Format: Paperback, 238 pages
Release Date: January 28th 2015
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Source: Library Loan
Genre: YA / SyFy
Ari Alexander is now
back on Earth, and the world she left behind has been turned upside
down. A new leader has risen to power, her friends have become her
enemies, and Jackson is thought to be trapped on Loge with her
archrival, Zeus.
Now Ari must determine who is the true enemy before Zeus attacks and Earth is forced into a battle of the dominant species.
Will Ari and Jackson’s love give them the strength to survive the greatest war in human history?
Collide is the third installment in author Melissa West's The Taking series. Collide begins on Earth where we find Ari Alexander injured, drugged and disorientated about the events that took place in Hover. She has no idea where everyone is, especially Jackson who was taken by Zeus, but she soon learns that she's being held and tortured by Kelvin Lancaster, a lead chemist and the alleged new leader of Sydia. Imminent war is brewing with Zeus and Lancaster truly believes that Ari holds the key to defeating the Ancients.
While her parents are alive, they are pawns in a game between Lancaster and Ari to ensure her cooperation. Ari is blackmailed by Lancaster into traveling to each of the remaining bases that are actually working in order to train new operatives to become like her. Half Human, Half Ancient. Along for the ride are Jackson, Vil, Gretchen, Cybil and Ari's father Grexie, the former Commander. Vil and Gretchen are tech wizards, while Ari and Jackson are trained operatives. To make matters even more interesting, Ari now has new abilities thanks to Emmy.
At each stop, Ari learns that the world she knew prior to being taken to Loge, has fundamentally changed for the worst. Half of Earth's defenses are offline. People are living underground. Parliament picked the people they wanted to survive, and thousands of humans are still dying either from the neurotoxin, or from Zeus and his people. Ari is being taunted every step of the way by Zeus who leaves her clues as to where he wants to face off in a final showdown. Ali was strong and determined in this book, and at points it seemed like she was fighting the war all on her own!
She took on so much responsibility, and somehow managed to live up to expectations against the odds. We also have the arrival of yet another ingredient to the series. One that I won't spoil. Let's just say that I was honestly afraid that things would end badly for everyone involved. There is a whole lot of loss in this book, some which hits close to home for Ari. There is also the fact that Ari has all but forgiven Jackson for his prior mistakes, and now they make a formidable team that can stand up to any danger.
The reason for my rating is that the ending battle is pretty much a let down. Yes, a new entity shows up, again, no spoilers. But the confrontation between Ari and Zeus falls flat. There was also Lawrence, but this part is a real spoiler. So, I'll say this, was Ari and Jackson hard on him? Yes. Did he deserve it? Yes, and no, especially when you find out what really happened. I also feel for Ari's father. Even though he was a real piece of work in the first installment, had it not been for his training of Ari, she would never had the skills to face the challenges she did.
Finally, I would recommend reading this series back to back. In fact, I am thinking about doing the same thing to other series which have either ended, or will end soon.
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