I waited to write this review for a long time, too long. I will try my hardest to keep this review relevant to those who read it.

Light Spoilers from previous books ahead.

This story takes place starting about 20% into Integrated. We know from Faithless that there is an unknown party that is playing the MDJ family members against each other. We know that Faith got the idea to just get everyone together and get all the secrets out. We didn’t see that happen in Integrated. It was glossed over. This book takes place from Christmas Eve all the way through to the following year. It goes all up to where Integrated ends and then a bit further. So you have to have read all the previous books to understand.

Now, you might be wondering if this book is a rehash of Kaleb’s life in the Marines (an understandable thought given the title), but it isn’t. Not at all. It is also not what you think you may know from previous books. Like John Snow, YOU KNOW NOTHING. Remember that these books are first person POV. So we don’t know what is going on in places the characters aren’t at. In integrated, we only saw through Ezra’s eyes. Even the parts about Katya were all with Ezra as the viewer. So keep that in mind.

Hero is unique in that it is dual first person POV. Caleb and Katya. What Katya showed Ezra was what Katya wanted Ezra to know. What Katya and Ava showed the world was what Katya and Ava (Katya and Ezra’s daughter) wanted the world to know. What Katya and Caleb showed everyone was what they wanted them to all see. The idea that you really never know what someone is like behind closed doors is never more true than here. Remember, the newest story arc is about finding out who is causing problems for those family members in MDJ.

Wil and Caleb have their own history that needs to be worked on, while Syn and Katya get to know each other in this book more than ever before.

Finally, I have to applaud Erica for bringing Syn further in this book than any other in the past. We get to see Syn as she would have been if she hadn’t been forced to grow up so damn fast. Syn at one point becomes happy, curious, has her guard down, and is given to speaking with that twang that Wil all but beat out of her. It’s hard to explain but what she did but she took Syn back to the point in time where she was still innocent, and grew her up from there. No there isn't a major time-travel scene, Syn just finally got over all the hurt. Syn’s natural curiosity, innocence and demanding ways were so endearing. It takes the book to get there, but she gets there. Oh, Syn still kicks ass and is still the sharpest blade in the room, but she softens a bit. I loved that.

There are so many nuanced scenes, thought provoking ideas, scenes that made me laugh out loud, scenes that made me cheer, and scenes that had me grabbing the tissues. This book is a must read.

Ok, that was my review. I could have spent hours more writing it, but I had to stop somewhere. Just read the series if you haven’t, read the book if you have read the series. Erica Chilson is a writer that speaks to the heart and soul of the reader. She deserves your attention. ( )