4.5 ⭐️ I ACTUALLY CRIED

There is so much to love about this final installment in the trilogy - it yet again featured really nuanced and complex characters (protagonists and antagonists alike), naturally tied together different elements in a satisfying way and resolved a lot of my open questions even reaching as far back as the first book, further explored the really fascinating themes of orthodoxy and paganism, and even managed to further expand our cast of characters. There was again a lot of action in this book which isn't typically my cup of tea, but I loved that we finally got more of the magical element infused into the action which made it much more interesting to me compared to the sequel. That also allowed more of a departure from any sort of white knight plot crutch as we see Vasya become more of a powerhouse in her own right, and I really can't say enough good things about how this is NOT a love story and she herself is NOT flawless or beyond reproach. The qualities I really see shine in her are resilience and sympathy and radical self acceptance and an ability to challenge what she is told, and I'd love to see more of that in other books. I do have two main bones to pick: first, the pacing was a little strange and didn't seem aligned to the progression of time in the story, and second (and more importantly), I feel a bit robbed of a properly satisfying ending. While the authors note does explain why the story ended where it did, I really really wish it went on. There was SO much more hinted at for the future that I was desperate to see; I usually roll my eyes a little at a 5-years-later type epilogue but I really feel that is suitable here, or honestly even a slice of life short story separate from the trilogy I'd absolutely eat up. As is, the story ended abruptly enough that I actually had to google if there's was an additional ending floating around somewhere or spinoff series following Marya that would see a return of some of the characters.