The Taking Flight Trilogy #3
Author: Colleen Young
Reading Level: New Adult
Genres: Coming of Age | Romance
Release Date: June 24th 2016
Review Source: Author
Book Two of the Taking Flight trilogy came to a startling close and Book Three opens directly after “The Event,” which will cause all three main characters to examine and struggle with everything that’s happened over the last 18 months of their lives.
Weaving between the three points of view of Cory, Cole, and Samson, this installment of the series follows along as they grapple with new challenges like panic attacks, the meaning of family, religious faith (or lack thereof), and even a surprise wedding. The Event ultimately explores the fragile makeup of the human condition, the ties that bind us together, and how we must learn to live with the choices we make.
The Event is book three in the Taking Flight Series by Colleen Young. Book two in this series left us off with a huge cliffhanger, so this book finally leads us to the “big event” that has been alluded to throughout this series. This book might be a little hard for me to describe without giving too much away, and I don’t want to do that. So I am going to do my best to be as vague as possible while at the same time really try to sell you this book and series as a whole since I absolutely loved it from start to finish. As I mentioned in my review for book two, Cory (the lead female character of the series) went completely out of character for herself and made some really questionable choices. She and Samson (her best friend and guy who we have been routing for her to get together with) finally do get together, but her ex-boyfriend from book one, Cole, has never been too far outside of the picture. He was determined to get Cory back, fight for her even though she is with Samson now, and then in a moment of weakness while Cory and Samson are fighting, she gives in and cheats on Samson with Cole. Now, if I were to look at that one isolated incident as a one time mistake that was made during a vulnerable time when they were fighting, I could understand it a little. I don’t think it is right, I still am mad at Cory for doing that to Samson, but I could have let it go. The fact that even though Cory and Cole don’t physically cheat again, they are still overly affectionate and emotionally inappropriate with each other secretly behind Samson’s back. That really had me turning against Cory, whom I really loved prior to all that.
But all of that recaps book two. Like I mentioned earlier book two ends and book three starts with Samson finally finding out what Cory did with Cole, and let’s just say that the when and where he finds out that type of emotional information is not good. If you can gather that this book revolves around these characters going to college to become pilots, finding out really bad and emotional information about the woman you love while involving the topic of being pilots in training…well you can do the math. I guess this point of the story was where I became really conflicted. I had been routing for Cory and Samson to be together from day one, so when they finally did so in book two I was happy, but then when all was revealed to Samson I was hurt and sad for him. I didn’t want the tragic details of “the event” to cloud his judgment and have him forget all of what Cory did to him, but then again at the same time I still wanted them to have their happily ever after with each other. So let’s just say this third book starts out with a big cluster of mess.
Then there is Cole. Ugh Cole! Let me start by saying that I really liked Cole in book one. It is the first time I have read a book where there was a love triangle that I wasn’t necessarily pulling for one guy over the other. But once Cory and Cole broke up and she and Samson got together it just felt right and felt the way that it was supposed to. Cole really started grating on my nerves when he continued to pursue Cory relentlessly throughout book two and three. I completely blame Cory for the cheating, but Cole was all too willing to get into the middle of those two and try and screw it up for his own selfish reasons. Even in this book after the horrific event, Cole wedges himself into Cory’s family even further as someone for Cory to lean on even when she is at a really vulnerable point.
So did Samson just forget about all the indiscretions that he learned about Cory and Cole? No, and this book is a journey for all three characters to find truth, progress, healing, and to ultimately figure out what they really want and from who they want it with. They all need to fall to the very bottom before they can all begin to build themselves back up. Where the chips may fall when they get to the finish line is part of the wonderfully written suspense. I give this book four stars. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is just because book two happened to be my favorite in the series, but book three is still really good and I highly recommend this series to readers. As I have mentioned in previous reviews, Colleen Young has such a great way of writing that is smart, realistic, and she is able to give you the drama without dumbing things down for the readers. I have found that happens too much in YA books, but thankfully this author has found the knack to write a YA love story that is smart, funny and realistic. My only complaint is that this is the last book of the series. Let’s hope she continues it in some way. But if not, I definitely have this author on alert for any new series that she puts out there.
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