This book has been my most anticipated fall release, the 3rd and final book in the Mara Dyer trilogy. While I did really enjoy this book, it still left me with a lot of questions. Pros: All of the scenes that took place in India in the other books, finally make sense. Now I know why those scenes were there and how they tie into the story and I enjoyed those parts of the book more now that they were no longer confusing. We see a darker side of Mara in this book which was interesting. She's no longer the victim or the girl who lost her friends and is possibly going crazy, she was a girl with one mission in mind: find Noah Shaw and anyone who gets in her way better start digging their grave now. At times it was scary how dark she was becoming, she definitely isn't the same Mara from the first book. Speaking of scary, there were some pretty creepy scenes in this book that had me cringing. If this book had come out in October it would have been perfect for Halloween. I also like that we got to see some things from Noah's perspective and I loved all the twists and reveals in this book, though some of it still doesn't completely make sense to me.

Cons: The biggest problem that I had with this book is that I still have a lot of questions that wasn't answered. I won't talk about my questions here, cause they're kind of spoilery, but I feel like I needed more answers. Like I said before, some of the twists and reveals didn't completely make sense to me which is another reason why I still have unanswered questions.
Overall though I did enjoy the book.
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...as much as I was pleased to reach the end of this journey and get some answers, I was left just a little bit dissapointed.

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4.5/5 ( )

**I'm sorry there are some minor spoilers in this review... I just couldn't help it!!**

Mara wakes up in a hospital setting yet again. She's told Noah is dead and that she's being treated for her safety and for the safety of others. Then Jude of all people breaks her out, tells her Noah is alive, and leads her to Dr. Kells. Now it's up to Mara, Jaime, and Stella to figure out if they can trust anything Jude says, and to find out once and for all what the heck is going on with them.... what is this genetic mutation that they have?? Where did it come from and what are the consequences?

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't love this one. Throughout the series I've had issues with Mara and her dependence on Noah, but in this book she's on her own, so you would think I would like it better.?? I didn't. This is a hard review to write without spoilers, so you might not want to read this too thoroughly if you haven't read the book.

Mara hooks up with Stella and Jaime and they journey to New York to find out the origins of Horizons. From the beginning of this book Mara is different. She's desperate and more accepting of the violent parts of her "gift". As the book wore on I liked her less and less. She became a killer with a lack of remorse. There's a quote in the second book: "I'm too selfish to leave you," I said. Noah pulled back so I could see his smile. "I'm too selfish to let you." It should have been the title of this book. No matter what the consequences these 2 were going to be together and they were going to do what they had to do, others be damned....the world be damned. That's something I just can't get behind. Love doesn't conquer all. If 2 people are damaged and damaging each other by being together, THEY SHOULDN'T BE TOGETHER. Yeah it hurts... you'll get over it.

As the book went on and the big "reveal" was upon us, the story got really science-y and technical. I'm still not 100% sure what exactly everything meant and I've read those parts several times. It also didn't help that I read the 1st and 2nd books so long ago. This is definitely a series I would recommend reading right in a row... or taking really good notes on. But the thing I didn't like about the big reveal was that it ended up being almost exactly what it seemed to be. The 1st book seemed so unique... it was like anything was possible. The second book continued with that, although I started to kind of get a feeling where it was heading... and then this last book drug me down a typical "blah" path. I feel like it was just another version of Heroes or a Marvel spin-off. I wasn't pleased. I wanted my mind to be blown. And I wanted to like Mara. I kind of hated her. She's selfish and doesn't seem to contain any redeeming qualities. I'm not sure that her gift could ever be used for good and the only thing I really did gather was that she'll be the downfall of Noah and hold him back from any positives he could do with his gifts. How can I get on board with that????

Having said allll that, I did like that this book was as addicting to read as the rest of the series. Just like in the first 2 books, even if I didn't LOVE what was happening, I still couldn't put the darn book down. Michelle Hodkin is a gifted writer, I just wish she gave me a love story that worked out differently.

What I would like to read is Joseph, Jaime, and Stella's stories. Like a spin-off on what happens to them. Screw Mara and Noah.

OVERALL: Didn't think this final book lived up to the goodness of the series. Questions are answered, things are resolved, but I just didn't find those resolutions that exciting. It's very technical and science-y and dark. Not what I was expecting, but just as addicting a read as the other 2 books.

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