To be honest, if they hadn't all been finalists for the Lodestar Award, I would have DNF'd this trilogy after the first book, even though I found that one quite fun. It's just so obviously not for me that reading the rest was bound to be a chore or severely grating, at least. The final volume was a bit better than the middle one, but I still didn't love it.
PROMISES STRONGER THAN DARKNESS
by Charlie Jane Anders
Published: Tor Teen, 2023
Ebook: 368 pages
Audiobook: 13 hours, 44 minutes
Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers, Marcella Lentz-Pope, Sena Bryer
Series: Unstoppable #3
My rating: 5.5/10
Opening line: Dark times, desperate people. The stars are dying and the peacekeepers are corrupted.
Promises Stronger Than Darkness marks the final installment of the international bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders's absolutely heart-stopping YA series, Unstoppable.
They're the galaxy's most wanted—and our only hope.
When Elza became a space princess, she thought she'd be spending her time at the palace, wearing gorgeous couture and soaking up everything there is to know—but instead, she's on the run, with everyone hunting for her and her friends.
Rachael followed her best friend Tina on the adventure of a lifetime—but now Tina's gone, and Rachael's the only one keeping her friends together, as they go on a desperate quest to save everyone from an ancient curse.
Rachael, Elza and their friends have found one clue, one shining mysterious chance to stop the end of the world. And that takes them back to the second-to-last place they'd want to be: enlisting the aid of Captain Thaoh Argentian, the woman who stole Tina's body (and who now seems to be relishing a second chance at teenage chaos and drama, instead of living up to her legacy of an intrepid heroic commander).
With only a ragtag band of misfits, crewmates, earthlings, friends, lovers (and one annoying frenemy), the Unstoppable Crew are up against the universe--and they soon find that in order to survive, they may have to cross a line they vowed never to cross.
Whew, a few things came to me riiiiiight after I started reading this book. First of all, BOY OH BOY, had I forgotten some big things that happened at the end of Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak. Like, life-shattering, everything-altering things for the characters in this series, that simply went - poof! - out of my brain. That alone goes to show that (a) I'm obviously not the right reader for this series because a main character bravely sacrificing herself to save the others should be memorable enough to stick; and/or (b) that the rule about audiobook vs. eyeball reading doesn't apply to me with this series. Because I enjoy the audiobook soooooo much mure and retain so much more information than I did with the book I read physically. But that's very much just me and your mileage may, and very likely will, vary.
So where do we stand at the beginning of this book? Elza is a princess, although they call her rogue because she didn't go through the official channels. Rachael has her art back but is now minus one best friend, because that best friend Tina sacrificed her personality/brain to make room in her body for the alien Thaoh Argentian she was always meant to turn into. Oh and the world is probably ending, no biggie.
As all the suns are supposed to stop, it will literally mean the end of life all across the galaxy, but the only people who can be bothered to worry about that seem to be this bunch of teenagers we've been following for two books. Which, you know, is an okay premise for a kids' book I suppose but did feel a bit weird to me.
But that leads me straight into my biggest complaint about this whole entire trilogy, which is the tone and the laying out of messages. I know and love Charlie Jane Anders's prose so I know she can carry a theme and make a point without using the equivalent of a verbal sledgehammer. But with this YA trilogy, even at book three, she still hasn't found quite the right way of delivering what she wants to say without talking down to her readership. At least it felt that way to me. Everything is explained so clearly and directly, like you're talking to a very, very young child. Like "We must not touch fire, because the flame is hot hot hot, and that gives us an ouchie". I hate when authors feel they have to dumb down their writing in order to make it accessible to kids. I hate it even more when this happens with very obvious messages such as "let's be kind to each other" and "just because someone looks different doesn't mean they're bad". Those are fine and important messages to have in a YA book and I stand firmly behind them, but just because children are young doesn't automatically mean they are idiots. They'll get it even if you don't spell it out like that.
Unfortunately, this problem ties into pretty much everything else in these books. The characters' various emotional baggages and the way they break out of their mental chains and finally become who they are supposed to be. It's lovely seeing young people grow into themselves this way and I did enjoy seeing Elza, Rachael, and the others figure out who they are and ignore what other people think. It's the how that made everything a bit cringe-worthy to me. Whether it's the relationships between these friends and young lovers, there are so many lines that were dripping with cheesiness. By the end, the sap-factor got turned up to eleven so when I should have been happy for our heroes and heroines, I mostly felt second hand embarrassment.
As for the plot, I found the pacing slightly puzzling. Things happen at a decent pace at first, then there's a moment where you think the big baddie is defeated, but it's only been a quarter of the book. So obviously, our big bad - still as comically evil as ever - is still around and making trouble in the universe.
Then there's this long middle part where we mostly talk about everyone's feelings, dole out hugs where they are wanted, and affirm our love and respect for each other. Which, fair. It's lovely to have such a great group of found family. That didn't make it one iota more believable to me because I choose to think that nowhere in the universe, including in alien societies, would juveniles talk like that. But okay, at this point I was expecting it and just had to get throught the lovey-dovey stuff to get back to the plot.
I don't think I'll spoil anything when I say our heroes save the day and end up in fitting places. There's still a lot to do to make the galaxy a truly better place, but mostly things end well for the characters we've been following and the series ends in a satisfying manner.
I for my part am glad it's over. I'll reiterate what I said about the previous book: It's great that books like these exist, but I won't be sad if I don't have to read them anymore. Needless to say, this won't end up very high on my Lodestar ballot.
Now can I have a new Charlie Jane Anders novel for adults, please? Okay thanks, bye.
MY RATING: 5.5/10 - Okay-ish
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