And I'm done with this series and author DNF @ 85%
I was so caught up in the dystopian storyline, I forgave all the glaring issues with the romance aspect of the first book and actually rated it 4 starts. This one was so disjointed and I came to HATE the main characters so much I can't finish. I don't care if they escape or if they just die in the next big storm. Which will magically be the last one - how could they possibly know that?!!?
I didn't like Sam and Row's love story in the first book, too much sex and no actual relationship building (I despise insta-love tropes) but I thought since they were already together that it would continue to build over the next two books. Boy was I wrong! We are told they had a happy 6 months together on the island but we don't get to experience that as readers. We just pickup with Sam being overbearing and insensitive. The long time apart with no reason, the lying, and the gaslighting followed up by him demanding sex every time they saw each other is insane. One of the last straws for me was when she was attacked and the baby KIDNAPPED and when Row wakes up Sam's not only NOT BY HER SIDE but has taken the baby away as well to deal with the wife (who they like to call the ex-wife but HELLO, they are absolutely still married). Who, let's be honest, has every right to be angry. It's not like he left her years ago - he left her at the AOE right before the 3rd storm, got injured, made it to the ship maybe a week later, then poof day 2 he's "married" and in love with Row. If in less than a year my missing husband showed up with another woman and a premature baby I would lose my mind.
Sam is not sympathetic in any of this book and Row was pathetic and weak. She was in book 1 too, but was at least fighting to keep the kids alive. In this book they are shoved to the side and only used for their visions to push the plot along. At one point after WEEKS (could be months, very unclear) of them being separated they finally reconnect and she basically tells them to stop telling her about the time on the island.
Everything is conveniently timed and nothing is explained in any depth. How were Luke and Morgan on deaths door one day and magically better then next, after being in the hospital for possibly months?!? People, especially Row, are seriously injured to the point of being in a coma for days but then are just better in an hour?!? The minute Sam and Row are alone after her attack she's trying to tell him of the threats she saw in her dream he's already undoing his pants and demanding sex. It unhealthy to the extreme and seems to be her pattern with men who use her, hurt her physically and emotionally, and she somehow gets off on it. How she could be considered a strong female lead is disgusting.
If you loved Bella Swan but just needed some angry, borderline abusive, sex thrown in to make it a better "love" story - this is the book for you. Everyone else, stay far far away.