Autumn in the City of Lights

Autumn #3

by Kirby Howell

The epic story of Autumn Winters and Grey Alexander concludes as an unexpected message comes in from Paris, France that forces them to do something neither ever thought they could, cooperate with Karl and The Reconstruction Front. But when things overseas don’t go as planned, they’re once again faced with life and death decisions that will affect the course of mankind.

Autumn in the City of Lights is the third novel in a series, preceded by Autumn in the City of Angels and Autumn in the Dark Meadows.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Aliens, Dystopia, Young Adult

412 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2015

About the author

Dana Melton and Jessica Alexander, who write under the name Kirby Howell, have been writing together since 2000 when they met as freshman in their first script writing class at the University of Alabama. Dana, a native Southerner, quickly showed Jessica the ropes and the joys of living below the Mason Dixon Line. Having lived in nearly every other part of the country, it didn’t take Jessica long to acclimate to sweet tea, grits and football. Four years later, with a couple of film degrees under their belts, they moved to Los Angeles to pursue their professional writing careers.

Reviews

[Amber ⋒ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best way to end the series! My gosh!
Review to come!

[Patrick Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

You expect certain things in the final part of a trilogy, as the story that has been building up for three books finally reaches its epic climax, as the forces of good battle the forces of evil for final victory.

Did Autumn in the City of Lights meet these expectations! Yes. And then some.

The young but wise-beyond-her-years Autumn Winters, in an effort to further foil the schemes of the evil Karl, makes a play to be elected leader of the free world. No, I'm not even kidding. But Karl - as villains are wont to do - has his own plans.

As villains go, Karl is as slippery as they come. Autumn must rely on every resource, every ounce of strength she has to survive Karl's final gambit. Can she win the day, defeat Karl and find love with the handsome doctor that has seen her through this whole ordeal?

Well, you have to read the book to find out. And you SHOULD read it.

Very, very well done, Kirby Howell. I was on the edge of my seat for this entire series. I like how you set up the "next generation" of books for this series, and I can't wait to read them when you do!

[Laurie Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A better ending then I imagined

Wasn't quite expecting The Karl problem to be resolved the way it was, and I wanted him to pay for what he did to Autumn and Rissi. And that scene with Ben was funny because I knew what I read before Autumn fully comprehended what she saw.

[SheReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect ending to an amazing trilogy. I was incredibly sad when it was done. I flipped the page (metaphorically since it was my kindle) and wanted more!

Other people are now seeing Autumn for the leader we always knew she was and it's exciting. After the battle of the last book, they have moved again- this time back to L.A. They are right on the Front's door step but things are not as they were. Tired of fighting and losing people they love, a fragile peace is forming.

But who really trusts Karl, right? Only the people who don't know him. This book sees groups around the world trying to reconnect and look towards the future. A lot of really bad stuff happens but there's a hope that wasn't present in the first two.

We also see Grey reconnect with even more of his humanity and it creates a story that is so real. I was heartbroken at the end though. A certain favorite character of mine didn't fare so well and it took me completely by surprise.

This whole series was great!

[jenn *mother of dragon & snake* · Rating 3 out of 5]

So.. This book kind of dragged for me. Kind of a disappointing last book of the series. It dragged and ended really quick. What kind of crap was that?

Meh...



Stop dragging this on!

[T.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling and Satisfying

A thrilling and satisfying conclusion to the Autumn series. There was lots of action, intrigue, and light romance. I really enjoyed the way it all wrapped up and answered the remaining questions. Great book and great end to the story.

[Margie Aston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding series

I simply devoured these books. Kirby Howell has written a mesmerizing story with relatable characters that will soon be just like old friends. I recommend these books to anyone who loves a good adventure.

[Jacci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the exciting conclusion to this trilogy. I loved the different settings: Burbank, Paris, Ireland. And when it was over, I felt satisfied. Thank you Kirby Howell. I look forward to your next book.

[Rachel C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a good book and a good culmination to the series, but extremely... generic. I found myself wishing for more pizzazz. And I agree with Autumn, I wish that we had more of a "Karl is done with" feeling. And what the hell happens to these people after this. Do Autumn and Grey ever have kids? Do they have Grey's abilities or do some of their kids have them and the others not? Does Ben marry Jen? Does Rissi grow up to be as annoying as I sort of think she will be? Please tell me, dang it.... *sending the wish into the universe*. Well, *sigh* I suppose I won't get an answer but I'm glad I read this book anyways to at least get some closure.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally got round to reading this and I'm so glad I did.

I agreed to read the first novel in exchange for an honest review months ago - I enjoyed the first novel immensely. Not necessarily my usual genre of choice but recently, Ive taken a fond liking to dystopian novels, with some nice, cheesy romance thrown in for good measure.

What can I say? The Autumn series is not Wuthering Heights or The Stand by Stephen King, not by a long shot, it's not going to go down in history as a classic novel but did I enjoy it? Hell yeah. Like I said, it's been months since I read the first two novels and I didn't actually realize a third had been released. But I'm glad I found it and had a chance to read.

I really enjoyed the final chapter to this trilogy; as is the curse of most dystopian novels, most 3rd books tend to leave me feeling unsatisfied and deflated; not Autumn. We all need a little happiness in life to make us feel like it's worth the struggles and this finale made me feel that way.

We get plenty of drama in AITCOL - bits of it you could assume a mile off would happen, but some of it surprised me. I immensely enjoyed the beginning with the Karl vs. Hoover Dam survivors trying to work out some form of truce. I found myself thinking throughout; is this really happening? Is Karl genuine? The twist at the end of the second novel made for some interesting scenarios in number 3 - I particularly liked that Autumns grandmoo was alive; it was a nice break from all the drama - lightened the mood a little.

I think this book was brilliant in terms of character development; when I got so far in I was worried we'f hear no more from Sam and was a little annoyed. Glad she popped back up and we learned more about her and her motives. Rissi (sorry Marissa!) turns into a real adorable little madam and Ben never fails to make me smile, even in the midst of peril. I also was so happy Lydia appeared back and the end chapter when she is helping Autumn recover made me chuckle; when Autumn remarks she can't cook at all, how she smiles but it quickly disappears, her couple of minutes of showing emotion, I loved it

Everything comes together in this finale, we are left with no questions unanswered and one of the things I enjoyed was learning more about The University and it's motives. I enjoyed the growing relationship between Connie and Daniel and the arrival of several new characters and some returning such as Franklin. I could actually feel my (much younger) teenage self getting frustrated at Connie/Daniels mollycoddling of Autumn as though she was a child, then found myself laughing at going into a stroppy teenage-like phase. This novel is not without loss and one of my favourite characters dies and one, severely hurt but it isn't done unnecessarily and feels like their sacrifice was actually for the greater good - most novels just seem to kill off characters for shock factor.

The reason I did not give this 5 stars? Because, whilst I love the relationship between Grey and Autumn I didn't feel like it was explored/developed enough for my liking (I love a good romance and dystopia but I felt this lacked a little in the romance) Before the finale, I'd have loved to have seen the relationship between the 2 protagonists explored by Grey shutting off his emotions again as he suggested he needed to do to find the cure for the plague. We also jumped from the final scene to, so many years down the line. I'd have liked to have seen a little more. But whatever, not a massive issue - I still enjoyed reading this immensely and plan on rereading the whole series again in the near future. I also find end prologue's (5 years later) etc. a little cheesy but that's just a personal thing. Overall, a gripped, fun filled, enjoyable series I would recommend to all ages.