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The first point that should be made absolutely clear is that Unfinished Business is the second book in a series starring Taylor Sinclair, a young woman with a great deal of trauma in her past, but who also has great reserves of inner strength and resourcefulness. The first book in the series, Saving Grace, introduces Taylor and several of her friends who feature prominently in Unfinished Business. It is absolutely crucial that readers complete Saving Grace before Unfinished Business. There is far too much explanatory information and character development in Saving Grace, and anybody who reads the sequel first will be absolutely lost and will be left confused in many places.
It is hard to summarize Unfinished Business without delving into the plot and characterization of Saving Grace (and thereby digging up tons of spoilers for the earlier book). As the book opens, Taylor has temporarily stepped aside from the job she worked so hard to earn in Saving Grace in order to go on a book tour, although her intangible scars from the horrors of her past are as painful as ever. Over the course of the book, Taylor relies on the friends she made in the previous volume and her relationship with the handsome Cail (who helped her overcome some of her emotional wounds in Saving Grace) continues to develop, although Taylor’s personal issues threaten to derail their romance. Chris and Kate, two of Taylor’s friends, deal with some bumps in their own relationship. Personally, I was not nearly as interested in the romantic subplots as I was in the gradual reveals about the shocking and tragic events in Taylor’s backstory.
The portions of the book hinting and Taylor’s troubled past and her road towards recovery and self-fulfillment are by far the best portions of the book. The subplots featuring supporting characters lack a comparable level of emotional resonance and power. The book would have benefited from streamlining and delving deeper into Taylor’s mind and soul. There are many intriguing references and clues indicating that there is much more to Taylor’s story than we know, and Taylor occasionally drops a bombshell about her life and that biographical point is then never elaborated upon, but Hewlett shouldn’t be faulted too much for this, since she is obviously setting up revelations for future installments in the series.
It would be interesting to know how many books Hewlett has planned for the Taylor Sinclair series. A trilogy is probably not enough, given the pace at which the details about Taylor’s past have been released over the first two books. It is unclear exactly where the trajectory of the series is heading, but it would make sense if the books were to focus heavily on both Taylor’s past and her future.
Due to the uneven pacing and sometimes hard to follow plot, I might give this book two stars, but I think that the characterization and development of Taylor Sinclair might warrant three stars. After consideration, I will lean towards generosity and…
I give this book three out of four stars.
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