Shadow Falls After Dark (3) - Unspoken by C.C. Hunter
And to the last part of the Shadow Falls After Dark trilogy: Unspoken (Im Dunkeln der Nacht). I read it in English where it contained 401 pages. Originally published 2015.
When her dad is accused of murder – because of her – Della is desperate. Especially because the only other suspect is proclaimed dead – her father's twin, a vampire. Chase knows where Della's uncle is, but he's not talking. So Della is, once again all alone. And refuses to believe that Chase doesn’t think either Tsangs were responsible for their sister's death. And that he’s trying to prove them both innocent by finding the real murderer. But Della doesn't have a choice but to trust him – because no matter what he has done, she loves him. And when her family abandons her, she hasn't that many people left.
First of all: Della's behaviour towards Chase is so hypocritical I could puke. Seriously. She has a bunch of thing she doesn't tell him – like that fact that her aunt Bao Yu even existed. She just didn't tell him, no matter how much sense that would have made. But every time he does not tell her something the same milli-second he finds it out, he's the bad guy. And he lets himself be treated like that! That's so not fair! Okay, Della is hurt. The situation with her family is bad. Her mother and sister try, but are obviously uncomfortable. Her father’s an idiot and now one on the police’s radar – because of her. And Della has a lot to solve – especially with her ghosts. But that's no excuse to act like this. She’s punishing the one person who’d do everything for her – who gave his entire life up for her – simply because she needs a capegoat.
Additionally, it's out of character for Chase to let that happen to such a degree without ever saying something. And then how they solve it!
Spoiler:
Holiday says something, Della realises her mistake – up to that point, everything's fair and well. Even though I’d have liked it if Della had been given a harder time about it. But then she simply goes buy condoms and sleeps with him? After fighting with every cell of her body and mind against him the entire time?! Seriously! She never says she’s sorry, doesn’t explain everything, they don’t even fight to get rid of that thick air between them. No. She simply sleeps with him, after trying the entire series and the previous one to keep her panties on and her heart in her cage. That's so not Della! And this is not a functional relationship. A fight that’d end in bed because of… no idea, the heat of it all destroying her defences, okay. Would absolutely fit to character. But this… this. Really. Sucks.
What I don't like either is the role of Kylie and Miranda. They are so important to Della, but it's like they barely exist in this book. Sure, Della makes an effort to ignore them to not start crying, but Kylie would never let Della alone with her problems like that. The Kylie we know from SFC would get up and beat the crap out of Della until she started to talk – and then console her. And she would have understood her Steve/Chase dilemma since she was in the same position with Derek and Lucas. She would have been a real help. But she wasn't and that doesn't make sense. And Miranda? She’d have sneaked in Della’s bedroom and made her feel so guilty for shutting her out Della wouldn’t have a choice but to spill the beans. And threatened her with her acne-curse while she was at it.
Actually, the only thing that is good and does make sense in this book is the solution to Della's family problems. Or, wait, nope. Not even that. Della’s father was built up the entire two series like an absolute ass, and suddenly, he’s the best dad ever, bringing her and her friend to parties and back again? Della always said he was a bit stiff, wanted her to have the best marks and such, but at the beginning of this series, he’s the best father ever – at least in her memories. This is a huge contrast to what we saw in SFC and the scenes where actually really showed up in SFAD up to this book. He was cruel, only came because his wife forced him and made sure she knew. And all of it in a way that can’t be explained away by his fear of vampires. Especially not if he’s suddenly oh-so accepting and supporting and understanding of who she is.
Actually, if you just take his behaviour in this book, his entire backstory doesn’t make any sense. He doesn’t seem to be the type who knows that vampires exist and then doesn’t do anything about it. Especially not when the vampires are in his family. He’d try to find out as much as possible about them and to bring them to justice. After suspecting his daughter was one, he’d have tried to de-vampire her, or to teach her not to kill and not to be the monster he thinks all vampires are. Or make sure she wouldn’t be a danger to anyone else.
Well. As for Della’s mother and sister, they recovered too fast after the little intermezzo with the band.
Apart from that, Chase gets more and more lovable. Even though I'm really sorry for him, being in love with Della is really a challenge. And I'm sorry for Steve – even though it's his own decision. He chose his career and she chose Chase. Life happens.
In my opinion, the secret hero of the story should by Baxter. He rocks.
The ghost problem is over done. What happened to the other three ghosts, by the way? It was never described how the passed to the other side. Only Mrs. Chi and Bao Yu have been described going to the other side. But they were well done – and Chester. Poor Chester.
Oh, and by the way: It's Jimmy, not Eddie.
As you can see, this is the worst part of all the Shadow Falls books, which is really sad. The ideas – like the ghosts – were a tad overdone, the characters not anywhere near believable.
In brief:
So, no star for the ideas, but stars for style, minus one for characters and content. So, actually minus one star, but I only go down to zero. Sorry.
Prequel: