Muh, das Telefonbuch

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

The review contains spoilers about the other books.

2.5
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Naif and her friends learned terrible things, and now their aim is clear: they need to get back to Ixion to fight against the Ripers in order to save everybody who is and was on Ixion. With Ruzalia’s help they get back to the island, but nothing has been won yet. First, they have to get to know what they can actually do against the Ripers, and for that they need every help they can get. Meanwhile, Naif is still attracted by Lenoir even though he is a Riper just like any other else.


My first thought after finishing “Shine Bright” was “meh”. Actually, there is not much more to say about it, but I will try to elaborate that thought further.

Generally, you can say that the world building and the explanations offered are very vague or even non-existent. That is kind of telling for the whole series if you ask me. I was not impressed by the first book – though many loved it – and the second one only frustrated me. The plot was unnecessarily stretched and even back then there was that nasty thought that it might have been better to combine book 2 and 3 because the content is not enough for two books. Unfortunately, that nasty thought is simply the truth.
The third book is not as frustrating as its predecessor, but there is not much happening as well. It is only not that prominent because “Shine Light” generally has fewer pages. Besides that it is plain boring.

You might expect some difficulties in a final instalment to increase the suspense. However, Marianne de Pierres seemed to think that her characters had to go through enough trouble and should be left alone. As a result, they start their business and before you know where you are, they are finished.
Absolutely nothing goes wrong. Naif has an idea and promptly they find out everything they need to know. Never mind others have tried similar things before – for a much longer time at that! – and never accomplished anything. It is not surprising then that the final hurdle is taken nearly trouble-free, is it?
Reading any of this was no fun at all. The plot may not have been predictable, but there were no highlights either – why you have to publish something like this instead of leaving it to be a daydream, I cannot understand.

To be honest, I do not know what else could be said about this book. What is left? The style is nice, but that can be said about many books. The characters did make some development, but is that enough? I have to admit that in “Shine Light” they were less annoying than in “Angel Arias”, but that is not really an achievement.


The third book in the “Night Creature” series is less frustrating than its predecessor but incredibly boring. It is not as if nothing is happening – the book uses the space it has well, and nothing has been stretched to fill some more pages –, there are just no problems. Everything works perfectly well for the characters, and you cannot possibly hope to create suspense with that. If the last two books would be only one, it might still be okay, but it does not deserve a recommendation the way it is.