Review of Sacrifice of Greatest Price

Sacrifice of Greatest Price is the fourth and final book in the Between series by Cyndi Tefft. You will recognize her from my reviews of books one, two, and three, as well as my first and second interviews, and the time she and I attended RT2014 together.

Today, I’m reviewing Between #4 with a heavy heart, knowing that this series has come to a close. Aiden and Lindsey (our protagonists) have been very close to my heart for many years now and this story brings their lives to a close. I shall endeavor to say goodbye to two dear friends.

Three in one, forward and back
Here and gone, to deepest black
Silver blooms, swollen with child
Birth crimson globes, untethered wild
Life meets death where the sun meets the sea
Blood sacrifice, for you and for me.

It has all come down to this.

A prophecy, passed down through generations of MacRaes, tells of a blood sacrifice. A simple stone placed in an ancient dagger unleashes an army of hell transporters with glowing red eyes who have now come to exact that price.


In the epic finale of the Between series, Aiden and Lindsey will be tested in ways they could never have imagined. Visions of the past, from thousands of years ago when the Broch of Gurness in Orkney was whole, provide more questions than answers. But every secret will be revealed as the MacKinnons and MacRaes join forces to fight a battle they cannot hope to win.

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Cliffnotes version if you’re brand new to the series: Lindsey, a college student “dies” in a car accident and meets Aiden, a 300 year old Heaven Transporter (one tasked with…transporting souls to heaven, pretty self-explanatory). The two of them develop a romance for the history books while battling Hell Transporters and building a family that spans generations and language-barriers.

Cliffnotes version if you’re not new to the series: Now pregnant and ready to burst, Lindsey deals with visions of a past that’s not hers, the imminent threat of a Hell Transporter attack, and her ever expanding family drama.

Lindsey and Aiden’s connection has only grown stronger so that in a lot of ways, we see them as one being which just tugs at my heart strings – especially as we see the addition of their child. The care and detail that went into creating Willow made me so incredibly happy. This child wasn’t a prop though she was an essential player in the story. The genuine love that her parents felt was so apparent, owed a lot to the first person narrative of Lindsey’s.

Lindsey has grown so much as a character and her writing has stayed consisted throughout the books while the plotlines have grown bigger and more complicated. Each of the books has built the stakes higher and higher for the protagonists that the final book has the reader introduced to many new characters and perspectives and it would seem overwhelming but I was surprisingly relaxed. The author brought back themes and ideas that seemed irrelevant from previous stories to fit into this “aha” sort of puzzle; while I wasn’t overwhelmed, I was sitting on the edge of my seat.

Among the new characters we’re introduced to, a new romance (well several, but focused on one) is brought in as an almost contrast between the now married with children Aiden and Lindsey, and the new and lustful couple of Logan and Moira. They were a couple that evoked similar emotions from the very first romance of Aiden and Lindsey way back in book one. It was a nice way to tie everything together.

There were a lot of themes that were brought full circle which I appreciated but it also added to my agony as I realized that this was our protagonist’s final stand.

It’s hard to review a fourth and final book the way you would review a standalone or a first book. Most of the players are old news and the stories are just continuations of past plots which is why my Random Notes While Reading are all over the map. Raging, in love, generally incoherent. You’ll see:

 

·         I’m not really afraid of spiders but they do make really good henchmen

·         “Birthing ceremony” sounds kinda dirty

·         Speaking of birthing…

·         Previously on Between

·         Those two are still ridiculously cute

·         They’re really happy which is how I know shit’s about to go down

·         That’s adorable. Predictable and adorable

·         Wha? How did she…hmm

·         I’m exhausted just reading this

·         Baby burrito (she says through happy tears)

·         What? What? That’s so cool.

·         Dun dun dun

·         This is where you leave out the detail? But…Aiden’s bum

·         Kinda sounds like a nursery rhyme. Oh, how cool would that be

·         Ah, it’s all coming together now

·         I could get behind a past life/vision quest thing

·         You’re cute, sexist, but cute

·         It’s okay to fantasize, my dear

·         Trouble in paradise, thank god

·         It’s interesting to see Aiden and Lindsey with fresh eyes

·         Such a boy *rolls eyes*

·         My how the tables have turned

·         Okay, I’m loving this storyline. The lost soulmates and ancient battles

·         Oh, this is going to be fun

·         My boys are so crass, I love it

·         This is the third time I’ve lost my place because I’ve been laughing so hard

·         This character better be useful because right now she’s just annoying (after note: very useful, I concede)

·         I love you guys

·         This series has evolved so much, it’s quite fascinating

·         Nope, nope, nope, this will not end well

·         Well, villain monologuing to the rescue

·         *incoherent gibberish*

·         *more incoherent gibberish*

·         Oh, I can’t take much more of this. My heart.

Especially in the last quarter of the book, my heart was just continuously broken as the connection between the characters was tested, as was my sanity as Aiden and Lindsey struggled to keep their family together.

As a girl in love with this story from day one, I was satisfied with the ending. Emotional, dramatic, and sweet. Just as they’ve always been.

I want to thank Lindsey for these fabulous years and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

For readers who want to know more about Aiden and Lindsey, you can start with book one