The first book left me hopeful, excited and eager to know what happens next. The second book left me completely devastated wanting nothing to do with the series. I’ve listened to the third book and I feel a mix of sadness, disappointment, frustration and small glimmer of possible hope. I finished listening to this book within two and a half days and committed to finding out what happens next so I’ll definitely read the next book hoping beyond hope that there is possibly for Chris and Alaina to be together.
I have found myself completely addicted to the characters (excluding Maria), I want to cheer for them and really find myself craving every detail. I’ve gone as far as rereading parts of the book after already listening to the audio version.
My largest frustration was in bringing back Chris, Chris easily became one of my favorite characters as is Alaina. In many ways I like the relationship with Alaina and Jack, it has an obvious sexiness to it, the sex they share. My issue is I feel deep down that Chris’s love for Alaina is unconditional and much more pure and authentic. I find myself desperately hoping that Alaina will see Chris’s love and go back to it, if their relationship was once perfect then it could easily still be perfect if given the opportunity.
I hate seeing Chris and Maria together, Maria is awful as a character and treats Chris horribly and has been manipulating him from the beginning. Looking back and reading the books I realized that Maria lied to Alaina making up things Chris said and began putting seeds of doubts about her love for Chris in their conversation on the trail, right after Chris arrived. She constantly tears Chris down with insults, criticism, and tirades. My hope is that it was his brain injury keeping him from seeing the truth.
In rehashing and looking back over book 1 & 2, I realized that Jack really did push Alaina to accept that her relationship with Chris was over. One of Jack’s first questions to Alaina on the plane was why they didn’t trade seats, he also brought it up again in one of the fights when she was struggling over letting go of Chris in an rage at her. He helped cement the doubt of the marriage being over. Those are not acts of true love. When Jack stormed the room after Chris first arrived, Jack quickly confessed to his plan to leave if she didn’t choose him. Threatening to leave was not putting her and the babies first, it’s not an act of love. He also hid the fact that their was possibility Chris might still be alive and he never felt guilt for hurting her for hiding the secret just fearful he might loose her over it, I felt that most of Jack and Alaina’s love was and is built on wild sex and it’s obviously good sex. Looking back I even started to feel like Jack is in someway manipulative in toying with her emotions manipulating her into a way of thinking but neither her no the island group suspect it.
I was left moderately hopeful at the end of book 3 that maybe there is a chance for Alain and Chris to reunite and have the opportunity to fall in-love again. I just fear she is trapped in complete infatuation that Jack is the perfect teen heartthrob that can do no wrong and it doesn’t make it any easier with him giving her twins. My biggest frustration is that it feels Chris’s will only truly be happy if he is free to be completely in-love with Alaina and I feel he deserves to be with the Alaina and I do think the Alaina would easily fall back in-love with the Chris if given the opportunity. Alaina and Chris both seem to deserve each other with both their caring and loving hearts. I just don’t see how Chris will be able to pull Alaina from the not-so-perfect heartthrob that she can’t say no the moment he touches her.