“The apocalypse was nothing like we feared. It was worse.”
Or wonderful. That if we look at the world built by the author from our reader armchair. And I hope that you’ll choose a comfortable one (or any other piece of furniture) because it will be difficult to put the book down to change your place.
Eternal Echoes evolves on two entwined planes that influence each other: the relationship between the "supernatural" Ariston and the human Teagan. I liked how the author’s mottos keep you up dated and underline the serious issues, even a possible world war and ... interspecies one, of the society, creating the set in which is born, develops and threatens our heroes relationship. The chemistry between the two of them is palpable, the way in which they accept each other strengths and weaknesses, especially how they respects one another is to be admired. The intimate aspects (perhaps a bit surprising, but plausible given the circumstances) are not exaggerated, but ideally used where, how and when is needed to punctuate the evolution of their relationship or, conversely, the wickedness of others ... I also liked how the author has diluted the impact of the "mate-thing" as Teagan calls it. In many books this connection is so commonly used as an unique reason for a relationship that I’m not convinced anymore if in its absence those two people would have felt the same... a dilemma between predestination and free will... is not like we could decide who to love, but anyway...
I loved the characters, both main and secondary, and I'm sure you will like them too, so I’ll not insist on them. I will only mention that I liked their names. For example, Teagan, a male Irish name that started to be used as a female name and which is - Wikipedia says - a diminutive of tadhg that means poetry, and Ariston, clearly an ancient Greek name. These names have power and fit well with our heroes’ natures.
There are some twists, the hidden motives and culprits are keep in the shadows, but their foundation is built in time, and the way to a bit predictable ending has room for some unexpected.
In short, you’ll find in Eternal Echoes a dystopic -fantasy world pretty well-defined, alpha, but sweet males, kickass girls, but who still retain a dose of vulnerability, a lot of humor, action, all woven into a story with rhythm - especially in the second part, with unexpected and unusual enough to be catch by it. Having in view how many of "liked" are in the lines above, I think it's pretty clear my opinion about this book: it’s an enjoyable leisure reading.
Now, I wait for: (1) the next volume, a (2) volume with Izba and Rigby and (3) another book with Tobin ...