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whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
4.0
The last one wasn't great and it made me cry. Still, I liked the way the story ended.
cosymilko's review against another edition
3.0
I only have a few thoughts and they are mainly for myself, should I come back to reread these.
Don't.
Not because you didn't enjoy them, but because there's a dilution of this, a taming of the rawness of the others that you missed.
I enjoyed these little snippets as much as I could - I just enjoy this universe so much, but I did feel that some of that raw feral stuff was gone as soon as we hit the end of Queen of the Darkness. And how could it not be? They'd been cleansed, purged, and the Big Bads were done - surely this meant that they needed to adhere to protocol more and there would be less dark jewel explosive temper clashes? Apparently so.
I wanted there to still be this feral society barely held together by etiquette and it was in some senses of that but for the most part the deeper you sank the more tame it became.
I'm truly not sure how I feel about the end of this with The High Lord's Daughter. I really feel like it was a solve everything tie all the loose ends approach.
Don't.
Not because you didn't enjoy them, but because there's a dilution of this, a taming of the rawness of the others that you missed.
I enjoyed these little snippets as much as I could - I just enjoy this universe so much, but I did feel that some of that raw feral stuff was gone as soon as we hit the end of Queen of the Darkness. And how could it not be? They'd been cleansed, purged, and the Big Bads were done - surely this meant that they needed to adhere to protocol more and there would be less dark jewel explosive temper clashes? Apparently so.
I wanted there to still be this feral society barely held together by etiquette and it was in some senses of that but for the most part the deeper you sank the more tame it became.
I'm truly not sure how I feel about the end of this with The High Lord's Daughter. I really feel like it was a solve everything tie all the loose ends approach.
delle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
tstout's review against another edition
5.0
i think it was a great way to end an amazing story. Loved every minute of this whole series!
_starbuck_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tani's review against another edition
4.0
This was a nice little escape back into a world that I've loved for years. This series is a guilty pleasure for me, and although this collection of novellas and short stories wasn't anything special, it was a fun little jaunt into some of the later years of this universe. A lot of the stories featured Surreal pretty heavily, and she's not my favorite, but I still enjoyed my time. And now I'm fully ready for another book in the series, right?
sjb86's review against another edition
5.0
This book will come back to the original trilogy characters and you find with these books a lot of years passed between them so sometimes it takes a little bit to catch up. Really love how the book develops and the mystery of the Child killer come through the book. We love the murder mystery feel to this book and also love revisit in the original characters are my absolute favourite these books are incredibly brutal and very graphic and have a lot of trigger situations in them would definitely read the blurb and disclaimers and reviews before you read these books just in case you find it a little bit too much
nattyg's review against another edition
5.0
I love the book. The short stories were amazing. I have to say the last one broke my heart.
In a good way.
I know it had been hinted that things would change/end but alas, I was unprepared for it to happen now. I freely admit I cried. Repeatedly. And while I wasn't prepared for the end, I admire that it happened and am pleased at how it ended. I love all the characters and this last story satisfied my one and only question about Dameon and Janelle.
I just wish, like Dameon, I had more time with Janelle.
In a good way.
I know it had been hinted that things would change/end but alas, I was unprepared for it to happen now. I freely admit I cried. Repeatedly. And while I wasn't prepared for the end, I admire that it happened and am pleased at how it ended. I love all the characters and this last story satisfied my one and only question about Dameon and Janelle.
I just wish, like Dameon, I had more time with Janelle.
xavia's review against another edition
4.0
I love this series, and I love these characters, but if we’re being completely honest this book is getting four stars strictly because of Shades of Honor, which is usually the only story I read when I open this book.
Winsol Gifts is full of fluff. That’s not a bad thing, and it’s enjoyable in its way, but it doesn’t add to the series in any meaningful way. Family, while not full of fluff, similarity fills the same niche. It doesn’t add anything new, but provides closure for Saetan and Sylvia’s romance. Which again, is fine.
My favorite part of this book is Shades of Honor. And yes, it’s a Lucivar story so I was predisposed to love it. But I like it for more than just Lucivar being the heart of the story. It’s here that we actually get to see the consequences of the spooky house on Surreal and Rainier. We’ve been told they would heal, and we see them in the Shalador duology seemingly having healed, but this shows us more context for what that healing looked like.
As might be expected, Surreal is suffering from some PTSD. The spooky house wasn’t all of the problem, but it was the straw that broke the camels back and necessitated Jaenelle stepping in before she breaks.
The other side of this story focuses heavily on Lucivar being confronted by a layer of Eryien society that is missing in Askavi Kaeleer, and Falonar feeling that he would be a better ruler. I find this story very interesting because we’ve never really gotten to see much of how these people live. The Yaslana’s are the exception when it comes to Eryien tradition and so while we are familiar with Lucivar and Andulvar’s way of thinking, it turns out Falonar feels drastically differently.
But, let’s talk for a moment about the High Lord’s Daughter. The reason this book ended up with four stars instead of five. For a long time, I struggled with myself between thinking this was a fine way to end the series (even if I didn’t agree with it), and really really disliking it. Now, knowing what comes after this moment in time, I’ve landing squarely in the camp of wishing this particular story never existed. In my opinion, this is the beginning of the downfall of the SaDiablo family. In fact, it feels like fanfiction, and bad fanfiction at that.
First of all, while I know that they share not a single drop of blood, and while I know this is brought up repeatedly (even in other stories in this book) I hate that Surreal and Daemon end up married with a daughter. They have known each other almost her entire life, he’s acted like her older brother, and her cousin. They have been family to each for centuries. And now they are lovers? That always rubbed me the wrong way. And has always been a barrier with this story.
Second, Daemon and Surreal don’t feel like Daemon and Surreal. In fact, they feel more like caricatures of those characters we loved. Like someone is going through the motions to tell us this story but boy, it really doesn’t matter at all.
And Third, there’s no way to avoid the knowledge of what comes next. Jaenelle Saetian is treated like the second coming of Witch with her inquisitive mind, the wording used to describe her expressions, the reemergence of the Kindered… but now, I know how she grows up, and this just feels like a slap in the face.
This is all a very long way of saying Shades of Honor is 100% worth it. I love that story, and it’s the one I read frequently. If your looking for fluff or just want more Saetan and Sylvia, dead Winsol Gifts and Family. But skip The High Lord’s Daughter and pretend the series ends here. You will be much happier for it.
Winsol Gifts is full of fluff. That’s not a bad thing, and it’s enjoyable in its way, but it doesn’t add to the series in any meaningful way. Family, while not full of fluff, similarity fills the same niche. It doesn’t add anything new, but provides closure for Saetan and Sylvia’s romance. Which again, is fine.
My favorite part of this book is Shades of Honor. And yes, it’s a Lucivar story so I was predisposed to love it. But I like it for more than just Lucivar being the heart of the story. It’s here that we actually get to see the consequences of the spooky house on Surreal and Rainier. We’ve been told they would heal, and we see them in the Shalador duology seemingly having healed, but this shows us more context for what that healing looked like.
As might be expected, Surreal is suffering from some PTSD. The spooky house wasn’t all of the problem, but it was the straw that broke the camels back and necessitated Jaenelle stepping in before she breaks.
The other side of this story focuses heavily on Lucivar being confronted by a layer of Eryien society that is missing in Askavi Kaeleer, and Falonar feeling that he would be a better ruler. I find this story very interesting because we’ve never really gotten to see much of how these people live. The Yaslana’s are the exception when it comes to Eryien tradition and so while we are familiar with Lucivar and Andulvar’s way of thinking, it turns out Falonar feels drastically differently.
But, let’s talk for a moment about the High Lord’s Daughter. The reason this book ended up with four stars instead of five. For a long time, I struggled with myself between thinking this was a fine way to end the series (even if I didn’t agree with it), and really really disliking it. Now, knowing what comes after this moment in time, I’ve landing squarely in the camp of wishing this particular story never existed. In my opinion, this is the beginning of the downfall of the SaDiablo family. In fact, it feels like fanfiction, and bad fanfiction at that.
First of all, while I know that they share not a single drop of blood, and while I know this is brought up repeatedly (even in other stories in this book) I hate that Surreal and Daemon end up married with a daughter. They have known each other almost her entire life, he’s acted like her older brother, and her cousin. They have been family to each for centuries. And now they are lovers? That always rubbed me the wrong way. And has always been a barrier with this story.
Second, Daemon and Surreal don’t feel like Daemon and Surreal. In fact, they feel more like caricatures of those characters we loved. Like someone is going through the motions to tell us this story but boy, it really doesn’t matter at all.
And Third, there’s no way to avoid the knowledge of what comes next. Jaenelle Saetian is treated like the second coming of Witch with her inquisitive mind, the wording used to describe her expressions, the reemergence of the Kindered… but now, I know how she grows up, and this just feels like a slap in the face.
This is all a very long way of saying Shades of Honor is 100% worth it. I love that story, and it’s the one I read frequently. If your looking for fluff or just want more Saetan and Sylvia, dead Winsol Gifts and Family. But skip The High Lord’s Daughter and pretend the series ends here. You will be much happier for it.
genderqueer_hiker's review against another edition
2.0
Despite what other friends told me, I didn't find the final story to be surprising or something I couldn't accept. In many ways, I think people being unable to accept the final story reflects more on them than the author. I found it to be a pleasant, enjoyable end to a fantastic series. It was good literary closure.