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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
The Dire King by William Ritter
5.0
I'm a mess. I'm a crying mess. I have no idea when it happened exactly. I do know WHY it happened. My heart can't take this. I can't deal with this. I can't handle this. I felt it coming though. There was this moment of build up. My breathing quickened. My eyes started to burn. I swallowed a few times. For a while it seemed the dam wasn't breaking and then it happened. I realized how the story was gonna end and I just started crying. And when a book manages to do that, it's all kinds of amazing.
Of course, I wouldn't have been crying if I hadn't grown attached to the characters throughout the story. And attached I grew. Abigail is the kind of character I would like to be myself. She's intelligent, she's adventurous, she's however also afraid at times and therefore careful, she's ambitious, she has doubts and in general she just feels real. She's not too perfect. She does make mistakes and messes up. She sometimes has no idea what she's doing.
And then there's Jackaby. My wonderful Jackaby. He's socially clumsy, and therefore incredibly funny even when situations are dark and fearsome. He wears his heart on his tongue, apart from when it comes to human affection, that's a work in progress. And he has a big heart full of love for the world and all its creatures. And then there are Jenny and Charlie. Both amazing characters in their own way. They have their stories to tell, their own history, their doubts and mistakes and insecurities. It's impossible not to love them.
Combine those amazing characters with a great plot that really comes together in this last book and you have the perfection I mentioned. Everything in this series builds up. We start with a relatively small case and then move on to bigger and bigger cases. We start with a more urban fantasy feel and we end with a full blown epic fantasy war. I don't want to give too much away, but I'd say this was better and even more epic than the battle of Winterfell. (And yes, I actually DID like the battle of Winterfell!)
WHY ISN'T THERE MORE?
Of course, I wouldn't have been crying if I hadn't grown attached to the characters throughout the story. And attached I grew. Abigail is the kind of character I would like to be myself. She's intelligent, she's adventurous, she's however also afraid at times and therefore careful, she's ambitious, she has doubts and in general she just feels real. She's not too perfect. She does make mistakes and messes up. She sometimes has no idea what she's doing.
And then there's Jackaby. My wonderful Jackaby. He's socially clumsy, and therefore incredibly funny even when situations are dark and fearsome. He wears his heart on his tongue, apart from when it comes to human affection, that's a work in progress. And he has a big heart full of love for the world and all its creatures. And then there are Jenny and Charlie. Both amazing characters in their own way. They have their stories to tell, their own history, their doubts and mistakes and insecurities. It's impossible not to love them.
Combine those amazing characters with a great plot that really comes together in this last book and you have the perfection I mentioned. Everything in this series builds up. We start with a relatively small case and then move on to bigger and bigger cases. We start with a more urban fantasy feel and we end with a full blown epic fantasy war. I don't want to give too much away, but I'd say this was better and even more epic than the battle of Winterfell. (And yes, I actually DID like the battle of Winterfell!)
WHY ISN'T THERE MORE?