Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling Series #14) By: Nalini Singh

Plot:

Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken…like Zaira.

Review:

The world just keeps getting more and more complex. The cast of characters is expansive and the romance is not the main focus anymore. Well, relationships are still a major part of the books, but it’s not just about romance, the relationships have gotten as complex as the world just about. Everyone is so damaged and powerful.

Zaira and Aden were a great power couple. We’ve seen them in a few books at this point but it was nice to get a deeper look. Both are fairly damaged, though, Zaira is the most. Aden’s parents suck but not like hers. They complimented each other very well and I enjoyed watching Zaira realize she couldn’t run from him.

The world, holy cow, the amount of detail and politics and just everything that Singh has put into it at this point is mind boggling. I have to actually stop myself from trying to figure out how to fix societal issues going on in the world because it’s a freaking fictional universe and Singh clearly needs no one’s help. It’s staggering and amazing and I’ve seen only a few series this complex outside of epic fantasy. Never am I bored or skimming, though. It’s interesting and intriguing and makes you think of the real world.

I think with the last book I was wondering where she was going to go from there. She’d done so much that with Shield of Winter she could have stopped and things would have been fine, now I really just want to know more. Will they be able to break down barriers and work together? Of course they will, but people will always try and stop it.

5/5

Side note: I’d love to have a human love interest in the next one, see their perspective. At this point I can’t really remember, but I’m not even sure that’s been done yet.