Spoilers for the first 2 books will follow. 
 The thing I really loved about the first two books was the twists. The book would very subtly hint at what is going to happen, then not so subtle before finally out right telling you that they are going to do X...and then bam, something completely different happens. This could be grating for some but I found it really refreshing and it made sense that the characters would do this. In Morning Star this is pretty much forgotten. The characters proclaim they are going do something...and then they do. Then entire plot felt like we were just going through the motions so we could hurry up and get to the end. Nothing really shocked me, nothing was clever, it was just kinda' meh. 
 (view spoiler)[ The ending was way too happy. Darrow should have died at the very least. In fact, the rebellion losing would have been an awesome ending. Darrow watches as his friends and dreams die around him. That would have been really cool. I have issues. (hide spoiler)] 
 Next up we have the characters or what I like to call; huh? 
 Darrow has become a bland boring vessel for you to insert yourself into the story. Take you head out of Mustang's arse for a minute and actually rage at something please. 
 Cevro always walked right on the line for me but here he crossed it. Can't stand the character. He's annoying, crass and not really that amusing. 
 Rouqe. I didn't believe it. The motivation seemed stupid and unrealistic. 
 (view spoiler)[ I think it would have worked better if Rouqe and Cassius had been combined. I feel Rouqe's belief in society as a reason for betrayal could have worked but using some chick as the motivation for hating on Darrow? Nah. We are just told they have a connection, we never really see it. It should have just focused on Rouqe's dedication to the empire, that would have been a lot more compelling. Then, combine him with Cassius so we get a lot more interaction with him and Darrow, we get both sides of the debate, old friends who believe in different things and can't budge on what they stand for. That would have been great. He could then take Cassius's place at the end but keep it as a full betrayal. He believes what he is doing is right and his old friend won't change that, he has to break his honour and lie to his friend at the most crucial point in his campaign. That would have been sweet. What we got instead was just empty. (hide spoiler)] 
 Cassius: See above. Hated his ending. Stupid. 
 Mustang. Oh Mus, what happened to you? This book she essentially became the pair of tits that Darrow whines about. Her character is stripped and she does fuck all. 
 (view spoiler)[ FUCK YOU MUSTANG, YOU DON'T HIDE THAT YOU HAVE A BABY MUSTANG, KEEPING A BABY SECRET FROM A PARENT IS NOT ROMANTIC MUSTANG, IT'S NOT CLEVER MUSTANG, IT MAKES YOU A CUNT MUSTANG. I KNOW THE AUTHOR JUST WANTED A SUPER SAPPY HAPPY ENDING MUSTANG BUT ALL IT DID WAS MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A TOTAL BITCH MUSTANG. (hide spoiler)] 
 Pax/Ragnar/Sefie: Why did you kill Pax? You clearly regretted it because you then gave us Ragnar, PAX 2:0. 
 (view spoiler)[ Then you killed him (which btw was really underwhelming) and gave us Sef. Why her? What did she contribute to the plot? That really tiny uprising that lasted an entire chapter? She did nothing. She was a useless character who could have been cut and nothing would have been lost. That's bad writing. (hide spoiler)] 
 Aja: Yawn 
 In conclusion, this book was not bad, just really meh. Nothing much happened, previously awesome characters became a husk of what they were, the plot was underwhelming and the ending annoyed me. 
 Slag you Pierce. 
 2.5 Stars.