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The first half or so of this book was a bit boring and forgettable. I found myself begging Sera and Ash to stop talking, get out of bed, and brush their teeth or something.
The second part of the book picked back up nicely! It was a welcome return to the well-written and exciting story I’d been missing. There was a lot of action and though people died (stop killing draken!!) I’m thrilled that we didn’t lose
I really enjoyed how Sera’s trauma and her processing of it was portrayed. She’s deeply flawed and her mistakes actually mattered. It’s refreshing to see that from a FMC.
I didn’t love how most of Ash’s personality was reduced to “over-protective wife-guy”. The chemistry and banter from books 1 and 2 was gone (until the end of the book imo). Ash doing things like growling at a doctor for touching Sera just made me mad. That’s not cute!! Chill out!!
And finally, the pregnancy trope. Normally I hate it and I was dreading the reveal from the first mention of nausea. BUT this one actually made sense and was well done. It wasn’t just plopped in there to wrap things up (cough cough
The first half had me annoyed but the second half had me locked in. I cant wait for the final book to come out in a few days!
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Sexual content, War
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Death of parent
This is a FAVOURITE series for sure. I had read from blood and ash first and whilst a standalone series that makes sense, this series built so much more of the world and a larger understanding of what’s going on.
I want a Nyktos! This book was the slowest of the series but when it’s 19 hours you can’t expect it to be all go, all the time. Loved it! It was just a lot of chat and discussing war and what’s to come and strategies. What a good series though! Love. Love. Love.
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy
Much of the filler in this book was spice. The book is so horny. Don't get me wrong, I love some good spice, but when a book is this long, I don't think we need quite *that* many sex scenes. It felt like filler to make the book longer instead of being meaningful.
The book also tried to touch on so many heavy themes or 'hot button' issues: assault, suicide, general trauma, abortion...there's more I'm sure. At first is was interesting, but then it started to feel a little shoe horned in, a writing challenge to see how many heavy/triggering topics can we fit in here or how can we stretch this book out even longer than it needs to be. It stopped feeling genuine very quickly.
You know Sera ends up pregnant at some point, but I don't love how it was done. Maybe its the place I currently am in life (hi from a childless cat lady), but I did not love the long bits going on about being pregnant and how wonderful & magical it is to be a parent. Had I been reading the physical book and not the audiobook, I would have skimmed/skipped those sections. I was over it very quickly.
The whole plot with the prophecy felt very convoluted to me. What they thought it meant, what other characters thought it meant, what it actually means and how it ties to the Blood & Ash series. I got so lost. I have not currently read the last two B&A books, so maybe that's part of the issue? I know enough to be dangerous, but not helpful? I also got lost in the last chapter that was part of the future
Last notes - I thought this series had way too many characters I did start to mix them up. However, some of them had fun personalities and were very interesting. In this book, too many people blended together and felt flat. The charm that I found it a large cast was lost.
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts
Graphic: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, War
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Abortion, Death of parent
Minor: Medical content
Sera and Ash are reunited and Sera has a lot of PTSD from her time with Kolis, but she’s in denial and fails to address it for most of the story, which has serious implications. Sera gets reunions with her Lasania family while also building her chosen family with Nyktos and friends in Illesium. I loved both for her.
Nyktos shows care and starts to allow others to see him happy and as Ash, which made me happy as both he and Sera acknowledge the chosen family they built.
Hollander returns and makes a few brief appearances that surprise and inform.
While a lot happens, this book ends
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting