The Hidden - Jessica Verday

Title: The Hidden (Book 3 in The Hollow Trilogy)
Author: Jessica Verday
Publisher: Simon Pulse, September 6, 2011 (Hardcover) (Review copy is an ARC from the publisher)
Length: 389 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy
Started: August 3, 2011
Finished: August 5, 2011

Summary:
From Goodreads.com:
Abbey knows that Caspian is her destiny. Theirs is a bond that transcends even death. But as Abbey finally learns the full truth about the dark fate that links her to Caspian and ties them both to the town of Sleepy Hollow, she suddenly has some very hard choices to make. Caspian may be the love of her life, but is that love worth dying for?

Beautifully spun, emotionally gripping, and irresistibly romantic, The Hidden will leave you breathless.

Review:
I fell in love with The Hollow and The Haunted when I read them last year, so I was literally on the edge of my seat waiting for The Hidden to come out. Thankfully I had the opportunity to read it early thanks to the publisher's Galley Grab program, so I am a very happy bookworm right now ^_^

After the events of The Hollow and The Haunted, Abbey is faced with a decision after finding out exactly what Caspian's deal is: accept her destiny and follow through with what must occur to allow her and Caspian to be together forever, or decide to stay alive without Caspian. With Vincent Drake stalking Abbey to make certain that she and Caspian are not completed (for reasons which are revealed later), and Caspian beginning to fade, Abbey and the Revenants have their work cut out for them in this installment. Although nothing earth-shattering happens in terms of the plot until closer to the end when all the plot threads come together and are resolved, the author has this wonderful way of writing about seemingly mundane slice-of-life events (Abbey at school, Abbey and Caspian interacting) that just sucks you in and keeps you reading. It could be because of the author's writing style or it could just be that I fell in love with these characters from the very start, but I loved The Hidden just as much as the previous two books.

Abbey and Caspian are adorable as ever, and although they had instances reminiscent of Twilight's "I love you but I don't want you to die and give up your wonderful mortal life just to be with me" argument, I think Abbey and Caspian handled it rather well. Abbey was actually introspective and gave some serious thought about what her choice would mean for everyone involved, and once she made her choice Caspian actually respected her decision and didn't try to interfere or change her mind; and I respect the author a lot for having her characters make such mature decisions. I love how the author handled the romance between these two, although I still think the sensual scenes from The Haunted are my favourite, there were some definite contenders in The Hidden.

There were a few things I wish were explained a little better; like Vincent's motivation seemed a little too super villain-y superficial to me, and I wondered how exactly they pulled off that thing with Kristen at the end, and how I really really wanted a little more to that epilogue than what we got (but was still satisfied with what was there), the series wrapped up quite well in my opinion, and I'm sad to see one of my favourite series come to an end. I can't wait to see what else this author decides to produce in the future, because I will gladly read whatever that might be.

Recommendation:
Pick up The Hollow, The Haunted, and The Hidden (when it comes out in September) and read them all if you haven't already, this series is truly addictive and satisfying.

Thoughts on the cover:
My copy of The Hollow is the domestic release, The Haunted is the UK release with the same cover elements just executed differently, and although I'll probably pick up the paperback release of The Hidden to match my paperbacks of the previous two, I have to admit I really like the domestic cover for The Hidden. The colour blends are awesome, and the ring isn't such a cliche image as the necklace was in The Hollow.