Reckoning

Once again, once I got started on this book, I could not put it down. Finished it in two days, and like the last book, there were pages I reread a few times because of the raw emotions in the text — I positively loved it!!

As I did in the previous book, I researched the italicized text and got the translations as Croatian. I strongly encourage doing that as I felt it enhanced the character and their words — for me it added greatly to the novel!

Something I loved about this final book of the series is how much truth came out (amazing) and how that truth got into Dru’s head and she had to start to recognize it as well — that she was constantly treated as luggage throughout her childhood and constantly lied to, more or less. The poor show more girl.

But she’s a survivor and … survived.

Absolutely thrilled to own this series! show less

The cover to this book finally fits the genre. All along the covers in this series have been interchangeable with any ya romance novel cover - faces, hollywood pretty boy faces next to the pic of Dru. This time, there is a very pissed off looking young woman, with a background face, that could be a vampire or werewolve - with other markings in the back. Finally. A good cover that fits this genre. :)
very satisfying ending to a kick-ass series. Dru gets stronger and hardened. Graves goes through some changes, Ash is evolving. Dru puts her foot down with Christophe and a few other people. There is a lot of danger, horror, fighting and strange things going on.
There is a wicked final fight between Sergei and Dru.
The dialog between all the show more characters is very well done - the teens sound like teens. The dhampir sound like centuries old men stuck in young bodies - the the vampires are creepy.
The glimpses of Gran and Dru's father are great - I love how Dru draws on their voices and remembered advice, almost like they're ghosts residing in her head, when ever she needs the extra strength they give her.
There is no Happy Ever After ending - you won't get that with any of this author's books - but you will get good endings with possibilities. And you'll get a good story with wicked fights and dangerous situations.
Kick-ass ending to a kick-ass series - with kick-ass characters. Enjoyed it thoroughly. show less

Dru Anderson is on the run yet again after rescuing Graves from Sergej and staking him on the way out. Ash, who now has a toddler's vocabulary, is tagging along for the ride. First they hide at Dru's Gran's place in the mountains, but then they almost get caught and have to run again, this time with Christophe who has been following them all along. This is the last book in a very action packed series and I had some very high expectations going into it. I thought that Dru would finally get to stop running, would chose a boy as the one she loves most of all over the other, and that we readers would finally find out what 'Dru' is short for. Well, one of these things happens. I liked this book because Dru gets to find out what is happening show more with some of our other beloved characters like Augie, Hiro, Nat and Dibs. Also, Sergej is finally dead at the end of it and he dies in a pretty awesome way. But at the same time, this felt like a pretty weak ending for what has been a strong series during the last four books. I felt let down and slightly cheated by the ending. Hopefully there will be a spin-off series or book to tie it up. If not, oh well, guess that's that. I would say to whoever has been reading the series, to finish it up by reading this one. You might as well so you're not stuck with the cliffhanger from Defiance as your ending.

VERDICT: 2.5/5 Stars

*No favors or money was exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*  show less

First off let me preface by saying how much I LOVED the first four books in this series! I devoured each one and couldn't WAIT for the next one in the series. I was so excited to finally get the last book in The Strange Angels series!
I love a kick butt heroine still growing into herself, learning along the way and learning from her triumphs and mistakes. I love Dru. The guys (Christophe & Graves) are also amazing in this series. *I* can see how she has a hard time figuring out how she feels about each one throughout the 5 books. I loved Christophe for his passion and Graves for his predictability.
I really really wanted to love this book! BUT...I didn't. Even though the writer's capability is beyond fault, I just found the plot lacking. show more It felt like everything happening in the book was...mehhh, OK-ish. All the scenes building up to the grand finale were ok. & regrettably, the final major scene was also only ok. Then, the coup-de-grace was the ending. All the so-so scenes could have been forgiven, if not for the ending. The ending was such a disappointment and all I think when I closed the book was "that was the end?" Everything I wanted to finally find out was left up in the air and left me feeling very unsatisfied. show less

Awesome ending to an awesome series. there will be no wild exclamation marks on this review, however, for, though it was awesome, it was also kind of... somber. I read some other people's reviews of this book BEFORE I read this book, and one thing i noticed was that people didn't think Sergej's death was dramatic enough. Personally, I think his death was plenty epic, with her dad and gran and mom and anna and graves and everybody and christophe's little breakdown... I had to go back and reread it, which I usually have to do with big fight scenes, because I read them too fast and miss details. The ending, with Graves and all... I cried. a little. depending on one's definition of a little. I feel we should have learned Dru's full name, show more and we didn't but that's okay, cuz I think I can guess it (after all, there aren't that many names Dru could be short for... andrew, but that's a dude name. drusilla, which is an awful name but I think it fits since she is, after all, a svetocha.)
good book. I guess people thought that because thruogh the entire series she was kicking butt or running from vampires, the ending woud be equally epic and fast, but I feel that the ending, with Dru finally safe and able to get some rest... I don't know. It just FITS. anyway, thoudh it may seem I'm not excited, due to the lack of exclamation marks, I am. I think it was a good ending. would I have liked to see Dru and Graves finally get whatever they are sorted? yeah. Would I like another book that follows the adventures of Graves as he fixes himself, becomes worthy of Dru and comes back? of course I would. But if there isn't one, I'll be okay. And that's saying something, because I am NEVER okay with endings. show less

I have mixed feelings about this book, and am going to (tentatively) give it a 2 star rating until my feelings about this book have solidified more.

The major strength of this series is the characters, and we do get to see everybody grow and change, which was a major plus. The sticking point for me is the ending.

Choosing to have Dru end up more or less alone at the end was an interesting stance to take, especially considering the rampant I'll-love-you-forever books overwhelming the YA genre right now. That being said, the ending also felt like a little bit of a cop-out. Graves opts to leave, promising to return later, citing his (fairly justifiable) personal issues. According to him, he needs to be "worth her" before he comes back. show more Christophe, meanwhile, remains behind and asks Dru if he has a chance. Dru is unsure, and Christophe says he's willing to wait.

This, I think, was a problematic way to handle the love triangle--not because Dru chooses to be alone, but because Dru NEVER CHOOSES AT ALL. Graves makes the decision for her by leaving, and Dru is devastated. Meanwhile, Christophe is getting majorly shafted by her lack of commitment to him. I mean, I was rooting for Graves until the end, and even I thought Christophe was getting screwed.

The other major problem in this situation for me was the massive Dru-worship that was going on at the end. I'm the first to admit that Dru is an awesome and hilarious character. But she's also flawed, and it bothered me that Graves felt he wasn't "worth her" at the end. In the prior books, their interactions had been fairly realistic: they both had their faults, and cared for each other despite (and because of!) them. And while it was sweet that Christophe was willing to wait for Dru, it was also kind of weirdly pathetic. Surely a super-hot, multi-lingual vampire can find a girl that's KIND OF interested in him? Heck, maybe that would kick Dru in gear.

Basically, I'm not sure that this book knew what it wanted to be--like the series as a whole, it jumps back and forth between funny and angsty, romantic and serious. While this can be handled well by some authors, as a reader, it felt like the author (or the publishing company) couldn't decide what kind of book (and series!) they wanted this to be. show less

Dru is on the run, in a stolen car with her best friend Graves and Ash, who still isn't right. She heads for her grandmother's house to try to figure out what she's going to do next, how she's going to cope with the world and with the people trying to kill her.

And as this is the last book in the series she deals with a lot of the issues, what disappointed me most about the book is how little I cared about anyone other than Graves and when I started to care about him he retreated to the background.

Not the worst series I've read but I felt it's left open for the author to expand on it, the story arc is done but the characters are somewhat left hanging.