Golden by DeLaCruz - OPTIONAL

De La Cruz, Melissa and Johnston, Michael Golden,  259 pgs. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2016.

Language: PG (2 swears, 2 deity) Mature Content:  R Violence: PG-13.

As the latest battle ends, things don't look  good for Nat and Wes.  Eliza is now out of reach having taken Nat's drakon breaking their bond.  Wes is out of commission and, as his crew struggles getting their ship moving again, a slaver ship attacks.  Nat is furiously trying to keep them at bay but how long can she can keep it up?  Just as it looks like all is lost, help comes from the last person they expected to see.  Nat and the crew are relieved.  So why is Wes convinced they will regret taking the offered help?  

There are some nice elements to this story, a clear, strong dystopian world, a few surprises, and lots of action as the characters try to save the world, but it fell flat for me.  The swear count is low but the use of made-up swear words was distracting.  The end wrapped up nicely with all issues resolved and it did move quickly but after all the fighting, saving the world, and sacrificing, the end was abrupt and seemed like a cop-out to me.   If you have students that have read the other two books they may want to finish the series.  Please note, that the on-page sexual content at the end of the book moves this to HS only which is too bad, since up to that point, including the two previous books in the series, it was a solid middle school read.  

HS  - OPTIONAL Reviewer: RB