The Islanders, Vol. 4

Warning: Spoilers!

I thoroughly enjoyed volumes 1-3 of this series. However, volume 4 jumps the shark a bit for me. The narrative relies on more soap opera-y elements to move forward, and while I love a good soap opera as much as the next gal, this just didn't live up to the complexities of the first two volumes. Lucas making out with Claire out of anger at Zoey just wasn't enough to center an entire half-volume around. Aisha gets mugged in an alley, hits her head, loses consciousness and wakes up thinking she's 14 years old again? The shark has been jumped, my friends.

(Side-note: Things that really upset/irritate me in a book or television series: body switches (see: Buffy, The Vampire Diaries) and temporary and ill-timed amnesia that manages to create a series of unfortunate and cringe-inducing mishaps (see: Aisha Goes Wild).)

This seemed as good a point as any to wrap up the series. I don't know if they're planning on re-publishing the rest of the “Making Out” series in a similar fashion, but I think this was a good stopping point. Every thing gets tied up rather nicely - Claire winds up beautiful and alone (as usual). Jake, having woken up in a cemetery next to a bottle of tequila, is substance-dependent and working out like a maniac (as usual); Zoey has forgiven Lucas and the whole sex debacle has been forgotten (for now). The Passmore parents have reconciled their differences and are moving back in together. Aisha has miraculously recovered from her head trauma in the course of 6 hours and Christopher has believed and forgiven her for the whole weird situation he found her in. Nina and Benjamin (my favorite characters of the whole bunch) will live happily ever after, forever and ever always. The end.