My life blew up in the middle of reading Acceptance, and I need to buckle down and knock out the last 50 pages or so, but it's not a quick read and I've fallen out of a good reading habit lol. Authority definitely felt a bit like work to read, but I enjoyed getting more story. I also gave a bit of time between reading Annihilation and Authority, so the comparison between the two wasn't as stark. Maybe just take a break and come back to it later.