The conclusion to Wires and Nerve has Iko and her resentful new collegue Liam Kinney to face Alpha Steele’s threats once and for all. The prologue/recap starts the book with an action movie tone that gives readers a hint of one hell of ride coming up.

However, the story is a bit of a mixed bag. It goes to 300 pages which allows for a lot more plot threads and moments for each of the characters but it sometimes felt like Iko was overshadowed as other threads were more interesting to me.

For example, continuing Cinder’s announcement to abdicate the throne and turn the Lunar kingdom into a Republic with democratic elections was super intriguing. The protests and fears of people who desired Cinder to stay, the various people campaigning for election etc. I wanted to see how it played out especially how the nominees contended with placing the bioelectrical security device that limits their powers to prevent corruption. Unfortunately this is only an aside.

However, it would have provided an interesting connection to Steele’s resentments that Lunar society is not going to change, the corruption is to ingrained. Which is why some citizens want Cinder to be on the throne, believing it is her divine right as the royal bloodline. They believe she’s a good ruler despite her ancestors which contrasts with Steele who believes that Cinder is just like her ancestors. He is truly blinded by vengence and bitterness because of what he had been through.

Anyway aside from these main plots, some things have interesting ideas like Wolf seemingly betraying his friends to join Steele for the chance to reverse his mutation. Now I’ll admit it was a bit predictable yet Meyer keeps things off-balanced enough that I did question what Wolf’s endgame was.

But like I said, it is a bit mixed bag as one of the major climaxes involve taking Iko out of the picture. Thre, Iko’s friends and one reluctant partner Kinney reminsce about her and what she brought to her lives. Which is nice especially Cress’ heartwarming speech of why she admires Iko. But I’d rather have Iko be there to show off how amazing she is and pep-talk herself rather than others praise her when she’s “gone.”

This is also moves the plot at a faster pace like Iko coming to accept herself with little fanfare or the plot skipping over others. I understand since it’s a graphic novel so it can’t fit all the plots and internal monologues as one would do in a regular novel. That’s why I somewhat preferred the first book as its tighter plot made things run smoothly.

Now onto the good parts. There were hints of romance between Kinney and Iko with the whole bickering hatred but also respect in there. But Meyer doesn’t go so far to pair them immediately together which is nice because Kinney was such a jerk for most of it. She elevates him to an understanding that Iko is as human as others. Centering around the idea that, “Somethings can be programmed but loyalty and love is grown.”

Actually the last half of the book just highlights the usefulness of androids and we learn more about Iko’s past and why Lihn Garan created her unique personality chip. Which segueways into a poignant visit to the cemetary where Peony lays which brings things full circle.

Additionally, Kai and Cinder continue to win my heart as a couple with Cinder getting several great speeches showing just the kind of ruler she is. Winter also wins my heart as such a good diplomat. The art also improved in better showing Winter’s scar.

So while the medium limits some of the story by pushing too many things, it still presents a satisfying conclusion to the world with openings for more adventures later on.