Review: Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh

Item: Shards of Hope
Rating: 4.5
Author: Rowena

Posted June 13, 2016 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Reviewer: Rowena
Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh
Series: Psy/Changeling #14
Also in this series: Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, The Magical Christmas Cat , Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, Slave to Sensation , Wild Invitation, Heart of Obsidian, Shield of Winter, Shield of Winter, Visions of Heat, Mine to Possess, Caressed By Ice, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Hostage to Pleasure, Shards of Hope, Shards of Hope, Heart of Obsidian, Caressed By Ice, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory, Play of Passion, Allegiance of Honor, Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, Shield of Winter, Allegiance of Honor, Allegiance of Honor, Wild Embrace, Wild Embrace, Wild Embrace, Silver Silence, Silver Silence, Tangle of Need, Ocean Light, Ocean Light , Caressed By Ice, Wolf Rain
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Pages: 496
Add It: Goodreads
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four-half-stars

Series Rating: five-stars

The “smoldering heat, epic romance, and awesome action”* of Nalini Singh’s New York Times bestselling series continues as two Arrows find themselves caught in a chilling conspiracy that spans all three races…

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.

*Jaci Burton,New York Timesbestselling author

Shards of Hope is the fourteenth book in the Psy/Changelings series and finishing it means I’m just about caught up on the entire series. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to say goodbye to these characters (for the moment) because I’ve had such a great time reading through each and every single book. My review pile is probably happy that I’m finally going to get around to reading them but me? I’m low key sad.

I have loved pretty much every single book in this series and this book wasn’t any different. Shards of Hope gave Aden the story that I hoped he would get. It was a worthy story for such a worthy hero.

The book starts off with Aden and Zaira, two fellow Arrows waking up in a cell and their connection to the Psy Net blocked. Every time they try to use their psychic abilities, pain shoots through their bodies and they have no clue who took them or why they were taken. Aden is the Leader of the deadly Arrow Squad, a squad of Psy super soldiers that know every way to torture and kill people. So I guess we know why he was taken but we don’t know who took them. I mean, to abduct one Arrow is a feat until itself but to successfully abduct TWO high ranking Arrows is something else.

In order to find out who took them, Aden and Zaira need to survive and once they escape the place that they were being held captive, help comes in the form of RainFire Alpha Remi. There are a lot of things at play in this book. On top of the romance between Aden and Zaira, there is the suspense plot behind who the new villain is (the people that took Aden and Zaira), what their villainous plan is and then there’s Aden trying to build a brighter future for the Arrow squad. Once again, Nalini Singh handled each different aspect of this book wonderfully and I didn’t think the romance suffered from everything else going on.

Aden has a lot of responsibilities and he’s trying to do right by those under his protection but he doesn’t really know where to start. With the help of some new Changelings friends, you see the future he wants for the younger Arrow generation come together. You see him working to be a good role model for them but you also see him care. I loved this about Aden. The capacity he had within him to care for each and every single person under his car. It didn’t matter how young or old they were, Aden made himself readily available for anyone who needed him. It was what made him such a good leader and I loved seeing him get something that was just his after giving everything he had for everyone else.

Zaira’s loyalty and the depth of her feelings for Aden made for a great romance. They weren’t battling their feelings for each other, the feelings were there and understood right from the jump. Their conflict was in trying to figure out how to be together without Zaira going off the deep end. It wasn’t a lack of feeling between Aden and Zaira. Their issues were an overabundance of feelings. Zaira didn’t know how to turn her feelings off when it came to Aden and that put a lot of people in danger. She didn’t want to risk hurting anyone because there was a monster inside of her.

This was another great book in a series already filled with so many great books. I didn’t want this book to end. I’m really curious to see where the series goes from here with all of the Trinity stuff. Will Aden’s vision of the future come through or nah? I can’t wait!

Grade: 4.5 out of 5