I have been a fan of the series since i first purchased book one and have enjoyed the ever growing series. That being said, this story felt a bit rushed and some of the characters don’t seem to line up with the ending of the last book.
There are three huge missed opportunities that were missed in this book, gizmo, tournament fights, and the crossovers.
The first one I can let slide since a realistic reason for her lack of presences was presented, but to introduce a cool character towards the end of the last book then not have them in the next book is a bit crazy. second, the tournament was seeming to lack structure. I know it was a plot device for the final fight, but fighting tournaments are one of the greatest aspects of video game, anime, and comics. after the first one i lost most interest in the fights and even the boss battle was meh. lastly, i don”t believe jane and m were fully utilized to their potential. the introductions were cool, but they become background characters. one of the greatest aspects of the prior books was the lack of background characters. each one had their own purpose, but this book seemed to introduce space fillers.
all those negatives being said, i did enjoy this book, even if the characters had seemingly no growth from the last book to this one. it was an enjoyable book that I believe will set up the next book to be the best in the series. i’d recommend it to only people who have read the previous books and continue with the series