Blog Tour Stop : Collide by Melissa West
Summary (from Goodreads)Title : Collide (The Taking #3)
Author : Melissa West
Publication Date : February 9th 2015
Publisher : Entangled Teen
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Military legacy Ari Alexander has survived alien spies, WWIV, and a changing world order. But when the new leader of Earth uses Jackson—the only boy she's ever let herself care about—to get to her, Ari has no choice but to surrender.
To free Jackson, she agrees to travel to the national bases to train others to fight. What she discovers is a land riddled with dying people. Ari has the power to heal by turning the fighters into aliens—half-breeds like her. If she succeeds, together, they have a chance at overthrowing the alien leader, Zeus. But if she fails, everyone she holds dear will be wiped away forever.
Once again, everything Ari’s come to believe is thrown into question. In a world of uncertainty, loyalties are tested, lies are uncovered, and no one can be trusted. If Ari and Jackson have any hope at survival and at preserving a life for the future, they must fight the final war with their eyes wide open.
Personal Thoughts
I have been following this series ever since the release of Gravity back in 2012. I've grown to love and cherish these characters, but I was ready for the villains to be taken down in Collide. I went into the book, both with feelings of excitement and sadness for finishing this series. Ultimately, Melissa West ended this series on a good note and I am pleased with the way things ended.
The character growth in this series was phenomenal. I started off feeling rather indifferent to the protagonist, Ari, but over the course of the books, she has to started to rub off me in a good way. In Collide, you can tell that Ari was much stronger and much more badass than she ever was. I loved how strong and brave she remained throughout everything. She was, however, no superwoman. She faced death on almost a daily basis, and I honestly don't know how she dealt with it all. Her raw emotions during her scenes of grief were intense and reached to me in waves. I had a hard time not wanting to bawl my eyes out during this book Those turbulent events, however, served a purpose in her growth as an individual and I believe it helped her real strength emerge. Alongside Ari was her amazing boyfriend, Jackson. When I first read Gravity, I had some issues with Jackson. I actually didn't like him very much, but of course, like Ari, I have developed a lot of love and respect for him. He was downright swoony in this book and I'm happy to say that Jackson is one of my favorite male characters. He and Ari's relationship was sweet and one that was based on mutual respect. I loved how Jackson never put Ari down and that he supported her whatever her decision was. The swoony moments between the two of them were what gave me a sense of hope throughout Collide.
The villains in this series have always been wretched and truly despicable. I loved hating them, but I also wanted them to finally be taken down. I was also glad to see the role that Ari's parents played in this installment. I always appreciate it when the parents play as crucial of a part in the plot as the main character. As far as the plot went, it was intense in every way. From the start of the book, the reader is thrust into the midst of action and every time I thought I could take a breather, something crazy would happen and it would stress me out. I was honestly worried for the safety of these characters. Plus, Melissa West did not hold back with the body count and I was so nervous by the end. That being said, I was rather disappointed by the final battle. The book just kept building up to this epic fight with Jackson's grandfather and I wanted to watch him suffer, but the climax was a bit of a let-down. I don't think I got what I really wanted out of it. I also had some issues with the overly fast pacing of the book. Regardless, these issues didn't entirely tarnish my experience with Collide and I enjoyed the book overall.
The Taking series is one that I'm glad I checked out. If you enjoy action-packed sci-fi books with strong characters and a sweet romance, I highly recommend this series.
Rating
Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 3/5
**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**
Author Biography
Melissa West writes young adult and new adult novels for Entangled Teen and Embrace and Penguin/InterMix. She lives outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband and two daughters and spends most of her time writing, reading, or fueling her coffee addiction.She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.
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Thank you to YA Bound Book Tours for letting me part of this tour and to Entangled for the e-ARC of Collide.
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