"I don’t belong to anyone. I make my own choices."

Well, it's done! I'm finally finished with this series! It was better than I expected it would be, but still not as good as the first two books. Although it did provide a good ending to this characters, with some interesting plot twists and some action packed parts. The highlight of the entire thing are still Lissa, Christian and Adrian. They were amazing in this last book, especially Lissa. I loved her growing comfortable in her role as a leader, how she is embracing the spirit and commanding her powers and her people. The trials were such a good plot for her and I loved seeing her embarking on this journey. Adrian...oh my poor baby, you deserved SO MUCH MORE. He was the one who changed the most, who took an effort and got NOTHING as a result of it. He ended up hurt and alone. NOT COOL, RICHELLE! I hope the spin off will get him the focus and the happiness he deserves!

Rose was less annoying during this book, but I can't believe the way her character went backwards through the series. She started out as my favorite character - she was smartass, badass, sarcastic, a little bit impulsive but with the heart in the right place and willing to do anything for her best friend and the people she cares about. The romance with Dimitri was well developed and they complimented each other well. Now she's selfish, puts her friends CONSTANTLY on the way of danger for her own interests, her sarcasm is basically annoying and disrespectful and she obnoxiously tries to take matters into her own hands and acts without thinking and people get hurt because of it. After the end of book 3 and especially book 4, I can't really stand her. Her relationship with Dimitri went from interesting and squeal-worthy to unhealthy and obsessive. Dimitri was another character that fell a lot since book 3. I honestly wanted him to die in book 5, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. In this book particularly, he wasn't as irritating, but I eye-rolled a lot during his scenes.

The ending was kind of good, I couldn't see it coming and actually liked how everyone (except Adrian) ended up - I'm curious about Sydney and the Alchemists, so I'm hoping to get some answers with the spin-off and I liked how this final installment left things in a way that it can tie in perfectly with the first book of the other series.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars