shanajade 's review for:

A Memory of Light by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

5.0

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I purposefully skipped my contacts and mascara today because I kneeeeeew I'd be weepy at some point.

*sigh*

I'm so sad it's over! This was... one of the BEST series endings I've had the pleasure to experience. It... was perfect. So perfectly done. Open ended, but still tied up all the storylines. Ugh. My heart. I finished this around 430 this afternoon... still had an hour or so of deliveries left so I drove around in silence for a bit... ruminating on everything. Then listened to the hour long epilogue a second time, finishing up right before arriving back to the building to end my day.

Wow. Dude, when I said chapter 37 "The Last Battle" was 9.5 hours long... the action didn't end there. I was on edge until the last hour of the damn book.  Right up to the epilogue basically.

When i started the series with the prequel, I wasnt sold on the story or writing. It was good, but I was dubious I'd get this facking attached... But, mannnnnn, Jordan knows how to weave a tale. He was a master and this series was glorious. I kind of want to start it all over again.

There were soooooo many deaths. Ugh. There were two characters in particular that really messed me up. 

If you haven't read this, you HAVE TO. I want the box set to read through and annotate. Lol. Just like I want to with Throne if Glass & ACOTAR.  All the feels. So many good and so many AWFUL. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Fave quotes: (I saved 20 on Libby, but will spare you some of them lol Also listening to them again now, I see most involve Mat 😂)

"'I found the secret to defeating them... You just have to be dead already.' He chuckled to himself.  ... 'what about my face? Oh, just a cut.'
 'And the veins?"
 'Veins? Oh that. I'm dying, unfortunately. Terribly tragic. You wouldn't happen to have any brandy, would you?'"

"The soldier waved him on. The fellow did not look as though he'd been listening. Mat considered staying put out of principal. Why would the soldiers force people to wait in such a long line and give them time to think of a cover story only not to hear it out. That could offend a man. Not Matrim Cauthon, who was always lighthearted and never offended, but someone ELSE surely."

"Elayne taught me to rule, but you... you taught me how to stand."

"Loial did not intend to die here on this hillside. By Light, he had a book to finish before he went!"

"Mat figured she must have eaten something very sour once and, upon finding the resulting grimace useful for frightening away birds, had decided to adopt it permanently."

"I have never known anyone else who will work SO hard to avoid hard work, Matrim Cauthon."

"I'm trying to read that thought. Did you just compare me to an old strap of leather?"

"You are darkness! Darkness cannot push back light. Darkness exists only when light fails. When it flees. I will NOT fail! I will not flee!" 🫶✨️

"________ couldn't be mad if he looked a LITTLE at a hero, right? People were supposed to stare at them." Oh, Matrim. You're such a lecher. Lol.

"You stubborn fool."
 "I'm not the one who just refused to stay dead." ❤️‍🩹😅

"Are you smiling??"
 "Yes." ☺️
 "Blood and bloody ashes, Lord Talmanes. That expression is horrifying on you. You should probably do that more often."

"We will stand."
 "And if we do not and we wake instead, then we will at least water the earth with our blood and let our bodies nourish the plants that will now grow here." A man after my own heart. 🌱

"He came like the wind. Like the wind, touched everything. And like the wind, was gone." 🥹

Oh, lol, there was one part where someone said "... every breath you breathe, every step you take ..." and i laughed and started singing The Police and had to rewind a while later to catch what I missed. 🤣