Caszandra

I am so emotionally involved in this series. Sure, stuff happens, battles are fought, worlds are saved, but I care far more about Cassandra and her found family. Host's way of writing drew me in and would not let me go.

Listen Lady Author you and me are gonna have a talk about how not right it is to make me tear up several times in the course of reading (especially as that means I had to STOP reading to clear out my blurry eyes). I said this before, but I'll say it again the Touchstone books took me by surprise by just how enthralling I found them.

Everything comes full circle in this book, for good and ill. The nature of the book is that they're in diary format so the events are told from a retrospective viewpoint, which in some ways spoils certain things (obviously if we're reading the diary entries that means Cass has survived whatever immediate issue comes up). This works well for the action scenes which could, presumably, become really confusing in show more real time without Cass describing who did what and giving references.

I admit even though I was rather impatient for this book's release (there may have been author stalking involved) I kept getting distracted from finishing it as quickly as I wanted. This led to a bit of confusion whenever I resumed (usually hours later) because there is a lot that happens to and around Cass--often very quickly and suddenly.

This is a much more personal book, not just for Cass, but for all the members of the Setari, Kolar and even Nura. Which, by the way, thank god there's a character listing in the back because the cast list is just...HUGE by the end of this book. I was having some trouble keeping all the Squads straight once we got beyond First, Second, Third and Fourth (and parts of Eighth and Twelfth).

Back on topic, no one is left unscathed in this book and a lot is revealed and discussed. There is a lot of soul-searching for both Kaoren (Ruuel) and Cass in this book, after the ending of LAB RAT ONE its only natural after all and they're given a whole bunch of reasons to have even more deep conversations. Plus hanky-panky, which is never a bad thing.

Surprisingly Cassandra manages to keep herself from getting too banged up in this installment. She spends a good deal of time trying to help heal emotional (and physical) wounds of those she cares about and comes to care about. Between the Lanterans and the Nurans I'm really not sure who takes the cake as having the worst citizens honestly. One group brings about the end of their civilization and the other has such elitist pigs amongst them that I wanted to strangle them so badly. Oh wait, that's both groups at one point or other.

While the book wraps up nicely, there are some leftover questions, which are neatly answered in the 'extra' "Gratuitous" novella (which I'll be reviewing separately because its long enough), but many of the questions are superfluous to the overall plot (except perhaps the fate of one of Cass' friends) and answered or not doesn't change the experience.

This would be the fourth book of Host's I read in a year, third in as many months (read the Touchstone trilogy between September-November) and she hasn't let me down yet. show less

Some spoilers for the first two books below.

Part of what I adored about Stray and Lab Rat One, parts one and two of the Touchstone Trilogy, was the delightful self-awareness that this story could seem a bit far-fetched at times. As Cass herself said in Lab Rat One, “And me being some mysterious touchstone thing with bunches of incredibly hot people looking after me. It’s all a little wish-fulfillment.” But the thing is, it wasn’t. There was a ring of truth to Cass’s tale and struggles on a new planet, even if she did end up being this miraculous space ninja enhancer. That all disappears in this incredibly disappointing final book, Caszandra, where the plot devolves into a mushy, romantic mess and the looming bad things are show more solved without much hardship. Every one of Cass’s wishes comes true after finally attaining the love of Kaoren Ruuel, even wishes she didn’t know she had, like becoming a foster mother! I was so immensely frustrated by this book, mostly because I felt like this series was so promising and it didn’t come together in the end. As a result, my reading investment was wasted, my payoff nonexistent. In Caszandra, forgotten is the mythology of the Ena and the Lantarens, swept aside is the possibility of any relationship between Muina and Earth, left behind is any regard for Cass’s family of eighteen years, instead we get pages and pages of Cass loving Kaoren, ravishing Kaoren, planning her future with Kaoren. I think my dissatisfaction comes down to this: I began this series with the promise of interplanetary hijinks and epic battles in virtual reality spaces. What the final volume came down to was an impossibly perfect fiancé, adopted children, and Setari matchmaking. show less

So....
Obviously, I have fallen in love with Cassandra Devlin and Kaoren Ruuel.
The plot is interesting, the world building - great. But what really won me is Cassandra. She is smart, she is kind, she is sarcastic, she is uncertain, she is anxious. And a lot more. I had never identified myself with another heroine so much. I could have been there instead of her and do the same things.
The books are not perfect of course, and I will admit to liking the first two better than the third. It's a bit like the author got tired in the third and a lot telling and not showing starts to happen. Would have loved to see more of Kaoren, heard more, not just being told he did this or that or said this and that.
As a whole though, the trilogy goes to the show more category of personal treasures. show less

Read the full Review at Witchmag's Boekenplank

*Deep Sigh* And so this story ends… At the moment I’m not happy that this was the last story about Cass and the Sentari. I wanna know more! Fortunately I found out that there will be a free epilogue coming out in two weeks, so I’m looking forward to finding out who ends up with who ^^ (most important info ;) )

Just like Lab Rat One, a lot was happening in this one. To the extend that I can’t even remember what exactly happened at the beginning, only the ending is still freshly printed in my memory ;) . But that’s not a problem for me, it really makes me want to start reading it again, the same reaction I had as with Lab Rat One. And as I said, I can’t give a bigger compliment to a show more writer ;)

I’m so glad that Cass and Kaoren are finally a couple. I was so excited for Cass at the ending of Lab Rat One (I actually read the ending a couple of times, loved it that much ;) )! In this book we find if their relation will work. I liked it a lot that there is no “destined lover” in this series, just a girl and boy falling in love. You also don’t see that she loves him back in every sentence. Of course there are moments where she swoons (especially after watching her secret Kaoren collection ;) ) but that’s totally understandable ;) . And also in this book there are some great “squeel” moments and Cass has some really funny comments about Ruuel, that will make you laugh out loud ^^

As usual Cass spends some time in medical, with all the tests and scans, although this time she endures it a lot better. They even start to get an idea of what her powers are and what she can do with it, till the moment she does something totally unexpecting again. But that’s just Cass ;)

Overall rating 5 hearts. It was a great read and I had a hard time putting it down to go to my lectures (you can guess that I wasn’t paying much attention, wanted to know how the story continued ;) ). I really loved the world Andrea K. Höst described with its amazing characters and I’m sad to say goodbye to it all. Although I have still the epilogue to look forward to ^^ show less

I enjoyed it, but I wasn't captivated by it with the intensity that I felt for Stray and Lab Rat One. Because Cass's circumstances aren't as intense. Things happen, but in between those episodes, she's okay. More than okay. She's building a life for herself. And this means she doesn't have the same need for a private space in which to make sense of things.

I love the feeling of being unable to put a book down, so I wished there was more tension. Internal tension, between what Cass wants and what she has.

But I liked the trilogy, as a whole! I mean, happy endings are better than realistic misery (like certain YA trilogies I could name), right?

Caszandra is the final volume in Andrea K Höst's Touchstone trilogy. This review contains minor spoilers for the previous books (mostly just the relationship kind). If you haven't yet, I suggest reading my reviews for the earlier books — Stray and Lab Rat One — before reading the rest of this review (and ideally, reading the first two books themselves too). The series is about Cass, a Sydney girl, who accidentally falls through a tear in reality onto another planet, meets psychic space ninjas, and discovers that she has some powers of her own.

Caszandra picks up where Lab Rat One left off. Which is good because there was a bit of a relationshippy cliffhanger at the end of the previous book. Cass's relationship with Ruuel (now called show more Kaoren, his first name) progresses quite quickly in terms of seriousness, which made me a bit wary at first, but which turned out for the best in terms of story telling, I've decided. Another related aspect, which I don't want to be explicit about because spoilers, also made me a little uncomfortable, bu ultimately I think that was more due to my own dissimilarity to Cass as a person than anything else.

Caszandra continues the overarching plot well established in the earlier books: learning about Cass's power, fighting monsters and trying to learn about Muina's past. Muina being the planet Cass was first transported to and which had remained inaccessible to the alien people for a thousand years until she came along. This book ups the danger levels and the stakes. The Setari (psychic space ninjas) and Cass were always trying to protect people but in the lead up to the conclusion, the urgency for definitive world-saving becomes extreme. And, unsurprisingly, Cass continues to almost die in new and exciting ways.

The climax might have lost a smidge of tension due to the diary nature of the narrative — we knew Cass survived because she told us about it all being over before regaling us with the tale. However it was still all very dramatic and didn't loose any world-saving oomph. The end was satisfying in tying everything up nicely and I think other fans of the series will approve. (And for readers that want more, there's always the Gratuitous Epilogue, which I admit to skimming and reading the last chapter of.)

I don't recommend reading Caszandra without reading Stray and Lab Rat One fist. However, I can't imagine why readers who enjoyed the first two wouldn't go on to the final volume. I enjoyed this series a lot and I will definitely be reading more of Höst's books in the future.

4.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog. show less