The good part, Travis Baldree was amazing as always. Books 1&2 were great, but that may have made this worse!
(Edit) After some reflection most of my outrage has nothing to do with book 3. But, that is because it is sort of light and enjoyable, since nothing really progresses I’d say it is filler. However, I would have preferred more of that instead of book 4. ( end Edit) (now if only I can stop editing and adding to this review!)
This was an overwhelming silly book. The MC can no longer think. In books 1&2 the MC makes informed decisions using the experience of his past life. But, in this book he can only make the worse most implosive and emotional decisions. The worst part is that these decisions and just the MC reaction to other people. After finishing I struggle to remember the MC doing anything on his on initiative in books 3&4. It felt like he was just dragged around for 2 books. Who is this MC? What happened to the MC from books 1&2?! Why can’t anyone talk to anyone else about anything that happened?
The closer book 4 got to the end, the sillier it became. I can’t even talk about all the silly things for fear of spoiling. This book took the buildup from book’s 1&2 and just wasted it. Internal consistency, what is that? Character consistency? You can just throw that out the window to add more emotion, again, and again, and again.
The flow of books 1&2 revolved around the MC making decisions and exploring the world. There were some coincidences, two particular meeting, and the MC even gained a special item through coincidence. But, throughout the story I felt like the author really did the leg work to get from point A to point B. What the author wanted to happen in book 4 was really contrary to what was previously setup. He had to move lots of characters around in a very artificial way in order to have the conclusion he wanted, but without leaving the setting that has been solidifying.
This lead to a climax in book 4, where the characters acted out of character, a villain was created for the MC that lacked the motivation to carry out his acts, And finally, the MC could only do everything the worst possible way, emotionally, reactionally, without thought or consideration. But, even then, things would have been radically different if the timing was even slightly different for anyone leaving or entering the last part of book 4. A quick count brings me to 5 perfectly timed arrivals or departures to arrive at the authors desired outcome. It was maddening!
Honestly, this book (book 4) felt like a completely different author took over and just did what ever he wanted. What a disappointment.