Review: The Countdown

The Countdown by Kimberly Derting
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

After the cliffhanger-ending of The Replaced (The Taking #02), this starts faster.
And a little yai for no love-triangle gets squashed by a love-square...
Bodycount is rather high and there are a few very bloody and gory scenes.
You have been warned. Trying to finish it today (August 1st, 2016).
As it is today the 3d, I obviously did not manage to finish the last 1.5 (or less) hours the 1st.
Just looked at my reviews of the 4star first book and 3 star second book and do not have much to add to the review of the second book, most also could be said for this book, and I had a hard time, even at the 50%, to get into it.
Again too much romance, no sex whatsoever.
Surprisingly high body-count, and more than 200 killed indirectly (off page - off screen for a movie).
Also very bloody and brutal, some cold, cold actions by the MC, and though she (and others) think about it, it was for "the greater good" and sometimes self-defence. But not all where really needed and necessary, imho. Given the no sex rule, this was typical US-style, violence, killing, blood, so it is ok for YA aimed at teenagers?
Although the 3 stars for this and the second are solid and the first even 4 stars, the whole 3 books did not grip and there was not as much suspense as say in the Mara Dyer trilogy. Also, the ebooks (Kindle) should have been cheaper, for all 3 I paid more than 25 Eur, which is way too much, with the first two books just under my self set 10 Eur barrier at which I would not have bought either.
Just checked amazon.de, now you can get all for 15 Eur, with the third book being the most expensive, but altogether that is just ok for this 3 books.
The ending, not to spoil it, I hope, was mostly as expected and after that an Epilogue, as a clean-up, so no loose ends dangle around. For me sex, and suspense where missing and while the action was ok, it did not grip me in any way. And did I mention, yeah, I did, too much romance.
The whole trilogy should be read on a rainy weekend, but given how long it took me to read it, with reading a different book in between the reading of the second book (Thirteen reasons why), then waiting for this book to be published, then waiting till I was in the mood to read it - so the conclusion is, I cannot recommend the trilogy.



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