch life. Ashley's love of horses and her strong riding skills made her an elegant Rodeo Queen and spokesperson.
By 15 years Ashley was already enrolled in university where she majored in English/ Writing Emphasis, with a minor in Biology. Her English language skills resulted in a coaching job from her professor for new writers at university. College summers were spent with her younger sister at the ranch riding by the Little Salmon River or at Disney World as an intern in their summer program. Talented in poetry and lyric writing, Ashley began to compose and perform her own songs at an early age, taking formal voice training at college and competing in singing talent shows. A change meeting in downtown Boise brought love's destiny to her life. Greg and Ashley were married in McCall by the glacial blue waters of the lake. Inseparable, they now have two small children of their own.
When she isn't writing, she is attending events as The Mermaid Lady!
Go to www.ashleylknight.com to learn more
Moving away from the gathering war storms of the Middle East conflict, her family settled in mountainous Idaho, USA, to the seasonal rhythms of ranch life. Ashley's love of horses and her strong riding skills made her an elegant Rodeo Queen and spokesperson.
By 15 years Ashley was already enrolled in university where she majored in English/ Writing Emphasis, with a minor in Biology. Her English language skills resulted in a coaching job from her professor for new writers at university. College summers were spent with her younger sister at the ranch riding by the Little Salmon River or at Disney World as an intern in their summer program. Talented in poetry and lyric writing, Ashley began to compose and perform her own songs at an early age, taking formal voice training at college and competing in singing talent shows. A change meeting in downtown Boise brought love's destiny to her life. Greg and Ashley were married in McCall by the glacial blue waters of the lake. Inseparable, they now have two small children of their own.
When she isn't writing, she is attending events as The Mermaid Lady!
Go to www.ashleylknight.com to learn more
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 26, 2012
Loyal readers admire a well-crafted trilogy. Themes and storylines are enduring. Protagonists are tested, time and again, and interesting new characters and sometimes villains keep showing up. A trilogy is the sign of a serious reader, one with commitment to follow an author's cause.
Such is the case of Ashley Knight's Forever , which is Book III of her Fins Trilogy.
Forever: the Final Book of the Fins Trilogy
This reader started with her Fins , Book I of the Fins Trilogy, and as noted in my review of that debut novel, it was not my normal genre of choice. The overall topic of mermaids and merpeople was personally fascinating from a mythological perspective with a personal beginning with the roots of the early folklore. But there had been something compelling about the author's story of Morgan and Thayde, which had begun on Central Florida's Treasure Coast in the first book of the trilogy. And in that fast paced young adult novel for fantasy readers, it was the author's well-crafted word and sentences that were so captivating.
Ms. Knight's subsequent Fathom , or Book II of the Fins Trilogy, began with the unlikely setting of New York City, as Morgan and Thayde started their life together as students at Columbia University. Book II had a darker feel in the beginning, with Morgan's powers seeming to be taking a murky turn, and with Thayde seeming to surrender to an illness. But as in the first book, there were surprises where one would least expected them, where Ms. Knight would burst out with a sentence or a paragraph that would jolt the reader with how well she writes from the heart when in familiar territory.
As far as trilogies go, the third time is not necessarily a charm. As a highly prominent example of this, we can switch to film and look to the 1997 movie "Home Alone 3," where a good theme was overworked and made so poorly that it was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst Remake or Sequel."
Fortunately for us, Ashley Knight's Forever doesn't fall into that category. Book III opens with Morgan reading from a new entry in her diary as she embarks on the journey of her marriage to Thayde. They are spending their honeymoon in the Polynesian paradise of Moorea, where ostensibly nothing can go wrong. Both Morgan and Thayde are more mature than in the previous books, as we see adult passions expressed more realistically, yet artfully presented here. But things as seemingly simple as a tattoo and a past oath become the catalysts for a number of events that involve new characters and old one from the previous books.
Soon we are back in Florida's Vero Beach, at the location where Morgan's relationship with Thayde began, but it's a somber setting, with Morgan finding her young half-sister in a bad state. And despite Morgan being The Link, she may not be able to cure the problem. Ruthless forces are gathering within the seas, and life for the merpeople may never be as it once was.
There are complexities in this book that put it a few steps above the previous books in this trilogy, and we find the relationship between Thayde and Morgan being strained. Then we find a new disruptive element that had not been added before: vampires.
Throughout the ever-changing backdrop of this novel, we find Ms. Knight's descriptive words adding to the dimension to this tale. There are parts where her expressive eloquence takes over and adds to the realism of the story line. Then we find her sometimes-dark wit peeking through in ways that will make one stop and read the paragraph again, knowing that it was based on first-hand experiences. This is one of those examples:
"A wonderful thing about Floridian nights is the warmth that embraces you when you step outside. The irritating thing for those with sweet blood is that they are instantly bombarded by savage mosquitos set on draining their victims dry. But those fortunate enough to steer clear of the needle wielding parasites are left free of performing a one hit jig made popular back in the 1920's to get away from them."
It's impossible to look at Forever without considering it to be an essential part of this Trilogy, and for those looking at this book, it would be strongly suggested that the reader start from Book I to be able to fully understand all of the nuances in this one, which in this reader's opinion is the best of the Trilogy. And I'll be the first to admit that I might have been lost without having read the earlier books.
A comparison to this would be in William Faulkner's celebrated Snopes Trilogy, with its three novels published over a thirty year span (The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion). Start with the last book and it would be impossible to fully appreciate a chronicle that stands as perhaps the greatest feat of this celebrated author's incomparable imagination and one of the greatest trilogies of the 20th century.
As a contrast, there is currently another trilogy, the bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey series, in which the female protagonist is a vapid, boring individual, so wrapped up in herself and going on about her "inner goddess," with repetitive exclamations of "holy crap!" and "Oh, my!" throughout the trilogy. One is reminded of some bad ninth-grade level Twilight fanfiction, which is where it had its literary origins... with a record number of product placements added.
A small side note regarding the Kindle editions of this trilogy: all three of these have been formatted beautifully, and are a pleasure to read on this device. The only criticism that I have as a reader is that I would like to see a real hyperlinked table of contents in them, and hope that in future editions this would be added by the publisher.
As a reader, I'm thankful that Ashley Knight knows how to express herself better than many of her peers, has a vocabulary, and obviously know how to use it. There are some flat spots in each of the volumes within this Fins Trilogy, but each book has been better and had more depth than the previous one. Forever is the best of the series, but for new readers, it's highly advised that one starts with the first book of the Fins Trilogy... you won't be disappointed.
Note: this review appeared earlier on Amazon.com in a different format.
Forever
Such is the case of Ashley Knight's Forever , which is Book III of her Fins Trilogy.
Forever: the Final Book of the Fins Trilogy
This reader started with her Fins , Book I of the Fins Trilogy, and as noted in my review of that debut novel, it was not my normal genre of choice. The overall topic of mermaids and merpeople was personally fascinating from a mythological perspective with a personal beginning with the roots of the early folklore. But there had been something compelling about the author's story of Morgan and Thayde, which had begun on Central Florida's Treasure Coast in the first book of the trilogy. And in that fast paced young adult novel for fantasy readers, it was the author's well-crafted word and sentences that were so captivating.
Ms. Knight's subsequent Fathom , or Book II of the Fins Trilogy, began with the unlikely setting of New York City, as Morgan and Thayde started their life together as students at Columbia University. Book II had a darker feel in the beginning, with Morgan's powers seeming to be taking a murky turn, and with Thayde seeming to surrender to an illness. But as in the first book, there were surprises where one would least expected them, where Ms. Knight would burst out with a sentence or a paragraph that would jolt the reader with how well she writes from the heart when in familiar territory.
As far as trilogies go, the third time is not necessarily a charm. As a highly prominent example of this, we can switch to film and look to the 1997 movie "Home Alone 3," where a good theme was overworked and made so poorly that it was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst Remake or Sequel."
Fortunately for us, Ashley Knight's Forever doesn't fall into that category. Book III opens with Morgan reading from a new entry in her diary as she embarks on the journey of her marriage to Thayde. They are spending their honeymoon in the Polynesian paradise of Moorea, where ostensibly nothing can go wrong. Both Morgan and Thayde are more mature than in the previous books, as we see adult passions expressed more realistically, yet artfully presented here. But things as seemingly simple as a tattoo and a past oath become the catalysts for a number of events that involve new characters and old one from the previous books.
Soon we are back in Florida's Vero Beach, at the location where Morgan's relationship with Thayde began, but it's a somber setting, with Morgan finding her young half-sister in a bad state. And despite Morgan being The Link, she may not be able to cure the problem. Ruthless forces are gathering within the seas, and life for the merpeople may never be as it once was.
There are complexities in this book that put it a few steps above the previous books in this trilogy, and we find the relationship between Thayde and Morgan being strained. Then we find a new disruptive element that had not been added before: vampires.
Throughout the ever-changing backdrop of this novel, we find Ms. Knight's descriptive words adding to the dimension to this tale. There are parts where her expressive eloquence takes over and adds to the realism of the story line. Then we find her sometimes-dark wit peeking through in ways that will make one stop and read the paragraph again, knowing that it was based on first-hand experiences. This is one of those examples:
"A wonderful thing about Floridian nights is the warmth that embraces you when you step outside. The irritating thing for those with sweet blood is that they are instantly bombarded by savage mosquitos set on draining their victims dry. But those fortunate enough to steer clear of the needle wielding parasites are left free of performing a one hit jig made popular back in the 1920's to get away from them."
It's impossible to look at Forever without considering it to be an essential part of this Trilogy, and for those looking at this book, it would be strongly suggested that the reader start from Book I to be able to fully understand all of the nuances in this one, which in this reader's opinion is the best of the Trilogy. And I'll be the first to admit that I might have been lost without having read the earlier books.
A comparison to this would be in William Faulkner's celebrated Snopes Trilogy, with its three novels published over a thirty year span (The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion). Start with the last book and it would be impossible to fully appreciate a chronicle that stands as perhaps the greatest feat of this celebrated author's incomparable imagination and one of the greatest trilogies of the 20th century.
As a contrast, there is currently another trilogy, the bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey series, in which the female protagonist is a vapid, boring individual, so wrapped up in herself and going on about her "inner goddess," with repetitive exclamations of "holy crap!" and "Oh, my!" throughout the trilogy. One is reminded of some bad ninth-grade level Twilight fanfiction, which is where it had its literary origins... with a record number of product placements added.
A small side note regarding the Kindle editions of this trilogy: all three of these have been formatted beautifully, and are a pleasure to read on this device. The only criticism that I have as a reader is that I would like to see a real hyperlinked table of contents in them, and hope that in future editions this would be added by the publisher.
As a reader, I'm thankful that Ashley Knight knows how to express herself better than many of her peers, has a vocabulary, and obviously know how to use it. There are some flat spots in each of the volumes within this Fins Trilogy, but each book has been better and had more depth than the previous one. Forever is the best of the series, but for new readers, it's highly advised that one starts with the first book of the Fins Trilogy... you won't be disappointed.
Note: this review appeared earlier on Amazon.com in a different format.
Forever
April 13, 2013
I loved the first book in the "Fins" trilogy, the second one was ok, but this one... It made me want to hurl my kindle across the room.
**SPOILERS**
I HATED, and I repeat, HATED this book. It was a combination of Fins, Twilight, and with a dash of Hunger Games. If you put mermaids and Twilight together, it just makes a big ball of crap. The dash of Hunger Games saved it a bit, but it didn't make me like it.
I feel like Ashley Knight had a nice trilogy, and then added vampires into it and made it horrible. I just cannot express my rage with this book. She stole a LOT of the story line from Twilight too. Like the whole war, the baby only aging until she's about 18-20 (even though what's her face from Twilight stops aging at the age of 17. It's basically the same thing, right?), the whole vampire thing, etc...
I also feel like she killed off way too many characters in one chapter. And the whole sister-dying thing is a bit too Twilight-Hunger Games.
Overall, I absolutely hated this book. Period.
**SPOILERS**
I HATED, and I repeat, HATED this book. It was a combination of Fins, Twilight, and with a dash of Hunger Games. If you put mermaids and Twilight together, it just makes a big ball of crap. The dash of Hunger Games saved it a bit, but it didn't make me like it.
I feel like Ashley Knight had a nice trilogy, and then added vampires into it and made it horrible. I just cannot express my rage with this book. She stole a LOT of the story line from Twilight too. Like the whole war, the baby only aging until she's about 18-20 (even though what's her face from Twilight stops aging at the age of 17. It's basically the same thing, right?), the whole vampire thing, etc...
I also feel like she killed off way too many characters in one chapter. And the whole sister-dying thing is a bit too Twilight-Hunger Games.
Overall, I absolutely hated this book. Period.
January 11, 2013
Totally was not expecting this last book to go in the direction it did, and i loved it! Everyone needs to read the three books. :)
May 14, 2019
I can't even start to explain how amazing this series was so I'm just gonna say if you haven't read this series it NEEDS to be the next series you pick up!
August 1, 2016
I loved the Fin Series up until this book. I was so digusted and dissapointed with this book. It started out well but then Ashley brang in the vampires and ruined the whole thing. It is one thing to have the vampires and other species as side characters but to mix the two together just ruined it. I thought that Ashely most definatly ruined the book in the end when she killed off so many characters in one chapter and that the characters that were killed were main ones. She did not even give loyal readers who were HUGE fans of the charaters a proper goodbye, she just said they died that was it! My favourite character was Tammer, he was the sole reason I kept reading this series and she killed him off! Yes I cried about that and was really upset but I was more upset because even though I didnt want him to die, I would have been ok if she gave him a good detailed death. Insted she just said at the very end he died protecting his sister. As a loyal fans I think he deserved more than that. He desereved a heros death or preferably no death at all. So over all I am rating this book 1 star because I think this book was rushed and poorly thought out. I am sorry Ashley but I think this book should be re-written.
June 15, 2019
Book Review- Forever by Ashley L. Knight
Morgan and Thayde are now married and together. She is still getting used to being the Link. Of course, she still has Thayde’s sister as an enemy. So, the author creates this storyline where Morgan and Thayde have to prepare for war. Also, Morgan has bent the rules of being the Link. The Link has never had a sibling. So, no one knows how things will go for her younger sister. Morgan can do nothing except watch as fate takes over.
I like how she wants to jump in and help. She definitely needs to stop and think about things, but she is young. Everyone needs to give her a break. I was a bit annoyed with the other characters who were all jumping to scold her. It was a bit ridiculous. They should aid her, not point out what she is doing wrong. Then the twist with Thayde at the end was surprising. It was a bit hard to read when it occurred. She had to learn some hard lessons and understand exactly what she had to do.
She was a great character who also does what she needs to even when she doesn’t want to. She ultimately puts her people first. There are some sad parts in this book. There are also some tough decisions that Morgan has to make and deal with. It was a great ending to the trilogy. I give it a 4 out of 5.
Morgan and Thayde are now married and together. She is still getting used to being the Link. Of course, she still has Thayde’s sister as an enemy. So, the author creates this storyline where Morgan and Thayde have to prepare for war. Also, Morgan has bent the rules of being the Link. The Link has never had a sibling. So, no one knows how things will go for her younger sister. Morgan can do nothing except watch as fate takes over.
I like how she wants to jump in and help. She definitely needs to stop and think about things, but she is young. Everyone needs to give her a break. I was a bit annoyed with the other characters who were all jumping to scold her. It was a bit ridiculous. They should aid her, not point out what she is doing wrong. Then the twist with Thayde at the end was surprising. It was a bit hard to read when it occurred. She had to learn some hard lessons and understand exactly what she had to do.
She was a great character who also does what she needs to even when she doesn’t want to. She ultimately puts her people first. There are some sad parts in this book. There are also some tough decisions that Morgan has to make and deal with. It was a great ending to the trilogy. I give it a 4 out of 5.
July 9, 2016
Alright... So the first book, FINS, was okay. Interesting and fun. The holes are there but can be ignored. FATHOM, was a trip down hill from not a very high place to begin with. The holes in the story was appearing left and right - but still, with heaps of effort, doable. Then there was FOREVER, which became just a big giant gaping hole. There was a lot of things going on that it became confusing and half assed. Ugh. I stopped reading when the vampire(s) came into view. I just cant. Anymore.
September 11, 2013
Not my fave. I hated the ending, though it was surprising--I'll give her that. I found the dialogue very confusing in this book. I could never tell who was speaking!
March 14, 2014
Mer-vamp? Why would you do that!
December 17, 2015
Not a fan of whirlwind romances that immediately spoiler result in a child
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews