NICOLE'S REVIEW: Shadow of the War Machine by Kristin Bailey

Title: Shadow of the War Machine

Author: Kristin Bailey

Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: February 3 2015

Publishing House:  Simon Pulse

ISBN: 144246805X

Source of Copy: Edelweiss

Summary: 

Meg has come a long way from her days as a lowly housemaid, driven to learn the truth behind her parents' murder. She's since discovered that they were part of the Secret Order of Modern Amusementists - an underground society of inventors. Determined to reclaim her heritage, she joined the Amusementists as an apprentice, but that hasn't brought her closer to the person responsible for the loss of her family: the man in the clockwork mask.

Now he is coming for her. But Meg is tired of being hunted and intends to become the hunter. With help from Will, the boy who holds her heart, Meg embarks on an adventure that takes them far from the cold London winter and into the heart of France.

But the City of Light is filled with dark shadows. There's a plot afoot that could turn the tides of a terrible war, and cost the lives of millions - that is, if it doesn't take the lives of everyone Meg holds dear, including her own.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

Before I even begin to review this book I just want to say sorry for being MIA the past few months. I've recently moved to Vancouver and it was a bit hard for me at first, having to uproot myself from friends and family but it was something I needed to do. Thank you to everyone who's still checking out the blog and for not abandoning us. You guys rock. Anyway, now that that's over with it's on to the review! (Hopefully I get to blog more often now.)

It's time for the hunted to become the hunter. Meg is sick and tired of living in constant fear and worry, she's determined to put an end to the man in the clockwork mask's diabolical scheme and his reign of terror. 

Let's cut to the chase. The ending? Lacklustre. Anticlimactic. I seriously did not expect it to end this way. The villain turned out to be textbook, a little boring and one-dimensional. I mean having read the first two books and finding myself quite invested in the story, this is just incredibly disappointing.  

The romance? Meh. The truth is, after the first book the romance kind of just sizzled out and I couldn't bring myself to cheer for the Meg and Will any longer. It was like now that they're together the tension and sparks and heat between them just disappeared. Woohoo! Together forever, who cares about keeping the sparks/love/lust alive? Don't get me wrong, Will is Meg's rock, her pillar of strength, but he kind of had more similarities with a rock than with an actual human being. He was that boring! I can't even remember what role he played anymore.

The characters? I would have liked them to be fleshed out more. I mean it's the last book in the series! Better end it with a bang, right? But as I was reading this, I found myself slowly losing interest in everyone.

One thing I might have slightly enjoyed were the twists the author introduced in the story. And the battle scenes. Although truth be had the battle scenes were kind of wrong, like they didn't quite fit the story. It's like when you're playing tetris and you get the Z shaped block and you're going all "This should fit here but somehow it doesn't ohmygosh I don't get it!!!!" Well. That's just me probably but seriously there was just something strange about the battle scenes, like they were somehow forced so characters could be killed off and voila! They lived happily ever after.

So to sum this review up -the last book in The Secret Order series was very disappointing. I wish it would've ended with a bang, but I guess not. The characters were boring, the villain was textbook and everything was wrapped up in a cute little bow. 

Thank you to Simon Pulse for the advanced copy.

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