Flame, by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Flame (Sky Chasers #3), by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Science-Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Dystopia, Romance

Rating: 4/5 stars

Publication: January 7, 2014, by St. Martin's Griffin

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)




Goodreads Summary: In the thrilling conclusion to the Sky Chasers series Waverly, Kieran, and Seth struggle to survive on-board the New Horizon—and take down their enemies before it's too late.

Waverly and the other members of the Empyrean have scattered, and their home ship has been destroyed. Their mission to rescue their parents didn't go as planned, and now they're at an even greater disadvantage: trapped with their enemies on the New Horizon, trying to find a way to survive. Kieran has been pulled under Anne Mather’s wing, but is she really trying to make peace, or just using Kieran to build her own power? Meanwhile, Waverly is taken in by a mysterious old man who wants to help her bring Anne Mather down—but the more Waverly cooperates with him, the more dangerous her position is, and the more at odds with Kieran she becomes.

Seth's situation is even worse. After setting out from the Empyrean on his own, with only a vague strategy to guide him, he is a fugitive aboard the New Horizon. He's doing what he can to challenge the power of Anne Mather, but he's badly hurt, and getting sicker.

Will Seth ever see Waverly again? Will his health hold out long enough to help her topple their enemies? And will Waverly find a way to unite with her friends before they all fall? Nothing is sure and every moment is a risk in this explosive finale of the Sky Chasers series.

Review:

  From a thrilling start to an okay middle, we all expect either the good or the bad for the ending. I'm very proud to admit that Amy Kathleen Ryan has done it again with Flame. This was a heart-pounding thrilling ending to the trilogy, and she just topped it off with the perfect ending that we never would've imagined happening in the first book. 

   I'd really like to begin talking about that ending first. So this was my reaction when I was done with the book:

     I just couldn't believe it came out like that. I guess you could say that it was a sad ending in a way (if you like Waverly and have your ships for her) but I say that it was the best ending that was suited for this trilogy. I mean, I never saw it coming from the start. It was a major plot twist that just flipped things around from the ordinary. Waverly was absolutely suited to have that kind of ending. She was too spoiled and everything had to revolve around her during the past times, so now it's her turn to not be happy. (Oh em gee I sound so mean, but I really hate Waverly.) I was going to give this book a 3.5/5 star rating, but when the amazing ending showed up, I just had to give it a 4. 

       As most series go, this book started off where Spark ended. The previous book didn't have a huge plot twist or surprise at the end, so it's not like we start off with a huge action scene or anything. Everything's chill but you still are asking the book many questions, that you really want to be answered by the end of this book. And I have to admit, all of my questions were answered, and that's the magic of Amy Kathleen Ryan. So the Empyrean has been destroyed, and everyone's scattered around everywhere, basically. It's like the aftermath of a war or natural disaster. People are depressed, people are crying, and some people are still looking for revenge and evilness to get back on people. The key thing in this book is the people's survival. Some children are totally orphaned, and others are happy. It's an up and down situation, and supposedly Waverly and the other main characters are trying to create peace and make everything back to the way it's supposed to be, and part of making peace is bringing Anne Mathers down. Haha, you must be thinking:

        And guess what? She... well you'll have to go onto my Goodreads review to see that spoiler if you really need to. :) Just let me begin with my Waverly-hate on this matter. So we all know that Anne and Waverly have been enemies from the start, right? Well when something happens to Anne, Waverly gets all sad and holds her hand and feels so much pity. Pity, you ask? Yes, pity. *grumpy cat face* I just don't freakin' understand! You're enemy is dying living, and YOU'RE HOLDING HER HAND AND FEELING PITY? Anne was a total bitch and I have to admit that they both deserved to DIE. I finally let my anger out on that matter, phew.

          The plot was pretty slow in the middle. The beginning and ending were absolutely awesome and Ryan definitely knew how to captivate us in and out. Since this was the ending, so many things were happening and our questions were getting answered all throughout the book, so I will never classify and say that I was bored with this book, because that's just *Last Book Sin*. 

           But I do have to say that the characters were hideous. For a while, I have never seen such a horrible group of characters-- and that really saddens me to say. We all depend on characters, love characters, and relate to characters, but in this book, I cannot even say that we were close to at least disliking them, I was hating them so much that I wish I could've traded them in for some other people. This was probably because of their stupidity, choices, and emotions. Every character, and I'm pointing to you, Waverly, was stupid. These people did not know what to do in the worst case situations and somewhat went on the bad people's side. It just confuses me! And their mood swings, UGH. Waverly's all nice and happy then she turns so cruel and mean. 

          "At one time, Waverly and Lena had been close and had even belonged to the same book club. They used to laugh together at one witty novel or another, giggling at passages, eyes alight as they imagined the green pastures of preindustrial England."

           Oh, I understand why they're not close anymore... *creepy grin*

            But there was one character who really stood out and shined in this book for me, and that was Seth. I used to hate this guy in the previous books, but I actually really love him.

                 Just like that. 

                 And I don't really want to get started on the romance because of Kieran and Waverly. Since I hated both of them, I didn't really see any nice connection because Waverly was a) trying to fight but was really bad or b) being cranky. So I don't know.

                  So the characters took out one major star from the book, and you probably know that I have hated them since the beginning, but Waverly has gotten worse during every book. But in conclusion, the ending was absolutely spectacular and was a very enjoyable read.

                   "What do I have that you could possibly want?" Waverly said, pulling her cardigan closer around her. He leaned back in his chair, studying her. "I want what everyone wants: peace." "Seems to me everyone wants power," Waverly shot back.