doinglaundry's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
5.0
*I received a free ARC of The Forever Song from Harlequin TEEN via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*
Devastating, gripping, epic, strong, dark. That's about as coherent as I can be right now.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
Devastating, gripping, epic, strong, dark. That's about as coherent as I can be right now.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
rachelduxbury's review against another edition
5.0
Wow I love this book SO MUCH
it's just such a perfect ending, so we'll done Julie Kagawa you've completed me
If you are wondering whether or not to read this series you're crazy as there is no question to it
it's just such a perfect ending, so we'll done Julie Kagawa you've completed me
If you are wondering whether or not to read this series you're crazy as there is no question to it
lucrezi's review against another edition
2.0
I wish this were written in third person so we could see for ourselves how low Allison's fallen. Like, even an alternate perspective from Jackal or Kanin. It would've been great character development without Kagawa spelling everything out again via internal monologue and explicitly saying she feels bad. Too bad. Someone needs to remind her to show, not tell.
And then Zeke, her boytoy, appears again but this time as a vampire, and an evil one at that. Nice! He's stabbing her! This is great, something's actually happening--wait, she bit him or he bit her and suddenly he's back to normal, but now he's angsting everywhere and Allison is angsting even more on his behalf. Then it gets all better.
Most of the novel now was just their love story with bits of Jackal being an asshole and Kanin being quiet peppered in a few places.
The ending was okay, though a bit predictable. Of course Kanin had to sacrifice himself to save the world, and of course Jackal survives in the end. I like those parts. I got goosebumps at Kanin's death, because he's a cool guy. I was okay with the fairytale kinda ending, where Allison and Zeke leave to bring the cure to the rest of the world because I like happy endings, but I would have loved a bittersweet ending... I mean, Kanin's death was sad but it was obvious and the guy wanted to die anyway. If Zeke died and Allison had to move on for the sake of the greater good, that would have been something.
But egh, whatever, it's a little better than the second book at least. I'd give this two and a half stars but I'll just round it up.
And then Zeke, her boytoy, appears again but this time as a vampire, and an evil one at that. Nice! He's stabbing her! This is great, something's actually happening--wait, she bit him or he bit her and suddenly he's back to normal, but now he's angsting everywhere and Allison is angsting even more on his behalf. Then it gets all better.
Most of the novel now was just their love story with bits of Jackal being an asshole and Kanin being quiet peppered in a few places.
The ending was okay, though a bit predictable. Of course Kanin had to sacrifice himself to save the world, and of course Jackal survives in the end. I like those parts. I got goosebumps at Kanin's death, because he's a cool guy. I was okay with the fairytale kinda ending, where Allison and Zeke leave to bring the cure to the rest of the world because I like happy endings, but I would have loved a bittersweet ending... I mean, Kanin's death was sad but it was obvious and the guy wanted to die anyway. If Zeke died and Allison had to move on for the sake of the greater good, that would have been something.
But egh, whatever, it's a little better than the second book at least. I'd give this two and a half stars but I'll just round it up.
manu71005's review against another edition
4.0
Parapapammmmm... Another great trilogy by the great Kagawa. I must say this book isn't as good as the second, but it's still great. Specially because of my sweet and bad baby Jackal (who I love a lot). And the amazing misfit family of vampires. I really loved Allie and Zeke's relationship and overall evolution through the books. And also my favorite Master vampire Kanin, who succeeds at leaving me speechless and about to cry at the end of the book. So overall I loved this, although it was kinda weird a lot of the begging (kinda unnecessary maybe(?)) but still damn... I'm really happy right now.
erinarkin20's review against another edition
5.0
There should be more than 5 stars available for this book...this series.
The Forever Song is book three in the Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa and oh my god I am going to do my best to review this so that I don’t include any spoilers. If you have read books one and two, you know that Kagawa doesn’t hold anything back and she takes the reader through just about every single emotion – this I what I love so much about this series. The other thing I love is that even though this is the final book, I had no idea what to expect her to do with these characters and their journey because even if I did go in expecting something to happen, I knew Kagawa would do something unexpected.
If you haven’t read any of the other books of this series I recommend you stop here, go get them now, and begin so that by the time this book comes out, you can dive right in.
The story picks up with Allison, Kanin, and Jackal hunting down Sarren. They need to catch him before he spreads the virus. On top of that, Allison wants revenge for what he did to Zeke and she doesn’t care what it will take to get him. Throughout the first quarter of the book we get to see how Allie still struggles with the monster inside of her. Without Zeke, she feels like she doesn’t have anything else left to keep her human and I thought this part was done really well. I think she had to fight that internal battle and face the pain of what happened before she could move forward.
Thankfully there is a balance of personalities around her as she faces this struggle. If she were alone with Jackal, I have a feeling she would have followed his path and become the monster she hated. Kanin is the one that helps her understand the choice is hers but she has to live with it…and his disappointment.
I really enjoyed seeing the relationships between these characters. Jackal is still the same old Jackal but as the story progresses, there is a shift in him. Yes, he wants to survive and will always take care of himself but now he is finding himself trusting Allie and helping other people. I love that despite that fact, he never really changed his personality. He was up front about what he wanted and didn’t apologize for anything he did. Also, his level of sarcasm was perfect.
As the group makes their way along the path of destruction that Sarren has left on his way to Eden, they are met with a number of surprises – none of which I can talk about without giving anything away…so I won’t. All you have to know is that Sarren is a twisted and deranged vampire who is doing whatever he can to break Allie and destroy the world. He doesn’t hold back at all and as Allie, Kanin, and Jackal uncover each horror he has left for them along the way, you can see just how crazy and determined he is.
I can’t really say much more about how the story progresses without potentially giving something up so I won’t. Just know that this series had me hooked from the very first page of book one and I never once lost interest in these characters and the paths they took. Kagawa has written a series that will have you running through every single emotion (good or bad) and begging for more. These books will be on my “Books I will love forever and ever” shelf for a long time (probably forever…) and if you are looking for a smart, well written, no holds barred, vampire series I recommend you start with this one.
To Julie Kagawa I say:
Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin TEEN for the review copy!
The Forever Song is book three in the Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa and oh my god I am going to do my best to review this so that I don’t include any spoilers. If you have read books one and two, you know that Kagawa doesn’t hold anything back and she takes the reader through just about every single emotion – this I what I love so much about this series. The other thing I love is that even though this is the final book, I had no idea what to expect her to do with these characters and their journey because even if I did go in expecting something to happen, I knew Kagawa would do something unexpected.
If you haven’t read any of the other books of this series I recommend you stop here, go get them now, and begin so that by the time this book comes out, you can dive right in.
The story picks up with Allison, Kanin, and Jackal hunting down Sarren. They need to catch him before he spreads the virus. On top of that, Allison wants revenge for what he did to Zeke and she doesn’t care what it will take to get him. Throughout the first quarter of the book we get to see how Allie still struggles with the monster inside of her. Without Zeke, she feels like she doesn’t have anything else left to keep her human and I thought this part was done really well. I think she had to fight that internal battle and face the pain of what happened before she could move forward.
Thankfully there is a balance of personalities around her as she faces this struggle. If she were alone with Jackal, I have a feeling she would have followed his path and become the monster she hated. Kanin is the one that helps her understand the choice is hers but she has to live with it…and his disappointment.
I really enjoyed seeing the relationships between these characters. Jackal is still the same old Jackal but as the story progresses, there is a shift in him. Yes, he wants to survive and will always take care of himself but now he is finding himself trusting Allie and helping other people. I love that despite that fact, he never really changed his personality. He was up front about what he wanted and didn’t apologize for anything he did. Also, his level of sarcasm was perfect.
As the group makes their way along the path of destruction that Sarren has left on his way to Eden, they are met with a number of surprises – none of which I can talk about without giving anything away…so I won’t. All you have to know is that Sarren is a twisted and deranged vampire who is doing whatever he can to break Allie and destroy the world. He doesn’t hold back at all and as Allie, Kanin, and Jackal uncover each horror he has left for them along the way, you can see just how crazy and determined he is.
I can’t really say much more about how the story progresses without potentially giving something up so I won’t. Just know that this series had me hooked from the very first page of book one and I never once lost interest in these characters and the paths they took. Kagawa has written a series that will have you running through every single emotion (good or bad) and begging for more. These books will be on my “Books I will love forever and ever” shelf for a long time (probably forever…) and if you are looking for a smart, well written, no holds barred, vampire series I recommend you start with this one.
To Julie Kagawa I say:
Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin TEEN for the review copy!
raven_nivhaar's review against another edition
5.0
Be forewarned that this review will contain spoilers. So if you do not wish to be spoiled, read no further than my rating.
A good conclusion to a very epic trilogy. Thank you, Miss Kagawa for writing this trilogy. It has quickly become one of my favorites, and this ending did not disappoint.
This was amazing! I don't know what else to say...
Once we got past the first few chapters with Allie being self-destructive, the book really picked up. There was a lot of action and humor (I know Jackal is a bastard, but I love his quips anyway).
I zoomed through this book (but then, I did with the first two books as well).
I cried at the ending, I didn't want Kanin to die. But it was a noble death, so I'm not really angry beyond the normal "How could you kill one of my favorite characters" anger :P lol
A good conclusion to a very epic trilogy. Thank you, Miss Kagawa for writing this trilogy. It has quickly become one of my favorites, and this ending did not disappoint.
This was amazing! I don't know what else to say...
Once we got past the first few chapters with Allie being self-destructive, the book really picked up. There was a lot of action and humor (I know Jackal is a bastard, but I love his quips anyway).
I zoomed through this book (but then, I did with the first two books as well).
I cried at the ending, I didn't want Kanin to die. But it was a noble death, so I'm not really angry beyond the normal "How could you kill one of my favorite characters" anger :P lol
mrose21's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, this book and this series is OKAY. Just there are a few things that bug me.
1)This business when they travel (at night or during the day) because of the rabids being crazy and things. Which they wake up at sun set, so WHY was there any logical sense in them traveling at night (yes I know they are vampires. but lets go back before they knew she was a vampire)
2)Jackal is a lot easier to like than any of them. Considering she markets him as some jerk, I like that hes not a pansy.
3) Why was Zeke such a wimp?
4) Allie why are you moaning and
5) Karin, why is he so small. And not more intimitating. He was always so passive during Allie and Jackal's spats. Like a dad telling his kids off. Not what a master would be like regardless if he was nice and pro-human.
I'm pretty sure there are more, the question I feel I need to answer is was the book/series worth the total cost of £13. And really it wasn't, I'd have been bothered if I'd have paid more, but I would have been estactic to pay what these books are actually worth.
Allie had such potential, especially considering she wasn't the normal Starbucks white girl. And she was actually a different skin colour/heritage to normal books. However the author turned her into the average Starbucks, ugg boot loving White girl (nothing wrong with loving UGGs BTW), and she just simpered at everything Zeke did. "Oh Zeke you're amazing when you're crying about being a monster especially because I am also a monster so this does wonders for how I feel about you" Any normal girl would give him some benefit of the doubt but when he insulted her too they would have told him where to go. But no, Jackal gets that pleasure.
The character development in this book sucks. Karin improves for the fact he isn't that much of a whiny cry baby, but Julies made sure the rest are to make up for it. Jackal is the only one that actually holds it together and considering his sanity level that is a little disappointing. Allie's character really disappointed me, I was so pro Allie and Zeke even considering the whole human and vampire thing which was obvious he was going to be turned. If Sarran hadn't had done it, Allie would have. Its insulting when an author makes the woman who is mean't to be this amazing vampire go to weak and feeble woman. SHES A VAMPIRE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. WHY DOES SHE CARE IF ZEKE NEEDS A BIT OF TIME TO GET HIS VAMP ON?
1)This business when they travel (at night or during the day) because of the rabids being crazy and things. Which they wake up at sun set, so WHY was there any logical sense in them traveling at night (yes I know they are vampires. but lets go back before they knew she was a vampire)
2)Jackal is a lot easier to like than any of them. Considering she markets him as some jerk, I like that hes not a pansy.
3) Why was Zeke such a wimp?
4) Allie why are you moaning and
Spoiler
how did you not see that Zeke was alive?5) Karin, why is he so small. And not more intimitating. He was always so passive during Allie and Jackal's spats. Like a dad telling his kids off. Not what a master would be like regardless if he was nice and pro-human.
I'm pretty sure there are more, the question I feel I need to answer is was the book/series worth the total cost of £13. And really it wasn't, I'd have been bothered if I'd have paid more, but I would have been estactic to pay what these books are actually worth.
Allie had such potential, especially considering she wasn't the normal Starbucks white girl. And she was actually a different skin colour/heritage to normal books. However the author turned her into the average Starbucks, ugg boot loving White girl (nothing wrong with loving UGGs BTW), and she just simpered at everything Zeke did. "Oh Zeke you're amazing when you're crying about being a monster especially because I am also a monster so this does wonders for how I feel about you" Any normal girl would give him some benefit of the doubt but when he insulted her too they would have told him where to go. But no, Jackal gets that pleasure.
The character development in this book sucks. Karin improves for the fact he isn't that much of a whiny cry baby, but Julies made sure the rest are to make up for it. Jackal is the only one that actually holds it together and considering his sanity level that is a little disappointing. Allie's character really disappointed me, I was so pro Allie and Zeke even considering the whole human and vampire thing which was obvious he was going to be turned. If Sarran hadn't had done it, Allie would have. Its insulting when an author makes the woman who is mean't to be this amazing vampire go to weak and feeble woman. SHES A VAMPIRE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. WHY DOES SHE CARE IF ZEKE NEEDS A BIT OF TIME TO GET HIS VAMP ON?
mikachristina's review against another edition
I love it!
It had the oblivion, the inevitable, the rowboat and a lot of other awesome and weird words. And god the last 100 pages, absolutely amazing and horrific at the same time. My thoughts were like "She(Julie Kagawa) could do the exact same thing as Veronica Roth did at the end of Allegiant". My god I was dying. Julie is just a goddess (y)
It had the oblivion, the inevitable, the rowboat and a lot of other awesome and weird words. And god the last 100 pages, absolutely amazing and horrific at the same time. My thoughts were like "She(Julie Kagawa) could do the exact same thing as Veronica Roth did at the end of Allegiant". My god I was dying. Julie is just a goddess (y)