Unchanged (Unremembered #3)

Unchanged by Jessica Brody
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Talk about a fantastic ending to a series. Brody has really given us an incredible, emotionally-laden conclusion that winds things up perfectly.

In this third and final book, Sera has changed dramatically. We knew this would happen at the end of the second book; it's no surprise that she's returned home and has somewhat reverted to the person she originally was. The world has been established with only a few missing details, one being the ultimate goal of the evil corporation. There are a few new characters and relationships, but it's the story that really changes more than the players.

Aaaannnnd . . . enter the complicated love triangle. This one was relatively well done because the protagonist is so sympathetic. We feel her pain and are as conflicted as she is.

Sera was a frustrating character in this book. But understandably so; the story is set up so that we're supposed to be frustrated with her. She doesn't behave out of character but rather as expected within the confines of her situation. It's the situation and the way it resolves that is the thing that made me crazy. Sera is smart, conflicted, wary, driven. She's logical. She evolves naturally through to the end; things never felt forced or contradictory in terms of the way she handled a situation. Her choices may not always have been good, but they were certainy understandable.

Zen is absent for the first two-thirds of the book. And when he makes his entrance, boy is he changed! Brody was expert at keeping the tension very taut here. She danced the tightrope of heartbreak while never allowing us to lose our hope in the romance. To do this while placing Zen in the center of the action was really well done. That's good writing.

Kaelen is the real change here. He is a completely different character than in the second book, almost but not quite to the edge of believability. Brody maintains some thread of a connection to the character we initially met through his devotion to the cause. The distinction between he and Sera is well-established. And their romance is again, just at the edge of believability. Brody plays with the nature vs. nurture idea here very well.

Even the bad guy shows another facet, making him much more complicated. Alixter is still a horrible character but at least we understand some semblance of why. Not that it matters, really. He's bad enough for us to still not forgive him.

In some ways the plot was underdeveloped in spots; the ending, while not forced, could be seen as rushed. But those elements that Brody gave a lighter hand could easily be addressed in a novella. There were no real lags in the action and things moved along at a good pace. The ending was nothing short of spectacular.

On audio, the book was narrated by Julia Whelan. She's an excellent, talented narrator. For me, this was made even better by increasing the narration speed to twice as fast. The dialogue and characters were oddly enhanced by doing this. It didn't sound unnatural at all.

This is a great series. It deserves any and all hype it receives because of it's diversity within a basic plot line. There's a lot to enjoy here. I loved it.

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