Unsurprisingly, this went pretty much like I expected. I got a couple things wrong, but the main points remained the same as how I thought it would end.

I do have questions about the book, but some can be explained away fairly easily.

For one, how did everyone assume Given had killed her brother? It can be explained away as the Brotherhood painting Given as something evil, with sinister magic, who was capable of entering Rolund's camp unseen and then his tent. I understand she was in a stressful moment and didn't have time to think, so it wouldn't have made any difference if she had made it appear as though he had stabbed himself with the weapon he had planned to use on her.

I was surprised by how quickly Elissa turned her back on Given, but, going by Given's own memories, Elissa had not exactly always been a kind person, taking her frustrations on Rolund's preference for his second wife, Lidia, aside from her, on Given. Thinking back, even with the brief time Given and Elissa were together at the beginning of the first book, it didn't seem as though they were friends. Elissa had even told her daughter that Given would likely die across the Rift, prompting the young princess to repeat it, as children do.

This book did give the first real introduction to Lidia. I found her nonchalance about Rolund's death to be kind of amusing and had me really thinking about how she had felt about his favor. Going by her reaction to her loss, she hadn't been in love with Given's brother. I can't say I'm surprised by this. Rolund favored her because she was young and pretty and Elissa had failed to give him a healthy heir. It makes me really wonder what Lidia's life was like before he died and she met Igrith.

Another point is that Laurent finally made it happen and married Varick and Given to each other then married Varick himself, linking the three together. And with Given's power, she would always know which of her husbands created the child she would have. After all, it was that power that ensured she didn't have a child. She didn't want to have a child that would be sacrificed to the Rift, so she didn't have a child.

As I predicted, Given allowed herself to be the sacrifice. I felt like the end was a bit corny with Varick calling her back and then her appearing but it did help that she showed up as she had been in the Shade. Only for Varick to pull a "true love's kiss" kind of moment and wake her up again. It reminded me of how "What a Wolf's Heart Desires." It ended in a similar way, Beauty and the Beast style. This one was more like Snow White, just without the glass coffin.

Over all, this book was enjoyable. I enjoyed the series as a whole, even though I got frustrated and seriously debated dropping the series. I'm glad I stuck with it. Laurent got better as time went on and he finally learned true humility. It was about time.

And now this story is over and it's time to find what to read next.