Genre:
Young Adult/ Paranormal
Description:
The final
book of the Portal Chronicles
series, which brings to conclusion the time-and-dimension-hopping
adventures of the two Arizonas, Arizona Stevens and her alter ego in
another dimension, Arizona Darley.
Author:
Globetrotter
Imogen Rose is Swedish by birth, went to college in London (where she
received a PhD in immunology), and is now a Jersey girl. After her
eight-year-old daughter insisted she write down her stories, Rose
wrote the first of her Portal
Chronicles series and decided
to let it out into the world. The response was so positive that she’s
continued with the series, and started two other series.
Appraisal:
The covers
of past Portal Chronicles
books each depicted a new moon phase. Imogen Rose set herself up to
have to wind up the series with this book, with a full moon on the
cover. I’ve read several times in several different venues that
Rose is a “pantser” rather than an outliner and didn’t know
where the story was going; I was interested in seeing how she’d
wrap up the overall story line. I saw two logical conclusions, which
I won’t detail to avoid spoilers, but will say that one of my ideas
left room for some of the characters from this series to find their
way into Rose’s Bonfire
Chronicles or Bonfire
Academy series (a very real
possibility since the world’s occupied by all of her books have
some overlap and we’ve seen some characters appear in both). This
still seems possible, while also bringing Arizona’s tale to a
logical end, not unlike what I’d pictured, but ultimately a bit
different and even better than what I was thinking. Actually, it was
the perfect ending. One that should leave most Portal
Chronicles fans satisfied.
Reaching
the end of a favorite series, which this has become, is bittersweet.
The cliché says that all good things must come to an end, and I
suppose that’s right. A book series that goes on too long often
falls into the trap of too much repetitiveness and formula, and I
appreciate that the Portal
Chronicles are concluding
before that had a chance to happen. I’ve enjoyed watching Rose grow
as a storyteller and author, and look forward to continuing to do so
as her other series progress.
FYI:
I would
recommend reading the entire series. Reading the books piecemeal or
out of order would leave a reader confused and lacking necessary back
story.
A small
amount of adult language.
Added
for Reprise Review: Fusion
was a nominee in the Young Adult category for B&P 2014 Readers'
Choice Awards. Original review ran March 13, 2013
Format/Typo
Issues:
My review
is based on a beta version of this book, so I’m unable to judge
this area.
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 75-80,000 words
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