Title: Hidden
Author: Sophie Jordan
Series: Firelight #3
Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
The Overview: Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the “prince” of their pride. But she resisted long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian’s sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.
The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there’s no guarantee they’ll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning….
The Review:
Has anyone else noticed that most romance novels focus mostly on relationship development and inner conflict? It seems as though creating any sort of sustainable plot is a low priority. I supposed that’s the point, though, as the author is trying to evoke emotion. Personally, I prefer my novels with a bit more substance. This is why I didn’t enjoy Hidden as much as I could have; it was clear the author was drawing heavily on her skills as a romance writer.
Books one and two were decent, and I really got into the whole concept of this hidden society of dragon-shifters. Jordan did a great job at building the world, making it my overall favorite element of the series. This final book, however, brought the whole thing down for me. The storyline was just a bit too thin, and I caught holes in the plot left and right which definitely took away from my enjoyment of the story. The sad thing is that they were stupid errors that I think could have been easily avoided with a little revising. This speaks to a rushed and almost lazy effort on the part of the author (which, to be fair, could’ve been due to pressure from the publisher). Either way, a book I’ve been anticipating for a year got put down in favor of other books no fewer than three times.
Plot holes aside, I found it irritatingly repetitive. I don’t usually go into specifics, but holy crap – if she explained one more time that the human can’t understand what she’s saying while in dragon form I was going to throw the book across the room. It was seriously tacked on to literally every sentence. Again, this is another thing that points towards a rushed effort because I think if anyone examined it closely they would’ve caught such a blatant repetition.
I realize I”m being harsh, but I haven’t been so let down by a book in a long time. The only reason I gave it a 2.5/5 is because there was resolution to the series, the relationship development was actually quite good, and the first books made great impressions on me. Despite my gripes, I would still recommend reading it if you’ve already committed to the first books – you might as well see how it all ends.
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by Niki Hawkes
Title: Sword-Bound
The Obsessive Bookseller 