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kylehenkel 's review for:

4.5
adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Clark completely captures who Ambessa is as her own unique character while also showing us how becomes even more-so dug-in to her mindset that mercy is never an option. The character alone is infuriating- but in the best ways possible because we are able to see the “human” side of her when the “wolf” side is challenged. But like most adults (especially parents), they’re incredibly rigid with their mindset. So you want to root for Ambessa for all the tragedy she goes through while at the same time you want to beat her with a stick for knowing she’s wrong but doing it anyways because that’s against her family’s code and how she was raised.

Some of the bittersweet moments within the story is that I found myself more interested in the side characters. After a while, you kinda give up on Ambessa changing and start focusing on the growth of the other characters - and they’re so fun to see grow! Especially one Noxian I didn’t expect to see at all - which is awesome!!

Our narrator, being the voice actor of Ambessa from Arcane is just the cherry on top. I’m glad she tried to work her voice to match the other voices of the other characters that were present in Arcane. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I hope CL Clark continues telling our Epilogue character’s story in the next book while expanding on the telling of the Black Rose. But … we might have to wait for Riot Games to show us what that looks like with (hopefully) a Mel series as she journeys from Piltover to Noxus.