Review: The Savage Dawn (The Girl at Midnight #3)

 

I can now happily mark this series off of my TBR list. I feel proud of myself as this final book was pushing 500 pages. I still do not believe it should have been that long of a book and I’ll get into that. Was it good? MEH. I’m underwhelmed when it came to the final book. It went on much, much longer than it should have.

Short recap: Echo, the Firebird, is in a race to save the world from Tanith, who is the vessel for the shadows.

My overall feelings towards this entire series are MEH at best. The first book blew me away, while the second was alright, and the third was struggling. I kept feeling more and more like I was reading another version of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. That’s awful, I know but the similarities between the two are just so strong. That being said, the story felt as if it wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. It didn’t feel very flushed out or developed. There are chapters and chapters where nothing happens. Not a thing. There are pointless conversations about food or long-winded descriptions of buildings. Two things should have been put in place of these gaps: 1) Nothing. Delete those suckers and move on. 2) Character development! *GASP* Who would have thought?! There are times that fighting or training stops so the characters can figure out their feelings for each other. WHAT? What is happening?! Good question! Why stuff 500 pages into this book with pointless similes and love triangles if you aren’t going to have these characters do anything worthwhile?! Oh yes, multiple love triangles. They are all annoying and will cause you to groan.

Here is the other very large thing that annoyed the snot out of me: this book is one giant simile. I would bet my book collection that if you took those pointless similes out, the final page number would shrink to almost half of its current size. Bet. Grey had to have spent a considerable amount of time thinking of phrases to use to compare everything to something else. “He jumped back from a ghost, like he was being scared at a Halloween haunted house.” Insert eye roll here. Give me a break. Pointless, unnecessary, and it certainly does not add anything to the story.

Let’s talk about the severe lack of character development. There was none. BOOM. These characters were the exact same as they were in book 2, which was disappointing. Echo has been through so much yet she was still the same petulant child from the start of the series. OH WAIT. MY BAD. There’s now a LOVE TRIANGLE that she’s in the middle of! Who does she love? Answer: Who cares. It’s a watered down romance at best. No gushy feels, no swoony moments, nothing to write home about. Remember the now bad person Tanith? Well, she is left alone a good majority of this story. She’s doing her thing with no effort on Echo or her team to find her. Jasper and Dorian kiss a couple of times, are angsty about it, then kiss some more. I have nothing to say about the rest of the characters because nothing happens. We do not ever find out what happens to the other characters – Ivy, Helios, the Ala, or anyone else – because they aren’t talked about. Don’t expect a resolution because it won’t happen.

I’m sure there is no need for me to talk about the (lack of a) plot within this story. The action scenes are far too few so it draws the story out to the point of near boredom. I wanted to DNF several times but forced myself to finish. Why? Just so I could say I did finish. I almost regret this. There are so many topics that were introduced, talked about a couple of times, then never mentioned again. It all made me confused and angry. Why give me so much information that had a lot of potential, only to not do anything with it? Was it all just for page fillers? I hope not but that is how it came across. The ending was practically a joke. It was completely predictable and very unfulfilling. I waited a long time to finish this series after such a strong start and I feel so let down. I will probably continue to read Grey’s books but I will be very hesitant. If you enjoyed this, I am happy for you and wish I could share in your excitement. This series proved that not every book is for every reader.