This book has been a long time coming for me. In middle school and high school my sister and I were obsessed with Meg Cabot’s Mediator series. In all honesty, we loved all of her series, but this one in particular captivated us. Imagine my happiness when she announced on her blog 9 years after it was done that she was indeed going to be adding another adult installment to the series. I was over the moon, to say the least. And the ultimate test of strength, I actually waited 10 days after the book was released to actually purchase it. Why, you might ask? Because Meg Cabot was going to be in Santa Rosa! Which is only like 3 hours away! My favorite author, who RARELY comes to the West Coast, was going to be driving distance away! My sister and I immediately booked ourselves a seat and awaited the big day.
The day was amazing, the book made all the better by getting to meet her.
I loved this book, unsurprising given my love of the series as a whole. It was a great introduction into the series set in a more adult world, the previous 6 installments taking place when the characters were in high school. It hit the ground running sucking you into a world full of Suze, Jesse, and NCDPs (Non Compliant Dead Persons) as Suze refers to them. While I was able to see the different twists and turns that were coming in this novel it didn’t stop the suspenseful feeling I felt reading it. This novel presented a villain on 2 fronts, one being almost delightfully evil, the other being downright dark. Of all of the books in the series I would say this has the darkest theme, which is unsurprising given that this is the first to be published as an “adult” novel instead of “ya.” It was full of swoon-worthy Jesse moments, firmly solidifying him as one of my two “book husbands,” and ended on such a happy note. Happy for two reasons – 1. The characters actually got to have a completed ending and 2. Despite the completed feeling, the book’s ending left an open door for Meg to EASILY continue writing this series in it’s adult format.
I woul
d hastily recommend this book to anyone that is a fan of the series. And, in all honesty, this book also introduces the characters in a way that you could read it even if you haven’t read the others, with minimal confusion.
5/5 Stars
Love, Maren!
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