Review: Desperate Reflections - Shay West

Ok guys, first up there is some major spoilers for the first two books in this review, and second, if you have absolutely no idea what will happen, look away now. (However, I think what I say is kind of a given). You've been warned...

Alex's powers are steadily growing as she experiments with them and learns more about what she can do. In this book, we see her struggle dramatically with the weight of responsibility put on her by her powers as well as having more family issues to deal with when her mother begins dating again. The tension builds as things get a lot more personal with Drifter and his Master. Alex seeks out some old friends and finally gets the help she has been sorely lacking in. Her life is getting ever more dangerous, and Drifter gets ever more desperate to end her life.

Wow, what a finale. The tension is ridiculous in this book and the emotions are soaring. The thing I told you I was waiting for in the last review? It totally happened and I couldn't be happier. Turns out it was kind of integral that it did and it works out ever so well. It's pure awesome. As said before, you can guess some of the plot, however in this book you can't guess all of it. You're sitting there, entranced, wondering how on earth Alex is going to survive all this.

Ok, there are a couple of things nagging at me. Alex yet again doesn't develop hugely as a character apart from with the whole family thing, but it isn't such a huge development and nothing actually feels life-altering. She will still be the same girl and act in the same way after this book. This is alright really as the pacing and the rest of the plot carry this through, but some extra character arc would have been quite nice.

The other? The mantra. By this point 'Get a grip, Alex' is being used so frequently as Alex begins to completely freak out that it actually begins to grate on you. There are only so many times you can read the exact same sentence before it becomes really boring and kind of annoying. Sometimes it's good to mix up phrasing!

So this book has a great ending. It's full of emotion and has been built up slowly through the books to get to this one final showdown. The book actually gets pretty terrifying as things get very real very quickly. It's no longer about time travel.. it's about a sadistic madman tracking down a teenage girl so he can kill her. I loved that her two lives pretty much collide in this last book. It is a very fulfilling ending, I loved how it played out and how everything came together.

Desperate Reflections on Goodreads

Kyra_x

Review: Twisted Reflections - Shay West

As if Alex didn't have enough to deal with, the evil prescence that precedes her into the past now definitely wants to kill her. This time she discovers something new though; another traveller.

I was once again immersed into Alex's world as she tries to balance friendship, work and boys with her supernatural time travel powers. The threat to her life is becoming more apparent, and her powers are also growing as she realises she is capable of more than she expected.

In this, the second book in The Adventures of Alexis Davenport, we discover more about the evil men and Alex's worries keep on piling up. Admittedly, I kind of guessed a lot about who these people were so nothing really came as a shock to me as there were a few hints given out beforehand. I couldn't get over how brilliant this book would be for teens as the pace is very fast and it has all of the same worries that young adults do at that age. However, this does begin to verge on the more adult side as it delves into sex, stress and work.

Alex as a character hasn't really grown too much in this book. Sometimes it even feels as if she takes one step back in her development as she begins to make the same mistakes that she did in the first book, especially towards the end of the story.

As always, the historical part was really interesting. This time Alex takes a trip to Ancient Egypt, Thebes and 1980's Scotland, so it's pretty varied! She is an important figure in both of the ancient places she is taken to, being Tutunkhamun's queen and a Spartan Princess, and finds herself in situations that some of us may recognise from history.

There are a few things that I am just dying to see happen. Again, the story is pretty easy for me to suss out, but perhaps a teenager will simply enjoy the reading rather than get dragged into thinking things through too much. I am wondering whether I will be right again, so I can't wait to get my hands on the final book.

I love this series. It is so readable, interesting and very enjoyable despite my small issues. This book sets up perfectly for the finale.

Twisted Reflections on Goodreads

Kyra_x