Is it possible that I love The Last Hope more than I loved The Raging Ones? Yes, yes it is possible.

I enjoyed this sci-fi genre bending YA romance adjacent duology with all my human heart.

This conclusion was interesting. Actually, it was very different from what I was expecting. Which isn’t bad at all – just notable.

Again, the authors know how to spin a well thought through and captivating story. A brand new plot, a new directive, and a glimmer of hope.

After enduring the cliffhanger from book 1 I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. I had to know what was happening with my favorite trio. Color me ecstatic when I found out that there was someone else just waiting in the wings – to complete the trio in a way.

The bond between Franny, Court, and Mykal was as strong as ever, and the history of such a bond turned out to be as unique as the trio itself.

I still felt that the balance between the three was off at times, especially since Franny felt more like a third wheel than an equal partner. I wanted her to have someone to connect with on a deeper level as well. Someone that would balance it all out. I did get my wish in a sense – but it wasn’t entirely satisfying.

The entire book wasn’t as satisfying as The Ratings Ones. Even though I love the authors’ writing style, I still feel like this duet was a pale comparison to their other books. On the other hand for someone that has never read anything by this author duo, and is a lover of all things YA and fantasy this duet would be a fantastic place to start with. It delivers everything a lover of all things sci-fi and YA might wish for. And it confirmed that I love sci-fi way more than YA fantasy.

Did not finish. I could not get into this one. I thought the characters fell kind of flat. I tried giving it 100 pages but it just was not working for me.

I don't know where these authors have been hiding but I need more books like this from them! Just....wow.

Full review to come closer to release date. I might just read this again before then!!

3.5 out of 5 stars

***ARC received from Wednesday Books and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

The Good

- Characters again are really good. The majority of this book is told from Franny's POV, it still has chapters from Court and Mykal's POV but Franny is definitely the main lead in my opinion. She's really the strong driver of the story, so much that you could almost cut out a majority of Court and Mykals chapters and not lose much. Franny is still struggling to find answers to who she is, how as a human she ended up on the Saltare planets. She feels like the most fleshed out of the characters, her fears, love, anger and want to trust people. There is a new character introduced, named Stork and I really liked him. He felt like Franny to me, complex wanting to be honest but still wanting to honor the trust put into him.

- Relationships/Romance. So, my dreams of an threesome didn't come true (dreams crushed...) but what we were given is just as good. The relationship between Stork and Franny is the slowest of the slow burns and the payoff isn't much but its beautiful.

- Finding a place you belong with people that aren't like you was a big theme in the first book. Court, Franny and Mykal all struggled finding their place in Stardust, knowing that not only are they linked but that they can be injured and die. Its expended in this book and handled in a really nice way. The authors do a great job of creating characters that feel real with expected emotions and struggles, a nice culture clash.

The Not So Good

- It kills me to say this because I loved him so much in the previous book but Mykal just didn't work for me in this book. In the last book, when he struggled to fit into Stardust, admitting his own mistakes but learning from and not letting other change him was nice. Now he turned into a one note character, almost all his chapters are dedicated to him pining over Court. Mykal was careful in the last book, trying to protect his friends but here he announces about his relationship with Court even though he knows, or at least should know, that being guarded around strangers is the best way to protect people.

- Pacing is off in this book. There is a big mission that should have taken up the majority of the book, it feels important its treated like its important but in the end its just crammed into the back of the book. There is no urgency. The Raging Ones has a subtle tension running through the second half of the book, the worry of being discovered that was lacking in this book. I think if they had spend more time doing the mission instead of random stuff around the ship that tension would have been there.

Its not a bad book, it still has some really strong aspects to it the payoff just isn't there for what started as a strong sci-fi series for me.

This is the one series that has managed to cure my broken Sense8 heart and it’s sad to see it end.

“The Last Hope” finds our group waiting for the end following the revelation that they’re actually from Earth and it doesn’t take long before they find themselves thrown into a world where death is unpredictable and the only way to save humanity is to find a child who can be the key to it all, but nothing comes easy and with new enemies and allies coming into the fold, Court, Franny and Mykal find themselves relying on each other more than ever before.

I really do love the dynamic between these three and I think this book strengthened that love by showing us more of how the link works in both the happy and pain filled moments that carry this book through a bit of a muddied plot.

The characters themselves benefit from adding on more side players to really show this greater dynamic between what has always been and what will be and I really enjoyed seeing it all come together. I was especially happy to meet Stork who fit in and stood out perfectly as we slowly learned his past and his motivations for the future and I can’t decide which of the three I enjoyed him interacting with more.

The entire backstory as to why they were raised away from earth and how they ended up linked was so well done and that was one of the moments I was most worried about as it could have easily became corny but it really set the stage for what was to come which I rather enjoyed.

The plot though, gets a little iffy around the last quarter but as I said above I was already too connected to the characters to really stop and ask questions that there probably aren’t real answers to which is fine for me but it might not work for everyone. I think it offers a happier kind of message in terms of what exactly hope is and how that can transfer to real life so that much I was fine with it was just the one thread I’m unsure actually gets resolved but I’m going to pretend it does just so I can sleep peacefully at night.

I really like this series and as I mentioned earlier it already has a few “what’s going on? 🎶” moments to connect it to sense8 even further and for that I can’t dock it too many stars.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!!**

Absolutely loved this book! Such a great sequel that is just as interesting, if not moreso, than the predecessor! There's also a new character this go around and it's interesting watching him develop as the story goes along. Great sci-fi duology with a satisfactory ending.

The first book, The Raging Ones, left our heroes: Court, Franny, and Mykal, on quite the cliffhanger. The book follows the trio as they contnue to process all they've learned along with searching for answers for all they don't. Thrown into the unknown, they fight to each other safe.
This duology took a concept that I've always loved and took it to the next level. The idea of people being more connected than connected. Thrown together in a way you could never walk away from. The last book absolutely blew my mind, I loved the characters their dynamics and the fact that I never could quite predict what would happen next. Even within this book, I just went with the journey and had a great time.
This story is so fun, dramatic, dynamic, and somehow incredibly heartfelt all at once. Every turn of the plot is awesome, but every individual scene is equally as entertaining. The quality of this book really does blow me away. Considering that I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, this book is about people and love and finding peace, which is what I connect to.
I love the dialogue between all the characters who have such different relationships with each other. You have three characters who can feel, taste, and smell everything the others felt, so you know characters have weird relationships. People are funny in a very laugh-out-loud way, yet hits you in a very emotional way. I love this book. I loved this series, They authors have a special place in my heart listed under: inst-buy.

Cover appeal- The Last Hope has a very basic cover in comparison to a lot of books coming out, but I think that’s what makes it even more appealing. So many books lately have such intricate covers that the story inside doesn’t live up to the art. Looking at the cover of The Last Hope you can clearly tell that the book is sci-fi/fantasy based.

Story- At the end of The Raging Ones (book 1) I was completely left shocked by that twist. I had always assumed that the characters were human, but I never considered that everyone else wasn’t. It was such a good place to leave off that I was counting the days until the release of The Last Hope. Watching Court, Mykal, and Franny’s relationship evolve within their group and with other characters was great. The ending felt kind of random, but when you consider it’s sci-fi, I suppose it isn’t really. The epilogue was the perfect ending for the series and left me satisfied with the story. All the lose ends were tied up and the characters felt like they got the ending they deserved. I absolutely loved their main new character, but he is very reminiscent of one of the male protagonists in their romance series. My only real complaint was the planet names. Some paragraphs I’d get stuck on because it felt like I was constantly repeating the same sentence because Saltare was so over used.

Overall, this is a book I will preorder and reread multiple times.

The second in the duology that brings about the ending that you need to read. The action starts right off the bat. It is perfect for any sci-fi fans.
If you haven't read the first book start there!