Reviews

“One hundred and eighty thousand days, and I thought of you in every one.”

4.5⭐ rounded up

Oh, my heart hurts. This series is so underrated! I don’t understand why it doesn’t get more Booksta love. My favourite installment is still the first book, but this one was a great ending to a great saga. I’m not sad to say goodbye to Tisaanah—I loved her in book 1 but she annoyed the sh*t out of me in books 2 and 3—but I would have read a dozen more books with Max and Sammerin or Aefe, Caduan, and Meajqa.

❤️ Epic worldbuilding and lore
❤️ Maxantarius Farlione, ‘nough said
❤️ The “villains”
❌ Way too many chapter and POV changes
❌ Tisaanah
❌ Repetitive (both in terms of plot twist and writing)

Trigger warnings: violence and torture, death and murder, blood and gore, genocide, slavery, fire and fire injury, kidnapping and confinement, medical experimentation and trauma.

Plot:
Tisaanah seeks to gain more power in order to rescue Max from imprisonment while leading a rebellion, freeing more humans from slavery, and protecting her people from the enemies coming from all sides. In the Fey lands, Aefe wakes up wishing she had died. Her 500 years of torture at the hands of humans is all she knows, and she struggles with reclaiming her former identity. The war between humans and the Fey reaches its climax—one wrong move and the world could come to an end.

I loved how this book had a “making of a villain” storyline with a massive buildup where the lines between heroes and villains are blurry. Everyone seems to be the hero of his/her own story, but the villain in someone else’s. This was so, so well done.

Characters:
I loved Tisaanah in book 1, but I struggled with her storyline in books 2 and 3 because it was difficult for me to root for her when she kept making decisions that endangered other people, getting kidnapped, self sacrificing, and asking SO MUCH of Max. I understand that he loves her, but she keeps asking him to do (and become) what he hates the most. She has a one-track mind and will stop at nothing to reach her goals (however noble they are), not caring who gets hurt in the crossfire. Her saviour complex and self-righteous behaviour is annoying—seriously, I think she’d get along well with Bryce Quinlan.

I still think Maxantarius Farlione is one of the greatest characters in the genre. And although Tisaanah annoys me, I think they are so cute together. *swoon*

Sammerin and Meajqa have my whole heart.

Aefe and Caduan deserved better. I loved to see her questioning her own existence and experiencing everything for the first time, and him dabbling in dark magic to save and avenge the one he never stopped loving for hundreds of years. It was hard to see them as the villains in this story when they’ve both suffered so much at the hands of humans. I'm absolutely not saying that justifies genocide, but simply that their story made me feel so much empathy for them that I *almost* wanted them to have their vengeance. In a series where everyone has opposing goals and where so many innocents are caught in the crossfire, where do you cross the line between heroes and villains? Aren't they all a bit of both?

Except Nura. Now SHE was the great villain in this story and she had absolutely no redeeming qualities.

Writing:
I feel like Broadbent’s writing was sloppier in this one. Her writing style is always captivating and astute, but still accessible, with tons of wisdom and insights. But there were many typos, and the vocabulary was repetitive. I expected more.

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