The most powerful and dominant shifters at DIA are my mates.

I finally shifted. I should feel relief and excitement, but instead I’m faced with fear of the unknown. The hidden threat that defeated my parents is still out there, and the looming presence of it, posing a threat to my mates, is a constant thought in the back of my mind.

As I reunite with a community I’d forgotten, I can only hope that locked away in my memories is a clue to the life that was stolen from me.

I may not be able to change the past but I’ll fight to protect my future.

OK. First off I have to tell you why I’m pissed off. I’m pissed off for two reasons. Number 1 – the final book in this trilogy doesn’t come out till April!! Number 2 – I was right, the plot is contained, there is no exploration of the larger world created.

Fantasy/supernatural books fall into the ‘Number 2’ scenario more often than I can count. It was one of many factors that stopped me actively reading the genre. If you’re going to world build then I WANT TO SEE ALL OF IT!!! I don’t just want to be teased by elements I’m never going to see explored. Unfortunately, this makes a very contained plot and as a reader it makes me sad because keeping a plot so contained doesn’t allow for any exploration to either characters or plot structure and you often end up missing out on stories untold.

In this second book I met the families of Jagger and Breaker. I got to see more of Bex interacting with her friends. I got to see a little more of the other shifters on campus. There was a security check which very briefly brought the different sectors of the campus together. Yet, none of this was explained beyond the relevance to the MC. It’s unfortunate because this is a trend and while I know there are readers out there that prefer this sort of intense plot limitation to the characters involved, I’d much prefer to read a diverse world build story with development of characters and understanding of plot points.

At the end of Flicker I was left with so many questions that were unanswered. I’ve never read any of M. Sinclair’s other works but I do know that she has written other series in this same ‘universe’. So, I do wonder whether the structure of these books is singular or something she does with every book. It might be that within her writing she feels she doesn’t have to expand the plot because they know the ins and outs of the world they write it. Without knowing any of that for certain – the world building aspect of the book falls short and has no impact.

Now that I’ve ranted, let’s move on to the actual plot and character’s of this book.

Now, the cliffhanger of book 1 is what made me race to book 2. However, I was perhaps naively hoping that the conclusion I’d predicted was incorrect. Don’t get me wrong, it was fitting for where the narrative was going. I think I would have found it more interesting if Bex had shifted into something unexpected.

With Bex’s shift, a lot comes to light that reduces her confusion around her past. Also, the shift allows her Dragon’s to be more open with her. And here we see the spiciness surface. Now, this is totally a me thing but it so irked me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Bex is very clearly a virgin – we learn that in book 1 not that it needed explaining. Now the Dragon’s…well, there is a lot of talk in the first book about how they would never ‘dishonour’ their mate in that way (e.g., by fornicating with another). Keeping that in mind – how are these three Dragon’s so knowledgeable and ‘unfumbling’ when it comes to the spicy content. It’s such a stupid point to be annoyed about but once I noticed it I couldn’t stop seeing it as ridiculous.

Flicker allows us more glimpses of Jagger, Breaker, and Gage from their first-hand POVs. We had a few in the first book but there was more inclusion of them in this book. It was a good addition because I really didn’t know much about Jagger or Breaker and with them being so important to Bex, I needed to be able to connect to them on some level. I already knew Gage but seeing Gage’s perspective just gave me more insight into all four of them and also made me feel grounded while reading.

Bex, is, Bex. Despite her shifting and her changes, her personality remained the same. I was worried that when her shift was revealed that she would become a completely different person, so I was pleased to see that wasn’t the case here. There is a fragile element to her character but she is slowly discovering her soul if you will and working out where she stands and what she stands for.

It’s a shame that the plot is so contained because I can only imagine how far a character like Bex could fly if her wings weren’t clipped.

I struggled with this book because I both enjoyed it and disliked it. It was a weird mix. I liked the plot but I was also irritated by the shortcomings. I don’t think the plot will drastically change with the final book in a way that will allow the characters to thrive as they should, but I will still enjoy reading it and completing the saga.

I give this book: ⭐⭐⭐

Spice: 🌶️🌶️