Review of ‘Convergence’ by Jane C. Esther
Weird but good. This is the second book in Esther’s Portal series. I do want to first mention that I would highly recommend reading book one ‘Uninvited’ before. These two books are completely connected by basically having one long story that was cut into two books. It has been a little over a year since I read the first book and it took me a little bit to remember what was going on and the characters. Had I not read book one, I think I would have been too lost and confused to really enjoy this.
This lesbian book series is definitely weird. It is sci-fi and really oddball at times, but it is more sci-fi lite so I think readers who are not big sci-fi fans could still enjoy this. Personally, I did not know what to think of the first book and I struggled a bit. However, I did see potential in the premise so I’m happy to say I thought this second book was much more enjoyable for me.
Looking back on my old review of the first book, I noticed I had trouble liking one of the mains so it was affecting if I wanted to root for a happily ever after for the romance. In the past year, I had forgotten about not liking the character of Olivia so it was almost like I went into this book with a clean slate. While she was still mildly annoying, she was so much more palatable in this installment and because I was enjoying both mains, I felt like the chemistry between them was much more believable than the first time around.
This book ended up having a bit less science and aliens than I expected. It was still there but this story was more about if the characters could make a relationship work, and also trying to save a teenager from homophobic extremist parents. I love sci-fi, but the romance and the everyday life scenes that could be in a regular romance or contemporary fiction book were much more enjoyable than discussing a piece of alien tech. The change of flow this book had really worked for me and I enjoyed it much more.
The way the book ended, it very well could be the last book of the series. Esther gave it a satisfying enough ending but also left it open enough that she could come back and write a book three at any time. The more time spent away from Stanton and the portal stuff, the more I enjoyed this book. I hope if Esther does write another, it will be about using the alien powers for good, almost superhero-ish. I could see that being a really fun read.
If you’ve read the first book in the series, I would absolutely recommend reading this one. I thought it was much better and I’m hopeful others will enjoy it more too. If you are new to the series and want to try something a little weird but totally different, give book one, ‘Uninvited’ a read first. 3.75 Stars.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
