Julie Doe

I have been reading this series from the very beginning and the latest installment certainly does not disappoint. Other reviewers have summarized the plot, so I won’t repeat that; I’ll just mention some of the things that I liked about this book:

1. The Everheart’s are back. I really like Molly, Evan, and the kids. In this book, Molly is in trouble, and Evan is suitably worried and angry and protective. The kids are adorable, although, in what I assume is foreshadowing future books, Angie is starting to exhibit scary-strange powers.

2. Jane’s relationships with two of the key men in her life change. Leo admits something to Jane that surprises her, and Ricky may not be available as Jane’s on-again-off-again fling after this book (sorry for the vagueness, trying avoid spoilers here). Both incidents set up interesting possibilities for future books.

3. I like that Jane gets to be “girly” sometimes, and I don’t mean that in a pejorative way. She gets to dress up in fancy clothes, but she is still tough and capable. She shows moments of emotion over men and her changing relationships. She has doubts about things she has done in the past, even when she was a child, and what that means about her character in the present. I also like that Jane can now let Beast come to the surface in front of others (her nature was exposed in the previous book); she seems more comfortable with what she is.

4. Beast. What’s more to say. I’ve really enjoyed the evolution of Beast over the series, and the development of Beast’s “verbal” and intellectual ability that no doubt comes from having been bonded with Jane. Beast’s visceral emotional response to the Everheat kids and to Jane’s various men never grows old.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to fans of the series.