Unfurl by Cidney Swanson

Against all expectations, Samantha Ruiz has survived attacks by two of Helmann’s deadliest assassins. She’s alive, but she’s far from safe. Helmann is planning a second Holocaust and wants Sam to play a starring role. Will, meanwhile, separated from Sam by an ocean, seeks a way to prevent Helmann’s apocalypse. Along with Sir Walter and Mickie, Will plays a deadly game sneaking into Geneses’ facilities, discovering unsettling clues as to Helmann’s plans. The clock ticks down as Will and Sam discover just how much they must be willing to sacrifice to stop Helmann. UNFURL, the powerful conclusion to The Ripple Series, will leave fans breathless.

My Thoughts:

Well, this is definitely an interesting series. I've been through some ups and downs with this series and I'm slightly sad to see this series end. I'm sure though that the author has some more book sup her sleeve. Maybe some paranormal romance books. 

Anyway, since I don't want to give the entire series away, I'll list some positives and some negatives. I think some of the negatives will seem the same, since the same issues I had before were still prevalent in this third book, but I'll list them anyway. 

Oh, and if you want to read the other reviews in this series, check it out here and here. 

Okay, so here are the positives:

1) Nice ending

I have to say, Cidney Swanson ended this series with a nice and light touch and even alluded to some future books. She ended it with some hope and promise. I liked it a lot. 

2) Will and Sam

I loved the fact that we got to see both perspectives of the characters. For so long, we've seen everything through Sam's eyes but now we get this last book through a fresh perspective.

3) Fast Paced . . . At least, after the climax

At first, the book moved a bit slow for my taste. However, as I progressed through half of the book, it seemed that the pace picked up. But once the solution to the problem was solved before the final fifty pages, it slowed back down. But for a while the book did move pretty fast and I wish there was more of that fast pace movement int he book. 

Negatives:

1) Same old bad guy

"I will rule the world!" Yeah, so not my thing. I just get so tired of the same plot, same story, same execution. I would have loved something new here. Any new twist that would have re-freshened this old plot. 

2) Convenient solution to problems

Solution to the problem was way too easy. There was no thought to it at all. And it wasn't an easy solution to just one problem in the book, but multiple times this happened. 

There were many times where the author could have delved deep and made her character really think and change because of a choice. However, the author chose the easy way out and kept all of the characters the same and not dynamic at all.

You would think over the course of three books the main characters would change or find something major. Sure, Sam found out she could ripple (a.k.a. disappear into thin air) which is awesome.  However, I still                                                                    think something else should have happened. 

I guess after all of these adventures and discovery, I would expect a character would go through some changes. Instead we get the same characters throughout. I expected some change in some characters but ALL of them stayed the same. To me, this is just unrealistic. 

3) Predicable

Like I mentioned before, the same plot, same story to me. I could tell what was going to happen after the first few chapters. Now the climax did throw me. But the solution of the problem was predicable. So some parts were easy to see, but the climax threw me for a loop.

Overall impression: Would I recommend this series?

I would say yes if a predicable plot wouldn't bother people. It would bother me. A lot. However, I know some predictability in novels is okay for some people.

I would give this book definitely to my middle school readers since it's a clean young adult fantasy book for them. 

Anyone else is fair game, just dependent on taste. 

Anyway those are my thoughts about this entire series. Tune in for the next review!

  

Emma Benson's view of life was crafted by the death of her brother as a child, abandonment by her father and later, the man she trusted she would marry, until David Schlosser-back in town after years in New York writing best-selling novels-threatens her neatly tended life. Romance blooms. Emma and David eventually persevere in the face of tragedy, refusing to leave their dreams behind.