Burning Bright by Chris Cannon

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Title: Burning Bright
Author: Chris Cannon
Series: Going Down in Flames #5
Published by: Entangled: Teen
Release Date: June 4, 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 303
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Finishing the Series Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's Can You Read a Series 2019
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

Bryn is back for her senior year at the Institute for Excellence, also known as shape-shifting dragon school. She isn’t sure which is scarier, the life-force sucking dragons stalking campus or the fact that she’s officially betrothed to Jaxon, a guy who will never love her. Not that she could ever love him, either… That’s just ridiculous. Senior year should be fun. Her parents are alive, she’s finally fitting in, and she’s learning how to be a Medic. But what’s with Jaxon giving her strange looks? He runs hot and cold, and he doesn’t even have the excuse of being a hybrid fire-and-ice-breathing dragon like her. One minute they’re having a great time and the next, she wants to blast a fireball at his head. The marriage contract of doom looms over them--unless this match not made in heaven kindles a flame…

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

3 stars — So it looks like I read this one as well already!  How in the world did I not review it, it BAFFLES ME!!

I’ve enjoyed this series and Bryn and the dragon world, but I will admit that this book, particularly since it was the final book in the series, disappointed me.  It’s not that I didn’t still have fun and enjoyed the things that were happening.  But I was also left feeling very unfulfilled in SO MANY AREAS.  The rest of this review is going to have a bunch of spoilery stuff, so if that bugs you I’d skip the rest…I just need to get my thoughts out.  Basically just know that I felt like things were wrapped up hastily and left me wanting for a series ending.

The biggest disappointment for me was probably the romance.  It’s something I struggled with throughout this series, and while I was always intrigued by the possibility of a love story with Jaxon, it felt rushed and unrealistic.  It wasn’t that I didn’t feel butterflies, but Jaxon behaved like a right ass one too many times, and it felt like he didn’t understand the consequences of his actions/choices, which didn’t make sense.  It’s not that the grief wasn’t a good excuse, but it felt like he never really got Bryn’s side of things.  It was all just so abrupt and it didn’t allow me to invest.  And quite frankly, I was feeling burned and wary after investing in 2 other romances, I just didn’t have anything left for Jaxon and Bryn.  Not only did we have to wait until the 5th and final book, but we also had to wade most of the way through this one as well before the romance really develops.  In the end it felt too sudden, and I didn’t understand Jaxon’s change of attitude.  There were places where Ms. Cannon could have expanded and massaged to develop the relationship, but it just wasn’t there.

Besides that, I was left with quite a few unanswered questions, or plot lines that weren’t wrapped up.  And a lot of that had to do with the directorate and where it was heading in the future.  We saw small changes, but for the bigger things, how were they implemented?  Were they accepted by the population?  How were the hybrids doing going forward?  What exactly was going to happen to the bad people?  What did the students think?  In the end, will anything change?  What about Garret and the walking wounded?  What exactly did Valmont and the knights contribute in the end?  I was sad that their roles just disappeared.  Or what about Jaxon’s baby brother?  What was the point of that?  Was he really never going to develop a relationship with him?

Then we come to the bad guys…it kind of felt like the previous books didn’t matter quite as much.  Where did these silver dragons come from?  Why was there no clue about them beforehand?  What were they doing in the months before?  Were they involved with the rebels, or was it all separate?  I was kind of hoping for some big twist where Ferrin or her grandfather was actually bad, so it was kind of underwhelming when in the end it was some people we’d never met before.

I feel like Bryn made small changes in the dragon world, but I was disappointed with how much she was willing to just accept of their shitty lives because that’s the way it was.  That’s not a happy ending.  I mean sure, in the end it worked, but that’s a bit too convenient.  What about the mistress stuff?  Was anything going to change?  It just made me sad for her.

There were a lot of little things that made me feel ranty, but since I don’t want to get cranky, I’m just not going to go into the little things.

What it comes down to is that while I enjoyed so many different aspects, and the series as a whole, I needed more from this book.