Title: The Dark Moon
Author: Jess Anastasi
Series: Atrophy #3
Pages: 339
This book picks up right after the previous one ends with Rian locking Commando Varean Donnelly up on the Imojenna for further questioning. Kira, the medic, takes issue with how they have been treating Varean but is also very curious as to why he is affected by the Reidar stunner. Varean and Kira slowly fall for each other even though she is going against her captain’s wishes.
This is a very complex world that just continues to grow with each new book. This one covered a lot of new ground for the world and continued to show progression in the fight against the Reidar. This book did have a much slower start compared to the previous two, but after hitting the halfway point things really pick up.
Kira has been a very minor background character so far. It was nice to finally learn about her and how she ended up on the Imojenna. Kira may be against violence but she isn’t afraid to stand up for what she believes in. She frequently stands up to Rian about his treatment of Varean. I liked how protective she was, especially when it came to protecting her patient. Varean was an interesting character. He is very angry about being taken from his post and imprisoned but once he calmed down he became a pretty great hero. I do feel like because everything going on in this book Kira and Varean’s relationship wasn’t as well developed as previous couples. They didn’t really get enough time to learn about each other and really connect so this was more instant love than a slow building one.
I am still on the fence about Rian. We see how dangerous he is in this one but we also see him be a bit more vulnerable. This one gave me more hope that I would end up enjoying Rian’s redemption story. I had more issues with Lianna in this one than I did Rian though. Lianna turns really bitchy, especially towards Varean, and it made me not like her very much. I am really enjoying the progression of this story and all the new things that keep benign revealed with each book.
Previous books and reviews for the series:
Red-Haired Ash Reads 