Last Breath by Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins

With his dying breath, Rayne O'Connor's bus driver uttered four words that would change Shaley O'Connor's life forever. Your father sent me. Shaley can only imagine what this means. But she has no time to think about this because directly after this incident, her mother, the famous Rayne O'Connor, gets hit by a passing car when she pushed into the street by a zealous tabloid journalist. During her hospital stay, Rayne tells Shaley more about her father and why they separated in the first place.

Rayne's injury really serves no purpose except the make the book longer and more dramatic. Wasted page space also makes the book seem longer than it really is. Last Breath really has none of the substance or depth that suspense, especially young adult, desperately needs. It's an empty book that, once again, only tries to set up the third book in this trilogy.

Nothing made any sense to me in the end. There are several plot holes that I can only hope will be explained in the third book. Last Breath is just another below average work produced by an author who's better than this.

Rayne's past, though it could have been interesting, is really very empty and void. Brandilyn could have really expanded on the issue and made this book longer than the first. This could have also led to deeper development of characters or delving into complex issues but it mostly does not.

The characters still haven't developed any personality or imperfection. Like the whole series, they are also empty shells preforming robotic tasks. They show some hints at genuine emotion and personalities but they are in need of more work. The young adult market needs help in all of these areas and I thought that Collins might do something for it but I was disappointed.

Don't waste too much money on Last Breath either. It's one of those books that gets pushed to the back of your bookshelf and forgotten about after a few weeks. Forgetability is one of the worst qualities for any work and is more than anything what is plaguing this series.

1 star