Review: The Key - Marianne Curley

The Key - Marianne Curley (Guardians Of Time #3)
ISBN - 9780747573340
Published - Bloomsbury, February 7 2005 

If you haven't read this or, the first two titles and want to, then read no further as I can't guarantee there will be no spoilers!

'In the thrilling, final instalment of the Guardians of Time trilogy, tentative guard members Matt and Rochelle have emerged as crucial players in fulfilling the prophecy of the Named. Matt has learned that he is the son of an immortal, while Rochelle is struggling with her newfound powers and her fear that the group doesn't trust her. In fact, their leader is certain that someone in the close-knit circle is a traitor - but who? As suspicions mount, friction threatens to tear apart the Guard. Will the members of the Named be able to overcome their fears and unite the Guardians of Time in their last stand against evil and chaos?' - Goodreads

I read The Named and The Dark when they first came out in 2002 and 2003 respectively but when The Key came out in 2005 it passed me by. It has been on my wishlist ever since so was the natural first choice for my wishlist challenge. Luckily the library because, as we all know how well that ban's going, I'm trying not to buy books this year. 

I probably could have reread the first two books but the library didn't have them and my copies were lost in the Great Moving Debacle of 2008 so I just leapt in and after a couple of chapters I remembered most of what happened in the two previous books. The Key turned out to be a 'love it and hate it' book for me - there were some parts I loved and others I hated.

Loved -

• Matt and Neriah's developing relationship
• Arkarian and Isabel's developing relationship
• The gradual acceptance of Rochelle, especially towards the end
• Ethan and Rochelle's 'friendship', for want of a better word, as they discovered that they were meant to be together too late
• Matt discovering who his true father was

Hated -

• Dillon, whiny self-centred boy whose fixation on Neriah could probably have been seen as creepy
• No viewpoint from Ethan, Arkarian or Isabel - although I loved Rochelle's viewpoint and it was good to see her try to come to terms with not being readily accepted by the rest of the Guardians I missed hearing the story from especially Ethan's point of view
• The ending!
• Ethan being left alone after realising that Rochelle was his 'other half'
• The unveiling of the traitor - looking back now it's so obvious who it had to be because of Ethan's gut feeling and all the other little pointers
• That the so-called Immortals were killed so easily, Lorian died just a little too easily for me, same with Lathenia but she was the bad guy after all!
• Matt's sudden dislike of his sister's relationship with Arkarian, it seemed out of place given that he was alright with it previously 
• Matt's sudden elevation from boy with no powers to being the leader with superpowers

Hmm, the dislike list ended up being significantly longer than I thought it would be! I did enjoy the book, I'm glad I've finished the trilogy but it just feels like there was something missing at the end and I wish we could have had a 'a few months later' chapter so we could see how Ethan was coming to terms with everything and how Isabel & Arkarian's realtionship was growing alongside Matt dealing with whatever problem he had with their relationship being resolved. Mostly though I'd like to know more about Dillon, given that he was originally a traitor along with Rochelle and how he grew after the final battle, finding his place in the Guardians and overcoming his obsession with Neriah.