Spy Glass

Spy Glass, the conclusion to the Glass trilogy, really rubbed me up the wrong way. It's interesting, in the way that all the strands of the story come together, but I didn't believe in the conclusion. I don't believe in reformed criminals, or in settling down and having babies with someone who raped you, abducted you, etc. I didn't believe in Kade giving up on Opal so easily, and I didn't believe in what felt like a very rushed ending.

It left a rather bad taste in my mouth, really. Like the other books, it's a quick read and relatively absorbing, and I liked the larger role Valek had in this book, but I felt somewhat... betrayed, I guess, by the ending. I don't have all that much to say about it, given that. ( )

This book was not quite up to par with my expectations... This first 2/3 of the book were REALLY slow. It would get exciting for a bit, then drag some more. (I liked the training with Valek, but even that wasn't as exciting as I felt it could have been.) Valek, Janco, and Ari were in the story again, which was great. I think the reason the story being slow was so obvious was that Valek shows up on page ONE and Opal thinks he's there to kill her, but he's not... That was exciting, but then not much happens for a long long while.

The two kids Opal sort of adopts was fun, but I'm sad that Opal's relationship with Kade didn't work out. I get why there were bound to be problems between them, but I didn't like that Opal was unfaithful, etc, etc, etc. That being said, it's not like they were married... but still. If you want to "date" another guy, break up with your current boyfriend first, okay? Okay. But Kade loved Opal and wanted to be with her and she said and acted like she loved him, but then she went and did things she KNEW would hurt him... Poor Kade. I REALLY REALLY liked him!

And now to Devlin. I believe in forgiveness and redemption—that people can change for the better or for the worse. I believe we should forgive, but that does not necessarily mean we should trust that person again. I never felt too comfortable with the Opal/Devlin pairing... I guess it's hard for me to imagine ever having romantic feelings for (and want to MARRY) a person who you have SO MUCH negative history with! I mean, there's Stockholm Syndrome... but that's not really what went down. She didn't develop feelings for Devlen until AFTER he "changed", but still... He was involved in a plot in which her favorite sister was tortured, raped, and murdered. He personally kidnapped, drugged, manipulated, tortured, and TOTALLY lied to Opal. He stole Opal's boyfriend's body and proceeded to sleep with her whilst in that body, which I'm pretty sure counts as rape, even if it didn't seem like it at the time. Plus, when did the whole romance actually happen? They only had a couple of friendly interactions in [b:Sea Glass|6351939|Sea Glass (Glass, #2)|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327132670s/6351939.jpg|6538518], then she only spoke to him a few times in this book before, suddenly, they are "in love"! She kisses him after speaking to him like TWICE.

Yet, despite it all, Devlen grew on me a little. I think the book needed more romance... More scenes to build trust and companionship between Opal and Devlen. I mean, by the end, I get that Devlen is "changed" and I accept that to be true, but I didn't think there was enough time, etc. for Opal to have developed romantic feelings of a life-long nature toward him... I guess to me the length of their history and the length of their "courtship" were imbalanced. Yep. ( )

I liked the last book in the series more than I expected after I was so disappointed by [b:Sea Glass|6351939|Sea Glass (Glass, #2)|Maria V. Snyder|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Pq2FzQfsL._SL75_.jpg|6538518]. Finally Opal develops some character and I begin to actually like her. Her decisions make sense and are becoming understandable. It wasn't just the pointless running about as in the second book.

Some spoilery comment on Opals love life in this book:
Somehow it was a bit predictable that the thing with Kade didn't work out. I had already gotten that feeling in the last book. Still I was a bit annoyed in the beginning by the developing love triangle with Devlen. It is getting old quickly and used way too much lately. So I was pleasently surprised that I actually liked how it all played out with Devlen and Opal. It didn't seem forced as the first impression implied.

Quite a few characters from former books make appearances and (a huge plus in my opinion) the whole mystery around the sea glass and the Bloodrose clan is solved (I was quite annoyed that this wasn't done or at least a bit more hinted in the last book.

So all in all the book was better than Sea Glass, which now feels even more like a gap-filling story without purpose for its own. It was a nice read, but still nothing too new or thrilling. Average. ( )

I finally got around to finishing this series, and I am glad I did. While the series sometimes seemed to drag on and on, and I often found Opal's character frustrating, she finally figures out her own purpose in life in the final book, as well as ties up all of the loose ends of her life.
Forgiveness seems to be a central theme in this series, but most especially in the final book with Opal's interactions with Devlen's character. While I am still conflicted over their relationship, I tend to take the position that if the main character is happy with it, I'm happy with it, too. Devlen's changes seem to pose the question: Do people really change? We like to believe they do in theory , but when it comes to those who perform the really evil crimes, few people are willing to accept that it's truly possible. Opal actually did finally believe this about Devlen, which makes her a rare individual.
Opal's character can be quite confusing at times - she can be very emotional and reactive, but at the same time she has endured unimaginable circumstances and has made herself into a battle-hardened warrior. How many females today can do what she can - even without the magic included? She has certainly earned the right to make her own decisions - and handle whatever consequences come along.
I loved the two children she picks up along the way, and how they help her to understand her own magical abilities. They bring out the maternal instincts in her, which I always appreciate in literature of this nature. The cult that these two were members of fits the stereotype very well, at times both disgusting me and making me want to jump in and rescue those poor people myself.
The coolest part of the book was when Valek taught Opal how to be a proper spy - it reminded me of the Study series by Maria V. Snyder that I loved so much. Valek is such an enigmatic character that he deserves his own trilogy! ( )

Apr12:

Characters: At least they brought Vanek back. And the lead got some backbone. The villain was almost okay after the lack thereof in the prior books. The children were a nice pair.

Plot: Almost passable. Especially compared to the prior two books.

Style: Got back into high adventure and self confidence. Not quite worth the work however. ( )