Ami's Hoard

** THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER-Y AND THOSE SPOILERS ARE NOT BEHIND SPOILER-TAG. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! **

I am going to steal a chapter of my friend, Katie's review, "this is one of my favorit series, bitches!" so it's going to take a collosal failure for me to not liking the book.

While the book was not perfect, but I thought it was another story well-done. The authors wrote at the beginning of this book with "some really big things happen in this book. It reads like the final book in the series, but it’s not", so I was really preparing myself for some big things.

And big did it came!! The moment that Hugh D'Ambray brought the corpse being shredded by a shifter during the meeting between the Pack and the People, the story just moved really fast and I was sucked into it easily. I thought Hugh D'Ambray was a worthy villain. It was actually exciting to see him taunting Kate and played around with her life. He was insane and it was easy to hate him ... but he was the kind of villain I could live with.

I was also happy with Ghastek playing a quite significant role. I loved that moment with Kate and Ghastek when they were both being captured by Hugh -- it was quite a tender moment: how Ghastek told Kate about his past and told her his true name. I was also truly excited to read about Desandra (she kicked ass, that woman!) and Robert (part of the Wererat Alpha) and Ascanio to be in Kate's team this time around. It was good to have another secondary characters having their time to shine.

And we finally met Roland. How awesome was that?!? You know, I honestly thought that Roland was more than meets the eye. I didn't believe that Roland would be a two-dimensional villain. In fact, with how Roland told Kate how much he loved Kate's mother, I thought Roland definitely admired his daughter. Yes, he was seemingly manipulative -- with his demand of Curran stepping down from being Beast Lord and Roland actually pushed Kate to claim Atlanta -- but I thought his relationship with Kate would be one that was complicated and exciting. In fact, I wonder if Roland will actually be in Curran and Kate's life in the future, including teaching Julie some magic stuffs. That will be interesting.

Now ... that ending... of Curran and Kate resigning from the Pack. I actually found that interesting development and actually a believable one. Don't get me wrong, I love the Pack, and I am going to miss a lot of them if they're not part of the story. However, I also thought that Curran and Kate could do a lot more NOT being part of the Pack. When I read Roland's demand again, he clearly stated this ...

"You alone are enough of a threat. The two of you together at the helm of that many shapeshifters is too clear a statement for me to ignore. You’ll be seen as actively opposing me. I want you to leave the Pack"

I thought it was the fact of Kate and Curran "leading" the Pack that Roland didn't want. It didn't really say that Kate and Curran couldn't work with the Pack, did it? With Jim becoming the leader of the Pack, he can still make friends with Kate and Curran in protecting the city, can't it? So maybe THIS is the best thing for Kate and Curran, especially after Kate claiming Atlanta as her own.

I didn't think Roland's demand as a dead card. I thought there were still a lot that Kate and Curran could do in the meanwhile. Kate could get back to Cutting Edge, for example. In fact with the Order of Atlanta now being in wreck after Ted's death, MAYBE Kate could even take leadership of it. She could restructure the Order, shape it on her wishes, make the Order a powerful force and a respectful one, some sort of Knights to protect Atlanta. I just think the is SO MUCH possibilities now that Curran is no longer Beast Lord and Kate is no longer Consort.

Now when it came to my biggest complaint ... it would be on how the traitor plot was treated. While having Jennifer as the traitor was reasonable -- she was the one hating Kate so much -- I also thought it was too easy of an answer. It didn't really surprising, you know? When the traitor plot was introduced, I was making all sort of theories, I wanted it to surprise me.

So yeah, Jennifer as the traitor was NOT shocking but at the same time, I could understand if it had to be her. Because all other alternatives were going to make me upset. Having said that, I wish that the scene with Desandra ripping Jennifer off is on page. Call me bloodthirsty, but I disliked how that written off page. I wanted to see Jennifer suffer, after everything that she did.

Okay, clearly this review was longer than I intended it to be ... so I'd better stop now. I just can't wait to read the next three stories. I wonder what kind of changes that Ilona and Gordon will bring to Kate's world in the aftermath of this one...