Endings are always hard to read. This is the last in a trilogy I’ve been following since No Angels was just a newborn baby book. I have watched this aEndings are always hard to read. This is the last in a trilogy I’ve been following since No Angels was just a newborn baby book. I have watched this author with rapt attention and I am so glad to say she has only gotten better.
We meet a whole new plethora of races, new characters, and a new (or is he?) villain, too. There are some wonderfully imaginative creatures and structures brought into play here and that was one of my favorite parts. Not to spoil anything but—STONE ENTS.
The plot: This baby comes out to 362 pages, but I read through it in three sittings. It moves quickly, but remains fully fleshed out and multidimensional. There was a sense of impending doom with this story, just because of THE END in sight and the premise of Liz having limited time to live. That was something new to me for this series, but to be expected at the close.
The characters: Liz started in book one with all the mushy ferocity of the Pillsbury dough boy. She’s now a glorious wielder of distilled badassdom, but retains that kindness and softness so many “strong female characters” lose. I was delighted with the balance.
One of my favorite things about this series is the relationship between Liz and Riven. I mean, a lot of these warrior romances in YA books can get borderline (or outright) abusive, but none of that here! There is a beautiful equality in their relationship and I could blather about it on and on. Even with the impending doom of the story, their romance had me all giggly.
At just around a quarter in, we are introduced to Leon who is now one of my favorite characters in the whole trilogy. Mixing tragedy, badassery, and a lovely romance subplot, Leon has all the traits I can’t resist. I realized that the author has been planning to bring in him and Vita since the beginning and that made is SO MUCH MORE AWESOME!
Mark is still here and I am SO GLAD the author actually gave him a life. He deserves one. Usually, the “best friend” character ends up miserable, lonely, and/or overshadowed by the awesomeness of his/her counterpart. Not so with Mark. He has a bright human future ahead, is autonomous, and a self-motivated character—I was so happy.
There were sad parts, happy parts, and an overall feeling of bittersweet. It was a wonderful conclusion to a wonderful series and I cannot wait to see what the author does next. ...more
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