Colleen Vanderlinden is the author of the Hidden and Hidden: Soulhunter urban fantasy series, as well as the Copper Falls paranormal romance series.
The her novels Home, Nether, and Godkiller have all been finalists for RT Book Reviews’ Reviewers Choice Awards for best self-published urban fantasy novel. Her books have consistently received positive reviews, and RT Book Reviews has called her storytelling “electrifying.”
She also writes small-town contemporary romance as Ella Linden. Her book, Lost with You, won the RT Book Review Reviewers' Choice Award for best Indie or Small Press Romance in 2017.
She lives in northern Michigan with her husband, kids, demonic Basset hound, and four lazy cats. You can find out more about Colleen’s books at colleenvanderlinden.com, or follow her on Twitter.
This is it! This is my book of the year! I've looked forward to this book with much excitement and also sadness as this is the last book in the Hidden series. I am much reassured however that this will not be the last book in this amazing world created by the very talented Colleen Vanderlinden.
All 4 previous books have led up to this very point. Molly has made the journey from rescuing lost girls (and being one herself), discovering Nain and his team of those fight against evil, learning about the supernatural world to then discovering she is so much more than she or anyone else ever thought. She's been tortured, she's died over and over, she's loved and lost and she's found love and friendship that she thought would never be possible. This story has been a whirlwind of a ride and I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
So at the beginning of this book the supernatural world has been outed to the world at large and there is turmoil. Molly has her sights set on Nether, the being who inhabited her months after she was rescued from dying in the Nether, world of the Gods. With the support of her awesome friends, dysfunctional but loving family and the man she loves at her side though, Molly is strong. Nothing however about this book takes you where you expect it to. Nether (the character that is) for me, was the biggest surprise of the lot, she is so much more, so much more complicated. And remember those Titans, the ones that escaped before the door to the Nether was closed, oh yeah we get to meet them! So not what I was expecting either.
I'm not going to give anything away about the plot because you have to read it for yourself, but if you loved the first 4 books you will love this book even more. It has Nain, oh swoon, he is my dream man, and he is so there for Molly it is totally heart-warming. Heph, my equal favourite leading man, is awesome and there with Megan (read Earth Bound before this). We get Brennan too. Without giving it away, I love him too, so much more to him in this last book that you will want to scream and shout and hug him all at the same time. And as for the rest they are all there. I feel like I know these characters, they have become like friends to me and I felt every last bit of emotion with them. Because oh yes, this is an emotional book! Get your tissues at the ready, this is one roller coaster of a ride.
Words can't really describe for me how much I enjoyed this book. Colleen you have an amazing voice, please don't stop.
Though I don't think for a second that Molly and her crazy family of immortals are finished with their adventures, I am truly and wholly happy with how this book and series has ended. As I've come to expect from Colleen's hidden series,the action never stopped and we finally got the answers that we (well. At least I...) needed. I am both happy for how the Brennan situation has concluded, and still a little saddened for the poor guy. I hope to possibly hear something about him finding happiness in future books, that would make my heart happy. I love how Molly makes her own rules, screw everyone else and how they think it should be done. She trusts her instincts, something I think we all should do more often. With Nain by her side and having her back (and on her back) There is nothing that the queen of the dead can not handle!
I have no words for this. It felt like I was reading a movie, as in the words gobbled me up and into the book I fell. What a story. I cannot recommend this series highly enough.
I want to start by saying I loved the series and really looked forward to reading this final book. As always I loved the characters, they were solid and what was so wonderful is none of them were without flaws they were neither all good or all bad. That being said, this book was my least favor from the series. I can't exactly pin point exactly why though. Nothing was "bad" I just felt when I finished the book that there were a lot of filler areas that either weren't necessary or could have been explored more. While there were so many things that weren't touched on that would have been enjoyable. One of the things I enjoyed about the previous books was the way Molly and Nain could drive each other crazy, bringing out Nain's demon but still love each other deeply. In this book they were so in sync and calm with each other that it belied their passionate nature.
**Spoiler** Something I felt that was never brought up was the baby they adopted Zoe was not immortal. They brought up about how Molly would feel if Zoe went crazy and they had to end her, but never mentioned that Molly is never going to die and with Nain absorbing some of her powers each time they bonded it can be assumed he too will become immortal or something very close to it. The baby she ends up pregnant with can also be assumed to be immortal. However, even if Zoe never ends up insane, she will eventually die while Molly, Nain, new baby, and Tisiphone will watch a child they love grow up and live a long long life but eventually she will die. That too would break Molly.
3,4,5 and 6: Broken - Home - Strife - and Nether, all by Colleen Vanderlinden
"Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in."
That's not a quote from the series I'm about to review, it's from The Godfather. Still it's apt for these books. I maintain my opinion that I posted about the first book in the series, Lost Girl: it's alright trash reading, but not good writing. Unfortunately it only gets worse from the first book.
Take the setting, for example. The story takes place in Detroit. Picking a real place for fantasy novels is a common writer gambit and should help ground the plot in reality, giving the fantasy aspect a bit of believability. Here though it creates a major plot flaw. The main character has super powers and she fights gods with the ability to travel in a blink. Other than trips to hell, the main character NEVER LEAVES DETROIT! If I were a super baddy, first thing I'd do is go cause mayhem someplace else...problem solved, good guy avoided.
Just when I think the writing is too terrible and I just won't read the next one, then a shape shifter has sex was with a demon and I HAVE to find out what that baby's going to look like; I mean, don't I?
Good for reading if you take public transportation and you don't want a book so engrossing you'll miss your stop.
I really adore these characters and all their back stories, but I could have gone for another, or five more.... thankfully a new series is branching off, so hopefully I won't be saying goodbye just yet.
So about this book: sigh. I've missed all these smart ass immortals and was ecstatic to welcome them back into my life. There are a few new players, again, but everything is "resolved" one way or another, with plenty of anger, fighting, and tears. There was plenty I could criticize (about things being so neatly ended, editing mistakes, lack of character building), but it really wasn't all happy or pleasant, and made a lot of sense, soooo there it is.
I cried long ugly tears and enjoyed every second of it. Thank you.
Wow. okay so I read through this series (so far) so fast that I can't even separate them. This last book had me crying like crazy. The only reason it's not a five star book for me is because I feel as a whole this series has some holes in it. However, it's very compelling, is filled with all kinds of emotions and relationships and I sort of love it. Every now and then I read a series that has a heroine who is so bad ass to the point that you'd think a being who is un-killable and unstoppable would be boring after a while. It's nice to have this character and not be bored, to enjoy the ride and I'm hoping the next books continue to pass the torch.
Ok, so this book was bittersweet for me. I love the series, but sad it's coming to an end. I laughed, cried, (mostly cried) and cheered for Molly. Of course, Molly gets to kick ass and take names. Colleen has wrapped up the storyline perfectly. Molly makes peace with everyone and herself, and ends up getting what she truly wants! I wasn't disappointed at all. I feel it leaves a lot of possibility for spin offs!
final installment didn't disappoint.I really enjoyed this series. loved Molly's character and as a big fan of Greek mythology the gods in it were a happy extra for me. If you like a really good plot lots of intrigue and characters then you will love it. Don't for one minute think its a happy ever after story as it has you thinking its going one way one minute only to take a massive twist then next. Brilliant read.
What a great wrap up to this series! The team grows, heartache occurs, and Molly gains a new title. I was sad to see this character complete her task but her happily ever after is definitely worth it. Who knows, maybe we will get a new series that will recount Molly's adventures with her new station.
This was an awesome conclusion to a great series. Molly is taking charge once again, with some help from her friends. We get everything we wanted and brennan isn't the snake we all thought! There is a sad part but I think it works well.
A sad but also happy ending to Molly's story. I laughed and raged and cried with the characters. To me that makes for the best kind of story when you feel along with the characters!
Very enjoyable and a solid conclusion to the series. A great protagonist, who learns from her mistakes. Great revision of Greek myth. Were it not for the relentless heterosexism, I would have given the book 5 stars.
I found this book both kept my interest and was entertaining. I find it enjoyable when most stories are tied up neatly in the end but not so neatly that it doesn't leave room for more...
Absolutely loved this series! This book is not what i expected when i was waiting for it to come out so... I enjoyed it even more! Cannot wait for E's story in the next installation in hidden universe.
Loved this whole series, at times Molly/Mollis was a little annoying. I would like to have seen a ménage relationship between Molly, Nain and Bren. Each book was action packed and a look forward to the spinoff novellas
Excellent end for the series. Enough threads closed off to satisfy, yet a few left dangling so we can hope to see these characters in the off-shoot series. Enjoyed all five books of the series, and I'm happy to have seen steady improvement in the edit issues from book 1.
Decent ending to the series as a whole, some hard-hitting things covered, in all honesty. Still a bit irritated at the slights in editing, but otherwise, worth the read.