Series review up to book 7
This review will contain spoilers.
I had a hard time pinpointing how I feel about this series. Ultimately, I guess I would say disappointed. It had potential but failed to deliver for me.
Book 1 was interesting. I liked it in that way you find someone attractive but don't want to actually date them; I liked the book but I wondered if I would like the series. Here is what I liked in book 1: interesting and slightly unusual main character, range of secondary characters, a male lead who is supernatural and not hundreds of years older than Lexi, sniper stuff (cool!), a romance that doesn't happen in 5 seconds, and the start of decent world building. All that made it a decent read so I moved on to book 2.
I powered through book 2. There was a lot of rehashing of things brought up in book one, it hey, it's only book 2. I continued on despite disappointment.
By book 3 I was skimming. Not most of it, but enough. I was annoyed by all the "sobbing" (I mean seriously, at some point Lexi has to get over stuff) and the use of the word noisome. The characters hadn't grown at all and felt two dimensional. Still, I hoped that the relationship would get the plot back on track. FYI, it doesn't.
Books 4-7 had the same issues. Lexi cried about 10 times in 300 pages, everything she says in relation to Reece is "bitter"--the girl is 18! If she's that bitter all the time, how has someone not shot her to shut her up? And it's not like any of the causes for the bitterness are new. Instead, we rehash the same stuff from book one. And it's rehashed nearly every chapter. In the end, the stories just became about her complaining about how much she's suffered. Personally, I didn't think she had suffered more than the others. Life's tough kid; wake the f up and deal with it because everyone else is. And while the whole reveal of the soul mate thing was supposed to feel exciting, I just felt shocked because it was a cliche and frankly, I didn't think it needed calling out since it was obvious from book 1. Maybe if it had appeared in book 2 or 3, I would have been ok with it. But book 7? I had put that to bed over a 1,000 pages ago.
I am never a fan of repetition as it bores me, and these books had too much of it for me to work with. A more patient person may enjoy the books more. What also got to me was the lack of character development. The secondary characters did the same stuff, laughed at the same things, made the same lame jokes and never progressed to anything more. Frankly, I found Kala unlikable. She was only there to pro die laughs but she fell flat. In fact, she read like a demanding child rather than an adult woman. Lexi was similar; while independent at adult-l like at first, she rapidly becomes a whiney teenager who sobs hysterically when something doesn't go her way. She also refuses to listen to logic or anyone. Her relationship issues are all her but she puts the blame on anyone else. To me, that is a complete turnaround from the focused, controlled woman we see early in book 1. Flynn, Reece, and Mark just seem to hover in the background as clueless males. The stereotyping of all of them was not something I liked and thought lessened the story.
I don't intend to read farther in this series. I can largely tell what will happen anyway, and I am disappointed enough not to want to continue. I am sad that the series doesn't interest me further, especially with the multiple versions of Earth thing happening. I may try the third tie-in series. I tried the first and while interesting, put it away after two books because I was interested in this shifter timeline.
I would recommend this series to those who don't mind repetition, emotional characters, and want a darkish read that is lighter reading material. The spin on the supernatural is certainly interesting.