A solid found family story. The 5 POVs was interesting and I loved that we got Arthur’s last before returning to Sloane. However, the multiple POVs meant a loss in depth for all characters. I was pretty lost with Mateo’s story as I think his backstory needed to be fleshed out more.

Overall, I loved this little family. And they did surprised me that it all ended platonically though I do assume Sloane and Greg will find each other in the near future.

I have given 5 stars to every other book in this series and held off reading this one because I didn’t want the series to end…which is why it pains me to give 3.5 stars.

I agree with others’ complaints that this truly felt like reading from different characters than the rest of the series. Keera in a lot of scenes, especially the battles, felt like an observer and really felt passive. What was done to Riven in this book was…astounding. He was sidelined and I had to be reminded that this rebellion would not exist without him. I could argue that a whole star deduction due to the lack of Nikolai and Syrra. Even when Nikolai was freed as a hostage and Syrra returned to battle, it felt like the story suddenly lurched forward and forgot about them. We deserved a better Nikolai and Vrail scene. I expected a better Keera and Syrra scene before that last battle. The fact that we never truly got another scene with the core four plus Vrail made me sick. I loved the Shades kind of taking over and being like “we’ve got it from here” but focusing only on them really undermined the relationships between the characters we all loved.

That being said, I loved that Gwyn was the one who served some vengeance at the end. I have to admit, for most of the book, I was really annoyed with Gwyn. I had to be reminded what she had been through and her motivations because she was risking everyone’s lives with her recklessness. I always love reading about the sisterhood of the Shades. Dynara’s ball scene where they serve justice to all the disgusting men was the highlight action scene of the whole book. The addition of Elaran was fun. I will always love Gerarda and Keera dynamic. When they’re together, I just feel like everything’s going to be okay so I’m happy we got more Gerarda in this one.

Overall, this did not meet expectations and I’m really sad about it because I LOVE this world. I love the magic system. I Iove that healing never comes too easy but is a long battle. I love their appreciation for nature being a driving force for justice. I love that Keera and Riven, despite being such a messy couple, matched each others freaks every step of the way. Very sad to be parting with this world.

Sometimes you want to read a book that is borne from a concept (hot monster x hot girl, arranged marriage) and then the world building is sort of an afterthought. And that’s what this is.

This is a cute, loving relationship between two seemingly perfect mcs. There’s little to no conflict between them. If you want to read a low stakes romance set in a fantastical setting, this is it. This is so low conflict, I almost want to say it’s a cozy fantasy.

That being said, not much else happens. The tension packs itself into the last 30 pages. By then, I am not sure I cared all that much. I may have wanted to continue the series if the second book was about Anhuset and Sevorek but seems to be a sequel to Brishen and Ildikos story. I think I got as much as I wanted from their relationship and honestly don’t care at the moment to see Brishen take on his tyrannical mother.

I read this is as part of my TBR challenge to read the debut novel of an author. I love Grace Draven’s more recent publications so it was really interesting to see the beginning of the writing journey for her. It’s very clear how much she has grown and this book actually just made me want to re-read the Fallen Empire series instead of continue this one.