A review by thebookishdesigner
Where Heroes Were Born by Tom Dumbrell

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

How good was this book? Well it’s 378 pages and I read it in one day. It’s THAT good. 

I don’t think we could have asked for a better ending to this series, Where Heroes Were Born has everything you expect from a Dumbrell book and then so much more. Tom’s writing has gotten stronger with each instalment leaving us with a masterpiece to close out this series. 

The highlight of this book without any shadow of a doubt are the female characters. I’ve said before that to me Tom is the standard for men writing strong female characters, his work with Fran, Adeline and Marcia in the first two books is phenomenal, here he adds a few more women to the mix and every single one of them is a glowing example of female characters can and should be written. 

Much like the previous two the plot is gripping from the get go. We’ve shifted the POV and we are now seeing things from Fran’s POV and also a newer character Locke’ We also get a sprinkling of POVs from some of the side characters, a brilliant addition that let’s some of the fan favourites have their spotlight and finish out their story. 

The main POVs of Fran & Locke and paced and intertwined perfectly, leading us the climatic ending of the series. The last third of this book is unputdownable, I was not dropping this book for love nor money. We are talking life and death situations to make me put this book down. It’s action packed, dramatic, heart warming and heart breaking all at the same time. 

For the first time in a very long time I was broken by a book, the epilogue had me sobbing to the point I couldn’t read the words though my tears and had to pull myself together to get it finished, and while the ending wasn’t what I wasn’t what I wanted it couldn’t have been more perfect. 

While this may seen like a short review for a book I’m recommending so highly I’m finding myself incapable of telling you all the reasons I love it without spoiling it. I cannot give the book and the series as a whole any higher praise. I adore it. I will re-read it again and again… and you should to.