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A review by kaitie_reads
Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Audiobook Review.
(No series spoilers).
I'm devastated that this is over.... this was such a fantastic story and conclusion to a wonderful trilogy.
In these books, you will find layered and complex worldbuilding, multi-faceted characters, and just so much emotion. During my listen to this final installment, I had to physically pause the audiobook multiple times to reflect, to collect myself, or just to let myself sob for a minute.
I find that the pacing for each book was slower in the beginning (even if there are a lot of events that happen throughout the books), but that slow build feels so intentional for overall impact.
The ending of this book was heartbreaking and bittersweet. I love how much insight the author gives to "life after" the events of the story, and it broke my heart all over again.
One more thing I'll mention is just how well the author wrote the villains of the story, they aren't just "bad" for the sake of being bad, they're misguided and broken apart by expectation and duty. It was really interesting exploring the depths of these characters, and in certain cases, we were given very thought-provoking glimpses into their inner workings and their strong belief in the greater good. Similarly, the *good* characters aren't morally pure or exceptional, and they grapple a lot with their integrity.
TLDR: this is an exceptional fantasy trilogy, and it's been marked on my soul as a favourite.
"𝓞𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓘’𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓶 𝓸𝓯 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓾𝓵𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼, 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝓾𝓲𝓵𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓼. 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓪 𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓭’𝓼 𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓽, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪 𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼. 𝓘𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓪 𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮. 𝓘𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓲𝓵𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓼 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷, 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮. 𝓘𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮."
(No series spoilers).
I'm devastated that this is over.... this was such a fantastic story and conclusion to a wonderful trilogy.
In these books, you will find layered and complex worldbuilding, multi-faceted characters, and just so much emotion. During my listen to this final installment, I had to physically pause the audiobook multiple times to reflect, to collect myself, or just to let myself sob for a minute.
I find that the pacing for each book was slower in the beginning (even if there are a lot of events that happen throughout the books), but that slow build feels so intentional for overall impact.
The ending of this book was heartbreaking and bittersweet. I love how much insight the author gives to "life after" the events of the story, and it broke my heart all over again.
One more thing I'll mention is just how well the author wrote the villains of the story, they aren't just "bad" for the sake of being bad, they're misguided and broken apart by expectation and duty. It was really interesting exploring the depths of these characters, and in certain cases, we were given very thought-provoking glimpses into their inner workings and their strong belief in the greater good. Similarly, the *good* characters aren't morally pure or exceptional, and they grapple a lot with their integrity.
TLDR: this is an exceptional fantasy trilogy, and it's been marked on my soul as a favourite.
"𝓞𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓘’𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓶 𝓸𝓯 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓾𝓵𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼, 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝓾𝓲𝓵𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓼. 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓪 𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓭’𝓼 𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓽, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪 𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼. 𝓘𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓪 𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮. 𝓘𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓲𝓵𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓼 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷, 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮. 𝓘𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮."