The Girl Who Dared to Descend by Bella Forrest

I interrupt my plethora of romance stories to bring a book I finished this morning.  Book 3 in The Girl Who Dared to Think Series by Bella Forrest.  You can read my reviews of the first two books here: The Girl Who Dared to Think, The Girl Who Dared to Stand

We start with Liana and Grey navigating a tough political game with two of the top people in the tower to help them explain that the death of Devon Alexander, Champion Knight, was not cold blooded murder, but necessary in a way the Tower will except.  With this successfully navigated, Liana and Grey, and all of our other friends, have to help their new allies’ choice win the Tourney to become the new Champion in Devon’s absence.  Sadly, nothing comes easy to our friends, and they not only have several difficult challenges in the Tourney to overcome and win, but they have to protect the hopeful new leader from brazen enemies, willing to do anything to see them fail.

• They broke the fourth wall again.  In record time… like 5 pages in.  Maybe this isn’t so much a Bella Forrest issue as it is an I-need-to-get-over-it issue.  I don’t know why it irks me so much, but it does.  *dramatically shakes fists in the air*
• Liana feels a little too perfect.  Don’t get me wrong, I love me a strong female role model, but she is SO selfless and SO trusted and SO responsible.  She gets into situations where she maybe feels selfish, but quickly chides herself and straightens up.  She feels a little too good to be true.  Additionally, she’ll frequently have an idea pop out of her mouth that ends up being the perfect way to go, and then (in the stream of consciousness we read) seems shocked by what fell out and how good an idea it is.  No one gets that lucky that often with an uncontrolled flapper.
• Despite these two things, I think this might be my favorite of the series so far.  The Tourney challenges are fun and provide tension and action.  I feel like the first two could be summed up more quickly and then this book focused on for a pretty good movie.  Granted, the movie would never be as good as the books, but I could see some pretty cool scenes coming out of it.  Anyone out there in charge of movies, I’d go see it.
• The other people in our rag tag group are starting to have more personalities and get to help more.  I like that they are standing up for some autonomy and getting stuff done.  Maybe it’s because Liana’s not my favorite in this book, but I really like that they’re contributing in tangible ways.  Yay teamwork!
• Grey having been injured last book and having Leo in his body is trippy and awesome.  I love his quirks and the relationship building with the team.  He’s part comedic relief, part warm and fuzzy, and a whole lot of endearing.

So, the verdict?  I’d pick the series up; it’s definitely worth a read.  Book four is published now as well.  Yay for not having to wait to find out what happens next!