Three.  That’s all it took.  Whereas some books use series, some use chapters, and some use pages of text, Reyolds began this book using three powerful, long sentences to get his point across.  Using his artistic talent, Jason Griffin grabbed those words and he chopped and stretched them.  Inserting his special touch, Jason manipulated those words, until he was left with a book that is equally part art and poetry.  To fully appreciate it, I read through it a few times.

It's the combination of art and verse that grabbed me.  The erratic use of language spread across this book, I thought for sure, it had to be more than three sentences for its message was worthy of a novel. I couldn’t help but feel the emotions this young man was experiencing and identify with his frame of mind.  Where is everyone?  Where was his own family?  His mother was physically glued to the TV, his father boxed in another room coughing, his brother lost inside his video games and the telephone was connected to his sister’s ear.  But, really where were they?  He’s looking for a sign in these individuals as his world spins relentlessly.  There’s too much going on and not enough solid answers, as the state of the world, the pandemic and his own world changes.  Why won’t his parents change the channel?  Why doesn’t anyone change the channel? An excellent hard-hitting question.

The contrasting use of color, the edgy images that spread across the page with the limited use of language allow this book to tap into your soul.  I felt energized yet also saddened as the truth this book conveyed hit me. This is not a book you should rush through but slow-down, appreciate those three sentences and the art that surrounds them.  Make sure you read Reynolds and Griffin section in the back of the book titled, “Is Anyone Still Here?”  I highly recommend this book.    

I'm wavering between 3.5 and 4 stars.  This first in a new series reads like it could almost be a middle grade story, except for one romantic scene which I know my niece, at least, would wrinkle her nose at.  It's still a great story, just rather more bright and optimistic than is usually offered to us jaded adults.  It also lacks the snark Neill is generally known for, but then again, her Devil's Isle series wasn't snarky either.  

Chloe Neill walks a fine line between imagining a world where women are common in historically male roles, and acknowledging the gender bias that exists in this one.  I'm not convinced she pulled it off; I'd have rather she stick to one truth or the other, but it wasn't problematic and didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.

Mostly, it's a new concept, and a new series, so I'd imagine there some growing pains and adjustments ahead, but it was a nice escape and I'm interested in seeing where future books take me and the characters.

'The Bright Lands' hit me in some unexpected places. This is a supernatural horror novel, but the foundation of it is a rural, working-class town with not much else going for it except "the good ol' days" and the success of its football team. The novel is set in Texas, but I saw parallels with my own town in Vermont.

The plot involves Joel, a successful financial wizard, getting a strange text from his younger brother Dylan that leads him to flying back home for the first time since he was publicly outed and humiliated at the end of high school. He's flown his family to him in New York rather than return to that place.

The night he returns to town his brother, the star of the football team, vanishes. Joel's ex-girlfriend is on the police force and, while working out their differences, they investigate the disappearance and uncover a lot more than they expected.

I can't go further into this without revealing too much, but on top of the supernatural dread, there were some real gems of small-town, homophobic existence. I want to say so much more, and I CAN'T, urghh. The most outlandish parts of this book are so real. As a gay man I often can only look on  bemused and sad at the knots a community will twist into, even in this day and age, around an obvious truth. 'The Bright Lands' is about many things, but its mostly about the cankers that form around secrets and the cost paid to maintain them.

He climbed down to the dry riverbed, hurting all over but more or less functional. His forehead felt warm and wet. He put his hand up, felt the slickness of blood, and wiped it away, reminding himself that head wounds always bleed like crazy.

 

He knew too much about damage to human bodies.

This post is overdue (as was reading this in the first place), and I can't seem to find time to do it right. So, I won't. Here's a quick and dirty way to get it taken care of. I wish I had it in me to do a better job, but I don't. Here's the blurb taken from Petrie's site:

If I had the time to do this properly, here are the things I'd be talking about.

At multiple points both Peter and June note that Peter's having fun when it's dangerous, when things are violent, when the bullets are flying. As a reader, this is great—you don't see Reacher, Charlie Fox, Evan Smoak, etc. enjoying things quite like this. But I'm a little worried about what it says about him as a person.

We get some good backstory on Peter—before he enlisted.

On a related note, Peter has a family! A well-adjusted, not violent, family.

Lewis is back from the first book—he's essentially Hawk and Pike with flair. His growing family ties are a real strength of character.

June is tough, capable, smart. She's complex in a way that most characters in this role usually aren't, and really ought to be.

The villains in this novel are great. Their motives are complex, they don't approach things the way you think they're going to (up to the last couple of chapters).

While trying not to give too much away, I appreciate that Ash doesn't have a scorched-earth approach to his opponents in either book.

Best of all, in the middle of the technothriller stuff, the action hero stuff, and all the rest, there's a real attempt to portray what a vet with PTSD goes through. How it molds everything he does, but doesn't define him.

The biggest compliment I can give is this: it kept me awake when I should have been. Since I got my new CPAP last summer, I haven't been able to read more than 2-5 pages with it on before I'm out like a light. So imagine how shocked I was when I realized that I'd barreled through over 50 pages one night! That's a feat.

This is a great thrill-ride, I'm not going to wait another year and a half before I get to the next one (it's sitting on my shelf as we speak). I strongly recommend the Peter Ash books.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I am so glad that I finally read this book! I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of this book near its release date but it fell through the cracks somehow. As more time passed, I realized that I would need to refresh my memory of the first two books in the trilogy before I could review the book properly so I put off reading it. I decided to push this book to the top of my list recently and it was a very good decision. I thoroughly enjoyed my re-read of the first two books in the trilogy and was eager to experience this book for the first time. I really had a good time with this one.

This is a trilogy that really needs to be read in order. Things have been building to the events in this book for the entire trilogy and I was excited to see how things would work out. Victor Draconi has been working towards a plan to eliminate the other Families and take control of everything himself. Lila and the other Sinclairs are aware of his plan and they are working to do whatever they can to stop him.

This story was exciting and there were a few scenes that were incredibly action-packed. There were a few scenes where I was really worried about how things would work out for this group of characters that I have grown to care for and some scenes that broke my heart. I loved the way that the monsters and magical abilities were such a vital part of the story. It was great to see Lila really become a trusted member of the Sinclair Family as they came together with the other Families to fight a common threat.

Brittany Pressley did a fantastic job with the narration once again. I looked forward to putting my headphones on and escaping into Lila's world for a few hours. I really felt like she brought this story to life. She did a fantastic job with all of the character voices and brought a lot of emotion into her reading. I believe that her narration added to my enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a wonderful trilogy set in a very interesting world. I had a great time going on this adventure with Lila, Devon, Felix, Oscar, and the rest of the characters. I cannot wait to read more of Jennifer Estep's work.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Kensington Books via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

Initial Thoughts
I am so glad that I finally read this book! This was a battle that has been brewing for the entire series and I was excited to see the Sinclairs take on the Draconis. There was a lot of excitement and action in this book and some pretty intense scenes. I thought that the characters were at their best in this installment and there were some pretty emotional scenes. I listened to the audiobook and I thought that the narrator did a fabulous job bringing this story to life.