Title: Time Return
Series: Red Moon Trilogy #2
Author: Micah Caida
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Pages: 312
Goodreads Rating: 4.67/5 Stars
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
My Content Rating: YA (Nothing more than kissing)
Genre: YA Sci/Fi Fantasy
Genre: YA Sci/Fi Fantasy
Summary from Goodreads: In this coming of age debut trilogy, USA Today Micah Caida turns dystopian young adult fiction on its ear with a breathtakingly fresh science fiction, fantasy story that is as much a thriller as it is a romantic tale.
Time Trap, book 2 in the Red Moon trilogy
Her Time. His Time. No Time.
Rayen promised to return, Gabby must return, and Tony can’t return. Three teenage friends are connected by a shared secret that forces a decision with consequences no one expects. When Rayen arrives on the Red Moon sphere again, she finds shocking changes. Her arrival causes more upheaval and danger for the MystiK children, creating a heart wrenching challenge for Callan who must choose between duty and holding onto the one girl he can’t have. But walking away is harder than he expects when a new MystiK male in the sphere is poised to take Callan’s place. Under threat of attack from an unexpected enemy, Rayen and Callan must put their personal feelings aside to unite a village in chaos. Choices backfire, trust is forfeit and alliances shift as elements of the Damian Prophecy begin to fall into place and the time of reckoning is closer than anyone expected.
***NOTE: This review may contain spoilers for the first book in the series. Click on the link to read my review of Time Trap.***
Time Return is an exciting sequel to Time Trap! Rayen, Gabby and Tony return to the Sphere, hoping to help the MystiK children return home. But when they get there, they find that the MystiK’s village has been destroyed. Rayen wants nothing more than to be back with Callan for as long as she can and to help him and his people return home. But Callan fears that Rayen’s attachment to him will put her in danger – plus, he’s torn between his connection to Rayen and his duty to his people. He pulls away from her, but can he bear to lose her?
Time Return is an exciting sequel to Time Trap! Rayen, Gabby and Tony return to the Sphere, hoping to help the MystiK children return home. But when they get there, they find that the MystiK’s village has been destroyed. Rayen wants nothing more than to be back with Callan for as long as she can and to help him and his people return home. But Callan fears that Rayen’s attachment to him will put her in danger – plus, he’s torn between his connection to Rayen and his duty to his people. He pulls away from her, but can he bear to lose her?
The negatives:
- Tony and Hannah. There was a romance that developed between Tony and Hannah, but it developed very quickly – in the space of one conversation. Granted, since the books in this series all technically take place over just a few days, the romances ALL happened quickly. Still, we got to see a relationship develop between the other couples so they didn’t feel like instalove. Tony and Hannah weren’t together much at all. So, I wasn’t particularly invested in these two, and the romance really felt like a convenient plot device. Luckily, Hannah and Tony’s romance wasn’t incredibly central to the book, so it didn’t ruin anything for me.
- Kaz. There was a bit of a love triangle introduced in the form of Callan’s best friend Kaz. Kaz was definitely interested in Rayen from the very beginning. Again, this felt just a little bit like a plot device to me – something to increase the tension between Callan and Rayen, rather than a real attraction between Kaz and Rayen.
What I loved:
- Callan and Rayen. The tension between Callan and Rayen was high in this book. Both Callan and Rayen wanted to protect each other – in Callan’s mind, the best thing he could do for Rayen was to convince her to go home. But Rayen would not give up until she’d helped Callan and the MystiK children return home – especially now that she knew that Callan would die a horrible death if he was still on the Sphere on this eighteenth birthday. So, while Callan and Rayen both wanted nothing more than to be together, Callan kept pushing Rayen away. The push and pull between these two felt realistic, even though I desperately wanted them to get past all of the issues that kept them apart and realize they were meant to be together!
- The TecKnati/MystiK conflict. The conflict between the TecKnati and the MystiKs really heated up in Time Return. When Tony, Gabby and Rayen got to the Sphere, they found that the TecKnati had attacked and things were even more dangerous than when they left. The TecKnati were no longer satisfied with simply hiding the MystiK children away. They were feeling threatened by the Damian Prophecy and felt that the threat had to be eliminated …
- The mysteries. We learned a bit more about the prophecy and how Callan was central to it, but there were still plenty of mysteries to be unfolded when the book ended. The biggest mystery is still who is Rayen really and why was she sent to the past? We get some tidbits of information in this book, but we have to wait for book three to really get answers!
So, overall, this was a really great second book in the trilogy. The book ended on a major cliffhanger, but luckily book #3 was just recently released! Read on for my thoughts on the final book. I give this one 4/5 stars.
Title: Time Lock
Series: Red Moon Trilogy #3
Author: Micah Caida
Release Date: June 2, 2014
Pages: 310
Goodreads Rating: 5/5 Stars
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
My Content Rating: YA (Nothing more than kissing)
Genre: YA Sci/Fi Fantasy
Genre: YA Sci/Fi Fantasy
Summary from Goodreads: His duty. Her destiny. Their last hope.
Every minute counts – literally – as Rayen races against time and impossible odds to deliver a one-of-a-kind computer to the Sphere. Failure means Callan’s death at the hands of his TecKnati enemies. The problems don’t stop there. Rayen, Tony and Gabby’s battle to save their MystiK friends triggers a collision course of two worlds 166 years apart.
Countdown begins now for when the Red Moon sets for the last time.
***NOTE: This review may contain spoilers for the first two books in the series. Click on the link to read my review of Time Trap.***
Time Lock is the exciting conclusion to the Red Moon Trilogy! This book gives us all the answers we’ve been waiting for and a satisfying ending for the characters we’ve come to love!
Time Lock is the exciting conclusion to the Red Moon Trilogy! This book gives us all the answers we’ve been waiting for and a satisfying ending for the characters we’ve come to love!
The negatives:
- Convenient romances. The romance between Tony and Hannah still felt just a bit too much like a convenient plot device in this book. And Kaz’s storyline also takes a convenient turn. Luckily the plot didn’t center on either of these two elements, so it didn’t bother me much.
What I loved:
- Answers. I loved that, right away, as soon as this book started, we began getting answers to the mysteries that had been set up in the series. Or at least major clues (there were still some surprises at the end of the book). At the very beginning of this final book, Rayen started to get some of her memories back and we were able to learn more about her family and where she came from. We also learned more specifics about the prophecy, which allowed me to make some guesses about how it would all play out (some things I was right about and some things I wasn’t!).
- The war. The conflict between the TecKnati and the MystiKs headed toward an all-out war in this book! We really got to see why and how SEOH planned to rid himself of the MystiKs and his plan was put in full force. There were times when I wasn’t exactly sure how the MystiKs were going to manage to find their way out of SEOH’s traps (or his nasty son’s). This book was full of action, just like the others in the series – the conflict was strong and the stakes were high!
- Callan & Rayen and Jaxxson & Gabby. While there were definitely still some struggles for my favorite couples (especially Callan and Rayen), I finally got to see them find a bit of happiness as well! The central romances in the book were sweet and romantic. And I loved that Caida forged a true connection between our characters without having them have sex (which kept the whole series appropriate for younger YA).
- The ending. I loved how the prophecy was finally fulfilled. As I mentioned, there were some elements of the prophecy that I pretty much figured out and some that surprised me. There was also a (very pleasant) surprise at the end of the book that I loved!
Time Lock was a fantastic ending to the series! I did not want to put it down! I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: Time Lock was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. (Time Trap and Time Return I purchased myself). No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
PURCHASE LINKS:
(But you can get Time Trap for free! Just read where it says Giveaway below!)
For the month of June, every teen will be able to read TIME TRAP, book one in the Red Moon trilogy, free on any mobile device or computer by merely clicking on www.RedMoonTrilogy.com – Yep, no e-readers required. No bookstore account required.
Summer is a great time to enjoy a book when schoolwork is not a priority. For that reason, the author launched the first Red Moon Summer Reading Event program.
Micah Caida also has a giveaway going on if you sign up for the newsletter on the Red Moon Trilogy website. You can enter to win one of three awesome prize packs, which include signed copies of all of the books in the series, up to a $50 gift card, an iPod and MORE!
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